Life

Health, science, climate, and society-focused reporting.

Briefing: STAT+: Six drugmakers, six months: Charting the FDA’s course in the post-Prasad era

Strategic angle: Will the FDA’s regulatory policies, particularly for rare-disease drugs, shift in the wake of Vinay Prasad’s imminent departure?

Editorial Staff Mar 19

Life

Cost Concerns and Coverage Changes: A Follow-Up Survey of ACA Marketplace Enrollees

This KFF survey examines the cost concerns and coverage changes experienced by ACA Marketplace enrollees in 2025 following the expiration of enhanced benefits.

Editorial Staff Mar 19

Life

Briefing: HHS Watchdog Critiques Nursing Homes for Antipsychotic Drug Misuse

Strategic angle: Nursing homes misuse antipsychotic drugs for dementia patients, disguising the practice as schizophrenia treatment, a watchdog finds.

Editorial Staff Mar 19

Life

Briefing: FDA’s top infectious disease regulator to depart agency

Strategic angle: Adam Sherwat, the director of the Office of Infectious Diseases in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, is leaving the agency.

Editorial Staff Mar 18

Life

Briefing: More than 150,000 uncounted Covid-19 deaths occurred early in the pandemic, a study finds

Strategic angle: The Covid-19 pandemic's early death toll was much higher than the official U.S. count, according to a new study that spotlights dramatic disparities in the uncounted deaths.

Editorial Staff Mar 18

Life

Briefing: Maryland Legislator Proposes Bill for Pharma Transparency in Disease Awareness Campaigns

Strategic angle: A new bill aims to mandate drugmakers and patient groups to reveal their connections to disease awareness initiatives.

Editorial Staff Mar 18

Life

Briefing: Clearing tumors in mice, Azalea Therapeutics advances dream of in vivo CAR-T therapy

Strategic angle: A mouse study shows CAR-T cells can be engineered in vivo with precise gene editing, a potential breakthrough that could cut costs and expand access.

Editorial Staff Mar 18

Life

Briefing: STAT+: How ARPA-H is developing FDA-authorized AI agents, tested in clinical trials

Strategic angle: STAT's AI Prognosis takes a closer look at how the U.S. moonshot agency for health research is developing AI agents for deployment in hospitals.

Editorial Staff Mar 18

Life

Briefing: A Huntington’s researcher on the UniQure-FDA fray

Strategic angle: A Huntington's researcher treads lightly into the UniQure-FDA fray, J&J wins approval for a first-of-its kind psoriasis pill, and more in today's Readout newsletter.

Editorial Staff Mar 18

Life

Briefing: Premature menopause is linked to 40% increase in heart disease risk

Strategic angle: JAMA Cardiology study highlights the increased heart disease risk associated with premature menopause, particularly among Black women.

Editorial Staff Mar 18

Life

Briefing: As Trump administration cracks down on health care fraud, people with disabilities feel singled out

Strategic angle: As the Trump administration goes after fraud in health care, advocates say the disability community feels singled out.

Editorial Staff Mar 18

Life

Briefing: STAT+: Pharmalittle: We’re reading about TrumpRx prices, a J&J psoriasis pill, and much more

Strategic angle: U.S. health officials claim TrumpRx offers Americans the world’s lowest prices on prescription drugs, but a new analysis found that is not true.

Editorial Staff Mar 18

Life

Briefing: FDA and NIH announce more initiatives to reduce animal testing in drug development

Strategic angle: The HHS has made reducing animal testing a priority over the past year.

Editorial Staff Mar 18

Life

Briefing: Quiz – How Well Do You Understand Your Health Insurance – Frameless

Strategic angle: Test your knowledge on health insurance with this 10-question quiz to make informed decisions about your coverage.

Editorial Staff Mar 18

Life

Briefing: J&J Wins Approval for First-of-its-Kind Psoriasis Pill

Strategic angle: Johnson & Johnson's new daily psoriasis pill offers benefits comparable to injectable treatments, potentially disrupting a multibillion-dollar market.

Editorial Staff Mar 18

Life

Briefing: Drug smoking can lead to severe burns, complicating harm reduction efforts

Strategic angle: A new study reveals that opioid smokers are four times more likely to suffer severe burns compared to those who inject drugs.

Editorial Staff Mar 18

Life

Briefing: Opinion: Exposed and invisible in an ER hallway bed

Strategic angle: Hallway beds cut into the bones that sustain emergency medicine, shaving away layers of moral tenets and high standards.

Editorial Staff Mar 18

Life

Briefing: Opinion: I was a surgeon. The hardest part of leaving medicine was believing that I could

Strategic angle: Leaving her career as a surgeon, Frances Mei Hardin writes, “was the beginning of a life I actually wanted.”

Editorial Staff Mar 18

Life

Briefing: NIH Director Promises Full Budget Spending by 2026

Strategic angle: Jay Bhattacharya assures House appropriators that the NIH will utilize its entire budget by the end of the fiscal year 2026.

Editorial Staff Mar 17

Life

Briefing: Key Global Health Positions and Officials in the U.S. Government

Strategic angle: This fact sheet identifies key U.S. government global health positions and officials.

Editorial Staff Mar 17