Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Longer Looks: Interesting Reads You Might Have Missed
The Wall Street Journal: Lilly’s Weight-Loss Drug Is A Huge Hit. Its CEO Wants To Replace It ASAP.
Dave Ricks is pushing his scientists to find an even more potent anti-obesity treatment. "Lilly’s got a lead, and we plan to exploit that lead." (Mendoza, Kwong and Loftus, 6/13)
Reuters: Olympic Athletes Turn To Diabetes Tech In Pursuit Of Medals
Olympians including Dutch marathon runner Abdi Nageeye are using a new tool they hope will boost their medal chances this summer: tiny monitors that attach to the skin to track blood glucose levels. Continuous glucose monitors or CGMs were developed for use by diabetes patients but their makers, led by Abbott and Dexcom, also spy opportunities in sports and wellness. (Burger, 6/10)
Politico: Colorado’s Weed Market Is Coming Down Hard And It’s Making Other States Nervous
On Jan. 1, 2014, Iraq War veteran Sean Azzariti made headlines worldwide as the first person in the U.S. to buy legal weed. More than 10 years later, 3D Cannabis, the dispensary in Denver’s Elyria-Swansea neighborhood where the historic purchase was made, displays a makeshift sign announcing it is “temporarily closed.” ... Regulatory burdens, an oversaturated market and increasing competition from nearby states have all landed major blows, leaving other states with newer marijuana markets scrambling to avoid the same mistakes. (Zhang, 6/9)
Undark: Allergy Labels: This May Contain Peanuts (Or Maybe Not)
When Ina Chung, a Colorado mother, first fed packaged foods to her infant, she was careful to read the labels. Her daughter was allergic to peanuts, dairy, and eggs, so products containing those ingredients were out. So were foods with labels that said they may contain the allergens. Chung felt like this last category suggested a clear risk that wasn’t worth taking. “I had heard that the ingredient labels were regulated. And so I thought that that included those statements,” said Chung. “Which was not true.” (Beans, 6/10)
USA Today: 110-Year-Old's Brain Will Be Donated, Studied
Morrie Markoff, who died June 3, lived to the age of 110. His brain will be studied by scientists seeking to learn more about the aging process ‒ and why some people slide into dementia and cognitive decline but others, like Markoff, remain sharp to the end. (Trethan, 6/13)
The New York Times: 3 Days in Space Were Enough to Change 4 Astronauts’ Bodies and Minds
Space changes you, even during short trips off the planet. Four people who spent three days off Earth in September 2021 experienced physical and mental changes that included modest declines in cognitive tests, stressed immune systems and genetic changes within their cells, scientists report in a package of papers published on Tuesday in the journal Nature and several other related journals. (Chang, 6/12)
The New York Times: Ancient Genomes Reveal Which Children the Maya Selected for Sacrifice
Thousand-year-old DNA from Chichén Itzá offers eye-opening details of the religious rituals of ancient Maya. The search did not start as an exercise in ancient Maya rituals. In the mid-2000s, Rodrigo Barquera — now an immunogeneticist at the Max Planck Institute — was hoping to discover the genetic legacy of Mesoamerica’s deadliest pandemic. (Kreier, 6/12)
