Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Trump Weighs Reclassifying Pot; Study Cites Scant Benefit In Medical Use
The Washington Post: Trump Seeks To Cut Restrictions On Marijuana Through Planned Order
President Donald Trump is expected to push the government to dramatically loosen federal restrictions on marijuana, reducing oversight of the plant and its derivatives to the same level as some common prescription painkillers and other drugs, according to six people familiar with the discussions. Trump discussed the plan with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) in a Wednesday phone call from the Oval Office, said four of the people, who, like the others, spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. The president is expected to seek to ease access to the drug through an upcoming executive order that directs federal agencies to pursue reclassification, the people said. (Bogage, Diamond and Ovalle, 12/11)
The New York Times: Review Of Medical Cannabis Use Finds Little Evidence Of Benefit
To treat their pain, anxiety and sleep problems, millions of Americans turn to cannabis, which is now legal in 40 states for medical use. But a new review of 15 years of research concludes that the evidence of its benefits is often weak or inconclusive, and that nearly 30 percent of medical cannabis patients meet criteria for cannabis use disorder. “The evidence does not support the use of cannabis or cannabinoids at this point for most of the indications that folks are using it for,” said Dr. Michael Hsu, an addiction psychiatrist and clinical instructor at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the lead author of the review, which was published last month in the medical journal JAMA. (Cannabis refers to the entire plant; cannabinoids are its many compounds.) (Hoffman, 12/12)
More pharmaceutical developments —
Bloomberg: Abbott Presses Congress For Legal Shield Over Preemie Baby Formula Lawsuits
The company that makes one of the two most widely used brands of formula for premature babies is threatening to stop. That is, unless US health officials and Congress help protect it from lawsuits related to infant deaths allegedly tied to its product. It’s a warning that holds particular power over policy makers and legislators who’ve become acutely aware of the fragility of a baby formula market that’s been mired in recent scandals. The biggest players in the market have struggled with shortages in recent years, and a popular upstart is under scrutiny for a botulism outbreak. (Edney, 12/11)
Stat: Lancet Study Shows New Antibiotic Effective Against Gonorrhea
A single-dose oral antibiotic from a new class of drugs was as effective as the previous standard of care at treating uncomplicated urogenital gonorrhea, a study published Thursday in The Lancet reported. If approved for use, zoliflodacin would be a welcome addition to an armamentarium that contains precious few tools to treat Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the wily bacterium that causes the infection. (Branswell, 12/11)
The New York Times: Major Weight Loss And Knee-Pain Relief Seen With New Eli Lilly Drug
People with obesity and arthritis taking an experimental obesity drug made by Eli Lilly lost more weight than with any drug now on the market, and they reported relief from their arthritis symptoms, the company announced on Thursday. The drug, retatrutide, is a next-generation obesity and diabetes medication from Eli Lilly, which already sells Mounjaro for diabetes and Zepbound for weight loss. These drugs catapulted Lilly in November into becoming the first medical company to hit a trillion-dollar valuation. (Kolata, 12/11)
NBC News: Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Vaccine Shows Promise In Early Clinical Trial
When Chase Johnson was 31, her dog began acting strange. He was anxious, wouldn’t leave her side and, one day, pushed his nose into the side of her breast. Johnson felt a hard lump. “I wasn’t someone who was good at doing self-exams, I don’t think I would have found it otherwise,” Johnson, now 36, of Cary, North Carolina, said. “I had no family history of breast cancer.” Johnson was diagnosed in February 2021 with triple-negative breast cancer, an aggressive type of the disease that tends to grow quickly and spread to other parts of the body. (Sullivan, 12/11)
CIDRAP: Study Links Baloxavir To Lower Hospitalization Risk In Flu Outpatients
A large retrospective cohort analysis of real-world electronic health record data suggests that baloxavir (Xofluza) may reduce hospitalizations and emergency department (ED) visits more effectively than oseltamivir (Tamiflu) in patients treated for influenza. The study, published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases, compared outcomes among more than 75,000 US patients, offering new insights on the effectiveness of these two antiviral drugs. (Bergeson, 12/11)
