#14 - Healthcare News: April 2024 (Melanoma Vaccine, Bird Flu, MultiPlan, Arizona Abortion Ban)

Stay informed with the latest in Healthcare News! In this episode, we explore the key developments of April 2024, touching on a range of topics but focusing on a new vaccine for skin cancer, the bird flu, MultiPlan (a secret health insurance middle man), and the Arizona abortion ban. To enhance your listening experience, we've added chapter markers and timestamps in the description below, making it easy for you to jump to the segments that catch your eye. Visit the show notes here. Let us know your thoughts!

Timestamps:

(00:00) Episode Introduction

(01:25) Vaccine for Skin Cancer

(03:48) Bird Flu

(07:07) MultiPlan

(09:38) Arizona Abortion Ban

(12:45) IVF, Abortion, and Maternal Health

(14:48) Surgery and Medical Procedures

(18:06) Mental Health

(19:48) Viruses and Bacteria

(22:20) Medicare/Medicaid

(23:23) Well-Being

(27:36) Drugs and Alcohol 

(29:22) Climate and Environment

(31:08) Global Health

(34:04) Business

(34:24) Pharmaceuticals and Drug Stores

(35:58) Weight Loss Drugs

(37:42) Medical Devices, Biotech, and AI

(40:38) Health Insurance

(41:53) Politics

(43:30) Conclusion

(44:06) Outro

Linktree: linktr.ee/gustavofrancopod

Chapters

• 0:00 Episode Introduction
• 1:25 Vaccine for Skin Cancer
• 3:48 Bird Flu
• 7:07 MultiPlan
• 9:38 Arizona Abortion Ban
• 12:45 IVF, Abortion, and Maternal Health
• 14:48 Surgery and Medical Procedures
• 18:06 Mental Health
• 19:48 Viruses and Bacteria
• 22:20 Medicare/Medicaid
• 23:23 Well-Being
• 27:36 Drugs and Alcohol
• 29:22 Climate and Environment
• 31:08 Global Health
• 34:04 Business
• 34:24 Pharmaceuticals and Drug Stores
• 35:58 Weight Loss Drugs
• 37:42 Medical Devices, Biotech, and AI
• 40:38 Health Insurance
• 41:53 Politics
• 43:30 Conclusion
• 44:06 Outro

Transcript

Intro

Hey everyone and welcome to another healthcare news episode. Today we’ll be covering everything from the month of April. Just like the last news episode, I’ll start with a few of my favorites from this month. We’ve got some really interesting pieces here. We’ll talk thoroughly about a potential new vaccine to treat skin cancer, the bird flu which is making headlines everywhere, MultiPlan, which is a secret middle man of health insurance companies, and we’ll end the detailed section talking about the Arizona abortion ban and appeal. After that, just like last month, I will run through the rest of all relevant healthcare news from this month so you can have a full picture of what’s going on. I’ll keep those sections very concise so make sure to check the timestamps for any section you might be interested in. With that, sit back and enjoy today’s episode.

Vaccine for Skin Cancer

So let’s start off with a new vaccine for skin cancer, melanoma. This is one that hasn’t been getting as much news attention as I think it should have, and the prospects are super interesting.

For some background, skin cancer is the most common form of cancer with 1 in 5 Americans getting skin cancer by age 70. I’m studying abroad in Australia right now, and here it’s even more shocking, in our first day of class we had an orientation and one of the first things they said was to put on sunscreen because 2 in 3 Australians are diagnosed with skin cancer by age 70.

And although skin cancer is rarely lethal, especially if caught early, it’s still important to know how to manage it. And a big part in managing melanoma, is actually preventing disease recurrence, which is pretty common. This is exactly where this new vaccine comes in.

There was an earlier version of the vaccine that didn’t work so well but many of its functions carried over to this new version. First there was a vaccine against tumor associated antigens, which are these substances produced in tumor cells that call for an immune response. So it was thought that we could just use a general formula to detect these antigens and kill those cells. But turns out the process has to be more personalized than that. So in this new iteration of the vaccine, each dose is custom built for the patient, and they do that by sequencing the DNA of cancer cells when the tumor is removed from the patient. It’s a very neat process and they even use AI to help make the final version of this mRNA vaccine for each patient.

So with all that, the first patient has received the vaccine in what marks the beginning of the phase 3 trials, which, if successful, could be a major step cancer prevention and will be the first widely available personalized mRNA vaccine for melanoma.

Bird Flu

Now let’s switch our attention to bird flu. I remember seeing the first article on the outbreak of the bird flu literally on April 1st, and thought to myself, this can’t be THAT big of a deal. But, oh well, turns out I was wrong and it did become quite a big deal. It’s been everywhere in the news this month.

So what is bird flu? Bird flu, or avian influenza H5N1 in this case, is a type of influenza that usually affects birds, but can infect other animals too. The virus is passed on through bird saliva, mucous, or feces. When it comes to other species, the virus can actually be transmitted in many different ways, for example, what we’re seeing now is that milk from cows infected with the bird flu have traces of the virus in it. But we’re lucky because the virus very rarely infects us humans and there isn’t really any evidence that we can transmit the virus to each other.

So going back to the overall landscape of the bird flu outbreak, it all started last year when the virus was spilling from bird populations into some wild mammals. But the thing is, we don’t usually interact with these wild animals, like seals, foxes, and polar bears, so even most experts dismissed it as a significant problem.

The issue tho, is a little different when we talk about animals that we consume, like cows and chicken. And that’s exactly where the virus has rapidly spread this year - but we only really became aware of it this month. According to the latest CDC report at the end of April, almost 91 million poultry in 48 states have been affected and 36 dairy herds in 9 states. So far only one person has contracted the virus, and it was luckily a very mild case. Poultry farmers have received millions of dollars to mass slaughter infected chicken. Dairy cows are a different story because initial findings suggest that the H5N1 virus is actually killed when milk is pasteurized.

The issue here isn’t really the virus right now, but what it could become. Influenza viruses are known to mutate rapidly, and it you have them in such close proximity to humans, like in cows and chicken, you give the virus a perfect laboratory testing ground for mutations to happen. And if any of these mutations makes the virus easily transmissible to and between humans, things could turn dirty pretty quick. Out of around 900 people that have gotten the virus since 2003, about 60% died from it, so it’s no joke. We’re at no danger right now, but could be very soon depending only a some lucky mutations.

MultiPlan

On a different note, let’s turn the business side of health insurance and talk about a little-known data company called MultiPlan. I didn’t know about this company before but when I heard about it, it was a no brainer that it existed and did fairly well.

So let’s unpack how the company works and how its impacting many people lives - because it could be the reason you are getting lower reimbursement from your health insurance company.

MultiPlan plays a middle man between many healthcare providers and insurance companies. Say you go to a doctor that it outside of your health insurance network, at the end of the visit, the provider is going to file a claim and send that to your insurance company for payment. This claim includes the services that were done in the visit. Well, what your health insurance company likely does is, it sends this claim to MultiPlan, and MultiPlan being a data company, compares it to other claims and procedures and with their algorithm, they determine a recommended payment for that claim. They then send it back to the health insurance company, and if they accept the payment, then that’s what they will cover from that claim. Say your doctor put in a claim for $1000 and sent it to your insurance company. MultiPlan comes in and says that the recommended payment for that claim is actually $500. So if the health insurer accepts that, that is how much they will pay for the claim, and then you will be in charge of the rest. And you can see how that can quickly become a problem.

But now let’s look at how MultiPlan actually makes their money. So they partner with these health insurance companies, and because they help the health insurers save money by suggesting that they pay less for a service, MultiPlan takes a cut of those savings. They call this model the “Percentage of Savings Model,” and the larger the savings for the insurance company, the larger the fee that MultiPlan receives.

MultiPlan likes to say that they are helping address the rising costs of healthcare, but I’ll leave that up for you to decide.

Arizona Abortion Ban

Now let’s move on to abortion and talk about the Arizona abortion ban. The closer we get to the elections, the more we see in abortion since it’s just become such a political issue. And this month, Arizona completely banned abortions, but then they repealed the ban, so let’s look at how that happened.

In a case between Planned Parenthood and Kristin Mayes, the attorney general of the state of Arizona, the court upheld an 1864 law that completely banned nearly all abortions. The 1864 law, which was in place before Arizona was even a state, said that all abortions after the point of conception were illegal, aside from when it was necessary to save the mother’s life. Ever since the overturn of Roe v. Wade, Arizona banned all abortion procedures after week 15. But with a 4-2 majority, the court voted on April 9th to bring back a complete abortion ban as outlined by the 1864 law. The decision wasn’t immediately put into effect, allowing for lower state courts to put in additional arguments. This also allowed for the decision to be overturned, or appealed, which is exactly what ended up happening. But that took a long time and the decision was mostly driven by political incentives and not genuine opinions on abortion.

Right after the decision came out, Biden immediately condemned it as “cruel” and “extreme” and said pretty wisely that the 1864 law came “well before women had secured the right to vote.” And democrats have been unifying around this issue, especially led by efforts from Kamala Harris to villainize Former President Trump for doing this.

Social media was also going crazy after the decision and protests were happening all over Arizona.

So pretty quickly after the decision, actually, the day after the decision, democrats stepped in to repeal the ruling. But that didn’t go so well and the Republican majority shut them down.

The push back in the state and nation continued fiercely and many republican representatives felt persuaded to change their vote to ensure their seats. So on Wednesday, April 24th, house lawmakers repealed the ban with a 32-28 majority. The republicans that made the switch, are said to have done it almost entirely for political reasons to keep their seats, and on social media, they were condemned by anti-abortion activists and called “baby killers.”

Now, on May 1st, the case goes to the senate, where republicans hold a 16-14 majority. Here, the final decision will likely be made, so keep your eyes out for that.

IVF, Abortion, and Maternal Health

And that brings us to the four developments this month that I wanted to highlight in detail. Now, going on to the more fast paced news on different areas of healthcare this month, let’s start with the topic of abortion, IVF, and maternal and child health since we were just on that issue.

Starting with IVF, the hospital that was at the center of the court case in Alabama said that they are completely ending their IVF services because of quotes “a lack of clarity” in recent legislature.

In general abortion, the two lawsuits from Texas and Idaho discussing emergency medicine law for abortions in the Supreme Court highlights how justices seem split on emergency abortion access. In Florida, a six week abortion ban is planned to take take place this week. The problem many cite with the restriction? Many women don’t know they are pregnant by week 6.

Data also has become a big topic in abortion, with republicans wanting more data on abortion while democrats want less data on abortion, fearing that it could be used to identify patients and make them reluctant to get the procedure.

In child health, a recent analysis showed that more than three-quarters of infant deaths happen because of unsafe sleep practices, citing co-sleeping as a major source of these deaths. Co-sleeping is when infants sleep on the same bed as their parents.

In Brooklyn, Woodhull Medical Center fired 72 year old doctor, Ronald Daniel, for his involvement in an infant’s death and a mother’s death only a few weeks apart. State health officials declared the hospital, which is already a weak medical institution in NYC, to be in “immediate jeopardy,” suggesting that the hospital poses potential dangers to patients.

Surgery and Medical Procedures

In surgery and medical procedures, an expert panel for the US Preventative Services Task Force recommended that women should start regular breast cancer screenings, or mammographies at age 40 not 50.

Following last month’s news on pig kidney transplants, a 54 year old women received the second kidney transplant from a genetically edited pig, at NYU Langone Health. The success of these transplants could lead to improved organ transplant access, which is especially vital now. A JAMA study found that black and white patients have significant disparities in getting kidney transplants depending on whether they live in racially segregated neighborhoods or/and have racially segregated transplant centers.

Still on organ transplants, Pennsylvania Hospital, Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, became the second hospital this month to suspend its liver transplant program. They cited concerns in “clinical processes and documentation.”

This came after the Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center in Houston suspended its liver and kidney transplant programs. They believe that one of their doctors, Steven Binon, manipulated his patients into not getting organ transplants, which could be life saving. Authorities don’t know his reasons behind it or if it’s even confirmed that he did it but it wouldn’t surprise me that he did it to improve record for successful organ transplants by only encouraging patients that he deemed healthy to actually go through with the procedure.

In other medical procedure news, Botox is on fire right now for what they call counterfeit botox. These counterfeit doses and unlicensed providers have led multiple patients in the US to develop harmful reactions after their injections. So watch out where you’re getting your botox from and who is doing the procedure.

In Michigan, vascular clinics owned by Dr. Jihad Mustapha are now shutting down. This came after scrutiny for his practice in leg surgeries, where he calls himself the “leg saver.” Well, turns out, multiple of the procedures that he was doing were funded by medical device companies and actually harmed patients, and many times led to leg amputations.

In an interesting development this month, the H.H.S. is demanding teaching hospitals to get written letters of consent before performing pelvic exams on patients. If these institutions don’t comply, they could end up losing their Medicare funding.

Mental Health

Now, for mental health this month, a new JAMA psychiatric study looking at teens found that around 1 in 3 teenagers with depression who die by suicide or self harm actually denied any thoughts related to that in a widely used mental health questionnaire only a few days or weeks before the incident. Understanding why these teens might be denying such thoughts is the next milestone here, but researchers think it has to do with the fear of re-hospitalization or that caregivers will overreact.

In work mental health, a Bloomberg news article suggests that bringing your pet to work can help boost employees mental health, so that might be something new and fun to consider.

Now for kids mental health, a new JAMA pediatrics study came out to only strengthen a strong body of research that has existed for many years. It suggests that physical fitness is directly linked to improved mental health outcomes. This was seen specifically for depression, anxiety, and ADHD. So it’s a no brainer, get your exercise in, and make sure your kids are doing the same.

In mental health pharmacology, many doctors suggest understanding why one may have anxiety and treating the root cause of that instead of so quickly prescribing beta blockers to slow patient’s heart rate and blood pressure to mimic calm.

Viruses and Bacteria

Now for viruses and bacteria, there’s been quite a bit of news this month - many of them very interesting and it really piqued my interest.

Starting off, the world health organization finally came to consensus on a new, broader definition of airborne disease. They came into scrutiny by many scientist during the early covid years for not acknowledging that covid could spread through air - because of their rather too strict definition of airborne diseases. Previously, an airborne disease had to be one that traveled long distances in air and in small particles. Now the new definition removes any droplet size requirements or distance spread requirements.

In HIV there’s been some pretty scary news this month. 3 women have contracted the virus after what’s called “Vampire Facials.” These women underwent the procedure at an unlicensed facility in New Mexico, and it marks the first time that HIV is transmitted through cosmetic injection services.

On a more positive note, there’s new hope that a more sustainable form of HIV treatment will be available in the next 5 to 10 years. This could be a once weekly pill or a once monthly shot. Stay tuned for my episode with Dr. Sharon Lewin on HIV that is coming out mid march.

In urinary tract infections, something that’s becoming harder and harder to treat because of resistance to antibiotics, the FDA has approved a new antibiotic, called Pivmecillinam, to treat these infections in women 18 and older.

On hepatitis C, 15 countries are close to completely eliminating the disease this decade. The US, however, lags significantly behind with most patients with the virus not even yet knowing that they have Hepatitis C.

The story also isn’t pretty for Tuberculosis, which has been increasing every year in the US since 2020.

Again, on a more positive note, a pill for lyme disease, similar to what we give our dogs, is now finally in early clinical trials for humans.

Medicare/Medicaid

Moving on to medicare/medicaid news, Mississippi reached a tentative deal to expand access to Medicaid in the state. This could give coverage to 200,000 more low income adults but is likely to face a veto by governor Tate Reeves.

In more news about breast cancer screening, or mammographies, which we talked about earlier. Medicare doesn’t pay for additional screenings that some women might need. Some, with denser breasts, need MRI scans or ultrasounds, since regular mammographies might miss any tumors.

A new analysis by the nonprofit institute RTI International and the Department of Health and Human Services found that mental health issues and substance use disorders often go untreated for patients on Medicaid, even if they were eligible for it.

Well-Being

Turning to general well-being news, there’s always new and interesting stuff brewing so sit tight for this one.

Starting off, apparently taking Apple Cider Vinegar is the new trend. People are suggesting that it helps with blood sugar control, weight loss, acid reflux, and even skin health. Honestly while it’s ignore all these positive outcomes that people are having, there isn’t much research supporting any of these claims. So if you think it’s working for you, well keep at it, as long as you check with your doctor before because it could interact with some drugs and metabolic functions.

Now for another popular trend, “Oatzempic” appears to be all over TikTok. People say that oats are helping them lose weight. But this a bit misleading because oats are nothing like Ozempic and they’re also pretty caloric. They do have many benefits like high fiber but they should definitely not be recommended so simply as a “weight loss drug.”

Staying on the topic diet, some research suggests that eating your greens before your carbs can help slow digestion and the absorption of sugars, which can help keep your blood sugar levels in check. Although the evidence isn’t extremely significant, it does seem pretty consistent, so this habit could have a small positive effect on your blood sugar level.

A similar topic was discussed in a New York Times article that I really enjoyed reading. The article is titled: “Could Eating Less Help You Live Longer?” I’m a big longevity geek and have honestly been looking at research into this topic for a few years now. It’s a hard road to travel because there is a ton of opposing evidence out there on the topic and prominent scientists like Dr. David Sinclair, have strong opinions on the issue - recommending both calorie restriction and time restricted feeding. So it’s pretty easy to let yourself get carried away by such figure but there is also significant evidence on the opposite side of the pole, and I think Dana Smith, the author of this New York Times piece, does a fantastic job in painting a holistic picture of eating habits and longevity. I strongly recommend you read the article if you’re interested in the topic.

Still, on nutrition, new guidelines by The Agriculture Department finally reduce sugar and salt on the menu for school meals.

Now let’s talk about skin health, because there was a pretty interesting article on The New York Times this month about skin care - not just for your face, but your entire body. The article said that people focus too much on their facial skin but not on other parts of the body. And I have to be honest, I’m victim of this myself. I don’t know if I’ve ever used moisturizer aside from my face but turns out that if you want to have good skin you should be hydrating your entire body and putting on sunscreen everyday too.

On physical touch, a new systematic review by scientist in Germany and the Netherlands found that people in general in almost all stages of life benefit from physical touch. It helps with mental health and even boosts people’s mood.

Another study in Bangladesh revealed that eyeglasses not only improve eyesight but income income, too. Those with appropriate eyeglasses could get a better education and learn better, directly impacting their future in their careers.

Drugs and Alcohol

Now for an always exciting section let’s talk about drugs and alcohol.

Beginning in 2026, all alcohol sold in Ireland will have to be labeled in all caps with “THERE IS A DIRECT LINK BETWEEN ALCOHOL AND FATAL CANCERS” and “DRINKING ALCOHOL CAUSES LIVER DISEASE.” - This is the culmination of a ton of scientific research from past decades, and I genuinely believe it’s a step in the right direction, making consumers more aware of the dangers of what they consumer.

On drugs, a body of public health experts are calling on the FDA to take back a controversial approval of a DNA test for predicting genetic risk of opioid addiction. They cited unreliable test results and the unintended consequences of false results as evidence for canceling this approval.

Under scrutiny now, President Biden delays the ban of Menthol cigarettes for what some believe to be a political move to keep the support from black voters - who are many times targeted by Big Tobacco.

The Justice Department this month called for easing restrictions on marijuana. This could lead to a major change in federal policy so stay posted on this topic.

In a pretty funny and unsuspected move, religious lobbying groups in New York are pushing for legalizing psilocybin, or “magic mushrooms” - as they are cited to be key to some religious experiences.

Climate and Environment

Now for climate and the environment, the E.P.A. or Environmental Protection Agency, has been pretty active this month.

First, they called for a complete removal of forever chemicals from tap water - where a new study found them to be pervasive in tap water worldwide. These chemicals belong to the chemical class PFAS and are linked to serious health problems, and their “forever” indestructible nature, doesn’t help.

The E.P.A. also passed new regulations to severely limit pollution from coal-burning power plants. This new regulation could make these plants ineffective and they might have to switch to a different form of energy altogether.

They also passed new regulation to curb pollution from chemical plants, with the goal of reducing the incidence of cancer for those that live near these plants. More than 200 chemical plants will be affected.

The US also passed legislature to limit toxic airborne silica from mining dust, which has been leading to an increase in black lungs. This will give significant protection to coal miners.

Moving on to climate change, a CDC study found that heat related ER visit rose in 2023. The severity, frequency, and duration of heat waves has increased in past years and is cited and one of the main reasons for the increase in ER visits.

On a global perspective, health hazards linked to climate change are said to affect 2.4 billion workers. The report by the International Labour Organization says that 70% of the workforce are exposed to climate change health hazards. They said that we lose 18,970 lives and 2.09 million disability-adjusted life years annually as a result of 22.87 million occupational injuries linked to excessive heat.

Global Health

Staying on the topic of global health, let’s talk about dengue because it’s plaguing South America. There have already been 3.5 million cases in Latin America in the first three months of 2024. Compare that to the total 4.5 million cases in all of 2023 and you can see that this is a growing concern. In Brazil, a public research institute has proved that a shot can protect against the virus but there aren’t funds or production standard to roll out the shot quickly enough to stop the outbreak.

Globally, cholera outbreaks have brought our stockpile of cholera vaccines to an end. 3 companies are rushing to produce more vaccines to replenish the stockpile but this issue will grow worse by the day as outbreaks become more and more common and the disease spreads. On a positive note, an easier to make version of the vaccine that is actually taken orally has been approved by the World Health Organization, which might be key in tackling these outbreaks.

Still on vaccines, Merck ran into a production problem, being able to provide only two thirds of the HPV shots they had promised in Africa, causing millions of girls to miss their HPV shots.

In global gender news, England just became the 5th European country to restrict hormone treatments for teens in gender treatment. They believe that “a medical pathway will not be the best way to manage their gender-related distress.”

Scotland joined England with similar restrictions a week after England’s report came out.

In Gaza, heat waves have made it hard for most businesses to operate. Many of these businesses are pharmacies. They don’t have the power to keep many medications in sustainable temperatures, so they cannot provide those medications at all.

Business

Moving on to the more business side of healthcare, Walmart is shutting down 51 of its health centers after having released plans that they were actually going to expand. This is an immediate response to healthcare costs, which have made the clinics too costly to be profitable for Walmart.

Pharmaceuticals and Drug Stores

In pharmaceuticals and drug stores, Novo Nordisk has become the most valuable company in all of Europe, with a market cap of over $570 billion, making it bigger than the entire Danish economy.

A Chinese company, WuXi Biologics, involved in the manufacturing of therapies for cancer, cystic fibrosis, HIV, and other illnesses in the US is under scrutiny by congress for potential national security breaches. Lawmakers say they could be putting our genetic information and intellectual property in danger.

For more positive news, we’ve made steps towards slowing the progression of Parkinson’s disease, which has seen 4 decades of very slow developments. Now, a group of French scientists may have found that a GLP-1 agonist, the same category of drugs as ozempic and wegovy. The phase 2 study showed that the drug could slow the progression of parkinson’s but it’s not enough yet to be definitive.

In other drugs, a newly approved treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis called Relyvrio will be taken off the market after phase 3 trials found it to be no better than a placebo. Amylyx Pharmaceuticals stock plummeted.

Weight Loss Drugs

Now, moving on to specifically weight loss drugs, supplement stores are trying to tap into the market, not by selling GLP-1 drugs, but by advertising products to help with “GLP1 side effects.” These marketed items help with things like muscle loss due to the weight loss caused by the GLP1 drugs, so they can market products such as protein powders and creatine to help with this.

As these drugs become more popular, more and more people complain about its price. Wegovy, which sits at $1,349.02 per month. Take it the whole year and that costs over $16,000. This month, Senator Bernie Sanders pressed Novo Nordisk to detail the pricing of the drug.

At the same time, these GLP-1 drugs are continuously being found to help with other health issues. A report by Eli Lilly said that Zepbound reduced sleep apnea in patients taking the drug. Another report by Novo Nordisk said that its drug Wegovy helped with heart failure patients with diabetes. It’ll be interesting to see if these are direct results of the drug or simply the outcome of the weight loss that these drugs cause, which for example, in this case, weight loss alone helps sleep apnea and heart failure patients.

Medical Devices, Biotech, and AI

Now, for medical devices, biotech, and AI, there has been some interesting news this month.

Starting off with AI, clinics in the US are offering patients a new service. For an additional fee, mammograms for breast cancer will not only be read by radiologists but also an AI models. Regular mammograms only detect 87% of breast cancer. Cases missed are usually in younger women or in women with denser breasts. Using the AI model can help radiologist do their work more efficiently and detect breast cancer cases that wouldn’t have been detected otherwise. Now we just gotta figure out who pays for these services. Should the patient or insurance company pay for it?

For more exciting news on AI, models are now being used for gene editing in the world of CRISPR cas9 technology. By analyzing enormous amounts of data, the model can create new sequences and versions of this gene editor.

Still on AI, the World Health Organization developed chatbot called Sarah to help with basic health education. You can speak to Sarah yourself on the WHO website but beware because turns out Sarah has been getting many medical questions wrong. Now let’s talk about Neko Health, a start-up co-founded by the CEO of Spotify, Daniel Ek. Being “adamant to fix” healthcare, Daniel’s company is full body scan that can help detect the early onset of many conditions that otherwise would be missed at a general health check-up. The scan costs $230 which is less than I expected it to costs. I look forward to seeing how the company performs, since there have been a few other whole body scanning start-ups so far as well. Medical professionals are still reluctant to recommend this since there isn’t yet evidence that these technologies can improve health outcomes. But should we really always wait for evidence that might take many years or will that hinder possible advancements? I think we especially gotta ask ourselves this question when there aren’t significant health concerns of such scan.

Now, back to the Philips CPAP device lawsuits that we’ve mentioned in healthcare news earlier this year, they have now settled the lawsuits for $1.1 billion. The lawsuits came from thousands of patients who said the device was harming them.

Health Insurance

Let’s change gears and talk about health insurance. Starting off with philanthropic efforts, a multimillion dollar nonprofit group called R.I.P. Medical Debt has helped Americans clear over $11 billion in medical debts. However, a sad new study found that paying off medical debts actually doesn’t improve people’s mental health or credit scores.

On Medicare Advantage Programs, where the government pays health insurers to provide a specific plan for Medicare patients, a new decision will cut funding of the program in 2025 because of the high costs of the program for the government. This was a significant hit to many health insurers, which get much of their revenues from Medicare.

Now for more data concerns, which we’ve been seeing these past few months, Kaiser Permanente said that their patients private health information may have been sent to tech giants such as Alphabet, Microsoft, and X.

Politics

Let’s finish off today’s episode with some political healthcare news.

In a Time interview, Trump repeatedly supported his earlier mention that abortion should be left up to states and that he does not plan to take national action on the issue, even if he has his personal opinions on it.

In his social media company, Trump also said this month in a video that he is not running to end Obamacare, or the Affordable Care Act, he is running to improve it. Or so he says: “We’re going to make the A.C.A. much better than it is right now and much less expensive for you.”

As for Biden, he’s continued to condemn any state decisions takes against abortion.

On a separate issue, President Biden and the Health and Human Services Department will expand protections for gay and transgender patients, reversing a Trump-era policy that gave ground for federally funded health providers and insurers to discriminate based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Xavier Becerra, the H.H.S. secretary said “Today’s rule is a giant step forward for this country toward a more equitable and inclusive health care system.” However, critics say that this might make doctors perform procedures that they are not comfortable with, and therefore is not in the best interest of the patient.

Outro

And with that, we come to the end of April 2024 healthcare news. If any news that I mentioned particularly interests you, feel free to shoot me a message on one of our social media platforms, and I would love to chat with you there. And once again, please leave your feedback so that we can work on making the show better, and don’t forget to rate the show on your podcast listening platform, that’s really important for us to keep pumping out quality content.

I’ll see you guys for another healthcare news episode next month. And for now, stay curious, stay informed, and most importantly, stay healthy.