Health & Veritas

Howie and Harlan are joined by Thomas Gill, a Yale geriatrician whose research tracks the factors that contribute to disability in older adults—and those that support continued independence. And they discuss the contrarian tapped to evaluate vaccines at the FDA, allegations of kickbacks against insurers, and the potential end of a loophole that has allowed states to collect additional Medicaid funding.  Links: Vinay Prasad at the FDA “Vinay Prasad tapped to run FDA center that regulates vaccines, gene therapies” “Vinay Prasad, in his own words, outlines the philosophy he’ll bring to the FDA” “Peter Marks, FDA’s top vaccine regulator, forced out” Howard Forman on LinkedIn on Vinay Prasad's Appointment Vinay Prasad's Substack Insurance News “Justice Department Sues Big Medicare Insurers Alleging Kickbacks” “Aetna to exit the ACA exchanges in 2026” “What Aetna quitting the exchanges says about the exchanges” ”CVS to boost access to Novo Nordisk’s weight loss treatment Wegovy for patients on its drug plans” Thomas Gill Statista: Share of old age population (65 years and older) in the total U.S. population from 1950 to 2050 Thomas Gill: “A physical activity intervention to treat the frailty syndrome in older persons-results from the LIFE-P study” Thomas Gill: “A Program to Prevent Functional Decline in Physically Frail, Elderly Persons Who Live at Home” “Prehabilitation for Patients Undergoing Orthopedic Surgery: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis” “Allostatic Load: Importance, Markers, and Score Determination in Minority and Disparity Populations” “Cohort Profile: The Precipitating Events Project (PEP Study)” “In Memoriam: Yale Expert in Clinical Research Methods, Alvan R. Feinstein” Medicaid Cuts “Putting $880 Billion in Potential Federal Medicaid Cuts in Context of State Budgets and Coverage” “Republicans are running out of ways to cut Medicaid as moderates and hard-liners clash” “G.O.P. Targets a Medicaid Loophole Used by 49 States to Grab Federal Money” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

Howie and Harlan are joined by Joel Bervell, a recent medical school graduate who uses social media platforms to combat misinformation and explain racial biases in healthcare. Harlan discusses his new Wall Street Journal commentary highlighting the link between viral infections and chronic diseases; Howie reports on powerful new evidence for the effectiveness of the HPV vaccine and warns of the dangers of a vaccine-skeptical presidential administration. Links: Viral Infection and Chronic Disease Harlan Krumholz: “How to Lead a Chronic Disease Revolution” “A natural experiment on the effect of herpes zoster vaccination on dementia” “Unexplained post-acute infection syndromes” Joel Bervell Joel Bervell Joel Bervell on TikTok Joel Bervell on Instagram “TikTok's 'Medical Mythbuster' Helps Save Lives By Tackling Racial & Gender Disparities In Healthcare” “How the pulse oximeter became infamous on TikTok” “Racial Bias in Pulse Oximetry Measurement” Joel Bervell’s TikTok on the pulse oximeter Joel Bervell: “The eGFR Equation” “Race Correction and the X-Ray Machine: The Controversy over Increased Radiation Doses for Black Americans in 1968” Joel Bervell: “For over 50 years, X-ray technicians were taught to administer higher radiation doses to Black patients” Joel Bervell’s Instagram reel on bias in the measurement of lung capacity Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die Joel Bervell on LinkedIn Joel Bervell on YouTube: The Doctor Is In Kickstarter: The Doctor Is In “Medical mythbuster Joel Bervell, MD, on how to teach kids about medicine and address misinformation” Cleveland Clinic: Amyloidosis Joel Bervel’s Instagram reel on the GFR equation “Abandoning a Race-biased Tool for Kidney Diagnosis” “OPTN Board approves elimination of race-based calculation for transplant candidate listing” “America’s News Influencers” “85th Annual Peabody Awards Announce Nominees for the Arts, Children’s/Youth, Entertainment, and Interactive & Immersive Categories Vaccines and the Federal Healthcare Agencies Health & Veritas Episode 165: “Aging in Bursts and Other News” “U.S. government researchers present ‘phenomenal’ new data on HPV vaccines” “Invasive cervical cancer incidence following bivalent human papillomavirus vaccination: a population-based observational study of age at immunization, dose, and deprivation” “Kennedy played key role in Gardasil vaccine case against Merck” “RFK Jr. suggests some vaccines are risky or ineffective, downplays measles threat” “FDA chief says they're looking at whether to approve COVID shots for next winter” “How Marty Makary’s FDA is embracing a more skeptical view of vaccines” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.  

Howie reflects on his decades-long experience with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation and the procedure that has changed his life. Howie and Harlan report on healthcare issues in the news, including the measles outbreak and a vision for a team of personal healthcare AI agents. And student research assistants Inès Gilles and Sophia Stumpf visit for a farewell interview. Links: Eric Topol: Ground Truths Eric Topol: Super Agers Harlan Krumholz: The Expert Guide to Beating Heart Disease: What You Absolutely Must Know Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation “What to know about paroxysmal atrial fibrillation” Joseph Akar, MD, PhD Mayo Clinic: Atrial fibrillation ablation “The True Cost of a Cardiac Ablation in the U.S.” AI Agents “The Four AI Agents of Your Health” “This A.I. Forecast Predicts Storms Ahead” Measles CDC: Measles Cases and Outbreaks “Measles Surge in Southwest Is Now the Largest Single Outbreak Since 2000” Mayo Clinic: History of Measles Food as Medicine “Cooking with the curriculum: a pilot culinary medicine program at the Larner College of Medicine” “Bringing Culinary Medicine to Yale’s New Teaching Kitchen” Bird Flu CDC: H5 Bird Flu: Current Situation “Vietnam reports H5N1 avian flu case with encephalitis” Exercise and Brain Waste “Long-term physical exercise facilitates putative glymphatic and meningeal lymphatic vessel flow in humans” “The brain makes a lot of waste. Now scientists think they know where it goes” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

Deepak D'Souza, the Vikram Sodhi ’92 Professor of Psychiatry at Yale, explains risks from highly potent cannabinoids and research on treating mental health conditions with psychedelics. Harlan reports on efforts to understand the neuroscience around artificial sweeteners. Howie highlights insights from a physician pay survey. Links: Artificial Sweeteners "WHO advises not to use non-sugar sweeteners for weight control in newly released guideline" "Non-caloric sweetener effects on brain appetite regulation in individuals across varying body weights" "Artificial sweetener found in diet drinks linked to brain changes that increase appetite, study finds" "Why One Cardiologist Has Drunk His Last Diet Soda" Cannabis "Marijuana: Rising THC Concentrations in Cannabis Can Pose Health Risks" "Cannabis and Driving" "CBD vs. THC: What's the Difference?" "The Psychotomimetic Effects of Intravenous Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol in Healthy Individuals: Implications for Psychosis" "Rapid Changes in CB1 Receptor Availability in Cannabis Dependent Males after Abstinence from Cannabis" "Cannabidiol (CBD): What we know and what we don't" "FDA Approves First Drug Comprised of an Active Ingredient Derived from Marijuana to Treat Rare, Severe Forms of Epilepsy" "Jacques Joseph Moreau (1804–1884)" "Cannabis and psychosis: revisiting a nineteenth century study of 'Indian Hemp and Insanity' in Colonial British India" "Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol effects in schizophrenia: implications for cognition, psychosis, and addiction" "The contribution of cannabis use to variation in the incidence of psychotic disorder across Europe (EU-GEI): a multicentre case-control study" "Association of Cannabis Use During Adolescence With Neurodevelopment" "The endocannabinoid system: Essential and mysterious" Dronabinol: MedlinePlus Dr. D’Souza "D’Souza named Vikram Sodhi Professor of Psychiatry" "CT Yale researcher gets $3 million chair to study DMT use for depression, PTSD" Physician Pay "Comparing Your Pay Against Your Peers’: Medscape Physician Compensation Report 2025" "Physician compensation rose 3.6% in 2024, but not all specialties got a raise" "Biggest Match Day ever: Here’s what the 2025 numbers reveal" "Ryan Schwarz: Thinking Differently about the Primary Care Crisis"   Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

Howie and Harlan welcome Evan Sussman, the CEO of Granata Bio, which aims to bring IVF and fertility drugs that have been proven in other markets to the United States. Harlan reports on Elon Musk’s Neuralink, which will test a technology to restore rudimentary sight to the blind; Howie tries to reconcile conflicting reports about the viability of the Medicare trust fund.  Links: Neuralink “Elon Musk announces Neuralink’s first human implant of Blindsight coming this year” “Musk's Neuralink gets FDA's breakthrough device tag for 'Blindsight' implant” “Elon Musk's Neuralink receives Canadian approval for brain chip trial” Forbes: Elon Musk Granata Bio Granata Bio  “Fertility treatment costs are out of reach for many Americans, even with insurance” “Acceptable cost for the patient and society” “Meeting the demand for fertility services: the present and future of reproductive endocrinology and infertility in the United States” RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association: Insurance Coverage by State “Politicians say health plans should cover IVF. Currently only 1 in 4 employers do” “Catching Up with Alumni: The Founders of Granata Bio” “IBSA Group and Granata Bio announces first patient screened in pivotal PROGRESS clinical trial of Progesterone-IBSA” “Women's Health Innovator Granata Bio Raises $14M Series A led by GV to Accelerate Fertility Biopharma Pipeline” “Women's Health Innovator Granata Bio Raises $15M Series A+ to Further Develop and Expand Reproductive Health Pipeline” “Trump signs executive order seeking to expand IVF access” The Medicare Trust Fund “The Long-Term Budget Outlook: 2025 to 2055” “Medicare gets a big (unofficial) surprise: a 17-year extension on when it’ll run dry” “CMS Finalizes 2026 Payment Policy Updates for Medicare Advantage and Part D Programs”  “Health Insurer Stocks Soar on Medicare Rate Boost” “Insurer-Level Estimates of Revenue From Differential Coding in Medicare Advantage” Medicare.gov: “How is Medicare funded?” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

Howie and Harlan are joined by Alexi Nazem, a Yale-trained internist who co-founded the healthcare staffing company Nomad Health and now leads healthcare investments at AlleyCorp. Harlan reports on new research from the American College of Cardiology meeting; Howie examines the consequences of vast staffing cuts in the federal healthcare infrastructure.  Links: Research from the American College of Cardiology Meeting “Semaglutide and walking capacity in people with symptomatic peripheral artery disease and type 2 diabetes (STRIDE): a phase 3b, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial” “Early Intra-Aortic Balloon Support for Heart Failure-Related Cardiogenic Shock: A Randomized Clinical Trial” “Extended Reduced-Dose Apixaban for Cancer-Associated Venous Thromboembolism” Alexi Nazem The Human Genome Project Institute for Healthcare Improvement “100,000 Lives Campaign: Ten Years Later” “Continuous Improvement as an Ideal in Health Care” “The Science of Improvement” Health & Veritas Episode 145: Max Laurans: An Entrepreneurial Life in Medicine Nomad Health Yale School of Management case study: “Nomad Health: The disruption of physician staffing services" “Staffing Marketplace Nomad Health Raises $105 Million As It Expands Beyond Travel Nurses” “America Is Running Out of Nurses” “Staffing Marketplace Nomad Health Lays Off 17% Of Workforce” “Why AI deals in healthcare have grown faster than other areas of tech — and what VCs are paying close attention to” Turmoil at Federal Health Agencies “Mass Layoffs Hit Health Agencies That Track Disease and Regulate Food” “The top FDA vaccine official is forced out, cites RFK Jr.'s 'misinformation and lies'“ “NIH cuts halt 24-year program to prevent HIV/AIDS in adolescents and young adults” “Princeton's US grants frozen, follows Trump actions against other schools” “Trump Administration Abruptly Cuts Billions From State Health Services” “Texas measles outbreak grows to 90 cases, worst level in 30 years” “As Trump pursues his policies, Democratic states block his path” “Proposed foreign aid cuts could lead to millions of HIV deaths, study estimates” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

Howie and Harlan are joined by Ryan Schwarz, a Yale-trained MD-MBA who oversees accountable care for the Massachusetts Medicaid program, to discuss new models for addressing the severe shortage of primary care doctors in the U.S. Harlan looks at the fallout from the bankruptcy of 23andMe; Howie reports on Match Day at Yale and medical schools around the country. Links: New Leadership “Senate Confirms Bhattacharya and Makary to H.H.S. Posts” “Keir Starmer Wants to Abolish N.H.S. England: What to Know About His Plan” 23andMe “23andMe Files for Bankruptcy Amid Concerns About Security of Customers’ Genetic Data” “Data Breach at 23andMe Affects 6.9 Million Profiles, Company Says” “23andMe user data targeting Ashkenazi Jews leaked online” “Attorney General Bonta Urgently Issues Consumer Alert for 23andMe Customers” U.S. Senate Bill S.5433: Genomic Data Protection Act Ryan Schwarz “The Health of US Primary Care: 2025 Scorecard Report—The Cost of Neglect” “Finger on the Pulse: The State of Primary Care in the U.S. and Nine Other Countries” Massachusetts Health Insurance Survey “Revisiting the Time Needed to Provide Adult Primary Care” “How Algorithms Could Improve Primary Care” Ryan Schwarz: “Primary Care Sub-capitation in Medicaid: Improving Care Delivery in the Safety Net” MassHealth Primary Care Sub-Capitation: Program Overview “The first community health centers: a model of enduring value” “Community Health Centers’ Progress and Challenges in Meeting Patients’ Essential Primary Care Needs” Match Day “Biggest Match Day ever: Here’s what the 2025 numbers reveal” “Yale School of Medicine Celebrates Match Day” Video: Match Day 2025: Winners & Losers Edition Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

Howie and Harlan are joined by Mark McLellan, a physician, economist, and longtime public servant, to discuss lessons learned from the COVID-19 response and the successes and failures of the healthcare payment innovations he helped to create. Harlan reports on a wave of illness caused by slushy drinks; Howie considers the merits of accelerated training for doctors. Links: The Dangers of Slushies “Glycerol intoxication syndrome in young children, following the consumption of slush ice drinks” Institute for Government: Sugar tax Mark McClellan Health economist Alan M. Garber, MD, PhD Mark McClellan: “Catheterization and Mortality in Elderly Patients With Acute Myocardial Infarction-Reply” Mark McClellan: “National Coronavirus Response: A Road Map to Reopening” “COVID-19 pandemic-related excess mortality and potential years of life lost in the U.S. and peer countries” “Medicare Should Put Its Dollars on Value, Says McClellan” “What Forced CMS to Terminate the MA Value-Based Insurance Design Model?” “How to Create Incentives for Improvement” Accelerating Med School “Outcomes of Accelerated 3-Year MD Graduates at NYU Grossman School of Medicine During Medical School and Early Residency” “Three-Year Medical School Has Benefits, Ethicist Says” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

Howie and Harlan check in on health issues in the news, including the big bet that went wrong for Walgreens, prohibited words at federal health agencies, the weaknesses of a much-discussed study suggesting that people age in bursts, and the long-term impact of the HPV vaccine.  Links: Walgreens “Walgreens to Be Bought by Private Equity Firm in $10 Billion Deal” “Walgreens is heading down a risky path” “Walgreens to Be Acquired by Sycamore Partners: Where Did the Retail Giant Go Wrong?” “Amazon, CVS, and Walgreens went all in on primary care. Their bets are bleeding money.” Cuts to the ACA “Trump administration plans to restrict Obamacare enrollment period” “DACA recipients worry about being ensnared in Trump's immigration crackdown” Medicaid “Cutting Medicaid?” “WATCH: Dr. Jay Bhattacharya testifies at Senate confirmation hearing for NIH director” “‘Wrong,’ ‘misleading,’ and ‘reasonable’: How Jay Bhattacharya became, for some, the least bad option to run NIH” “The Debate Over Federal Medicaid Cuts: Perspectives of Medicaid Enrollees Who Voted for President Trump and Vice President Harris” “Medicaid’s True Improper Payments Double Those Reported by CMS” “Hundreds of Billions in Medicaid Savings from Financing Schemes” Prohibited Words “C.D.C. Suggests Terms Like ‘Race’ and ‘Health Equity’ Are Off-Limits, Then Backtracks” “For Google, health equity becomes ‘health optimization’ as Trump targets DEI” Aging “Do We Age Steadily, or in Bursts?” “Nonlinear dynamics of multi-omics profiles during human aging” “What does it take to be a super-ager?” The HPV Vaccine “Trends in Cervical Precancers Identified Through Population-Based Surveillance — Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Impact Monitoring Project, Five Sites, United States, 2008–2022” “People Have Been Having Less Sex—whether They’re Teenagers or 40-Somethings” “RFK Jr. says he’ll stop collecting fees from HPV vaccine lawsuit, but other ethics questions remain” Norovirus “An oral norovirus vaccine tablet was safe and elicited mucosal immunity in older adults in a phase 1b clinical trial” “How to Prevent Norovirus” The Measles Outbreak CDC: Expanding Measles Outbreak in the United States and Guidance for the Upcoming Travel Season “Texas measles cases grow to 223, mostly among children and teens” “West Texas measles outbreak expands to three states” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

Howie and Harlan are joined by Yale neonatologist Sarah Taylor to discuss our growing understanding of breastfeeding, including the active role that infants play in shaping the composition of breast milk. Harlan discusses the rapid growth of Hims & Hers Health, which provides treatment and medication over the internet; Howie reports on the promising initial results from a pilot program in North Carolina that seeks to reduce healthcare costs by providing support in non-medical areas like food security and housing.  Links: Hims & Hers “Why Hims & Hers Stock Has Further to Fall: Heard on the Street” “Hims & Hers Super Bowl Spot Draws Drug-Industry Backlash” “Why We Don’t Trust Doctors Like We Used To” Breastfeeding Sarah Taylor and Howard Forman: “No such thing as a free lunch: The direct marginal costs of breastfeeding” Sarah Taylor: “Infant factors that impact the ecology of human milk secretion and composition—a report from ‘Breastmilk Ecology: Genesis of Infant Nutrition (BEGIN)’ Working Group 3” Sarah Taylor: ”Parent and grandparent neonatal intensive care unit visitation for preterm infants” Sarah Taylor: “Quantifying the Association between Pump Use and Breastfeeding Duration” The North Carolina Healthy Opportunities Pilot Program “Reflecting on Nearly Two Years of North Carolina’s Healthy Opportunities Pilots” Health & Veritas, Episode 97: Mallika Mendu: Improving Operations “Medicaid Spending and Health-Related Social Needs in the North Carolina Healthy Opportunities Pilots Program” Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.