Health & Veritas

Howie and Harlan are joined by geneticist and endocrinologist Joel Hirschhorn to discuss how thousands of genetic variants collectively shape disease and traits like height and obesity. Harlan reviews new research on diet soda and dementia; Howie surveys recent market swings, including the rise of Solace Health and the decline of Hims & Hers. Show notes: Diet Soda and Dementia "Soda consumption and risk of dementia: The Northern Manhattan study"  "Why One Cardiologist Has Drunk His Last Diet Soda" Joel Hirschhorn National Human Genome Research Institute: Mendelian Inheritance MedlinePlus: FGFR3 gene  Cleveland Clinic: Achondroplasia National Human Genome Research: Polygenic Trait  Hirschhorn Lab "A saturated map of common genetic variants associated with human height"  "What are single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)?" ScienceDirect: Genetic Variant Joel Hirschhorn: "Genome-Wide Association Study of Quantitative Kidney Function in 52,531 Individuals with Diabetes Identifies Five Diabetes-Specific Loci" Joel Hirschhorn: "Polygenic prediction of body mass index and obesity through the life course and across ancestries" "Obesity Prediction Could Be Guided by Genetic Risk Scores" "Genome-wide association study shows BCL11A associated with persistent fetal hemoglobin and amelioration of the phenotype of β-thalassemia"  Society for Science: Noam Elkies MIT: Eric S. Lander Ups and Downs "Understanding Creative Destruction: Driving Innovation and Economic Change" "Solace Health raises $130M series C for advocacy platform" "Molina Healthcare's stocks fall as company plans exit from Medicare Advantage"  "Centene swings to loss but predicts stabilization in 2026" "UnitedHealth limps into 2026 with a smaller business and fresh challenges" "Hims & Hers Falls 14% After Pulling Copycat Wegovy Pill—Novo Nordisk Up 8%"  "Compounding and the FDA: Questions and Answers" In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time. Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

Howie and Harlan discuss an escalating measles outbreak in the U.S. and a project piloted by Yale School of Medicine professor Erica Spatz to deliver preventative care in barbershops and beauty salons. Also examined: flu season, nipah virus, and the perils of focusing on healthcare business models. Show notes:  Measles CDC: Measles Outbreak Associated with an Infectious Traveler—Colorado, May–June 2025 CDC: Measles Cases and Outbreaks Snohomish County Health Department: Snohomish County Confirms Three New Measles Cases "Measles in an ICE facility is a public health failure" Value-Based Care "Value-Based Care: What It Is, and Why It's Needed" "Supporting Value-Based Health Care—Aligning Financial and Legal Accountability" American Hospital Association: 3 Ways AI Can Improve Revenue-Cycle Management Preventative Cardiology Yale School of Medicine: Erica Spatz, MD, MHS Pressure Check Marketplace Health Insurance Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services: Marketplace 2026 Open Enrollment Period Report: National Snapshot Respiratory Illness CDC: Weekly US Influenza Surveillance Report: Key Updates for Week 3, ending January 24, 2026 "After 3-week decline, flu cases rise across the US; RSV, COVID activity high in certain states" Nipah Virus CDC: About Nipah Virus WHO: Nipah virus infection—India In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time. Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

Howie and Harlan are joined by internist and author Robert Wachter to discuss his new book, which explores how AI is already changing day-to-day medical practice and argues that it can improve care, reduce burnout, and even help repair a broken healthcare system. Show notes: Robert Wachter: A Giant Leap: How AI Is Transforming Healthcare and What That Means for Our Future Robert Wachter: The Digital Doctor: Hope, Hype, and Harm at the Dawn of Medicine's Computer Age Robert Wachter: "Pattern Recognition" "AI Prognosis: Readers' predictions for health AI in 2026. What's on your bingo card?" Robert Wachter: "Will The AI Jobpocalypse Hit Healthcare?" Video: Geoff Hinton on deep learning and radiology "Call me Dr Ishmael: trends in electronic health record notes available at emergency department visits and admissions" "OpenAI launches ChatGPT Health to connect user medical records, wellness apps" "Utah launches first-in-the-nation trial that lets AI renew your prescription" Robert Wachter: "Will AI Rescue Primary Care?" "We found what you're asking ChatGPT about health. A doctor scored its answers." Robert Wachter: "We Need Medical AI for Patients" Robert Wachter: "Medicine's AI Knowledge War Heats Up"  Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Medical Education: Proceedings and Recommendations Robert Wachter: Deskilling and Healthcare AI" "Are A.I. Tools Making Doctors Worse at Their Jobs?" "The Robot Doctor Will See You Now" Atul Gawande: "Personal Best" In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time. Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

Howie and Harlan are joined by Mary-Ann Etiebet of the public health organization Vital Strategies to discuss how policy, prevention, and stronger public-health systems can reduce the global burden of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and other preventable conditions. Harlan reports on the federal push toward fully autonomous clinical care for heart failure; Howie looks at proposed cuts to Medicare Advantage payments and what they mean for beneficiaries, plans, and taxpayers. Show notes: Autonomous Care SAM.gov: Agentic AI-EnableD CardioVascular CAre TransfOrmation (ADVOCATE) Proposers' Day Special Notice  "ARPA-H to revolutionize cardiovascular disease management with clinical agentic AI"  ARPA-H: Agentic AI-Enabled Cardiovascular Care Transformation  Mary-Ann Etiebet Health & Veritas Episode 7: Dr. Mary-Ann Etiebet: Saving Mothers' Lives  Vital Strategies  WHO: Noncommunicable diseases WHO: Global NCD Compact 2020–2030 "Health Taxes Are a Triple Win for African Countries—New Brief From Vital Strategies and Partners Provides Strategy" Mary-Ann Etiebet: "Using Health Taxes to Promote Public Good"  "'Historic Public Health Victory': Vital Strategies Applauds Brazil's Approval of Selective Tax on Tobacco, Soft Drinks, and Alcohol" Vital Strategies: Partners WHO: Civil registration and vital statistics  HHS: United States Completes WHO Withdrawal WHO statement on notification of withdrawal of the United States Medicare Advantage Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services: "CMS Proposes 2027 Medicare Advantage and Part D Payment Policies to Improve Payment Accuracy and Sustainability" "Medicare Advantage in 2025: Enrollment Update and Key Trends" "Trump administration signals there's widespread desire to curb Medicare Advantage"  "Medicare Rates Shock Sparks $100 Billion Selloff in Insurers" In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time. Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

Howie and Harlan are joined by health policy writer Jonathan Cohn to discuss the RFK Jr. food agenda, the barriers to universal healthcare in the U.S., and working alongside former political adversaries at The Bulwark. Harlan reports on a lawsuit exposing gaps in the privacy of medical-records systems; Howie highlights new research suggesting that a sharp drop in opioid overdose deaths may be temporary. Show notes: Data Privacy "Epic's lawsuit against Health Gorilla raises broader issues about the future of data sharing, industry executives say" The Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement Jonathan Cohn The Bulwark The Bulwark: The Breakdown Jonathan Cohn: "The Real Story Behind the Minnesota Welfare Fraud Scandal" Jonathan Cohn: "How Somalis Became the New 'Welfare Queens'" FDA: Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) Advertisements FDA: Unique Device Identifiers Jonathan Cohn: "Trump's Assault on Health Care, Seen from a Country That Does Health Care Better" Jonathan Cohn: Sick: The Untold Story of America's Health Care Crisis—and the People Who Pay the Price Jonathan Cohn: "Michelle Obama Will Be Accepting Your Apologies Now"  "RFK Jr.'s new dietary guidelines go all in on meat and dairy"  Opioid Deaths CDC: Provisional Drug Overdose Death Counts  "Did the illicit fentanyl trade experience a supply shock?" In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time. Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions. 

Howie and Harlan are joined by health law and policy expert Sara Rosenbaum to discuss how incremental reform expanded healthcare access—and the urgent work now underway to prevent those gains from being undone. Harlan explores how AI is quietly filling gaps in the healthcare system; Howie highlights a milestone in the prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission. Show notes: AI as a Healthcare Tool OpenAI: "AI as a Healthcare Ally" "Cost Leads Americans' Top-of-Mind Healthcare Concerns" "Physician sentiments around the use of AI in health care: motivations, opportunities, risks, and use cases" OpenAI: Introducing ChatGPT Health Sara Rosenbaum "The Policy Entrepreneur" KFF: Children's Health Insurance Timeline Sara Rosenbaum: "A 'Shift in Kind': A Medicaid Work Requirement Would Radically Change Health Policy" Sara Rosenbaum: "Implementing Medicaid Work Reporting Requirements: Defining A 'Serious Or Complex Medical Condition'" Sara Rosenbaum: "Who's Affected by Medicaid Work Requirements? It's Not Who You Think" "South Carolina reports 124 new measles cases as outbreak grows" "Medical Groups Will Try to Block Childhood Vaccine Recommendations" CDC: About the Vaccines for Children (VFC) Program Sara Rosenbaum: "A Twenty-First Century Vaccines For Children Program" Sara Rosenbaum: "Nearly 5.6 Million Community Health Center Patients Could Lose Medicaid Coverage Under New Work Requirements, with Revenue Losses Up to $32 Billion" Sara Rosenbaum: "How Medicaid Built Community Health Centers and Health Centers Returned The Favor" KFF: 5 Key Facts About Medicaid and Provider Taxes "How New Limits on State Provider Taxes Will Affect Medicaid Funding" Preventing Mother-to-Child Infection "WHO validates Brazil for eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV" Health & Veritas Episode 178: Sarah DeSilvey: Creating Space for Healing "Why Syphilis Cases in Newborns Are Rising Even as STIs Decline" In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time. Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

In this bonus episode, Howie and Harlan are joined by Ania Jastreboff, a Yale School of Medicine endocrinologist and an expert on the science of obesity. They discuss her new book, co-authored with Oprah Winfrey, which reframes obesity as a treatable disease rooted in biology—not a failure of willpower. Show notes: Ania Jastreboff and Oprah Winfrey: Enough: Your Health, Your Weight, and What It's Like To Be Free Yale Obesity Research Center (Y-Weight) The Oprah Podcast: "Oprah and Yale Researcher Break Down How Weight Loss Drugs Affect the Brain" The Oprah Podcast: "Oprah and Dr. Ania Jastreboff on How People Treat You Differently After Weight Loss" Ania Jastreboff: "Tirzepatide for Obesity Treatment and Diabetes Prevention" Ania Jastreboff: "Once-Monthly Maridebart Cafraglutide for the Treatment of Obesity — A Phase 2 Trial" Mayo Clinic: Semaglutide (oral route) Eli Lilly: What to know about orforglipron: An investigational oral GLP-1 "CagriSema for Weight Loss: Study Results, Availability, and How Other GLP-1s Compare" Eli Lilly: What to know about eloralintide: An investigational amylin receptor agonist injection Cleveland Clinic: "Should You Microdose GLP-1 Drugs?" In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time. Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

Julie Rovner, chief Washington correspondent for KFF Health News, joins Howie and Harlan to make sense of the fight over ACA subsidies and reflect on her decades of health policy reporting. Harlan reports on a new wave of breakthroughs in obesity treatment; Howie provides updates on the measles outbreak and a record-setting flu season. Show notes: Obesity treatments "Lilly's triple agonist, retatrutide, delivered weight loss of up to an average of 71.2 lbs along with substantial relief from osteoarthritis pain in first successful Phase 3 trial" "Arrowhead's gene-silencing drugs cut fat in early obesity studies" "Novo launches Wegovy weight-loss pill for sale in US" "Older Americans Quit Weight-Loss Drugs in Droves" Julie Rovner What the Health? podcast What the Health? podcast: "Time's Up for Expanded ACA Tax Credits" What the Health? podcast: "What Do Republicans Really Want on Health Care?" "Trump wants GOP's flexibility on Hyde Amendment" Congressional Research Service: The Hyde Amendment Healthcare.gov: Health Savings Accounts "Republicans unveil health care plan to counter Democratic effort to extend ACA subsidies" 119th Congress: H.R.1 KFF: "The Impact of H.R. 1 on Two Medicaid Eligibility Rules" KFF: "Implementation Dates for 2025 Budget Reconciliation Law" KFF: "Health Care Costs and Affordability" Flu and Measles CDC: Weekly US Influenza Surveillance Report "Flu cases, hospitalizations are rising sharply in CT" Connecticut Department of Public Health: Weekly Respiratory Viral Disease Report CDC: Measles Cases and Outbreaks CDC: Vaccination Coverage and Exemptions among Kindergartners
 In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time. Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

In a bonus episode, Howie and Harlan welcome oncologist, bioethicist, and public health expert Ezekiel Emanuel to discuss his new book, which counters the wellness industry by offering simple, evidence-based guidelines for health.  Show notes: Ezekiel Emanuel: Eat Your Ice Cream: Six Simple Rules for a Long and Healthy Life "Loneliness and social isolation as risk factors for mortality: a meta-analytic review" "How Social Isolation Is Killing Us" "Is Full-Fat Dairy Healthier?". "High- and Low-Fat Dairy Consumption and Long-Term Risk of Dementia: Evidence From a 25-Year Prospective Cohort Study" "Milk and Health" Ezekiel Emanuel: "I'm a Harvard-trained oncologist: 6 nutrition myths I wish would die—the 'answer to a longer life is so simple'" "This Test Might Be the Best Way to Track Fitness and Longevity" Health & Veritas Episode 200: An Ongoing Conversation about Health and Healthcare Ezekiel Emanuel: Why You Should Skip Dry January U.S. Surgeon General Advisory: Alcohol and Cancer Risk U.S. Surgeon General Advisory: Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation U.S. Surgeon General Advisory: Protecting Youth Mental Health "The Changing Public Image of Smoking in the United States: 1964–2014" "Tobacco taxes as a tobacco control strategy" "Celebrities Are Making Smoking Cigarettes Cool Again" In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time. Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

In the 200th episode of Health & Veritas, Harlan offers end-of-the-year reflections on medicine drawn from his editor's notes in JACC (the Journal of the American College of Cardiology), and Howie provides updates on gun violence, flu, measles, and the health benefits of yoga. Show notes: Editor's notes by Harlan Krumholz "The Day I Became a Doctor" "When Your Patient Dies" "Rethinking Physician Certification: A Call for a Modern, Meaningful Standard" Gun violence, flu, and measles "Mass shootings outnumber annual days in U.S., children are missing school due to measles, Covid-19 is peeping around the corner, and some hope" "Measles outbreaks worsen in South Carolina, Arizona and Utah" "Connecticut reports first measles case in years" "New Flu Variant May Be Triggering Spike in Severe Disease" "High-Dose Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness against Hospitalization in Older Adults" "Pfizer Reaffirms Full-Year 2025 EPS Guidance and Provides Full-Year 2026 Guidance" The benefits of yoga "Yoga for chronic non‐specific low back pain" "Yoga-based interventions may reduce anxiety symptoms in anxiety disorders and depression symptoms in depressive disorders: a systematic review with meta-analysis and meta-regression" "Effect of Yoga on Frailty in Older Adults" "Yoga in autoimmune disorders: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials" "Long-term effects of yoga-based practices on neural, cognitive, psychological, and physiological outcomes in adults: a scoping review and evidence map" "Yoga isn't just for flexibility. It may also protect brain health." In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time. Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

Howie and Harlan are joined by Basmah Safdar, a Yale School of Medicine emergency physician and an expert on sex-specific differences in cardiovascular and microvascular health, which have important implications for the understanding and treatment of heart attacks, long COVID, and other conditions. Harlan reports on Australia's ban on social media for kids, and a Medicare pilot program that will pay providers based on improved outcomes in chronic conditions. Howie unpacks the consequences of the CDC's change to its recommendations for newborn hepatitis B vaccination. Show notes: Social Media and Kids "Australia's Social Media Ban for Children Takes Effect" Health & Veritas Episode 197: Peter Hotez: Mapping the Anti-Science Machine Medicare's ACCESS Payment Model CMS: ACCESS (Advancing Chronic Care with Effective, Scalable Solutions) Model Basmah Safdar "Medical School Enrollment Reaches 100,000 Students for the First Time" Health & Veritas: Episode 176: Live at the Yale Innovation Summit 2025 "Myocardial ischemia in women: lessons from the NHLBI WISE study" "Sex Differences in COVID-19 Immune Responses Affect Patient Outcomes" "Scientists unravel mystery of sex disparities in COVID-19 outcomes" Health & Veritas Episode 192: Akiko Iwasaki: What Have We Learned About Long COVID? "Basmah Safdar, MD, FACEP, Appointed Director, Women's Health Research at Yale (WHRY)" Women's Health Research at Yale "Women's Health Research at Yale: The Prologue" "History of Women's Participation in Clinical Research" "Policy: NIH to balance sex in cell and animal studies" "Heart attack symptoms often misinterpreted in younger women" Harlan Krumholz: "Sex Difference in Outcomes of Acute Myocardial Infarction in Young Patients" "Women's Health: More Than 'Bikini Medicine'" "Celebrating Carolyn Mazure" "Women's Health Research at Yale: Our Research"  "Current Status of Gender and Racial/Ethnic Disparities Among Academic Emergency Medicine Physicians" "New Women's Health Fund of Funds Launches to Activate $60B in Life Sciences Capital" "Closing the women's health gap: A $1 trillion opportunity to improve lives and economies" "Blueprint to close the women's health gap: How to improve lives and economies for all" "Gates Foundation pledges $2.5 billion to women's health initiatives" "Milken Institute Launches New Women's Health Network, Former First Lady Jill Biden Joins as its Chair" Women's Health Research at Yale: Pilot Project Program Funding Note: Deadline is December 22. Women's Health Research at Yale: Collaborative CDC and Hepatitis B "Panel Votes to Stop Recommending Hepatitis B Shots at Birth for Most Newborns" CDC: Hepatitis B Vaccine Safety WHO: Hepatitis B "New review finds no evidence to support delaying universal hepatitis B birth-dose vaccination" In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time. Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

Howie and Harlan are joined by Sudhakar Nuti to discuss his work improving healthcare for homeless New Yorkers, as a street-medicine doctor and a population-health leader at NYC Health + Hospitals. Harlan reports on a proposed law that would cut off funding for U.S. scientists who collaborate with colleagues in China; Howie provides updates on the measles outbreak and a leaked FDA memo claiming that COVID-19 vaccines have killed 10 children. Show notes: Science Across Borders Subtitle C—SAFE Research Act "U.S. Congress considers sweeping ban on Chinese collaborations" Sudhakar Nuti NYC Health + Hospitals Street Medicine Institute "Health Care beyond Clinic Walls—Sustaining and Scaling Up Street Medicine" NYC Health + Hospitals: Street Health Outreach & Wellness Mobile Units "Graduate and professional students tackle food insecurity" California Depart of Public Health: Xylazine Measles CDC: Measles Cases and Outbreaks "Tracking U.S. Measles Outbreaks" World Health Organization: Weekly Epidemiological Record, 2025, vol. 100, no. 48 "Winning against measles: five charts that tell a remarkable 24-year story" "Measles deaths down 88% since 2000, but cases surge" FDA Leak "Experts say top FDA official's claim that Covid vaccines caused kids' deaths requires more evidence" "FDA's Prasad tells staffers agency plans to get tougher on vaccine regulation, blames child deaths on COVID shots" "Thoughts on Vinay Prasad's Leaked Email" "Myocarditis Cases Reported After mRNA-Based COVID-19 Vaccination in the US From December 2020 to August 2021" "Fulminant Myocarditis and Cardiogenic Shock Following COVID-19 Infection Versus COVID-19 Vaccination: A Systematic Literature Review" In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time. Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.  

Howie and Harlan are joined by Peter Hotez, a vaccine expert and an outspoken opponent of health misinformation, to discuss vaccine skepticism and the forces—from wellness influencers to HHS secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—that amplify it. Harlan reports on research reinforcing the link between social media and mental illness; Howie highlights two potential areas of common ground with the administration's health policy.  Show notes: Social Media and Mental Health "Social Media Detox and Youth Mental Health" "Study Finds Mental Health Benefit to One-Week Social Media Break" Peter Hotez Peter Hotez: Science Under Siege: How to Fight the Five Most Powerful Forces That Threaten Our World Peter Hotez: Vaccines Did Not Cause Rachel's Autism: My Journey as a Vaccine Scientist, Pediatrician, and Autism Dad "Scientist pressured by Musk and Rogan to debate RFK Jr over anti-vaccine misinformation says he won't be part of 'Jerry Springer' show" Peter Hotez on X "Kennedy Says He Told C.D.C. to Change Website's Language on Autism and Vaccines" "Wakefield's article linking MMR vaccine and autism was fraudulent" "Four vaccine myths and where they came from" "Large-Scale Exome Sequencing Study Implicates Both Developmental and Functional Changes in the Neurobiology of Autism" "Risk of Autism after Prenatal Topiramate, Valproate, or Lamotrigine Exposure" "Data investigation: Childhood vaccination rates are backsliding across the U.S." "South Carolina's Measles Outbreak Shows Chilling Effect of Vaccine Misinformation" "How a measles outbreak overwhelmed a small West Texas town" "How polio came back to New York for the first time in decades, silently spread and left a patient paralyzed" "Third infant in Kentucky dies of whooping cough as national cases stay high for second year in a row" "Kennedy minimizes measles outbreak in wake of Texas death" "RFK Jr. claims 'leaky' measles vaccine wanes over time. Scientists say he's wrong." "RFK Jr. claims measles can be treated with vitamin A, linked to poor diet. Here's what science says" "The Surprise Ending to the Trump-Mamdani Buddy Movie Has Heads Spinning" "Operation Warp Speed was one of Trump's biggest achievements. Then came RFK Jr. and vaccine skeptics" Health & Veritas Episode 196: The Cost Curve, Flu, and Other News "Weaponized Health Communication: Twitter Bots and Russian Trolls Amplify the Vaccine Debate" ACA Subsidies "Trump was going to roll out a health care plan. Then Republicans weighed in." "Trump Is Considering a Push to Extend Obamacare Subsidies" Site-Neutral Payment "The Trump Administration Moves Forward with Medicare Site-Neutral Payment Reform" "Five Things to Know About Medicare Site-Neutral Payment Reforms" In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time. Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

Howie and Harlan discuss the outlook for U.S. healthcare spending over the next five years, the state of seasonal and avian flu, and an expensive AI-based cardiac test.  Show notes: Life expectancy and expenditures "How does U.S. life expectancy compare to other countries?" ACOs and cost savings "After Fifteen Years, is Value-Based Care Succeeding?" Health & Veritas Episode 115: Farzad Mostashari: Aligning Incentives to Fix Primary Care World Prematurity Day WHO: World Prematurity Day 2025 WHO: World Prematurity Day Key Messages WHO: Preterm birth AI concerns "'It keeps me awake at night': machine-learning pioneer on AI's threat to humanity" "Why neural net pioneer Geoffrey Hinton is sounding the alarm on AI" "AI pioneer: 'The dangers of abuse are very real'" "'Malicious use is already happening': machine-learning pioneer on making AI safer" "Fathers of the Deep Learning Revolution Receive ACM A.M. Turing Award" "Deep learning" Bird flu "First U.S. case of human bird flu in 9 months confirmed in Washington state" Cleveland Clinic: Bird Flu (Avian Influenza) "Flu in numbers: NHS faces one of worst winters ever, officials warn, amid concern over mutated strain" "New flu virus mutation could see 'worst season in a decade'" "Australia posts record-breaking flu numbers as vaccination rates stall"  FDA: Influenza Vaccine Composition for the 2025-2026 U.S. Influenza Season Cardiology and AI "Coronary CT angiography evaluation with artificial intelligence for individualized medical treatment of atherosclerosis: a Consensus Statement from the QCI Study Group" "Medicare will pay more than $1,000 for AI to analyze a heart scan. Is that too much?" Free speech and drug promotion "High-Engagement Social Media Posts Related to Prescription Drug Promotion for 3 Major Drug Classes" Health & Veritas Episode 195: Jerry Avorn: Countering the Drug Marketing Machine Medicare premiums "Medicare premiums to jump 10% heading into 2026" "Social Security Announces 2.8 Percent Benefit Increase for 2026" Centers for Medicare and Medicaid: 2026 Medicare Parts A & B Premiums and Deductibles In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time. Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

Howie and Harlan are joined by Harvard internist Jerry Avorn to discuss his research on the pharmaceutical industry and his work promoting evidence-based prescribing. Harlan highlights new results from the American Heart Association meeting, including a one-time CRISPR-based therapy for high cholesterol; Howie reports on an outbreak of infant botulism. Show notes: Research from the American Heart Association Meeting "Phase 1 Trial of CRISPR-Cas9 Gene Editing Targeting ANGPTL3" "First-in-human trial of CRISPR gene-editing therapy safely lowered cholesterol, triglycerides" "Cardiac Allograft Vasculopathy Inhibition with Alirocumab: The CAVIAR Trial" "PCSK9 medication plus statin may help lower cholesterol after heart transplant" "Investigational daily pill lowered bad cholesterol as much as injectables" Jerry Avorn Science Direct: Academic Detailing Jerry Avorn: "Principles of Educational Outreach ('Academic Detailing') to Improve Clinical Decision Making" Alosa Health FDA: Accelerated Approval Jerry Avorn: Rethinking Medications: Truth, Power, and the Drugs You Take FDA: Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) Advertisements H.R.5952 - Prescription Drug User Fee Act of 1992 FDA: FY 2025 FDA Budget Summary Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services: Open Payments  H.R.3590 - Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act "Aducanumab Discontinued as an Alzheimer's Treatment" FDA: ELEVIDYS Brigham and Women's Hospital & Harvard Medical School: Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics Amazon.com: Featured comments on Rethinking Medications Infant Botulism California Department of Public Health: "Outbreak of Infant Botulism Linked to ByHeart Infant Formula" California Department of Public Health: Infant Botulism Treatment and Prevention Program CDC: "Infant Botulism Outbreak Linked to Infant Formula, November 2025" "ByHeart recalls all baby formula sold nationwide as infant botulism outbreak grows" California Department of Public Health: What is BabyBIG? California Department of Public Health: Postponement of BabyBIG Fee Increase California Department Of Public Health: Invoice and Purchase Agreement for BabyBIG In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time. Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.  

Howie and Harlan are joined by cardiologist Ali Rahimi, the founder of ALYKA Health, which uses a personalized mobile app to help patients manage their heart health between doctor's visits. Harlan discusses new developments in GLP-1 obesity drugs, including untested microdose treatments; Howie reviews a landmark study investigating whether broad prostate cancer screening saves lives. Show notes: GLP-1 Drugs "Microdosing aims to extend the lifespan of the GLP-1 compounding market" NIH: Regulatory Framework for Compounded Preparations Health & Veritas Episode 140: Lee Schwamm: Smarter Healthcare Systems With AI "FDA takes on GLP-1 compounding boom with warnings about misleading marketing" "Should You Microdose GLP-1 Drugs?" "How microdosing GLP-1 drugs became a longevity 'craze'" "Bidding war between Pfizer, Novo Nordisk for obesity startup Metsera escalates" "Trump Negotiating Deal With Ozempic Maker to Sell Some Weight-Loss Drugs for $149""Orforglipron, an Oral Small-Molecule GLP-1 Receptor Agonist for Obesity Treatment" "How Ozempic's Maker Lost Its Shine After Creating a Wonder Drug" Ali Rahimi ALYKA Health Harlan Krumholz and Ali Rahimi, "Financial Barriers to Health Care and Outcomes After Acute Myocardial Infarction" "Why High Blood Pressure Matters to Your Health" Building a Better Delivery System: A New Engineering/Health Care Partnership NIH: The 21st Century Cures Act New Evidence on Prostate Cancer Screening and Breast Cancer Treatment National Cancer Institute: Cancer Stat Facts: Prostate Cancer" U.S. Preventive Services Task Force: Prostate Cancer: Screening" "The pros and cons of PSA tests for prostate cancer for midlife and older men" "Share on European Study of Prostate Cancer Screening — 23-Year Follow-up" "Early Detection of Prostate Cancer — Time to Fish or Cut Bait" "Ten-Year Survival after Postmastectomy Chest-Wall Irradiation in Breast Cancer" "Omission of Chest-Wall Irradiation after Mastectomy for Breast Cancer" In the Yale School of Management's MBA for Executives program, you'll get a full MBA education in 22 months while applying new skills to your organization in real time. Yale's Executive Master of Public Health offers a rigorous public health education for working professionals, with the flexibility of evening online classes alongside three on-campus trainings. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.  

Howie and Harlan are joined by Nate Wood, a Yale School of Medicine internist and trained chef, to discuss his work combining lifestyle guidance with hands-on training in making healthy, tasty food. Harlan shares new guidance on what counts as a healthy blood pressure; Howie provides an update on rising health insurance costs. Links: Blood Pressure Harlan Krumholz, "Severe Hypertension: The Next Never Event" JACC: 2025 High Blood Pressure Guidelines Resources "Trial of Intensive Blood-Pressure Control in Older Patients with Hypertension" Obesity Drugs "Semaglutide and Tirzepatide for Obesity: Effectiveness and Value" "Institute for Clinical and Economic Review Publishes Evidence Report on Treatments for Obesity" Harlan Krumholz and Jason Abaluck, "Changes in Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Health Care Expenditures Among Patients Prescribed Semaglutide" Culinary Medicine "Culinary Medicine: The Secret Ingredient to Good Health" American College of Lifestyle Medicine "How each lifestyle medicine pillar supports good nutrition" Dr. John La Puma "What to know about 'hyperpalatable' foods" Food is Medicine Coalition: Our Model American Academy of Family Physicians: Shared Medical Appointments/Group Visits Cleveland Clinic: GLP-1 Agonists Yale New Haven Hospital: Irving and Alice Brown Teaching Kitchen "Bringing Culinary Medicine to Yale's New Teaching Kitchen" Dr. Nate Wood Nate Wood on Instagram Health Insurance Costs Kaiser Family Foundation: 2025 Employer Health Benefits Survey "Health Benefits In 2025: Family Premiums Rise 6 Percent, Large Employers Increase Coverage Of GLP-1s For Weight Loss" "Annual Family Premiums for Employer Coverage Rise 6% in 2025, Nearing $27,000, with Workers Paying $6,850 Toward Premiums Out of Their Paychecks" "8 Things to Watch for the 2026 ACA Open Enrollment Period" "ACA Insurers Are Raising Premiums by an Estimated 26%, but Most Enrollees Could See Sharper Increases in What They Pay" 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 School of Medicine immunologist Akiko Iwasaki, a leading authority on vaccines and long COVID. Harlan reflects on America's crisis of trust in federal agencies; Howie provides some good news about bird flu.  Links: Losing Trust Harlan Krumholz: "When Your Patient Dies" "Federal Agents Stage Raid on Canal Street in New York City, Arresting 9" "White House expands East Wing demolition as critics decry Trump overreach" "Americans' Job Ratings of Six Key U.S. Agencies Worsen" "NEJM and public health group are launching rival to CDC's MMWR publication" "South Carolina measles outbreak rises as schools with low vaccination see new cases" Akiko Iwasaki Health & Veritas Ep. 9: Dr. Akiko Iwasaki: Is Long COVID One Disease or Many? "The Long COVID Puzzle: Autoimmunity, Inflammation, and Other Possible Causes" "A New Kind of Clinical Trial: Bringing Long COVID Research Into Patients' Homes" "New Evidence Supports Autoimmunity as One of Long COVID's Underlying Drivers" "Scientist Dr. Akiko Iwasaki Joins SPEAR Study Group to Investigate Monoclonal Antibodies for Long COVID and COVID-19 Post-Vaccination Syndrome" "Long Covid: A parallel pandemic" "Effectiveness of Colchicine for the Treatment of Long COVID" Akiko Iwasaki and Harlan Krumholz: "Nirmatrelvir–ritonavir versus placebo–ritonavir in individuals with long COVID in the USA (PAX LC): a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled, phase 2, decentralised trial" "Does Paxlovid Reduce Long COVID Symptoms? Yale-Led Trial Finds Out" Akiko Iwasaki: "Unexplained post-acute infection syndromes" "Post-Acute Infection Syndromes Will Be the Focus of New YSM Center" CDC: ME/CFS Basics "Varicella-zoster virus reactivation and the risk of dementia" Akiko Iwasaki and Harlan Krumholz: "Immunological and Antigenic Signatures Associated with Chronic Illnesses after COVID-19 Vaccination" "A small study on Covid vaccine safety sparks an online tempest" "We have 'post-vaccination syndrome.' We are tired of being used to score anti-vax points" Health & Veritas Ep. 162: Paul Lombardo: Reckoning with the Dark History of Eugenics Health & Veritas Ep. 163: Michael Dunne: Confronting the Antibiotic Resistance Crisis Mayo Clinic: Alpha-gal syndrome Akiko Iwasaki: Woman shares what it's like to live with alpha-gal meat allergy triggered by tick bite" "'Explosive increase' of ticks that cause meat allergy in US due to climate crisis" "Why Is Martha's Vineyard Going Vegan? It's All About Tick Bites." "Beneficial Bloodsucking" Akiko Iwasaki on X Bird Flu "Bird Flu Is Back" CDC: H5 Bird Flu: Current Situation "RNA replicon vaccination confers long-lasting protection against H5N1 avian influenza in 23 zoo bird species" Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

Howie and Harlan are joined by Rajlakshmi Krishnamurthy, the Yale School of Medicine's associate dean for population health, to discuss her work building holistic systems for care at multiple institutions. Harlan discusses healthcare headlines including the launch of "TrumpRX"; Howie reports on a new study taking a novel approach to understanding the impact of the COVID-19 vaccine. Links: Healthcare Headlines "The Latest: Gaza ceasefire holds as Israeli military says Red Cross to transfer remains of deceased" "More than 20 kids in India have died from contaminated cough syrup. Who's to blame?" "Senate-passed BIOSECURE Act would add arrow to Trump's drug-pricing quiver" Wuxi Biologics H.R.8333: BIOSECURE Act TrumpRx "Trump unveils deal for AstraZeneca to cut Medicaid drug prices and join 'TrumpRx' site" "President announces TrumpRx website for drugs, and pricing deal with Pfizer" "Exclusive: Bill Gates, PAHO consider ways to bring weight-loss drugs to lower-income countries" Pan American Health Organization World Health Organization: Obesity and overweight "Exclusive: Most patients using weight-loss drugs like Wegovy stop within a year, data show" "In biotech, Boston reigns supreme, but its competitive edge is being challenged in new ways" "'Disheartening? Yes. Surprising? No.' Report on the future of biotech in Mass. gives a grim outlook." Population Health CDC: Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Model American Academy of Family Physicians: Transitional Care Management "The University of Chicago Medicine to Join CMS Alternative Payment Model" UChicago Medicine: Accountable Care Organization Chicago Health Atlas: Social Vulnerability Index "Relationship Between Social Risk Factors and Emergency Department Use: National Health Interview Survey 2016–2018" The COVID-19 Vaccine "Association of 2024–2025 Covid-19 Vaccine with Covid-19 Outcomes in U.S. Veterans"  Katelyn Jetelina: Updated 2025 fall vaccine guide Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.

Howie and Harlan discuss the roots of the crisis in emergency departments, the lack of oversight for hydration spas, new approaches in blood pressure treatment, an ingenious method to prevent malaria, and the CDC's backward steps on vaccines. Links: Emergency Departments "I'm an ER doctor. JD Vance's claims about immigrants and wait times are just wrong." "It's Just a Virus, the E.R. Told Him. Days Later, He Was Dead." Video of Ron Paul: "Should society let uninsured die?" American College of Emergency Physicians: Understanding EMTALA "Explaining the G.O.P.'s Misleading Talking Point on the Looming Shutdown" Centers for Medicare and Medicaid: Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act (EMTALA) Health & Veritas Ep. 188: Kate Heilpern: Jumping into the Deep End Health & Veritas Ep. 47: Dr. Jeremy Faust: Is COVID Over? It's Complicated. Jeremy Faust: "Inside Medicine Read-Through: Commentary on the New York Times article about a tragic ER case" Harlan Krumholz: "Early Warning Scores With and Without Artificial Intelligence" Howard Forman: "Why Hospitals Need to Stop Boarding Patients in Emergency Rooms" Howard Forman: "How to Keep Emergency Rooms Focused on True Emergencies" The Revolving Door "Peter Marks, FDA vaccine regulator ousted by RFK Jr., joins Eli Lilly" Peter Marks Resignation Letter "Peter Marks, FDA's top vaccine regulator, forced out" "Fired C.D.C. Director Describes Clashes With Kennedy and Turmoil at Agency" "Ex-CDER chief Patrizia Cavazzoni becomes Pfizer's chief medical officer" Hydration Spas Howard Forman: "State Policies and Facility Practices of IV Hydration Spas in the US" Health & Veritas Ep. 123: Margo Harrison: Women's Health as a Path to Empowerment "Hydration spas are largely unregulated, study finds" New Developments in Blood Pressure Treatment "Baxdrostat met the primary endpoint in Bax24 Phase III trial in patients with resistant hypertension" "AstraZeneca's $1.3B bet yields 2nd phase 3 blood pressure win, bolstering differentiation case" Harlan Krumholz: "The Disquieting Plateau" "Under new guidelines, more Americans meet the criteria for high blood pressure" "2025 AHA/ACC/AANP/AAPA/ABC/ACCP/ACPM/AGS/AMA/ASPC/NMA/PCNA/SGIM Guideline for the Prevention, Detection, Evaluation and Management of High Blood Pressure in Adults: A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Joint Committee on Clinical Practice Guidelines" "Permethrin-Treated Baby Wraps for the Prevention of Malaria" AI in Medicine: Doximity, OpenEvidence, and UpToDate "OpenEvidence raises $210M, unveils AI agents built for advanced medical research" Health & Veritas, Ep. 183: Seth Berkowitz: The Power Problem "Doximity buys Pathway Medical for $63 million to help doctors get AI-powered answers" "A long-trusted physician's reference finally catches the AI wave" Congenital syphilis Health & Veritas Ep. 178: Sarah DeSilvey: Creating Space for Healing "Are STIs truly declining, or is our data just not very good? What the 2024 CDC STI report really shows" "Why Syphilis Cases in Newborns Are Rising Even as STIs Decline" MMR Vaccine "Acting CDC director calls to 'break up' the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine into three shots" "Worried about splitting up the MMR vaccine into three separate shots? You should be, this doctor says" "More measles cases confirmed in South Carolina, Michigan as US total climbs to 1,563" Nobel Prizes and Science at Yale "Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Is Awarded for Work on Immune Systems" "Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2025" "Yale's Michel H. Devoret wins 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics" Learn more about the MBA for Executives program at Yale SOM. Email Howie and Harlan comments or questions.