👀

Kare 11 local news just read, in full, this statement from Michael and Susan Pretti, the parents of Alex Pretti. "Please get the truth out about our son."

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey: "I just saw a video of more than 6 masked agents pummeling one of our constituents and shooting him to death. How many more residents, how many more Americans need to die or get badly hurt for this operation to end?"

Watching this in particular. The effort to take witnesses to Whipple, as well as the police refusing to leave the scene, are key.

genuinely stunning image

How can FDA continue to support innovation? Publication by NASEM committee members S. Dhruva, @hollylynchez.bsky.social @dusetzinas.bsky.social, myself argue for post-marketing evidence, validation of surrogate markers, adherence to standards, ensuring resources. academic.oup.com/healthaffair...

This is bonkers. I think I would take the rest of the year off if everything I worked on for the last two years was gone. If you regularly use AI / ChatGPT (and probably others) you need to read this.

Was a joy to work with these amazing colleagues on the @health.nationalacademies.org report and this piece! Open access so everyone can enjoy!

1 more for FDA folks today. In this pieced led by Sanket Dhruva w/ @dusetzinas.bsky.social + Katherine Phillips, we build on our recent @nationalacademies.org report + argue for further attention to PMRs, surrogate marker validation, rigorous product approval standards, + adequate human resources.

NEW: Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle pressed health insurance CEOs on premium hikes, prior authorization rules and claim denials in back-to-back House committee hearings Thursday, zeroing in on how the insurers’ decisions are affecting patients right now. www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...

My pleasure to be on the Health Affairs podcast talking about the "Great American Healthcare Plan" - er....non-plan? Vision board (h/t Jeff). Hope you enjoy! www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/h...

This is so grim. Science isn’t just something nerds do, but the foundation of the modern world. What the Trump regime has done to US science will harm Americans for generations.

I have some more bad news. If an admissions committee even suspects you used ChatGPT for your application letter, they'll almost certainly decide not to waste a precious admissions spot on you. Instead they'll give it to, you know, someone who actually likes to write and knows how to do it.

Some? LOL. Some policy experts struggle to make sense of new Trump health plan - ABC News share.google/ALlpZ72XzQw9...

Powerful piece in STAT this morning from some NIH staff members who have resigned www.statnews.com/2026/01/10/n... 1/3

Glad to have the opportunity to join @nejm.org for a new podcast about this article with @dusetzinas.bsky.social. It's especially timely in light of the newly released BALANCE model, which aims to instantiate the agreements reached with GLP-1 manufacturers. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...

NEW FOIA Files newsletter is out! This week, I invited my @bloomberg.com colleague @agordon.me to break down data I obtained related to DOGE & govt hiring that took me nearly a year to pry loose. www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...

Stuart H. Altman, Ph.D., internationally recognized leader in health policy and economics, beloved teacher, loving patriarch, and inaugural chair of the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission (HPC), passed away on January 1, 2026. “Our country has lost a legend.” masshpc.gov/news/press-r...

NEW: Data released by ICE shows that virtually the entire growth of detention in the last few months has been among people with no criminal record at all - no prior convictions (no matter how minor) and no pending criminal charges.

I'm monitoring first awful reports of two people shot in Portland by federal law enforcement. I'll keep you updated, but Trump's deployment of federal agents in my hometown is clearly inflaming violence — and must end.

Remembering today that having your heart broken is a necessary step on the path to becoming fully human. Whichever heartbreak is your first, it’s probably critical that a state break your heart so that you can develop a political imagination. If this is your first, I’m sorry and also welcome.

This is a good example of skewed distributions and how they influence medians and means.

Rest in peace, David. What an amazing legacy working to make medicine more affordable.

Next Up: ▶️ Drug Pricing in Trump 2.0: Where Are We and What’s Ahead? 🗓️ January 16, 2026 @ 12pm ET Featuring experts @avik.bsky.social, @rachelsachs.bsky.social, @martawosinska.bsky.social, and LDI Executive Director @rachelwerner.bsky.social. Register today: ldi.upenn.edu/events/drug-...

Go check our new study out -- this work was the 2nd of my dissertation chapters! 😊

So sad to see this. Stuart was a wonderful person and giant in the field of health policy. He will long be remembered.

My decorating has come a long way this year. Hope 2026 is better for grants / funding / science than 2025 was!

Our most-read story of 2025: Outraged by the Jan. 6 riot, a vigilante spent years undercover climbing the ranks of right-wing militias. He didn’t tell police or the FBI. He didn’t tell family or friends. The one person he told was a ProPublica reporter.

You can explore all ten parts of the series here: www.statnews.com/american-sci...

This looks like Sinbad died and got reincarnated as a chair.

Oncologists should support - not oppose - Medicare drug price negotiation. Lower drug prices benefit patients; this should supersede revenue concerns. So @dusetzinas.bsky.social @rachelsachs.bsky.social and I argue today in @jamaoncology.com jamanetwork.com/journals/jam... 1/

In the spirit of the holidays, we've been featuring people with innovative fixes to health care's toughest challenges. Dr. Lisa Fitzpatrick believes plainspoken information from trusted messengers can help shrink health disparities. tradeoffs.org/2023/02/02/h... less

Merry Christmas Eve! Max and Wiley want to wish everyone a great Holiday week!

don’t wrap presents on the floor without a plan on how to get back up

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led a path of gutting and destruction of public, global health, and medical research resources, among others. How much did it save in federal spending? Nothing...it led to an increase www.nytimes.com/2025/12/23/u...

watching my favorite christmas movie and what is possibly the great american comedy about class and race

Drug pricing watchers: CMMI has now announced its model to expand GLP-1 coverage in Part D/Medicaid. I may have more analysis later, but for now a couple of thoughts. www.cms.gov/priorities/i... 1/4

A donor in Maryland is paying off the debt of about 82,000 meals for low-income students. Administrators estimate the donation will cover two years’ worth of school lunch debt for students enrolled in the free and reduced-priced meals (FARM) program.

CBS News may not want you to see its CECOT reporting, but I'm happy to share this powerful video that our team produced this year.

A often-overlooked fallout of our fragmented drug distribution system: patients with too many medicines, too many prescribers, too many pharmacies, and not enough quarterbacking of the entirety of the patient’s treatment journey. www.wsj.com/health/healt...

Canada was their top customer! And thanks to President Deals, we stopped buying bourbon months ago. Billions and billions of dollars in sales, gone www.kentucky.com/news/busines...

NIH funding is like pizza 🍕. Usually, the NIH gives many researchers a slice of the pie, but this year they decided to just give a few researchers the whole pie. The data show that, disproportionately, early career researchers went hungry. We need Congress to stop NIH multi-year funding mandates.

This has flown below the radar, but it’s a low-key outrage that Trump’s FDA has withdrawn the rule to regulate asbestos in talc products. It’s the opposite of making America healthy. www.notus.org/health-scien...

I'm also in wait-and-see mode on the effects of caps on grad student loans. My big questions are: (1) Can the private market scale up in time? (2) Do students even want private loans? (3) Will grad programs change admissions practices? www.insidehighered.com/news/busines...

In a memo obtained by STAT, the NIH gives specific steps on how grant reviewers can check for alignment with administration priorities. www.statnews.com/2025/12/15/n...

One citizen said that federal agents in Idaho pointed guns at her children, ages 6 and 8, and dragged her 14-year-old daughter out of a truck and zip-tied her. The mother told investigators that an agent threatened to “fucking blow your head off.” By @nicolefoy.bsky.social

Well camouflaged. 😄

If you have a few bucks to spare this is a great business where we adopted one of our most cherished family members! gofund.me/4a128f2f6