“We like regulation, because we think this is a regulated industry...It’s healthcare, it’s not wellness, and the stakes are incredibly high, and really what we want are national frameworks that help separate the good, evidence-based solutions from the snake oil.” www.statnews.com/2025/11/05/f...

AbbVie and Calico end 11-year partnership without approved drug - San Francisco Business Times www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco...

This is a strong model for individualized genetic interventions. But setting policy via NEJM article is unwise.

⚡ Breaking: FDA unveils new pathway for personalized therapies

A pro-vaccine physician went to the anti-vaccine movement’s biggest gathering. He warns that public health must learn what it’s up against. www.statnews.com/2025/11/11/c...

Maybe they'll talk about being patient-centric without any patients in the room...

Lucky rodents... Gnome Sciences Announces Cancer Drug Shows Promise in Stopping Progression of ALS www.manilatimes.net/2025/11/11/t...

“We can have an active, robust discussion as a group of medical experts spontaneously, and so we’re doing more of that,” Makary said of his preference for convening roundtables. Guess what roundtables don't have? FACA requirements to occur in public with the opportunity for public comment.

New: The Supreme Court DENIES Kim Davis' request to overturn Obergefell, the marriage equality decision. No noted dissents. www.supremecourt.gov/orders/court...

What the heck is going on at FDA? My latest for @opinion.bloomberg.com (🎁):

And let's name names. #ElonMusk #MarcoRubio #RussellVought and #DonaldTrump (with help from #JohnRoberts). This is premeditated murder--of children. You can spin it anyway you like but you cannot escape this fact.

Lots to learn here for those in ALS Land too. www.eventbrite.com/cc/pgtmes-6t...

Denali Therapeutics' Carole Ho leaves for Lilly neuroscience job - San Francisco Business Times www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco...

We are KFF. Just K-F-F. We do policy research, polling, and journalism. Different things, but all with the aim of informing health policy debates. @drewaltman.bsky.social www.kff.org/from-drew-al...

Ummm preals.als.org

RFK Jr. stopped a Covid vaccine trial. Bay Area biotechs may save it - San Francisco Business Times www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco...

Why oh why oh why... Only in ALS Land... Two expensive data portals that are pulling together some of the same information. 1 of 2. ampals.synapse.org 2 of 2. dataportal.answerals.org/home Why?

NIck Deane #ALSobit www.shropshirestar.com/news/local-h...

We've been here before but let's see how FDA responds this time w/ Prasad wielding his influence. (I'm sure WSJ ed board + Loomer are already drafting their 2 cents...) "Sarepta's Duchenne confirmatory trial fails, but biotech will ask FDA for full approval anyways" endpoints.news/duchenne-con...

Only in ALS Land would we have multiple portals of harmonized data sets.

Every $1 invested in SNAP results in $1.50 in economic benefits to farmers, local grocery stores and other businesses. SNAP benefits are also associated with lower risks of deaths of despair, including suicide and overdose podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/o...

Drug pricing... kff-org.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

The details here get worse and worse. To state the obvious, this is not how a functioning agency works.

Ah the framing here is much different: www.statnews.com/2025/11/02/f...

FWIW, Tidmarsh's concerns about approving drugs on a 1-day tumor board model are legit. But there's more to the LinkedIn story than the NYT piece lets on: www.statnews.com/2025/09/29/f...

FDA has fallen so far, so quickly. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/02/h...

“Expensive hope” www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

The US funds the bulk of biomedical research globally by far. It's not like other countries can simply take up the slack. The more likely: people leave research, new people don't become researchers. There is no happy ending. www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...

Experts told me that it’s now the perfect time to get a flu shot. All vaccines take 2 weeks to take full effect (that’s how long it takes your body to make antibodies). Be protected before you get on the plane to travel for Thanksgiving. share.google/b8tCoqrYiy9r...

The Consequences of Manufacturing Doubt in U.S. Pharmaceuticals www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/seco...

"We crave simple solutions to complex problems. When data disappoint, we substitute belief. . . . Regulators see public demand and think, why stand in the way? The phrase 'worth a try' becomes federal policy." www.statnews.com/2025/11/02/q... via @statnews.com

Fantastic article about efforts to create global deregulatory zones for medical research, which seem best at creating conditions to exploit wealthy medical tourists and very bad at producing a shred of decent clinical evidence.