video
The end of gas station weed?
STAT/Alex Hogan
Last year, Congress passed legislation to close the “hemp loophole.” The law is set to go into effect in November, and if it does, it would outlaw what STAT’s Alex Hogan refers to as “gas station weed,” meaning synthetic marijuana products usually found at smoke shops, convenience stores, and gas stations.
These hemp-derived THC products are just one of many types of “gas station drugs,” which isn’t an Alex Hogan-specific expression. Scientific research, the media, and government communications use the term. In his latest video, Alex digs into how and why gas stations became the perfect marketplace for these quasi-legal substances. He hears from Pieter Cohen, a Harvard Medical School physician, about how these drugs can fly under the regulatory radar and what the FDA could be doing about it. It’s another Hogan classic — watch the video now.
cancer
Breast cancer survival in Medicaid expansion states
When next year’s Medicaid cuts go into effect, researchers estimate that Americans may miss more than a million cancer screenings for colorectal, breast, or lung cancer over the first two years. The cuts could also result in more than 16,000 preventable deaths annually. A study published yesterday in JAMA Network Open illuminates part of what's at stake by analyzing the positive impact that Medicaid expansion has had over the last 12 years.
In a study of more than 1.5 million women with breast cancer, living in a Medicaid expansion state was associated with lower overall mortality. This association persisted across disease stage, race and ethnicity, and neighborhood income, though not completely equitably. Hispanic women saw the greatest gains as opposed to Black women, as did those living in high income areas versus those in low income areas.
first opinion
How dogs could ease dental anxiety
Physician Henry Miller was about to have a broken filling replaced when his dentist made a strange offer: would he like Bailey, a 30-pound Bernedoodle, to sit on his lap during the procedure? Miller took his dentist up on what’s becoming an increasingly evidence-based practice with major potential benefits. “If a wagging tail can bring people back to the dentist, the ripple effects could improve health far beyond the mouth,” Miller writes in a First Opinion essay.
Read more for a picture of Bailey and for a rundown of the growing body of research on therapy animals in medical and dental settings.
