The Readout Newsletter

2 days ago | statnews.com | Lizzy Lawrence

SAN FRANCISCO — Former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Robert Califf said Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s hesitance to endorse vaccines is harming the American public. “Fundamental vaccination saves millions of lives every year already, and he’s busy eroding public confidence in it,” Califf said at STAT’s Breakthrough Summit East conference on Wednesday.

2 days ago | statnews.com | Lev Facher |Daniel Payne

WASHINGTON — Republicans on Capitol Hill delivered different versions of a similar message to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at a Wednesday budget hearing: We love the Make America Healthy Again agenda …. but. Throughout the hearing, GOP lawmakers lauded President Trump’s agenda and Kennedy’s actions in his first months as health secretary.

2 days ago | statnews.com | Lev Facher

Drug deaths plummeted in 2024, according to new federal data. An estimated 80,391 people died of a drug overdose in the U.S. last year, marking the lowest total since 2019. The sum represents a roughly 27% decrease from 2023, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The new data reflect a trend that began in late 2023, when overdose deaths finally began to drop after years of steady increase.

3 days ago | statnews.com | Sarah Todd

The energy drink cans are the colors of a tropical beach sunset — aqua and tangerine and neon pink — so they really pop when lined up for fridge organizing shots on TikTok. They’re sugar-free but come in summery dessert flavors like Sherbet Swirl. On social media, the drinks are brandished by members of an official collegiate ambassadors program, gymnasts and cheerleaders whose dewy complexions suggest they’ve never had a hangover or slept through their alarm after a late-night study session.

3 days ago | statnews.com | Allison DeAngelis

Biotech investment firm RA Capital has laid off staff at its internal startup incubator, STAT has learned, highlighting the instability among VCs as the biotech industry struggles to right itself. The cuts hit RA Ventures, or Raven, an incubator that creates and supports biotech startups. The Raven team has launched several biotechs over the years, including Aliada Therapeutics and Mariana Oncology, both of which were acquired last year.