research

New research could inspire targeted MS treatment

CDC 

For decades, researchers and clinicians have speculated that Epstein-Barr virus plays a role in the development of multiple sclerosis. And for the last few years, evidence has begun to emerge supporting that idea. Yesterday, researchers published a study they say uncovers how the virus launches immune responses that lead to the inflammation and nervous system damage seen in people with MS.

“When you’re developing drugs, targeted drugs, every little step, every little molecule, every little antigen is a game changer,” neurologist Syed Rizvi, who was not involved in the study, told STAT’s Lauren Chan. Read more on the findings and how they might lead to more precise approaches to treating MS.

politics

Voters split on the importance of health care fraud

The Trump administration has made cracking down on health care fraud a major priority. Last week, CMS administrator Mehmet Oz compared himself to Johnny Cash as he travels around the country for his “War on Fraud.” But new data from KFF Health Tracking Poll shows that health care fraud isn’t necessarily as high a priority for voters ahead of the midterm elections.

While 51% of poll respondents identified health care costs as “extremely important” for midterm candidates to talk about, 43% said the same about fraud in government health programs. Of course, there’s a partisan divide there: Only 34% of Democrats wanted to hear about fraud but 55% of Republicans did. Most respondents believed that there was more fraud in the federal tax system, military and defense contracts, and foreign aid programs than in health programs.

In the meantime, states are following the Trump administration’s fraud playbook, and as my colleague O. Rose Broderick has reported in depth, people with disabilities are already feeling the effects.

first opinion

What drug will animal venom bring next? 

As GLP-1 medications continue to revolutionize weight loss and dominate American culture, it’s easy to forget that venom from an infamous, gargantuan lizard called the Gila monster was an instrumental part of the drug development. A new First Opinion essay argues that these are just the latest breakthrough drugs to come out of a growing “fang-to-pharmacy pipeline.”

Venoms are scary and dangerous, “but to a growing number of scientists and pharmaceutical companies, they represent something else entirely: a hidden medicine cabinet,” writes ecology professor Steve Midway. “The success stories may be circulating in your body.” Read more on the science. (And for fun afterward, revisit this STAT story from over a decade ago: “7 creepy crawlies that could be the future of medicine.”)