View this email in your browser<http://mailchi.mp/statnews/tk-575869?e=4aad33fd68> [STAT]<http://statnews.us11.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=014f832847&e=4aad33fd68> Tuesday, August 15, 2017 [Morning Rounds by Megan Thielking] Sponsored by [https://gallery.mailchimp.com/f8609630ae206654824f897b6/images/1c25393b-e5ec-4c7d-81cb-fcc0e0c12681.png] Good morning! STAT reporter Andrew Joseph here, filling in for Megan for the day. To the news: A different kind of cancer blood test The hunt for a blood test that can detect cancer<http://statnews.us11.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=162bcd34c3&e=4aad33fd68> is on, with millions of dollars pouring into companies. While some work is focused on finding cancer DNA in the blood, a new study<http://statnews.us11.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=fc1db0c776&e=4aad33fd68> takes a different approach, relying on platelets. Platelets, cell fragments without their own genetic material, pick up RNA from other cells, including tumors, as they circulate. So the researchers developed an algorithm to sift through the RNA found in platelets to identify certain genes that indicate a tumor's presence. And when they tested that algorithm on platelets from people who were healthy, had a type of lung cancer, or had an inflammatory disease, it correctly distinguished them more than 80 percent of the time. Now, the researchers plan to study whether their test, which they call thromboSeq, is as accurate in clinical trials as the current methods of diagnosing lung cancer, including imaging and biopsies. A resignation. A tweet. A new front in the pricing fracas An angry tweet from President Trump attacking Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier<http://statnews.us11.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=1824ba7565&e=4aad33fd68> Monday catapulted Frazier into the limelight. It also brought the subject of drug pricing into what had been a conversation about racist protests and the president's tepid response. A brief recap: Frazier resigned<http://statnews.us11.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=c52bb5f89e&e=4aad33fd68> from a White House advisory board over Trump's days-long failure to condemn white supremacists' violence. An hour later, Trump tweeted that Frazier's resignation meant that he would now "have more time to lower ripoff drug prices!" And Monday evening, Trump, who had praised Frazier as recently as last month<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=e2c9b26441&e=4aad33fd68>, again tweeted about Merck and drug prices. The tweets injected a personal vendetta into the debate about drug prices, further politicizing an issue that Trump made a campaign centerpiece (and that he has still not offered plans to address). It also generated some goodwill for a beleaguered biopharma industry, which has mostly tiptoed around criticizing the president. Frazier could just be taking his turn as the president's Twitter target, with nothing more resulting. But now, any immediate effort by the administration to lower drug prices will be accompanied by questions<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=98258e29fb&e=4aad33fd68> about whether Trump is acting vindictively against a critic. Visualizing the spread of cholera in Yemen [87396691-e5ca-4560-8a09-e04a5b7a5bdb.png]<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=62bd300f64&e=4aad33fd68> In light of Monday's announcement that Yemen's cholera outbreak has infected 500,000 people, STAT took a deeper dive into the disease's spread in the country. It’s estimated that 5,000 people contract the diarrheal disease daily, and while transmission has slowed in some of the regions hit early on, other parts of the country are seeing dramatic rises. Explore the data here<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=ed8286db77&e=4aad33fd68>. Sponsor content by MITSUBISHI TANABE PHARMA AMERICA First FDA-approved treatment option for ALS in more than 20 years now available in the U.S. Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma America recently announced a new treatment, indicated for all adult patients diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), is now available in the U.S. Learn more<http://statnews.us11.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=3aa164eec9&e=4aad33fd68> about the first FDA-approved treatment option for ALS in more than 20 years. Intended for U.S. audience only. Inside STAT<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=55e449dea4&e=4aad33fd68>: A mom finds a mission after her sons' ODs [87396691-e5ca-4560-8a09-e04a5b7a5bdb.png]<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=cc79ae0840&e=4aad33fd68> Becky Savage shows a photo of her sons, nick and jack, who died of accidental overdoses on the same night. (Kristen Norman for STAT) Becky Savage lost two sons on the same night, both from accidental overdoses of oxycodone and alcohol. Now, she talks about the dangers of opioid abuse any chance she gets, even discussing it with strangers. She’s embarked on such a mission because she hopes what happened to her family — the pain she calls “this big black abyss” — never arrives in another family’s home. STAT’s Megan Thielking has the story<http://statnews.us11.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=b04c121e04&e=4aad33fd68> from Granger, Ind. The neurologic risks of a Zika infection Scientists are still trying to get a handle on the full risk of a Zika infection, as evidence continues to accumulate that infection can trigger a range of neurologic conditions. In a study<http://statnews.us11.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=b5618bf0ca&e=4aad33fd68> published in JAMA Neurology, doctors looked at patients in Rio de Janeiro and discovered that the Zika outbreak was associated with an increase not just in Guillain-Barre syndrome, but also encephalitis (brain inflammation). The finding shows that researchers still have much to learn about how Zika affects people who are infected, as well as babies who are exposed in utero. The mystery of marijuana as a medicine There’s a lot of hope that cannabis and its components can treat a host of conditions, but as two new review articles show, there is not enough scientific evidence to conclude whether or not marijuana is an effective treatment for either chronic pain<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=a5a53797b4&e=4aad33fd68> or posttraumatic stress disorder<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=ab8acf827c&e=4aad33fd68>. The latest papers add to the awareness among scientists that for all the anecdotes and optimism about marijuana as a medication, the evidence is lacking. The authors also caution that self-treating a disease with marijuana might not be effective and could have unknown harms. More research could help scientists learn exactly when and how marijuana could be effective as a medicine, but many researchers say bureaucratic roadblocks to studying the illicit drug prevent that. What to read around the web today § Rural America's childbirth crisis. Wall Street Journal<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=0067120985&e=4aad33fd68> § Medicaid emerges stronger from GOP health debate. AP<http://statnews.us11.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=ccfcaaf12d&e=4aad33fd68> § Despite new law, hundreds of schools don't have enough vaccinated kids. LA Times<http://statnews.us11.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=5e57dabc2f&e=4aad33fd68> More reads from STAT § I went to med school in Charlottesville<http://statnews.us11.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=282a0ecf06&e=4aad33fd68>. I know white anger well. § My sister's cancer might have been diagnosed sooner<http://statnews.us11.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=791b8722e6&e=4aad33fd68> if doctors looked past her weight. The latest from STAT Plus § In Ohio, tensions brews<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=38f82d0f39&e=4aad33fd68> over who's funding drug pricing ballot measure. § This team is on the verge of creating a Band-Aid <http://statnews.us11.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=99fa0148b5&e=4aad33fd68> for the heart. Thanks for reading! Megan will be back tomorrow. [Megan] [Facebook]<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=5911d12eac&e=4aad33fd68> [Twitter]<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=50ef1dacd2&e=4aad33fd68> [STAT]<http://statnews.us11.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=19f858e360&e=4aad33fd68>