_11_06_2026_07_18_14_898690.jpg?#)
Weekend Longforms: Data brokers, research funding, maternity, fertility, measles and PBM regs
I’m taking tomorrow off; here are some weekend longform articles and an animal photo. A. Data brokers know when you’re at the doctor’s office Michael Scaturro of KFF Health News reports that data brokers purchase location information that allows marketers to know when people are at the doctor’s office, the hospital, or the abortion center. As a result, patients being treated for cancer are being served ads for unproven and even dangerous alternative medicine treatments. B. How the Trump Administration is dismantling scientific research Christopher Flavelle and six other bylined colleagues report in the New York Times (gift link) that Trump Administration changes in funding and oversight are harming medical and other research in the U.S. C. A cheap plastic pouch prevents pregnancy deaths in developing countries Death from hemorrhage during delivery is distressingly common in low income countries, but midwives often underestimate the rate of bleeding. Stephanie Nolen of the New York Times (gift link) reports that a maternal drape, a cheap plastic pouch that measures bleeding coupled with a “bundle” of interventions sharply cuts hemorrhage in women who may have otherwise often died. This is a great example of how a development in low resource countries could eventually improve care throughout the world. D. Women travel thousands of miles for a dubious fertility treatment Megan Molteni of STAT reports on older would-be mothers traveling to Albania, the Philippines, and Mexico for “three-parent IVF.” The procedure was developed to prevent certain rare inherited diseases, and has not been shown to increase fertility in older women. E. The threat of the measles epidemic to newborns Cecilia Nowell writes in The Atlantic (gift link) that the measles epidemic is infecting unimmunized pregnant women, and the Department of Health in Pennsylvania has reported the first cases of congenital measles in decades. Drug Middlemen Will Soon Have to Share Details on How They Are Paid Anna Wilde Mathews and Liz Essley Whyte of the Wall Street Journal (gift link) report on newly published Pharmacy Benefit Manager regulations. Animal photo: Capuchin monkeys in Costa Rica, June, 2023
I’m taking tomorrow off; here are some weekend longform articles and an animal photo.
A. Data brokers know when you’re at the doctor’s office
Michael Scaturro of KFF Health News reports that data brokers purchase location information that allows marketers to know when people are at the doctor’s office, the hospital, or the abortion center. As a result, patients being treated for cancer are being served ads for unproven and even dangerous alternative medicine treatments.
B. How the Trump Administration is dismantling scientific research
Christopher Flavelle and six other bylined colleagues report in the New York Times (gift link) that Trump Administration changes in funding and oversight are harming medical and other research in the U.S.
C. A cheap plastic pouch prevents pregnancy deaths in developing countries
Death from hemorrhage during delivery is distressingly common in low income countries, but midwives often underestimate the rate of bleeding. Stephanie Nolen of the New York Times (gift link) reports that a maternal drape, a cheap plastic pouch that measures bleeding coupled with a “bundle” of interventions sharply cuts hemorrhage in women who may have otherwise often died. This is a great example of how a development in low resource countries could eventually improve care throughout the world.
D. Women travel thousands of miles for a dubious fertility treatment
Megan Molteni of STAT reports on older would-be mothers traveling to Albania, the Philippines, and Mexico for “three-parent IVF.” The procedure was developed to prevent certain rare inherited diseases, and has not been shown to increase fertility in older women.
E. The threat of the measles epidemic to newborns
Cecilia Nowell writes in The Atlantic (gift link) that the measles epidemic is infecting unimmunized pregnant women, and the Department of Health in Pennsylvania has reported the first cases of congenital measles in decades.
Drug Middlemen Will Soon Have to Share Details on How They Are Paid
Anna Wilde Mathews and Liz Essley Whyte of the Wall Street Journal (gift link) report on newly published Pharmacy Benefit Manager regulations.
Animal photo:
Capuchin monkeys in Costa Rica, June, 2023
What's Your Reaction?
