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A STAT editor spotted somebody yesterday wearing a t-shirt that read: “I ❤️ Tylenol.” That sent a few reporters down a rabbit hole of vintage drug industry merch. I think my favorite was a Lexapro-branded cocktail shaker. 

(You can’t buy drug merch anymore, but you CAN buy STAT merch. If you were wondering.)

House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, said yesterday that Republicans don’t want to change the Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act, which requires hospitals to provide care to anyone experiencing a medical emergency, including immigrants without legal status. It’s the latest comment from a Republican in a week focused on undocumented immigrants and medical care. 

One of the most consistent Republican arguments in the government shutdown debate is that the Democrats’ government-funding bill would spend hundreds of billions of dollars providing “free health care for illegals.” (Note: Undocumented immigrants are already prohibited from receiving federally funded health insurance, including Medicaid.) Read more from STAT’s John Wilkerson on where things stand.

In the week after President Trump made an unsubstantiated claim linking Tylenol (acetaminophen) use during pregnancy to autism, a nationally representative KFF poll found that most adults were unsure about about the facts, responding that the claim is either “probably true” or “probably false.” By “most,” I mean 30% thought it was likely true, and another 30% thought it likely false — which way folks leaned heavily depended on whether they identified as Republican or Democrat. Some more interesting findings:

• Nearly 60% of respondents disapproved of Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s overall performance as health secretary, and 62% disapproved of how he’s handling vaccine policy specifically. 
• Trust in the CDC has continued to decline, but 64% of respondents said they trust information from the AMA, and 69% of parents said they trust AAP. 
• Seventy percent of parents who responded said they oppose removing vaccine requirements for public schools in their state. 

And as a reminder, STAT’s Matt Herper has broken down all the evidence on both Tylenol and vaccines.  

In states where cannabis has been legalized, people with psychosis are using the drug more and more, according to a study published yesterday in JAMA Psychiatry. Researchers analyzed data from 1,856 adults with a lifetime history of psychosis from a national longitudinal study run by the FDA and the NIH. They found that cannabis use increased by nearly 10% five years after states legalized recreational marijuana use. 

While the vast majority of people who use cannabis do not develop psychosis, many studies show a link between cannabis use and increased risk of developing psychosis at an earlier age and with a worse prognosis. And as STAT’s O. Rose Broderick points out, the proliferation of legal cannabis has outpaced the regulation of relevant products. Read more about the research and why it has medical experts worried.

In a medical milestone, a research team in China successfully transplanted a CRISPR gene-edited pig liver into a living person. The organ functioned well for a month before having to be removed. The case study, published today in the Journal of Hepatology, is both cause for cautious optimism for the resurgent field of xenotransplantation, and a reminder of how far the technology still has to travel.

The patient, a 71-year-old man with a history of liver failure, arrived in a hospital in Anhui Province in May 2024, where doctors discovered a large tumor on his liver threatening to rupture. With few options and little time, he and his family opted for an experimental xenotransplant through a compassionate use program. 

Once connected to the patient’s circulatory system, the gene-edited pig liver began to secrete bile and perform other essential functions. But starting around day 31, tests revealed a surge in inflammation and signs of dangerous damage to blood vessels, prompting the emergency removal of the organ. While those injuries were resolved, the patient died three months later from sudden uncontrollable bleeding in his upper GI tract. 

Sun Beiching, the surgeon who led the work, said that the experiment showed xenotransplantation can offer a lifesaving bridge for patients with inoperable liver cancer or untreatable liver failure. His team is now developing a pig with additional genetic modifications, which he hopes will lead to organs that “will become more compatible.” — Megan Molteni

The MacArthur Foundation announced 22 new “genius” fellows yesterday, including an astrophysicist, a composer, a novelist, and many researchers — including a few who have been featured in STAT’s journalism over the years. Here are a couple notable names:

• Nabarun Dasgupta is an epidemiologist and harm reduction advocate. He first spoke to STAT in late 2021 about the increasing potency of naloxone overdose treatments. And he spoke to STAT’s Lev Facher earlier this year about how policymakers should respond to the fact that a sedative called “dex” is replacing “tranq” in the illegal drug supply. 
• Jason McLellan, a structural biologist, investigates virus fusion proteins and develops new ways to prevent infectious diseases. He was part of the team that designed the spike protein target that a number of vaccine manufacturers used to make their Covid vaccines. STAT’s Helen Branswell references this accomplishment in her 2022 story, “why Covid-19 vaccines are a freaking miracle.”

• Starving children screaming for food as US aid cuts unleash devastation and death across Myanmar, AP

• Was Trump always against LGBTQ+ rights? Everything in his past says no, The 19th

• Parents of children with rare diseases ask: How long until our CRISPR miracle? STAT
• California’s nursing shortage is getting worse. Frontline workers blame management, KFF Health News
• First Opinion: Pharma’s shift away from infectious disease research could spell disaster for the world’s poorest people, STAT