Ruth

Good morning, I wrote something exceedingly personal for @nytimes on the scam that is romance nytimes.com/2019/03/22/sty…

Years ago, I tried to write about how wildly low taxes on alcohol are from a health policy perspective, but could never get editorial buy-in. Glad to see @statnews giving alcohol addiction the platform it deserves.

SCOOP: FDA Commissioner Marty Makary is resigning from the agency. Kyle Diamantas, who previously worked as the top food official at the agency, will lead the FDA in an acting capacity. w/ @Gardner_LM: subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2026/0…

BREAKING: @character_ai is illegally presenting a chatbot as a licensed medical professional in Pennsylvania — and we’re suing to stop them.  Earlier this year, I announced a new state task force to investigate chatbots that pose as licensed professionals. Our investigators found an AI character on @character_ai that claimed to be a psychiatrist — falsely stating it was licensed in PA and even providing a fake license number.   We will not let AI companies mislead vulnerable Pennsylvanians into believing they’re getting advice from a licensed medical professional. We’re taking @character_ai to court to stop them.

This is not going to get the same attention that a dystopian memo would get, but there's a growing cohort of CEOs that are coming out to say the job cuts because of AI are totally overblown. That includes @levie @oliver_kharraz & others.

This narrative doesn't resonate with me, though it doesn't mean it's wrong. I will say that what frustrates me about it broadly is that it sidesteps crippling realities: decades of weakened labor laws, enormous student debt, inflation, and a k-shaped economy.

On the lack of compelling evidence that medical AI is improving patient care, and what to do about it, a @NatureMedicine editorial nature.com/articles/s4159…

@dreece11 @chrissyfarr Would love to take a look at that

@chrissyfarr @RuthReader One sided indeed! Reminds me of Anthropic’s BAA

Second Opinion just published its first scoop: And it's a look inside Epic's confidential vendor services agreement. A source shared it with @RuthReader to give us a sense of why it's so hard out there for healthcare innovators. View in full here: secondopinion.media/p/an-inside-lo…

Massive number of companies enrolled as participants for the CMMI ACCESS model. Way more than I expected, especially given comments around price being too low. Full list here: secondopinion.media/p/cms-announce…

DOJ says telehealth platform Zealthy "presents itself as providing legitimate telehealth services but is in fact engaged in systemic improper and dangerous telemedical practices." In a motion filed today, DOJ says Zealthy engaged in "routine ordering of prescriptions by ... non-clinicians with no medical license." Zealthy allegedly misused the names of doctors "to order many thousands of prescriptions for patients they did not actually treat." Separately, Zealthy "is bilking thousands of consumers each month through unauthorized charges ... and even after consumers cancel."

Interesting perspective on AI prescribing and what we lose when patients don't go to their doctor for a refill. jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/…

Medvi was sued today in data privacy class action. Plaintiffs allege that Medvi represents that user information is "never shared" and is "protected by HIPAA." "In reality, Mevdi secretly transmits users’ information—including identifying information such as email addresses and details reflecting their participation in a medical intake process— to third parties..."

Longevity influencer Peter Attia had a deeper relationship with Jeffrey Epstein than he publicly acknowledged last month, @politico found. Including: - He asked Epstein for patient referrals - Epstein introduced him to a foreign-born model, whom he interviewed for a job

After four years at POLITICO I'm making some moves: I'm joining @chrissyfarr's Second Opinion Media, to bring more tech policy coverage, analysis, and scoops to the great work she is already doing there AND I'll be taking on some long term projects @hntrbrkmedia Send tips!

@michaelkruse @nytimes @LachCartwright @politico Congrats!!

Start March 23. Ready to get to work. tinyurl.com/64pw8fau

Much of MAHA feels betrayed by the Trump admin's actions on the pesticide glyphosate. Democrats see an opening to win them over. politico.com/news/2026/03/0… with @RuthReader

EXCLUSIVE: As @CaseyMeansMD awaits Senate HELP committee vote for Surgeon General, a @RollingStone review shows at least 5 of her newsletter sponsors stood accused of selling products w hazardous ingredients, unsafe levels lead/cadmium or traces of PFOAs: rollingstone.com/politics/polit…

RFK Jr.’s endorsement of Trump’s plan to boost U.S. herbicide production threatens MAGA-MAHA alliance dlvr.it/TR6zNY

The changes in staffing come under new director Alicia Jackson, who I spoke with last month. subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2026/0…

Scoop: this week ARPA-H laid off at least 15 staff, impacting the commercialization office. subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2026/0…