Friday, September 11, 2026

In today's episode, Dr. Alok Patel (@AlokPatelMD) & Adam Rose (@Adjoro) cover a record pig kidney bridge that kept a New Hampshire man off dialysis for 271 days with no sign of rejection and without blocking his next human transplant. They break down the 69 edits behind the eGenesis organ and why The Lancet case matters for over 100,000 Americans waiting for a kidney. They also dig into new UK and US surveys showing most emergency staff face violence and what leaders say must change. Plus: a sharp rise in GLP-1 prescriptions for young children, fake weight loss drugs tied to liver injury, and more.

Coverage Timeline:

(00:00) Intro

Have a story, think we missed something, want to say hi, or curious to learn about the Medlines team? Visit www.medlinespod.com or email [email protected].

Sources & Media Attributions for Today's Episode Available At: www.medlinespod.com/sources

Medlines is a Human Content Production

Friday, September 4, 2026

In today's episode, Dr. Will Flanary (@drglaucomflecken) & Eva Johnson cover the FDA authorization of Aletta, the first standalone robot that draws blood without hands on operator intervention. The Vitestro system uses near infrared light and Doppler ultrasound to find veins, and one phlebotomist can supervise three units at a 94.5 percent first stick rate. They also break down a trial of atorvastatin in nearly 10,000 healthy adults over 70, where a 30 percent relative reduction in cardiovascular events came with no significant gain in disability free survival. Plus: new FDA decisions on skin and tobacco products, teen safety updates from Meta, and more.

Coverage Timeline:

(00:00) Intro

(01:00) Aletta: Autonomous Blood Draw Robot

(04:23) Statins for Healthy Older Adults

(07:19) Lysria for Dermatomyositis

(09:16) Ebola Vaccination & Slow Running

Have a story, think we missed something, want to say hi, or curious to learn about the Medlines team? Visit www.medlinespod.com or email [email protected].

Sources & Media Attributions for Today's Episode Available At: www.medlinespod.com/sources

Medlines is a Human Content Production

Friday, August 28, 2026

In today's episode, Alok Patel (@AlokPatelMD) & Adam Rose (@Adjoro) cover Epic bringing prior authorization checks directly into the EHR.

New federal rules will require Medicare Advantage Medicaid and ACA marketplace insurers to support electronic prior authorization APIs by January 1. Epic's Coverage Requirements Discovery shows coverage requirements and documentation needs inside the chart without payer portals or phone calls. They also break down undisclosed deaths in Chinese gene editing trials involving high dose AAV9 vectors and what the delays reveal about safety oversight.

Plus: they discuss the Oura sleep tracking lawsuit and new real world psilocybin data from Oregon and more.

Coverage Timeline:

(00:00) Intro

(01:03) Electronic Prior Auth

(03:41) Gene Editing Deaths

(06:41) Measles Outbreak

(07:23) MyChart Phishing Scam

(08:05) Mediterranean Diet

(08:47) Legal Psilocybin

Have a story, think we missed something, want to say hi, or curious to learn about the Medlines team? Visit www.medlinespod.com or email [email protected].

Sources & Media Attributions for Today's Episode Available At: www.medlinespod.com/sources

Medlines is a Human Content Production

Friday, August 21, 2026

In today's episode, Dr. Will Flanary (@drglaucomflecken) & Eva Johnson cover a historic drop in prescription drug prices. Prices fell 3.1% over the past year, the steepest annual decline since 1963, and the anchors unpack what is actually driving it from generics to GLP-1 competition to the Inflation Reduction Act. They also break down why the national index does not always match what patients pay at the pharmacy counter. Plus: a split between two studies on whether CTE can be diagnosed in living patients, and more.

Coverage Timeline:

(00:00) Intro

(01:04) Drug Prices Drop

(04:25) Diagnosing CTE in Living Patients

(08:18) Waist Size vs BMI

(09:26) C. Diff Treatment Updates

Have a story, think we missed something, want to say hi, or curious to learn about the Medlines team? Visit https://www.medlinespod.com or email [email protected].

Sources & Media Attributions for Today's Episode Available At: www.medlinespod.com/sources

Medlines is a Human Content Production

Friday, August 14, 2026

In today's episode, Adam Rose (@adjoro) & Dr. Alok Patel (@alokpatelmd) cover the FDA's landmark approval of Moderna's first mRNA flu vaccine for adults. They break down the phase-three trial showing the mRNA shot produced fewer confirmed influenza cases than standard vaccines, and what a complicated insurance landscape means for access this flu season. Plus: researchers at the Arc Institute fed millions of viral DNA sequences to a language model. It wrote new genomes that had never existed in nature, and sixteen of them came to life in the lab. Then, they look at a new narcolepsy drug targeting the underlying orexin deficiency, a Salmonella outbreak linked to jalapeños spreading through 27 states, and over 2,400 measles cases putting U.S. elimination status in jeopardy.

Coverage Timeline:

(0:00) Intro

(1:01) First mRNA Flu Vaccine Approved

(4:52) AI Designs Functional Viruses

(8:54) Salmonella Jalapeño Outbreak

(9:44) Measles Resurgence

(10:04) Women's Pro Baseball

Have a story, think we missed something, want to say hi, or curious to learn about the Medlines team? Visit www.medlinespod.com or email [email protected]. 

Sources & Media Attributions for Today's Episode Available At: www.medlinespod.com/sources 

Medlines is a Human Content Production

August 7, 2026

In today's episode, Dr. Will Flanary (@DrGlaucomflecken) & Eva Johnson cover the American Red Cross declaring its second-ever national blood crisis, with Type O blood critically low and hospitals postponing transfusions. They break down what's driving the shortage and debate whether blood donors deserve HOV-lane perks. Then: a 36-year-old Iowa woman with cystic fibrosis becomes the first known U.S. patient to receive a quadruple organ transplant involving re-transplanted lungs, in addition to a liver and kidney, at Northwestern Medicine.  Plus: Florida advises caution on psychiatric medication for children, a promising non-opioid pain drug (LTG-001) reduces opioid use after surgery, and Will reveals whether he actually knows his blood type.

Coverage Timeline:

(0:00) Intro & Trivia Question

(1:00) Red Cross Blood Crisis

(3:54) Should We Pay Blood Donors?

(4:44) Historic 4-Organ Transplant

(8:32) Florida Psych Meds Debate

(10:04) Non-Opioid Pain Relief Trial

Have a story, think we missed something, want to say hi, or curious to learn about the Medlines team? Visit www.medlinespod.com or email [email protected].

Sources & Media Attributions for Today's Episode Available At: www.medlinespod.com/sources

Medlines is a Human Content Production

Friday, July 31, 2026

In today's episode, Dr. Alok Patel (@alokpatelmd) & Adam Rose (@adjoro) cover a Florida man's lawsuit against OpenAI after ChatGPT repeatedly dismissed his pulmonary embolism symptoms as "not something dangerous." The case raises urgent questions about AI medical liability just as a new JAMA analysis reveals updated cholesterol guidelines now make 87.5 million US adults eligible for statins (more than 56% of the 30-to-79 population). Plus: they also discuss the FDA's first dual-ingredient OTC pain reliever, Lego MRI models cutting pediatric sedation rates by nearly half, and Europe's approval of a retinal implant that helped 84% of participants read again. Plus: oral GLP-1 competition heats up and a new smell-impairment and depression link.

(00:00) Intro & Trivia Question

(01:05) AI Medical Advice Lawsuit (OpenAI/ChatGPT)

(04:34) New Cholesterol Guidelines & Statin Eligibility

(07:05) Off The Clock GLP-1s, Lego MRI, OTC Pain Combo

(11:03) Trivia Answer

Have a story, think we missed something, want to say hi, or curious to learn about the Medlines team? Visit www.medlinespod.com or email [email protected]

Sources & Media Attributions for Today's Episode Available At: www.medlinespod.com/sources

Medlines is a Human Content Production

Friday, July 24, 2026

In today's episode, Dr. Alok Patel (@alokpatelmd) & Eva Johnson cover CMS's sweeping 2027 physician fee schedule proposal, which would accelerate Medicare's shift from fee-for-service toward value-based, preventive care. They also unpack Kalshi's launch of clinical trial prediction markets; betting on FDA approvals is now a real thing, and the ethical questions are piling up. Coffee gets a heart health endorsement from the AHA, and an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease hits Manhattan's Upper East Side. Last, but far from least, we discuss the FDA's transparency whiplash on rejection letters, the first RCT of a ketogenic diet for severe mental illness, and more.

Coverage Timeline:

(00:00) Intro & Trivia Question

(01:17) Medicare Physician Payment Overhaul

(04:30) Prediction Markets for Clinical Trials

(07:12) Off the Clock: FDA, Coffee, Outbreak, Ketogenic Diet

(09:57) Trivia Answer

(11:07) Outro & Disclaimers

Have a story, think we missed something, want to say hi, or curious to learn about the Medlines team? Visit www.medlinespod.com or email [email protected]

Sources & Media Attributions for Today's Episode Available At: www.medlinespod.com/sources

Medlines is a Human Content Production

Friday, July 17, 2026

In today’s episode, Dr. Will Flanary / Dr. Glaucomflecken (@drglaucomflecken) and Adam Rose cover the EPCAT III trial, which found that aspirin alone was non-inferior to an initial course of rivaroxaban followed by aspirin for preventing major blood clots after elective hip or knee replacement in predominantly standard-risk patients. They examine NICE’s draft recommendation allowing two rapid endometriosis tests, EndoSure and Endotest, to enter limited NHS use while researchers gather additional real-world evidence. Plus: They discuss a recall involving more than 2.5 million bottles of prednisolone acetate eye drops, the first HAVANA Act compensation payments, the expanding Cyclospora response, and The Pitt leading the 2026 Emmy nominations with 25 nods.

Coverage Timeline:

Have a story, think we missed something, want to say hi, or curious to learn about the Medlines team? Visit www.medlinespod.com or email [email protected].

Sources & Media Attributions for Today’s Episode Available At: www.medlinespod.com/sources

Medlines is a Human Content Production

Friday, July 10, 2026

In today's episode, Dr. Will Flanary / Dr. Glaucomflecken (@drglaucomflecken) & Eva Johnson cover the retraction of the Advocate trial after FDA reviewers found the avacopan (Tavneos) dataset was unblinded, re-adjudicated, and altered before being relocked, throwing its approval for ANCA-associated vasculitis into doubt. They break down Medicare's new GLP-1 Bridge program, which offers eligible Part D beneficiaries drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound at $50 a month through the end of 2027, and why that copay sits outside normal Part D accounting. They also track a Cyclospora outbreak now reported across 18 states and why routine washing does not reliably kill it. Plus: they also discuss Alibaba's $600 million fentanyl-precursor settlement, the WHO's first emergency-use Ebola (Bundibugyo) diagnostic, France's deadly heat wave, and more.

Coverage Timeline:

(00:00) Intro
(01:04) Vasculitis Trial Retracted:
(03:44) Medicare’s GLP‑1 Bridge
(06:02) Parasite, Ebola, Heat Wave

Have a story, think we missed something, want to say hi, or curious to learn about the Medlines team? Visit www.medlinespod.com or email [email protected].

Sources & Media Attributions for Today's Episode Available At:

www.medlinespod.com/sources

Medlines is a Human Content Production