‘Make America Healthy Again’ Crusade; Psychiatrist’s Misconduct; Extreme Alpha-Gal

Welcome to the latest edition of Investigative Roundup, highlighting some of the best investigative reporting on healthcare each week.

Inside the ‘MAHA’ Movement

This week, STAT reports on Calley Means and Casey Means, MD, siblings and chronic disease entrepreneurs who have burst onto the political right’s “Make America Healthy Again” scene, a campaign against chronic disease. They’ve become its favorite proponents of anti-corporate messaging in the lead-up to the election, speaking at events and roundtables in Washington, D.C.

At the core of their argument is the corruption of healthcare, government, and science by financial interests, as well as the promotion of food as medicine. They want ultra-processed foods barred from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the NIH to stop funding scientists with conflicts of interest, and the FDA to use taxpayer money — not pharmaceutical company dollars — to cover the agency’s budget. Advertising for pharmaceuticals should be banned, and tobacco subsidies should go toward fruits and vegetables, they argue.

Other messages are aimed more keenly at a conservative audience, according to STAT, where the pair have found fans among Tucker Carlson, Joe Rogan, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who have welcomed them on the podcast and talk show circuit. They have spoken out against the criticism of COVID-19 agitators and bans on the purchase of raw milk, and warn of the dangers of seed oils, IVF, and birth control pills. When it comes to vaccines, they talk about parental freedoms and problems with immunization schedules but stop short of explicit opposition.

Notably, they also push messaging about making personal biomedical information more available, and using food and exercise to address health problems. Casey co-founded Levels, a continuous glucose monitoring company, and Calley’s company is TrueMed, which helps people with health savings and flexible savings accounts buy wellness products and gym memberships.

Psychiatrist’s Research Misconduct

Another federal agency has found that a former psychiatrist at the New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University committed research misconduct, according to TheTransmitter.

The U.S. Office of Research Integrity found that Bret Rutherford, MD, determined 45 participants were eligible for a clinical trial on depression when, in fact, many did not meet inclusion criteria because they were already taking antidepressants. Still more participants were ineligible because they did not complete a pretrial washout period of the medications.

Five papers were connected to this falsified research, The Transmitter reported, and of these, three have been retracted and two corrected. The research explored whether levodopa, normally used to treat Parkinson’s disease, could treat depression in older adults.

FDA sent warning letters to Rutherford and the New York State Psychiatric Institute earlier this year, following reports that a participant in one of the trials committed suicide.

Extreme Alpha-Gal

Alpha-gal syndrome is striking farmers who work closely with livestock, making it difficult and sometimes impossible for them not just to eat meat but to be in close contact with their own sheep and cattle, according to The Atlantic.

The most common culprit of alpha-gal, or red meat allergy, is the lone-star tick, which has been steadily expanding out of its historical range. Tick bites trigger an immune reaction to the molecule alpha-gal, which is found in most mammals besides humans.

According to The Atlantic, farmers who spend time in grassy fields with their livestock may be exposed to repeated tick bites, which may cause more severe reactions, like sensitivity to manure, dander, amniotic fluid from birthing animals, dairy, wool, and lanolin.

“It’s so much more far-reaching than just, ‘Don’t eat this,'” Jenna Olcott, who has the allergy, told The Atlantic. “It’s, ‘Don’t touch it. Don’t work with it. Don’t be around it.'” She can no longer work on her family’s small cattle farm.

While there’s no official count, the syndrome has become so prevalent among farmers that, according to Virginia’s deputy commissioner of agriculture — who also has alpha-gal syndrome — the state farm bureau’s annual convention will offer an alpha-gal-safe meal option. A handful of farmers are considering raising poultry that tastes similar to red meat, without the reaction: emu and ostrich.