U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy on Saturday said he believes 13-year-olds are too young for social media, in today's bite-sized hospital and health industry news from the District of Columbia and Maryland.

• District of Columbia: U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy on Saturday said he believes 13-year-olds are too young to sign up for social media platforms, adding that these platforms provide a "disservice" to children. Currently, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter allow individuals ages 13 or older to enroll in their platforms. In the United States, TikTok allows users under the age of 13 to use their platform with a safety setting for children. Still, experts have noted that heavy social media use is associated with mental health issues in children. According to Murthy, 13 marks an important age for children to reflect on how they regard their own self-worth. "Their relationships and the skewed and often distorted environment of social media often does a disservice to many of those children," Murthy said. "If we tell a child, use the force of your willpower to control how much time you're spending, you're pitting a child against the world's greatest product designers." Murthy noted that this is within our control. "When we had dangerous vehicles on the road, we passed laws to make those vehicles less dangerous. We should make decisions to make [social media] a healthier experience that would make kids feel better about themselves and less alone." (Ravipati, Axios, 1/29)

• Maryland: FDA said that its current regulations for drugs and supplements cannot be used to evaluate the safety of CBD products. "Given the available evidence, it is not apparent how CBD products could meet safety standards for dietary supplements or food additives," said FDA Principal Deputy Commissioner Janet Woodcock. "Studies have shown the potential for harm to the liver, interactions with certain medications and possible harm to the male reproductive system," she noted. "The FDA continues to rely on pharmaceutical studies that show risk at significantly larger doses that are not commonly found in CBD products sold at retail," said U.S. Hemp Roundtable president Jonathan Miller. Meanwhile, officials from the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability confirmed that the committee plans to investigate FDA's decision. (Reed, Axios, 1/27)

• Maryland: The National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity on Friday endorsed a broad set of proposed changes to the federal government's program that regulates experiments involving high-risk pathogens and viruses. The panel unanimously approved the draft recommendations, which ask health officials to expand their oversight to less dangerous pathogens, including those similar to the coronavirus. In addition, the panel recommended ending exemptions for research related to vaccine development and emerging virus surveillance. "We have a lot of oversight on paper, but not really a lot of oversight," said Kenneth Bernard, a member of the expert panel and a retired rear admiral. (Mueller/Zimmer, New York Times, 1/27)