• California: UpDoc, a California-based startup that created a voice-based artificial intelligence (AI) app to help patients manage insulin and other prescriptions, launched last week. The company combines an AI assistant with a smartphone app to interact with patients at home. "In the same way that a patient would talk to their doctor to get a medication prescribed or medication dose adjusted or a blood test ordered or a lab test ordered, they now do that and talk to UpDoc," said UpDoc CEO Sharif Vakili, who is also a physician at Stanford Medicine. Vakili also noted that the company's AI is "clinician directed" and "[a]s soon as the patient goes in any gray area, the humans are back into the loop." In a recent study published in JAMA Network Open, UpDoc followed 32 patients with Type 2 diabetes and found that 81% of patients who used the AI tool maintained their desired blood glucose level after eight weeks compared to 25% of patients who did not use the tool. According to company officials, the "remote patient intervention" tool will debut at UCSF Health and Stanford later this year. (Reed, Axios, 1/4)
• Florida: Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo last week called for a halt "to the use of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines," arguing that DNA fragments in the vaccines could "integrate" into the DNA of recipients and cause adverse side effects. Previously, Ladapo had recommended against healthy children receiving COVID-19 vaccines and anyone younger than 65 receiving a new COVID-19 booster. In response to Ladapo's claims, FDA said it "has not identified safety concerns related to the sequence of, or amount of, residual DNA" and that "the available scientific evidence regarding the mRNA vaccines strongly supports the conclusion that the vaccines are safe and effective and have a highly favorable profile of benefit to risk." Peter Marks, director of FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said the agency continues to stand by the safety and efficacy of the vaccines. He also warned that false and misleading vaccine information can negatively impact uptake. "The challenge we continue to face is the ongoing proliferation of misinformation and disinformation about these vaccines which results in vaccine hesitancy that lowers vaccine uptake," Marks said. "Given the dramatic reduction in the risk of death, hospitalization and serious illness afforded by the vaccines, lower vaccine uptake is contributing to the continued death and serious illness toll of COVID-19." (Mandavilli, New York Times, 1/3; Weixel, The Hill, 1/3; Diamond et al., Washington Post, 1/3; Pandolfo, Fox News, 1/4)
• Illinois: According to a new study from researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, use of acetaminophen during pregnancy was associated with language delays in children. In the study, researchers analyzed data from 532 newborns who were enrolled in the Illinois Kids Development Study, a prospective birth cohort, between December 2013 and March 2020. Participants reported the number of times they took acetaminophen at six points during their pregnancies. Language data was later collected at 26.5-28.5 months using the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories and 36-38 months using the Speech and Language Assessment Scale (SLAS). Overall, researchers found that taking more acetaminophen during the second or third trimester was associated with smaller vocabularies and shorter sentence lengths at 26.5-28.5 months. It was also associated with lower SLAS scores at 36-38 months. According to Susan Schantz, professor emerita of comparative biosciences and one of study's authors, the findings suggest that pregnant individuals may want to be more cautious and weigh the potential risks of the drug before taking it. However, she also noted that acetaminophen is the only painkiller that is considered safe for pregnancy. "I don't want women to go away thinking that they should not take it during pregnancy, especially if their doctor recommends it," Schantz said. (CBS Chicago, 1/3; Woodbury et al., Pediatric Research, 12/11)

Develop a strong COVID-19 vaccine communication strategy that shares information, addresses patient concerns, and encourages uptake.