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Seven years after Congress passed the 2011 Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), the FDA still hasn’t implemented a number of key reforms required by that law. Among other things, the law required the FDA to issue new industry record-keeping rules that mandate traceability, so the agency can quickly trace the source of food-borne illness outbreaks and strong standards to ensure that the water used to irrigate crops is safe and sanitary. (Jean Halloran, 12/14)

In a highly unusual move, the federal Bureau of Industry and Security is asking U.S. industry to help identify emerging technologies that are essential to national security but currently escape the tangle of laws and regulations that govern — and in some cases restrict or prohibit — the sale or transfer of commodities, technology, and technical data to foreign businesses, research institutions, government and private organizations, and individuals who are neither U.S. citizens nor lawful permanent residents. The bureau’s advance notice of proposed rulemaking specifically mentions categories of emerging technology that ought to deeply interest STAT readers: nanobiology, synthetic biology, genomic and genetic engineering, neurotechnology, molecular robotics, neural networks and deep learning, evolution and genetic computation, direct neural interfaces, brain-machine interfaces, and biomaterials. (Zack Hadzismajlovic, 12/17)

Pre-existing conditions are in the news again, now that a federal judge's ruling could wipe out the Affordable Care Act. But there's been a similar issue all along that's drawn less attention: seniors with pre-existing conditions can be denied coverage in many cases when they apply for Medicare supplemental insurance policies, or Medigap. (Drew Altman, 12/17)

Sometimes, dramatic shifts in American politics go unnoticed. They are buried under other news or dismissed because they represent such a sharp break from long-standing assumptions and expectations. So please open your mind to this: Taken together, the events of 2016 and the results of the 2018 election will be remembered as the beginning of the end of the gun lobby’s power. Supporters of reasonable gun regulation have been so cowed by National Rifle Association propaganda over the past quarter-century that we are reluctant even to imagine such a thing. No matter how many innocents are slaughtered, no matter how many Americans organize, demonstrate and protest, we assume the NRA and its allies will eventually overpower us. (E.J. Dionne, 12/16)

Legal issues are a constant of corporate life, especially in health care. That is especially true for Johnson & Johnson, one of the largest and most sprawling health-care companies, with products ranging from baby shampoo to cancer drugs and surgical staples. J&J faces major liability risk from lawsuits over a possible link between asbestos in its talc products and cancer. A Reuters investigation released Friday alleged the company was both aware of and worried about the presence of small amounts of asbestos in its baby powder for decades, but didn’t disclose it. (Max Nisen, 12/14)

America has an alarming shortage of primary care physicians, and the problem is worse in rural areas. As the Houston Chronicle noted, new medical schools won’t solve the problem. Here in Texas, 54 counties have 27 doctors to care for more than 255,000 people, who are scattered over more than 60,000 square miles.Advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) can help. (Deane Waldman, 12/15)

The toxicity that can emerge in outbreak culture isn’t limited to the response to Ebola. We’ve documented the same dysfunctions — and sometimes worse — during other large-scale epidemics. Outbreak culture fueled the stigmatization of groups of people susceptible to AIDS in the 1980s, led to the underreporting of initial cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in China in 2002, and delayed research into the 2006 avian flu outbreak in Indonesia. Outbreak culture also inhibited an adequate response to Zika. (Lara Salahi and Pardis Sabeti, 12/17)

Paul Allen continues to give gifts benefiting Seattle and the rest of the world.Last week, two months after the Microsoft co-founder’s death from cancer, the Allen Institute for Immunology was launched in Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood. This expands what’s already a strong cluster of biomedical research expertise in Seattle.The institute’s mission is to increase understanding of how healthy immune systems work and of system failures that enable disease to occur. (12/16)

Despite the booming economy and low unemployment in Silicon Valley, Second Harvest and our partner agencies are serving a record number of people – an average of 260,000 kids, families and seniors every month. That’s because the cost of housing has skyrocketed, while wages have remained relatively flat for many, leaving little left over for food. Unfortunately, hunger will take a seat at too many tables this holiday season. (Bruno Pillet, 12/16)

One of the largest existing and potential funders of children’s programs in Ohio is the Medicaid program. So it will be critical for the new administration to quickly get a handle on these programs and their performance so they can be focused on providing an opportunity to every Ohio child -- despite their circumstances, health or disability. (John Corlett, 12/16)