ACA Enrollment Collapse, India's Chemo Crisis, & Shingles vs Dementia
7/3/202613 min
In today's inaugural episode, Dr. Will Flanary / Dr. Glaucomflecken (@drglaucomflecken) & Dr. Alok Patel (@alokpatelmd) cover a sharp drop in ACA marketplace enrollment after enhanced tax credits expired, from 24.2 million enrollees in 2025 to roughly 19.2 million in 2026 (a loss of 5 million Americans' health coverage). India is rationing two cornerstone chemotherapy drugs, cisplatin and carboplatin, after supply disruptions tied to rising platinum costs and capped essential medicine prices. A new Annals of Internal Medicine study finds older adults who received a shingles vaccine had a 24 percent lower relative risk of dementia diagnosis. Plus: heat linked to rising suicide rates in young people, the return of the 988 LGBTQ+ crisis line, and a phase 3 trial of infigratinib for achondroplasia.
Coverage Timeline:
(00:00) Medlines begins!
(01:44) ACA enrollment drops as credits expire
(03:42) India rations cisplatin & carboplatin
(06:03) Shingles vaccine & dementia risk
(06:38) Climate, youth suicide & 988 hotline
(08:26) Amy Adams' real-life rescue
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 medlines@human-content.com.
Sources & Media Attributions for Today's Episode Available At: www.medlinespod.com/sources
Medlines is a Human Content Production
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsWill Flanary· Host0:07
Welcome to Medline, your weekly resource for quick, credible, on-the-go medical news for those of us too busy practicing to clean the backyard grill. Brought to you by the New England Journal of Medicine.
Alok Patel· Host0:16
I just wish I had a backyard. Today is July 3rd, 2026. Happy almost 4th of July. Happy almost 250th birthday, United States of America. We've got a lot to celebrate at the desk today. We're also celebrating the very first episode of Medline's, the latest headline news in healthcare. I'm Dr. Alok Patel.
Will Flanary· Host0:35
First episode, Alok, we did it. And if people like it, it won't be the last episode either. How about that?
Alok Patel· Host0:42
It'll be the first of thousands.
Will Flanary· Host0:43
And joining Dr. Alok Patel, I am Dr. Will Flannery. Over the last week, enrollment and Affordable Care Act marketplace plans fell sharply after tax credits expired. India is rationing two cornerstone chemotherapy drugs after supply disruptions. And light those sparklers with safety glasses, please. a possible connection between shingles vaccine and dementia risk, the return of 988's LGBTQ plus hotline, an actress using medical TV training in real life, and more coming up.
Alok Patel· Host1:14
What a spectrum of medical news. Thank God that you're listening to this. But before we begin today's trivia question. What cancer drug was discovered by accident after researchers noticed bacteria stopped