Digital Exhaust #206

Alzheimer's arrogance, measles, and heart-stopping developments from Google

Hey there. A few things that I created or caught my eye.

Doctored - Fraud, Arrogance and Tragedy in the Quest to Cure Alzheimer’s

One of the most amazing reads in a good long time is Charles Piller’s new book Doctored. His book details a staggering pattern fraud in Alzheimer’s research. As the son of a mother lost to dementia and an academic physician, I was disgusted by what he’s uncovered. This book reminds me of Bad Blood (the Theranos story). What has been most striking is the level of arrogance sniffed from some research colleagues claiming Piller’s book is a dramatic representation of a case or two. Not true, and none of them that I spoke to have read what he’s done. Piller is an investigative journalist for what may be the world’s most prestigious journal (Science). So he’s legit. The book is meticulously researched and presented. Everyone remotely connected to medicine or research should be outraged.

• I had Charles on Freerange MD, so you can listen on Apple Podcasts, Pandora, iHeart Radio, etc. I have a video version of the ‘cast and some interesting teaser Shorts on the Freerange MD YouTube channel. Charles has a nice long-form essay, The Price of Fraud in Alzheimer’s Research, in the New York Times that gives you a teaser.

And please subscribe or follow where ever you listen to podcasts. It would help me a bunch.

Measles galore

Texas is lit with measles. On Friday we were at 148 cases in the state, but that’s clearly gone up. And it made its way from west Texas to Austin. So I think we’re just getting started. For the love of God get your children immunized. This is only going to get worse. I will add that last year in we cared for a child with subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, a devastating sequelae of measles. If you’re one to take your chances, click through and read about it. It’s why we vaccinate children.

Pulseless in Silicon Valley

This is impressive: Google’s Pixel Watch 3 received clearance this week from the FDA for its Loss of Pulse Detection feature. This first-of-its-kind technology can detect when a user experiences a loss of pulse and automatically prompts a call to EMS if the user’s unresponsive.

It uses the watch’s heart rate sensor. Then an AI-based algorithm analyzes these signals alongside motion data to confirm a loss of pulse event. If no response or movement is detected, the watch initiates an audio alarm and countdown before contacting emergency services. The announcement of the FDA approval corresponds with the publication of a Nature paper (paywall) validated this algorithm with high specificity (99.99%) and moderate sensitivity (67.23%) in clinical and real-world testing.

This step is huge given that out-of-hospital cardiac arrests account for over 356,000 deaths annually in the U.S., with more than half occurring without a witness.

The Loss of Pulse Detection feature has been available in 14 European countries since September 2024 and is set to roll out to U.S. devices at the end of March 2025.

I created a Short about this on the Freerange MD channel. Check it out if you wanna see where I drink coffee on weekends. Maybe Austinites can guess where I am, but it’s not that dramatic.

• Somewhat related, this week Google released its first Health Impact Report detailing how their technology and partnerships are shaping health across four areas. It’s worth a peek. I want to get Dr. Karen DeSalvo, Google’s Chief Health Officer, on my podcast. If anyone has a connection with her and is willing to make a warm introduction, it would be huge.

True confessions: I dictate everything in my iPhone

I thought I was alone in my dictation habit. Turns out, I’m not. This review of dictation options in Wirecutter was validating for me. I just have to be careful about doing it in public.

Fired and Hired

A bunch of FDA workers fired by Elon Musk were rehired this week. It turns out the salaries of the disgraced staffers had been funded by companies whose fees actually support the F.D.A., not taxpayer money.

Slash government waste, I say. Reduction in out-of-control spending is what will secure a future for our children. But dumping the folks that protect those children from nefarious drugs and devices is not where we need to be starting. And let’s do it in a way that's smart, not performative.

As always, thanks for tuning in. I’d love your feedback on what you’d like more or less of. Shoot me an electronic mail message at fox42@me.com