New Fluoride-IQ Study, Robot Surgeons, & Breakdown of Q1 Payer Earning

Hey all,

Hope your start to 2025 has been ok thus far. Today we’ve got an interesting meta-analysis of fluoride IQ studies. I’m going to spend some time reading the actual study since there’s so much debate on methodology. Enjoy the rundown!

Jacob Brody (Co-Founder & CEO, ZorroRX)

(STAT News) New Fluoride-IQ Study 

A recent meta-analysis published in JAMA Pediatrics suggests a slight decrease in children’s IQ scores with increased fluoride exposure. However, experts have raised concerns about the study’s methodology, including the inclusion of studies with high risk of bias and the relevance of non-U.S. data to American populations. This has intensified the ongoing debate over water fluoridation’s safety and efficacy. Full Article

(The Washington Post) Robots Learn Surgical Tasks by Watching Videos

Researchers from Johns Hopkins University and Stanford University have trained surgical robots to perform procedures by having them watch videos of experienced surgeons. Using imitation learning, the robots successfully executed tasks such as tissue manipulation, needle handling, and knot-tying with skill comparable to human doctors. If surgeon robots become sentient, they’ll likely look down on all other robots—scalpels raised, declaring themselves the true precision-engineered elite. Full Article

(Jeff DelVerne’s Substack) Key Healthcare Storylines for 2025 Earnings Season

As the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference sets the stage for industry trends, major insurers like UnitedHealth, Cigna, CVS, Elevance, Centene, and Humana face pivotal earnings reports. UnitedHealth will have to address all of the issues brought up by the murder of Brian Thompson. Cigna, largely shielded from government program pressures, is especially interesting as it will have to tackle PBM scrutiny and the impact of GLP-1 drugs on employer plans. Full Article.