Listen: Juul’s doomsday, Merck’s buyout plans, & the next Theranos verdict

Just how powerful is the FDA? Is Merck about to spend $40 billion? And what’s a “Puff Bar”?

We cover all that and more this week on “The Readout LOUD,” STAT’s biotech podcast. STAT Washington correspondent Nicholas Florko joins us to discuss the FDA’s decision to ban the sale of Juul Labs vaping products and a proposal to reduce the amount of nicotine in cigarettes. We’ll also explain the latest news in the life sciences, including a rumored blockbuster buyout and the next Theranos verdict.

For more on what we cover, here’s the news on Juul; here’s the latest on nicotine in cigarettes; here’s more on Merck and Seagen; here’s where you can find episodes of Color Code; here’s where you can subscribe to the First Opinion Podcast; and here’s our complete coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Be sure to sign up on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts.

And if you have any feedback for us — topics to cover, guests to invite, vocal tics to cease — you can email [email protected].