Hey y’all,
This week we cover an interesting new signal around GLP-1 drugs. Clinicians started noticing patients taking them for diabetes or weight loss were also losing interest in alcohol, cigarettes, and other substances. A massive VA study suggests that observation might be real. If the trials underway confirm it, addiction treatment could look very different.
Closer to home, we hosted our first volunteer day last weekend with Open Hand Atlanta, thanks to Patrick Kennedy for organizing and leading the group. I’m really proud to see this community come together to support families facing food insecurity. In just a couple hours, the group packed about 125 healthy meal kits for people who need help getting good food on the table.
We’re also launching a new event series called The Spark. Short talk, big idea, great room of people. The first one is April 1st at Manuel’s Tavern. Tickets are live and I’d love to see you there.
Alright, let’s get into it.
ONE BIG THING
GLP-1s might work for addiction
Illustration by Esma Melike Sezer on Unsplash
Doctors noticed patients on Ozempic for diabetes stopped drinking. Stopped smoking. Just didn't care about substances anymore.
A new study of 600,000 veterans confirms it. People taking GLP-1 drugs were 15-20% less likely to develop substance use disorders across alcohol, opioids, cannabis, and cocaine.
Why this matters
Most addiction treatments target one substance. Naltrexone for opioids. Antabuse for alcohol.
But most of the 48 million Americans with substance use disorder struggle with multiple drugs. A medication that works broadly would be transformational.
The numbers
Veterans with substance abuse history who took GLP-1s had 25-50% lower risk of overdose, hospitalization, or death. The drugs appear to dial down dopamine in reward pathways that addiction hijacks.
The catch
This was observational, not a controlled trial. Several randomized trials are underway with results expected this year. They'll answer questions about dosing, duration, and safety in people without diabetes or obesity.
Our take
Addiction treatment is finally getting real innovation. Psychedelics for treatment-resistant cases. Now GLP-1s offering broad-spectrum support.
For families who've watched someone cycle through single-substance programs only to substitute one addiction for another, a medication that addresses underlying biology could change everything.
If the trials work, we get accessible tools that bridge gaps where therapy slots have six-month waitlists and rural areas have no addiction specialists at all.
WEEKLY ROUNDUP
Here’s what else we’re reading
Public Health & Policy
One-third of Americans are skipping meals to afford healthcare. That's 82 million people cutting utilities and stretching prescriptions, hitting every income bracket including households over $240K.
Rural telehealth fell off a cliff. Medicare data shows virtual mental health visits in rural areas dropped 40% after pandemic waivers expired, even as demand remains high.
Georgia maternal health runs on duct tape and hope. Medicaid covers 46% of births statewide (60% in rural areas), supplemented by federal programs and $12M in philanthropy. HR.1 cuts threaten $5.4B to state hospitals by 2034 while virtual prenatal pilots try to cover maternity deserts.
M&A
Universal Health Services is buying Talkspace for $835M, merging the nation's largest behavioral hospital network with 6,000 virtual therapists for seamless inpatient-to-telehealth care.
Platforms & Infrastructure
b.well and Samsung are turning phones into health insurance cards as part of CMS's Kill the Clipboard push. Samsung Wallet stores everything you need for clinic check-ins, no more fumbling with paper cards.
Maven ditched the employer-only model and opened its virtual maternity platform to everyone at $15/month. Direct-to-consumer subscriptions mean you don't need to work at a company with Maven benefits to access the care.
Costco partnered with Sesame and IVI RMA fertility clinics to offer members discounted IVF and 80% off fertility meds through cash-pay pricing.
Tech
Nabla secured exclusive access to Yann LeCun's "world models" tech through his $1B-funded Advanced Machine Intelligence, aiming for FDA-certifiable agentic AI that handles clinical workflows without hallucinating.
Microsoft launched Copilot Health, embedding AI into Teams and Office 365 for clinical documentation and care coordination where clinicians already work.
Epic published AI results: some health systems cut documentation time 30%, reduced prior auth denials 20%, and one caught 100+ early lung cancers through automated radiology review.
Greenway Health launched Novare, the first EHR built natively with AI rather than bolted onto legacy systems, targeting small and mid-size practices.
Meditech rolled out AI across its Expanse platform for community hospitals: ambient documentation, clinical decision support, and revenue cycle automation.
YOU CAN FIND ME IN THE A
Event Calendar
March has something for everyone: casual networking at Krog Street, a full industry summit at Georgia Tech, and our newest event series — a TED-style talk at one of our favorite atlanta institutions, followed by Q&A and curated connection.
Bonne Fire ATL Monthly Social
Thursday, March 19 | 5:30-7:30pm | Krog Street Market
Our usual mix of founders, clinicians, investors, and operators. Come for the connections, stay for the conversations about what's breaking and what's working in Atlanta health tech. RSVP here
TAG Digital Health Summit: Healthcare's One Big Beautiful Opportunity
Tuesday, March 24 | 8am-2pm | Georgia Tech (Bill Moore Student Success Center) TAG's bringing together health system leaders, payers, and digital health companies to talk through where the real opportunities are. Worth the early start. RSVP here
The Spark: Three Stories Healthcare Couldn't Have Told Ten Years Ago
Tuesday, April 1 | Doors at 6pm | Manuel's Tavern
You are more than a lab result. Your doctor wants to talk to you rather than type. You have the right to your health data. We've known these things for decades, but are the tools we're building closing the gap or widening it? Elizabeth Sprouse is Emory Healthcare's Chief Public Health Informatics Officer. Through stories spanning two decades, she'll show how the work of reaching people who need care most has changed, why the AI conversation is better than you think, and why data rights are more urgent than most people realize. Short talk, Q&A, connections. RSVP here
What did you think of this week's Pulse Check?
Closing Thoughts
Look at this fabulous group of volunteers. We’re very lucky to have a community like this. If you have ideas for where the Bonne Fire crew should volunteer next, send them my way. I’d love to keep doing more of this together.
And if you haven’t grabbed a ticket to The Spark yet, now’s the time. April 1 at Manuel’s Tavern.
Enjoy the weekend.
xoxo Nadine
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