Wellness Unmasked Weekly Rundown: FDA Cracks Down on Kratom Derivatives + Controversy Over AI in Healthcare

In this Wellness Unmasked Weekly Rundown, Dr. Nicole Saphier breaks down two urgent developments in the world of health and wellness. First, she unpacks the FDA's move to schedule 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH)—a synthetic Kratom derivative up to 13 times stronger than morphine—as a Schedule I controlled substance. What does this mean for wellness supplements, and how did these potent, unregulated substances make it to market in the first place?

Then, Dr. Saphier dives into the White House’s new AI-driven healthcare initiative. While tech giants like Amazon, Google, and Apple promise to revolutionize healthcare with data transparency and streamlined systems, concerns mount over data privacy, conflicts of interest, and regulatory oversight. Are Silicon Valley insiders set to profit from policies they help shape? Wellness Unmasked is part of the Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Podcast Network - new episodes debut every Tuesday & Friday.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Wellness Unmass. I'm doctor Nicole Sapphire and this
is your Wellness Unmass weekly rundown. Let's start with the
FDA's urgent move this week to restrict seven hydroxy mitrigidine,
also known as seven OH. Much easier to say. It's
a powerful synthetic derivative of craton, often marketed in innocent
looking gummies, shots and drink powders. But do not let

(00:22):
that colorful packaging fool you. Seven oh can be up
to thirteen times more potent than morphine. It's not your
grandma's herbal tea. It's more like legal morphine for sale
at the gas station. So the FDA has officially recommended
scheduling seven oh as a Schedule one controlled substance, meaning
it has no approved medical use, essentially like heroin, because

(00:44):
it has such a high potential for abuse. Now, this
doesn't affect natural craton leaf products, although I can tell
you that I think that these are a little bit
risky as well. But it's a line in the sand
for these lab enhanced versions being marketed as wellness supplements.
Now here's why matters. These products are completely unregulated, aggressively
marketed to young people and sold online and in stores

(01:07):
with zero oversight, And let's be honest, many people consuming
them have no idea what they're actually taking. I applaud
the FDA for stepping in, but the fact that these
products were allowed to flood the market in the first
place shows us just how broken our whole regulatory framework
still is when it comes to these synthetic health trends. Now,

(01:27):
I want to pivot from fake drugs to real tech.
This week, the White House announced a bold new initiative.
On the surface, it sounds exciting AI in healthcare interoperability,
data transparency and streamlining medical coding and reimbursement and all
that they have, all of the tech companies Amazon, Google, Apple,

(01:48):
and all these others who are voluntarily stepping up to
be a part of this initiative. But if you've been
long enough, you know this isn't the first time Washington
has promised tech is going to fix healthcare. Remember the
whole Affordable Care Acts push for electronic medical records. Well,
that mandate led to bloated software, clunky workflows, and data

(02:09):
breaches we're still recovering from, not to mention, it forced
out a lot of positions from private practice, and a
lot of people just left medicine altogether. So yes, innovation
is good, but let's not forget the side effects of it.
And here's where it gets a little murky as well.
Two names that keep coming up in the orbit of
this initiative are Cali Means and doctor Casey Means, both

(02:31):
well known for their health startups, outspoken positions on metabolic wellness,
and deep ties to Silicon Valley funding, and they happen
to work with RFK Junior. One is a special employee
of the government, the other is the current Surgeon General nominee,
and they are both owners of these companies that would
benefit from these tech initiatives. So are they brilliant, probably,

(02:54):
But if their companies are being positioned to benefit from
new data sharing rules and preferred partnerships, we certainly need
some oversight and transparency. So the same people pushing policies
probably shouldn't be standing to profit from them, especially when
we're talking about personal health data. On top of it,
I have major concerns about health data privacy. So let

(03:15):
me ask you, if we're digitizing more health information than ever,
who's guarding the vaults? Because right now they're saying it's
going to be CMS, Medicare and Medicaid, and last time
I checked, they're not the best when it comes to
just about anything. In fact, they're failing systems. But right
now there's no standard for how your genetic data, medical history,

(03:39):
or even biometric trackers are being stored and in the
wrong hands. It's not just like a hip a concern.
It's like a national security issue. So whether we're talking
synthetic opioids in your vitaminile or synthetic intelligence managing your
medical records, one thing's clear. As Americans, we deserve transparency,
oversight and truth. Need some financial disclosures if people are

(04:02):
standing to benefit from the things that they're mandating everyone
to take part in. I'm doctor Nicole Sapphire and this
has been your wellness Unmass Weekly Rundown. Thanks for listening
to Wellness on Mass on America's number one podcast network iHeart.
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