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Are drug prices protected by the Constitution? Will Medicare embrace Alzheimer’s disease treatments? And should lawyers be allowed to use thesauruses?

We cover all that and more this week on “The Readout LOUD,” STAT’s biotech podcast. STAT Washington correspondent Rachel Cohrs joins us to explain Merck’s lawsuit against the federal government and why the company believes drug pricing negotiation is “tantamount to extortion.” We also discuss the health effects of Canadian wildfires, the highlights of the year’s biggest cancer research conference, and what could be a watershed moment in the treatment of Alzheimer’s.

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For more on what we cover, here’s the latest on Merck; here’s more from ASCO; here’s where you can find episodes of Color Code; and here’s where you can subscribe to the First Opinion Podcast.

Be sure to sign up on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn, 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].