Worth your time

Kaiser Permanente paid Baltimore mayor Catherine Pugh $114,000 for copies of "Healthy Holly," a children's book she wrote. The University of Maryland medical system paid her $500,000. After this Baltimore Sun exposé raised questions of corruption, Pugh is facing calls to resign. — Lev Facher 

The nonprofit news site Tarbell has a really interesting read about one patient’s efforts to work with her PBM, CVS, to overturn the company’s decision to deny her a specific drug. The patient even taped her phone calls with the company, and they're worth a listen. — Erin Mershon

Few can write about the intricacies of drug development and bioethics like the NYT’s (and STAT alum) Carl Zimmer. His recent article on potential brain enhancing drugs is worth a read. — Nicholas Florko