Inside a DC doctor's ascension to Joe Biden's A-Team

Welcome to Dispensed Daily, your daily dose of healthcare news from Business Insider's healthcare editor Lydia Ramsey Pflanzer and the healthcare team. Subscribe here to get this newsletter in your inbox every weekday.

Hello,

Here's the healthcare news you need to know: Inside the rise of Dr. Lisa Fitzpatrick, healthcare startups are tapping 'blank-check companies' to go public, and scientists fear some coronavirus patients won't recover.

I'm your host of today's Dispensed Daily, Blake Dodge, the healthcare team's health-tech reporter. I welcome tips about Big Tech's healthcare doings. You can reach me at bdodge@businessinsider.com.

The rise of top Biden healthcare adviser Dr. Lisa Fitzpatrick shows how he could shape the system to stop failing the most vulnerable

• Dr. Lisa Fitzpatrick, the CEO of Grapevine Health, is advising healthcare policy for Joe Biden.
• She caught his attention in 2019 for her work around spreading accurate medical information in DC.
• Now, she's got one of five coveted co-chair positions on Biden's committee for healthcare policy.

Read the full story from Kimberly Leonard here>>

Healthcare startups are eyeing 'blank-check companies' as a quick and easy way to go public, but investors caution that the IPO alternative isn't as painless as founders think

• Riding pandemic highs, healthcare startups are looking to go public through nontraditional means.
• They're tapping special purpose acquisition or 'blank-check' companies to avoid the IPO process.
• But, just like the IPO route, they come with a host of complications that founders should be aware of.

Read the full story from Megan Hernbroth here>>

Long-suffering SARS patients offer clues about the worrisome futures that may await COVID-19 long-haulers

• Following the 2003 SARS outbreak, many patients hadn't recovered six months to a year later.
• COVID-19 is similar to SARS, and some patients are reporting months-long pain, fatigue, and more.
• A top SARS researcher is worried that a lot of them won't return to work or feel normal again.

Read the full story from Aria Bendix here>>

More stories we're reading:

• Why UNC journalists used 'clusterf***' in a headline (The Washington Post)
• The S&P 500 just erased its coronavirus plunge (The Wall Street Journal)
• Do supposedly 'rapid' coronavirus tests actually work? (Fox News)
• Hundreds of thousands of bikers converged at the massive Sturgis Rally. Mapping their phone data shows where they traveled across the US. (Business Insider)
• THE US TELEHEALTH MARKET: The market, drivers, threats, and opportunities for incumbents and newcomers (Business Insider)

Should I move to Boulder? What's our newsletter missing? Sends tips on both to bdodge@businessinsider.com.

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- Blake