Art reflects life — or in this case, bumps into life and health care — once again when the pop culture facet of my own media consumption converges with a news announcement where the timing of these events is just too uncanny.

It never occurred to me I’d ever write about the Hallmark Channel in the Health Populi blog. But reading the news that President Trump’s administration plans to cut funding for the ongoing 30-year study into diabetes and pre-diabetes — the landmark National Diabetes Prevention Program (NDPP) — dovetailed (or perhaps more honestly stated, collided) with the plotline of this week’s When Calls the Heart episode (#11 of Series 12 for those of you searching to view the show). 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First, I’ll share the news update which came to us first via STAT yesterday written up by reporter Elaine Chen – full article behind a paywall – but also covered here in The Independent.

From STAT:

The Trump administration has canceled funding for an ongoing 30-year, nationwide study tracking patients with prediabetes and diabetes, researchers said, at a time when top officials have emphasized their determination to curb the incidence of such chronic conditions. Investigators working on the landmark Diabetes Prevention Program found out last week that the National Institutes of Health has halted funding for the project. While they have not yet received confirmation from the agency on why the grant has been canceled, the decision appears likely related to the Trump administration’s cancellation of federal grants to Columbia University on the grounds that it had failed to adequately address antisemitism on campus.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FYI, some historical context on the NDPP from the CDC’s NDPP Milestones web page,

  • 1996: the NIH launched a clinical trial evaluating the effectiveness of a lifestyle intervention compared to a medication intervention on reducing the risk for Type 2 diabetes
  • 2002: the research paper was published in the New England Journal of Medicine demonstrating the lifestyle changes indeed cut peoples’ risk of developing Type 2 diabetes by 58%
  • 2006-2010: the U.S. Congress authorized CDC to establish the National DPP, a nationwide public-private initiative to offer evidence-based, cost-effective interventions to prevent Type 2 diabetes. The graphic here illustrates the public-private partnership stakeholders who have been involved in the program from the start, and onward.

Here is a link to a statement from the American Diabetes Association on the NIH research funding cuts; part of it reads,

“Diabetes is a national epidemic, with nearly half of Americans living with diabetes or prediabetes. The American Diabetes Association (ADA) urges our nation’s leaders to prioritize research that helps to find a cure, reduces the burden of diabetes, and helps Americans living with the disease thrive. The reduction in funding for the National Institutes of Health’s research grants may have long-term consequences for diabetes research and ultimately the diabetes community.” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, for the When Calls the Heart plotline: it’s 1922 in the Canadian West, the town of Hope Valley. Little Jack, the young son of Elizabeth (one of the headline characters of the show from its start in 2014), is unwell, having fallen unconscious playing baseball in last week’s episode. In this week’s story, the town’s physician Dr. Faith Carter diagnoses Jack with diabetes — for which there is no available cure in Hope Valley. Then the brilliant pharmacist Mei remembers reading something about a possible treatment for diabetes in a recent medical journal. She finds the article, and in it coverage of a clinical trial for this new therapy: insulin. Mei and her husband Mike Hickam make their way to Toronto by train to present Elizabeth’s letter of consent and make the case for Little Jack to join the trial. In the meantime, the town comes together to get the word out about the trial visiting nearby towns to recruit others into the trial, justifying the start of a local site for the trial participants (this is rural health care, peer-to-peer style).

Here’s a sneak peek from Hallmark Channel’s YouTube stream for you to get a feel for the story.


It’s a nail-biter to the last ten minutes, but eventually Mei and Hickam return to Hope Valley by train carrying a box containing insulin — which Dr. Faith quickly injects into Little Jack’s upper arm. Within a matter of minutes, Jack awakens looking at his Mum and asking, “mommy, why do you look so sad?”

Of course, for Elizabeth, these are the tears of gratitude for modern medicine and the return of her son to consciousness.

[Sidebar: there is much discussion online in various patient and parent groups about this storyline: some people critical of the fact that back in 1922, caring for someone with diabetes would have been a full-time, challenging job — others lauding the research into insulin and health education plot presented in a primetime cable TV show with millions of fan-viewers. You can easily find online discussions, pro and con, on this episode if you wish to dig into social media on the topic].

Health Populi’s Hot Points:  This When Calls the Heart episode had to be written, produced and put in the can for broadcast last year, well before President Trump would win the 2024 Presidential election and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., taking his place as MAHA proponent and U.S. Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

The show was also completed well before President Trump began to levy tariffs on Canada.

The ironies abound:

  1. The Hallmark Channel produces most of its content in Canada, albeit the parent company being based in Kansas City, MO, since its founding.
  2. MAHA is all about “Making American Healthy Again,” and diabetes and pre-diabetes represent major opportunities for a MAHA agenda for food, exercise, early diagnosis, and other preventive and supporting efforts toward public health.
  3. Cutting funding for a 30-year study into better understanding diabetes holistically across a huge population would be harmful and counter-productive for a MAHA agenda, and for bolstering Americans’ health, wellbeing, productivity, and national economy.
  4. Insulin is a popular topic in health care and health economics news given its role in U.S. patients’ health and the pricing of this life-sustaining therapy. The Biden Administration’s work on a $35 price cap on insulin is well documented and codified in the Inflation Reduction Act.
  5. The fact that the pioneering discovery of insulin comes from Canada is certainly interesting at this moment in U.S./Canada trade history.

I’ve written this post up to highlight but one of dozens of examples of cuts to U.S. research and staffing that benefits mainstream Americans….like people who watch the Hallmark Channel (like me, especially when I am over-saturated with “news”). Thanks to the Hallmark Channel and When Calls the Heart writers for sharing the story of Little Jack, insulin, and a community that came together for the health and well-being of their town and fellow health citizen.