Kennedy鈥檚 HHS Sent Congress 鈥楯unk Science鈥 To Defend Vaccine Changes, Experts Say
A look inside the Department of Health and Human Services document citing vaccine misinformation that could influence congressional perceptions.
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A look inside the Department of Health and Human Services document citing vaccine misinformation that could influence congressional perceptions.
The Trump administration is eroding national pandemic flu defenses as it guts health agencies, cuts research and health budgets, and withdraws funding for bird flu vaccines, health security experts said.
The House鈥檚 gigantic tax-and-spending budget reconciliation bill has landed with a thud in the Senate, where lawmakers are divided in their criticism over whether it increases the deficit too much or cuts Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act too deeply. Meanwhile, the Congressional Budget Office鈥檚 estimate that the bill, if enacted, could increase the ranks of the uninsured by nearly 11 million people over a decade won鈥檛 make it an easy sell. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call, and Lauren Weber of The Washington Post join 51视频 Health News鈥 Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews 51视频 Health News鈥 Arielle Zionts, who reported and wrote the latest 鈥淏ill of the Month鈥 feature, about a Medicaid patient who had an out-of-state emergency.
Despite opposition by the leader of the Department of Health and Human Services, existing evidence on the safety and efficacy of getting a covid vaccine during pregnancy all points the same way: The shots are important for maternal and fetal health.
51视频 Health News journalists made the rounds on national and local media recently to discuss topical stories. Here鈥檚 a collection of their appearances.
The House narrowly passed a budget reconciliation bill, including billions of dollars in tax cuts for the wealthy along with billions of dollars in cuts to health program spending. But the Senate is expected to make major changes to the measure before it can go to President Donald Trump for his signature. This week鈥檚 panelists are Julie Rovner of 51视频 Health News, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico.
The FDA will encourage new clinical trials on the widely used vaccines before approving them for children and healthy adults. The requirements could cost drugmakers tens of millions of dollars and are likely to leave boosters largely out of reach for hundreds of millions of Americans this fall.
Republicans on Capitol Hill are struggling to reach consensus on cutting the Medicaid program as they search for nearly a trillion dollars in savings over the next decade 鈥 as many observers predicted. Meanwhile, turmoil continues at the Department of Health and Human Services, with more controversial cuts and personnel moves, including the sudden nomination of Casey Means, an ally of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.鈥檚, to become surgeon general. Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Maya Goldman of Axios, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call join 51视频 Health News鈥 Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews 51视频 Health News鈥 Lauren Sausser, who co-reported the latest 鈥淏ill of the Month鈥 feature, about an unexpected bill for what seemed like preventive care.
The U.S. faces a crucial shortage of medical providers, especially in rural areas. The problem has been building for a while, experts say, but the pandemic accelerated it by pushing many doctors over the edge into early retirement or other fields.
A purge of FDA staff spared some people tasked with responding to a judge鈥檚 orders to disclose government records on covid vaccines, according to agency employees. The FOIA litigation was brought by Aaron Siri, an ally of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s who represents anti-vaccine interests.
Two senior scientists say National Institutes of Health officials advised them to remove references to mRNA vaccines in grant applications, and they fear the Trump administration will abandon a promising field of medical research.
Republicans have proposed legislation in several states to ban the pioneering technology used in covid shots. Many doctors worry a huge medical advance could be rolled back.
Should Marty Makary take the reins at the FDA, transitioning from gadfly to the head of an agency that regulates a fifth of the U.S. economy, he would have to engage in the thorny challenges of governing.
Jay Bhattacharya, nominated to lead the National Institutes of Health, opposed most covid mandates. Without an honest public debate about what worked and what didn鈥檛, public health experts say, we鈥檙e even less prepared for the next pandemic.
51视频 Health News journalists made the rounds on national and local media recently to discuss topical stories. Here鈥檚 a collection of their appearances.
By withdrawing from the World Health Organization and overhauling aid, Trump鈥檚 new executive orders endanger Americans and the globe, researchers warn. The move also cedes U.S. power to other nations.
The federal government has allocated $1.15 billion to long-covid research without any new treatments yet brought to market. Patients and scientists say it鈥檚 time to push harder for breakthroughs.
To deliver on pledges from the new Trump administration to make America healthy again, policymakers will need to close gaps in longevity among racial and ethnic groups.
Francis Collins led the National Institutes of Health for 12 years, under three presidents. During the Biden administration, he added White House science adviser to his long list of roles. Now he runs his own lab on the NIH campus, and his latest book, 鈥淭he Road to Wisdom: On Truth, Science, Faith, and Trust,鈥 came out in September. In this special holiday episode of 51视频 Health News鈥 鈥淲hat the Health?鈥 Collins joins host and chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss health misinformation, the Trump administration鈥檚 plans for the NIH, and bringing together a fractured society.
Ballad Health, with the largest state-sanctioned hospital monopoly in the nation, has failed for years to meet many quality-of-care goals, leaving some patients afraid of their local hospitals but with no other nearby options.
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