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A new drug is helping families who’ve spent years padlocking fridges, chaining garbage cans, and hiding food as their children with Prader-Willi syndrome deal with unrelenting hunger. But additional progress — and a broader understanding of obesity — is now under threat as the government dismantles the pipeline for promising new research.
Worried that President Donald Trump’s FDA might not act, a panel of cancer experts recommended that doctors consider testing before dosing patients with a commonly used but sometimes deadly cancer drug. It came too late for many patients.
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Food safety inspections are being scaled back and the public was not notified after an investigation into E. coli contamination.
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’s panelists are Julie Rovner of 51ĘÓƵ 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.
Fresh studies expose a gap in the FDA’s assessments of foods: Widely used additives could damage the mix of bacteria in your gut, causing health problems.
GOP-controlled House committees approved parts of President Donald Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill” this week, including more than $700 billion in cuts to health programs over the next decade — mostly from Medicaid, which covers people with low incomes or disabilities. Meanwhile, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testified before Congress for the first time since taking office and told lawmakers that Americans shouldn’t take medical advice from him. Julie Appleby of 51ĘÓƵ Health News, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine join 51ĘÓƵ Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.
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 — 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.’s, to become surgeon general. Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Maya Goldman of Axios, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call join 51ĘÓƵ Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews 51ĘÓƵ Health News’ Lauren Sausser, who co-reported the latest “Bill of the Month” feature, about an unexpected bill for what seemed like preventive care.
“Citizen oversight is a cornerstone of a functioning democracy,” Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden wrote to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., demanding answers to more than two dozen questions, including who was involved in decisions to fire staff who handled Freedom of Information Act requests.
To a great extent, the FDA leaves it to food companies to determine whether their ingredients and additives are safe. Some chemicals and additives are tied to health risks while others are absent from product labels. Watch this video explainer to learn more.
At least some workers who process public records in response to Freedom of Information Act requests have been reinstated, agency employees say.
A purge of FDA staff spared some people tasked with responding to a judge’s 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.
The Department of Health and Human Services’ mass firings included people who fulfill Freedom of Information Act requests for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health, and FDA, which result in the release of records about government handling of infectious diseases, medical products, and safety problems in health facilities.
The Department of Health and Human Services underwent an unprecedented purge this week, as thousands of employees from the National Institutes of Health, the FDA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other agencies were fired, placed on administrative leave, or offered transfers to far-flung Indian Health Service facilities. Altogether, the layoffs mean the federal government, in a single day, shed hundreds if not thousands of combined years of health and science expertise. Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, Rachel Cohrs Zhang of Bloomberg News, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join 51ĘÓƵ Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss this enormous breaking story and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews 51ĘÓƵ Health News’ Julie Appleby, who reported and wrote the latest “Bill of the Month” feature about a short-term health plan and a very expensive colonoscopy.
51ĘÓƵ Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
With the first licenses for providing psychedelic mushrooms issued, excitement and questions build about the fungi’s potential, affordability, and safety in the Centennial State.
It’s the Trump administration vs. the federal courts, as the Department of Government Efficiency continues to try to cancel federal contracts and programs and fire workers. But in the haste to cut things, jobs and programs are being eliminated even if they align with the new administration’s goal to “Make America Healthy Again.” Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post join 51ĘÓƵ Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.
A bill proposed by kratom industry advocates is prompting consideration — and some concern — in the Montana Legislature.
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