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A year after Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican, warily cast the vote ensuring Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s ascension to Health and Human Services secretary, his life’s work — in medicine and in politics — is unraveling.
Government data shows the National Institutes of Health lost about 4,400 people — more than 20% of its staff — as the Trump administration slashed the federal workforce. Hear from six scientists on why they walked out the door and the work they left behind.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has criticized the broadening use of anxiety medications, claiming they’re harmful. Doctors and researchers say the MAHA movement is misrepresenting drugs that have been proved to safely treat chronic anxiety and point to broader social changes to explain their increased use.
The twists and turns continue at the nation’s health agency, where this week’s announcements included notice that the FDA will review Moderna’s new flu vaccine after all and that a handful of top agency officials are getting new jobs. Those developments and others can be traced to a White House looking to shake things up before the midterms — and win over voters on health care. Tami Luhby of CNN, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Lauren Weber of The Washington Post join 51Ƶ Health News’ Mary Agnes Carey to discuss these stories and more.
Before being confirmed to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told U.S. senators he would not cut funding for vaccine research or change the nation’s official vaccine recommendations. He did both.
Sweeping changes to the Affordable Care Act marketplace next year have been proposed by the Trump administration that focus on making more insurance plans available with higher annual out-of-pocket costs but lower premiums.
Republicans have said new rules requiring many Medicaid participants to work 80 hours a month will pinpoint unemployed young people who should have jobs. Policy researchers say the rules are more likely to disrupt coverage for middle-aged adults, harming their physical and financial health.
At a January event organized by allies of health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., National Cancer Institute Director Anthony Letai said results may be released “in a few months.” Ivermectin, used to deworm horses and other animals, has become a symbol of resistance against the medical establishment among supporters of Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda and many conservatives.
With fractures emerging in the Make America Great Again movement, some Republicans are looking to capitalize on its “MAHA” counterpart ahead of the midterms.
Congress has passed — and President Trump has signed — the annual spending bill for the Department of Health and Human Services. But it’s unclear whether the administration will spend the money as Congress directed. Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call join 51Ƶ Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss that story and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews 51Ƶ Health News’ Renuka Rayasam about a new reporting project, “Priced Out.”
The Trump administration has made the future of federal funding for cancer research uncertain. At one groundbreaking breast cancer research lab, work that could save lives has slowed significantly.
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The Trump administration’s immigration crackdown is not just roiling politics but also directly affecting the provision of health care, medical groups say. Meanwhile, in Washington, federal spending bills have been stalled by the fight over immigration enforcement funding after the shooting death of a second person in Minneapolis this month. Maya Goldman of Axios, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post join 51Ƶ Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more.
The federal government’s Vaccine Injury Compensation Program was supposed to help patients with their medical bills while protecting vaccine supply. But allies of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are routinely transferring cases from that program to launch lawsuits against drugmakers.
Studies increasingly offer insights into the health risks and burdens faced by people who have had covid infections. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has narrowed covid vaccine recommendations and cut research.
51Ƶ Health News journalists made the rounds on national and local media recently to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
Get our weekly newsletter, The Week in Brief, featuring a roundup of our original coverage, Fridays at 2 p.m. ET.
With abortions still on the rise nationwide despite widespread bans, curtailing the use of pregnancy-terminating medication is a top priority for abortion opponents — and they’re frustrated that the Trump administration isn’t doing more to limit its use.
Lawmakers appear on the brink of passing a spending bill for the Department of Health and Human Services and a bipartisan health policy bill delayed for over a year. But the outlook is bleaker for the health care outline released by President Trump last week. Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, Sheryl Gay Stolberg of The New York Times, and Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post join 51Ƶ Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews oncologist and bioethicist Ezekiel Emanuel to discuss his new book, “Eat Your Ice Cream.”
As fractures emerge in the Make America Great Again movement, some Republicans see its health-focused "MAHA" counterpart as the party’s next big thing. But doubts abound.
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