Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Many Laid-Off FDA Workers Brought Back, While VA Fires 1,400 More
The Food and Drug Administration has reinstated dozens of specialized employees involved in food safety, review of medical devices and other areas who were laid off last week, according to more than a dozen workers who got called back. The total number of employees recalled was not immediately clear. But a person familiar with the conversations said nearly all of the roughly 180 medical division employees who had been let go would get their jobs back. (Jewett, 2/24)
The Department of Veterans Affairs on Monday fired another 1,400 employees amid outcry over a lack of transparency from the agency after 1,000 workers were axed earlier this month.聽The VA said the individuals dismissed were 鈥渘on-mission critical鈥 probationary employees who have served less than two years, according to a department statement.聽(Mitchell, 2/24)
The US Food and Drug Administration鈥檚 new standards for foods before they can be labeled as 鈥渉ealthy鈥 on their packaging will go into effect about two months later than planned, according to a government document scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on Tuesday. (Howard, 2/24)
After weeks of being blocked by the Trump administration, one crucial step in the National Institutes of Health process for funding biomedical research is being largely restored, but it seems that won鈥檛 immediately allow new grants to be approved and resume the flow of millions of dollars to universities and medical schools. (Molteni and McFarling, 2/24)
Also 鈥
Two U.S. government agencies that are key players in the World Health Organization-led process to select the flu viruses for next winter鈥檚 influenza vaccines are participating in a meeting to discuss the issue, despite the Trump administration鈥檚 plans to withdraw from the global health agency, sources told STAT. (Branswell, 2/24)
As hundreds of researchers, patient advocates and policymakers gather in Washington, D.C., this week for an advocacy fly-in on rare diseases, a notable gap has appeared on their schedule: an annual gathering hosted by the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health. (Reed, 2/25)
麻豆女优 Health News: With RFK Jr. In Charge, Supplement Makers See Chance To Cash In
Last fall, before being named the senior U.S. health official, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the Trump administration would liberate Americans from the FDA鈥檚 鈥渁ggressive suppression鈥 of vitamins, dietary supplements, and other substances 鈥 ending the federal agency鈥檚 鈥渨ar on public health,鈥 as he put it. In fact, the FDA can鈥檛 even require that supplements be effective before they are sold. (Allen, 2/25)