Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Research Powerhouse Harvard Secures Win Over Trump's $2B Funding Freeze
Harvard University scored a major legal victory in its battle with the Trump administration after a court ruled that the US illegally froze more than $2 billion in research funding. The US government violated Harvard’s free speech rights and didn’t follow proper procedures when it suspended a wide range of research grants in April, according to a federal judge. The ruling on Wednesday paves the way for the funding to be released to the school, but the judge didn’t order it. (Voreacos, 9/3)
More than 30 National Institutes of Health grants in Ohio have been impacted by recent cuts at the federal level. The cuts represent an estimated loss of $16.75 million for various Ohio universities and hospitals. (Henry, 9/3)
A Washington federal judge has barred the Trump administration from unilaterally cutting roughly $12 billion in US foreign assistance funding that Congress approved and is poised to expire at the end of this month. US District Judge Amir Ali ruled Wednesday that the administration’s refusal to spend the aid likely violated a US law that governs how federal agencies make decisions. (Tillman and Burnson, 9/4)
Doctors, nurses, patients and other experts describe the loss of decades of progress in beating the virus in 100 days after Pepfar was disrupted. (Lay, 9/3)
In related news about food aid and funding —
鶹Ů Health News: Listen: Limiting Benefits And Adding Restrictions, ‘MAHA’ Reshapes Food Aid
The Trump administration is making historic changes to federal food aid as part of its plan to “Make America Healthy Again.” But some nutrition experts warn recent cuts to funding and more stringent rules to qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program could do the opposite: Worsen food insecurity and push families toward cheaper, less nutritious options. (Rayasam, 9/4)
More than 70 million meal packets for severely malnourished children in Africa have stacked up in warehouses in Georgia and Rhode Island since March amid the Trump administration’s massive cuts to foreign aid, according to the food manufacturers in those states. The dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the manufacturers said, has caused monthslong delays in federal food inspections and distribution, a process that once took weeks. (Redmon, 9/4)
There is no time like late August for a farmers market, when the earth blesses shoppers with its juiciest delights. The folding tables and tents pop open, and by 9 a.m. a musician is crooning over the zucchini, bubbles from a nearby face-painting stall drifting by. In this small borough near Gettysburg, in the southern part of the state, summer’s finest produce comes within reach for even the poorest residents with help from vouchers, food stamps, and wooden tokens. (Cueto, 9/3)
