Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: These Websites Still Offer Science-Based Vaccine Information; Billing Code Revamp Being Overlooked
Many readers say they no longer trust guidance from federal health agencies and have asked where else they can go for vaccine information now. I think they should still continue to consult government sites including the CDC, Food and Drug Administration and National Institutes of Health, as most information featured there appears unaltered. This could change, especially if anti-vaccine voices gain additional influence. (Leana S. Wen, 6/12)
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.鈥檚 Make America Healthy Again agenda may get the headlines, but his plans as Health and Human Services secretary also include something that has gone largely overlooked: overhauling U.S. health care spending priorities, targeting the current procedural terminology (CPT) billing codes. (Rotimi Kukoyi, Victor Agbafe, David N. Bernstein and Joan Perry, 6/13)
If Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wants to 鈥渃lean up the corruption and conflicts鈥 at HHS, he is going about it the wrong way. I study conflicts of interest at federal agencies. While industry influence is a widely shared concern, Kennedy鈥檚 dismissal of all the members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention vaccine advisory committee, and the rapid hiring of eight replacements, could easily misfire. (Genevieve P. Kanter, 6/12)
Every day on my way to work, I used to walk past a memorial wall in the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C. It honored USAID workers who had died in the line of duty and made the ultimate sacrifice so the United States could be safer, stronger and more prosperous. I was proud to be affiliated with such brave Americans who sacrificed for the common good and to work alongside partners all over the world who shared our mission of bringing security and a healthier life to people all over the world. (Angela Weaver, 6/12)
Congress is floating a 40% cut to the National Science Foundation and deep reductions to the National Institutes of Health 鈥 America鈥檚 two flagship research engines. The justification? A $2 trillion deficit. But cutting science to fix the deficit is like burning your seed corn because you鈥檙e low on groceries. It鈥檚 fiscally shortsighted and strategically self-defeating. (Sahand Hormoz, 6/13)