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The Trump administration is planning to drop recommendations that pregnant women, teenagers and children get Covid-19 vaccines as a matter of routine, according to people familiar with the matter. The Department of Health and Human Services, led by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is expected to remove the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendations for those groups around the same time it launches a new framework for approving vaccines, the people said. (Essley Whyte, 5/15)

The head of the Food and Drug Administration said the agency will soon unveil a new framework detailing what companies must do to seek approval of vaccines, a move that comes as the Trump administration has introduced uncertainty into the annual process for green-lighting updated coronavirus shots traditionally offered in the fall. ... FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said Thursday during a conference of the Food and Drug Law Institute, a nonprofit organization. “We want to create a framework for vaccine makers that they can use so they have a predictable FDA where they don’t have to worry how is this going to be received.” (Roubein, 5/15)

The World Health Organization (WHO) Technical Advisory Group on COVID-19 vaccine composition, after meeting earlier this month, today released its recommendations for updated vaccines, which say the current monovalent JN.1 or KP.2 strains are still appropriate, but monovalent LP.8.1 is a suitable alternative. Over the last 2 years, after examining the latest data on virus changes and response to current vaccines, the group has been weighing in on strain recommendations twice a year, once in the spring and once in December. (Schnirring, 5/15)

The Make America Healthy Again movement is coalescing around a new effort to turn its goals into federal policy. The Trump administration is listening. The MAHA Institute, a policy center launched Thursday, is pushing to change the American health and food systems: from rethinking vaccine availability and review to removing processed foods from schools, to using keto diets to treat mental illnesses and reforming the regulatory systems intended to protect the public. (Payne, 5/15)

Lawmakers are investigating whether Pfizer waited to share results of the Covid vaccine in 2020 until after that year’s presidential election, based on new allegations that a former Pfizer scientist has said he was part of an effort to “deliberately slow down” the testing, according to a new letter from the House Judiciary Committee. The House panel is seeking information from Pfizer and from the scientist, Philip Dormitzer, after learning he allegedly told colleagues in 2024 at a subsequent job he was worried he would face an investigation of his role in the vaccine’s release and asked to be relocated to Canada. (Linskey and Dawsey, 5/15)

The Food and Drug Administration is planning to expand its review of food additives beyond artificial dyes, targeting preservatives and chemicals used as whitening agents and dough conditioners. The agency will issue an updated list of chemicals that it will evaluate, including the common preservatives butylated hydroxytoluene, or BHT, and butylated hydroxyanisol, or BHA. Azodicarbonamide, or ADA, a whitening agent used in cereal flour and as a dough conditioner, will also be on the list, the agency said in a statement. (Cohrs Zhang, 5/15)

From canola oil to colorful dyes, the US food industry is girding for a shift away from the ingredients that made American diets among the cheapest in the world. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is embracing policies and ideas that curb ultra-processed foods and discourage the use of seed oils, colorings, high-fructose corn syrup and pesticides, all of which he blames for the overall poor health of Americans. (Peng, Shanker, and de Sousa, 5/15)

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is promising to “do more with less” — with the help of artificial intelligence. “The AI revolution has arrived, and we are already using these new technologies to manage health care data more efficiently and securely,” he told the House Appropriations Committee at Wednesday’s hearing on the Department of Health and Human Services’ budget. (Reader, 5/15)

As House Republicans scramble to corral the votes to pass a massive bill for President Donald Trump's agenda, their Senate counterparts are making clear the emerging package won’t fly as written when it reaches them. Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., was categorical that the product coming out of various House committees cannot pass the Senate as it currently stands. “No. We’ll make changes,” Hoeven said. “We’ve been talking with the House and there’s a lot of things we agree on. … But there’ll be changes in a number of areas.” (Kapur, Tsirkin and Thorp V, 5/15)

Republican leaders intend to accelerate new work requirements under Medicaid as they scramble to secure the support of GOP holdouts for President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) said Thursday that GOP leaders “absolutely” intend to speed up the implementation to ease the concerns of the Republicans threatening to sink the package if changes aren’t made. (Lillis, 5/15)

Congressional Republicans are poised to make massive spending cuts to the Medicaid program that provides health insurance to millions of Americans — in part by enacting federal work requirements that they claim won’t affect the most vulnerable recipients. But data analysis shows that poor middle-aged and older women would be among the most impacted. (Rodriguez, 5/15)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: �鶹Ů�� Health News’ ‘What The Health?’: GOP Poised To Cut Billions In Health Benefits

After all-night markups, two key House committees approved GOP budget legislation that would cut hundreds of billions of dollars from federal health programs over the next decade, mostly from the Medicaid program for people with low incomes or disabilities. The legislation is far from a done deal, though, with at least one Republican senator voicing opposition to Medicaid cuts. Meanwhile, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testified before Congress for the first time since taking office. (Rovner, 5/15)

The sprawling tax package before the House is pocked with the sort of bespoke tax breaks lawmakers in both parties have long lamented. In a search for votes, and hemmed in by their tiny majority, Republicans have included a hodgepodge of tax provisions demanded by colleagues that are aimed at narrow constituencies. In legislation otherwise focused on extending a slate of major tax cuts set to expire at the end of this year, there’s also a $1 billion tax break on gun silencers. (Faler, 5/15)

Military commanders will be told to identify troops in their units who are transgender or have gender dysphoria, then send them to get medical checks in order to force them out of the service, officials said Thursday. A senior defense official laid out what could be a complicated and lengthy new process aimed at fulfilling President Donald Trump’s directive to remove transgender service members from the U.S. military. The new order to commanders relies on routine annual health checks that service members are required to undergo. (Baldor, 5/16)

The Trump administration wants to bring the production of more drugs, including medicines like antibiotics that may be in short supply, closer to the patient — including inside the hospital. The partnership between some of the nation’s top health agencies and a handful of companies, including the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company, is intended to use artificial intelligence and other tools to make eight drugs in the places where people actually get medical care. (Nix, 5/15)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Pharmacists Stockpile Most Common Drugs On Chance Of Targeted Trump Tariffs

In the dim basement of a Salt Lake City pharmacy, hundreds of amber-colored plastic pill bottles sit stacked in rows, one man’s defensive wall in a tariff war. Independent pharmacist Benjamin Jolley and his colleagues worry that the tariffs, aimed at bringing drug production to the United States, could instead drive companies out of business while raising prices and creating more of the drug shortages that have plagued American patients for several years. (Fortiér and Allen, 5/16)

Students at Wyoming East High School in West Virginia’s coal country had different reasons for joining Raze, a state program meant to raise awareness about the health risks of tobacco and e-cigarettes. ... This high school’s program cost West Virginia less than $3,000 a year and was meant to protect teenagers in the state that has the highest vaping rate in their age group. It fell prey to U.S. government health budget cuts that included hundreds of millions of dollars in tobacco control funds that reached far beyond Washington, D.C. (Jewett, 5/15)

After being shut down “indefinitely” at the start of April, the registration portal of the National Firefighter Registry for Cancer is operational again. The registry is considered by many to be one of the largest and most promising efforts to further understand cancer risks among firefighters, including wildland firefighters. (Woodhouse, 5/14)

The U.S. is slashing funding for scientific research, after decades of deep investment. Here’s some of what those taxpayer dollars created. (Burdick and Anthes, 5/16)

Under the dappled light of a thatched shelter, Yagana Bulama cradles her surviving infant. The other twin is gone, a casualty of malnutrition and the international funding cuts that are snapping the lifeline for displaced communities in Nigeria’s insurgency-ravaged Borno state. ... For years, the United States Agency for International Development had been the backbone of the humanitarian response in northeastern Nigeria, helping non-government organizations provide food, shelter and healthcare to millions of people. But this year, the Trump administration cut more than 90% of USAID’s foreign aid contracts and $60 billion in overall assistance around the world. (Adebayo, 5/16)

South Africa will ensure its HIV-AIDS treatment program doesn’t collapse despite the withdrawal of support from the US, and 659 million rand ($36 million) has already been allocated to extend access to antiretroviral drugs, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said. South Africa has the world’s biggest HIV epidemic and about 17% of the funding for its response has come from America’s President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or Pepfar. President Donald Trump suspended that program in January, leaving a hole of 7.9 billion rand. (Kew, 5/15)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: In Bustling NYC Federal Building, HHS Offices Are Eerily Quiet

On a recent visit to Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan, some floors in the mammoth office building bustled with people seeking services or facing legal proceedings at federal agencies such as the Social Security Administration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In the lobby, dozens of people took photos to celebrate becoming U.S. citizens. At the Department of Homeland Security, a man was led off the elevator in handcuffs. But the area housing the regional office of the Department of Health and Human Services was eerily quiet. (Andrews and Fawcett, 5/16)

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed legislation Thursday making Florida the second state in the country to ban fluoride from public water. The bill doesn’t mention fluoride specifically but calls for a ban on “the use of certain additives in a water system.” It will take effect July 1. Speaking at an event in Dade City, DeSantis framed the bill as part of a larger fight about medical freedom and about restoring people’s choices. (Weixel, 5/15)

Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday he will veto a bill that seeks to expand lawsuits by some people pursuing medical malpractice claims involving the deaths of family members. DeSantis said the proposal (HB 6017) to repeal a long-controversial 1990 law will cause insurance premiums to “skyrocket” by allowing people to expand economic damage claims to include noneconomic damages. (5/15)

The Texas House gave preliminary approval Thursday to a bill requiring prisons to have air conditioning by the end of 2032. (Simpson, 5/15)

Gov. Greg Abbott is requesting a waiver from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to prohibit the use of SNAP benefits to purchase unhealthy and highly processed foods in Texas. (Wilson, 5/15)

Kentucky’s Republican auditor sued Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear on Thursday, asking a judge to untangle a dispute blocking the implementation of a state law meant to support adults who step up to care for young relatives who endured suspected abuse or neglect at home. The standoff revolves around whether funds are available to carry out the law’s intent — enabling relatives who take temporary custody of children to later become eligible for foster care payments. (Schreiner, 5/15)

The site of a Mission District fire that killed a resident and displaced dozens of low-income tenants and small businesses a decade ago is set to become a 181-unit apartment building despite community efforts to derail the project. In a 4-3 vote, the San Francisco Planning Commission approved the 10-story apartment complex at 2588 Mission St., a project opponents called “La Muerte de la Misíon,” referring to the 2015 fire that killed the tenant, injured six others and displaced 60 tenants and 26 businesses. (Dineen, 5/15)

A pregnant woman in Georgia who was declared brain-dead is being kept alive by ventilators because of the state’s law banning abortions, the woman’s mother says, telling local news that the family has no say in the matter. April Newkirk said her 30-year-old daughter, Adriana Smith, began experiencing intense headaches in early February. Smith was nine weeks pregnant at the time with her second child, NBC affiliate WXIA-TV of Atlanta reported. (Burke, 5/15)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Even Where Abortion Is Still Legal, Many Brick-And-Mortar Clinics Are Closing

On the last day of patient care at the Planned Parenthood clinic in Marquette, Michigan, a port town on the shore of Lake Superior, dozens of people crowded into the parking lot and alley, holding pink homemade signs that read “Thank You!” and “Forever Grateful.” “Oh my god,” physician assistant Anna Rink gasped, as she and three other Planned Parenthood employees finally walked outside. The crowd whooped and cheered. Then Rink addressed the gathering. (Wells, 5/16)

Something was very wrong with Kyle and Nicole Muldoon’s baby. The doctors speculated. Maybe it was meningitis? Maybe sepsis? They got an answer when KJ was only a week old. He had a rare genetic disorder, CPS1 deficiency, that affects just one in 1.3 million babies. If he survived, he would have severe mental and developmental delays and would eventually need a liver transplant. But half of all babies with the disorder die in the first week of life. (Kolata, 5/15)

New Mexico announced two new measles cases Thursday and North Dakota added one. The U.S. surpassed 1,000 measles cases Friday. Texas still accounts for the vast majority of cases in an outbreak that also spread measles to New Mexico, Oklahoma and Kansas. Two unvaccinated elementary school-aged children died from measles-related illnesses in the epicenter in West Texas, and an adult in New Mexico who was not vaccinated died of a measles-related illness. (Shastri, 5/15)

A University of California–led case report in Emerging Infectious Diseases, describes a 58-year-old woman who, an estimated 48 years after treatment with cadaver-derived human growth hormone, died of iatrogenic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (iCJD), a prion disease. The patient, who sought care after developing gait imbalance and tremors 2 weeks earlier, had received prion-contaminated cadaveric human growth hormone (chGH) for 9.3 years starting at age 7. (Van Beusekom, 5/15)

The deaths of two people and illness of one from a possible fatal and rare brain disease clustering in Oregon have public health officials and medical professionals worried. They fear a returning threat from the prion disease mad cow (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) which roiled US markets 20 years ago. It led to devastating international boycotts of US beef, agricultural market upheavals, medical panic and widespread distrust of the US government which was seen to mismanage the outbreak. (Rosenberg, 5/16)

In the past, research has shown that people who tend to stay up late — sometimes termed “evening chronotypes” — report more depression symptoms than those who are early risers, also known as “morning chronotypes.” The mechanisms between the two, however, bear explaining. A new study from researchers in the United Kingdom points to a potent mix of mindfulness, total sleep quality and alcohol consumption that may help explain why those of us who prefer to stay up late reap an unpleasant reward. (Hagmajer, 5/15)

UnitedHealth Group plans to stop paying commissions next month to brokers and sales agents who sell new Medicare Part D prescription drug plans. The insurer, which has had a rough week that's included a new CEO and reports of a federal investigation, on Thursday notified companies that market its plans of the change. (Tepper, 5/15)

The Leapfrog Group has sent a cease-and-desist letter to five Tenet Healthcare Corp. facilities in Florida, demanding the hospitals and a law firm stop spreading what it said were "false statements" about the group and its safety grades process. The letter follows the filing of a federal lawsuit against the nonprofit healthcare watchdog group late last month, in which the five facilities allege that hospitals who receive the highest grades from Leapfrog are paying for them through membership fees. (DeSilva, 5/15)

Members of Service Employees International Union1199 New England began an open-ended strike May 15 at Care New England’s Butler Hospital in Providence, R.I. Five things to know: 1. The strike involves more than 800 staff at the hospital, including registered nurses, mental health workers, clerical, environmental service and dietary staff, according to a May 15 union news release. Care New England employs more than 8,000 workers total. (Gooch, 5/15)

Two dozen critical access hospitals in Montana have created a clinically integrated network, following similar rural provider-led coalitions in other states. The Yellowstone High Value Network, announced Thursday, looks to improve independent rural hospitals’ care models while also lowering their costs. (Kacik, 5/15)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Pain Clinic CEO Faced 20 Years For Making Patients 'Human Pin Cushions.' He Got 18 Months

Federal prosecutors sought a maximum prison sentence of nearly 20 years for the CEO of Pain MD, a company found to have given hundreds of thousands of questionable injections to patients, many reliant on opioids. It would have been among the longest sentences for a health care executive convicted of fraud in recent years. Instead, he got 18 months. (Kelman, 5/15)

A new study suggests "upcoding" practices are growing across outpatient service lines. The report, compiled by researchers at Trilliant Health, found that the share of visits that were coded at higher intensities grew in emergency care, urgent care and physician office visits between 2018 and 2023. For example, the number of emergency department visits coded as 99284, or level four of five total, grew from 32.5% to 39.6% in the study window. (Minemyer, 5/15)

The FDA granted a first-ever approval for a first-line therapy for anal cancer to the PD-1 inhibitor retifanlimab (Zynyz), the agency announced Thursday. ... "Patients with inoperable, locally recurrent, or metastatic anal cancer have historically faced poor 5-year survival rates and limited treatment options," said Marwan Fakih, MD, of City of Hope in Duarte, California, in a statement from drugmaker Incyte. "This approval marks an important advancement as it makes a new treatment approach available for this challenging disease." (Bankhead, 5/15)

The AMR Industry Alliance announced this week that it has updated its Antibiotic Manufacturing Standard to be more aligned with World Health Organization (WHO) antibiotic manufacturing guidelines. The Standard, developed in 2022 in collaboration with the British Standards Institute (BSI), provides guidance to antibiotic manufacturers to help ensure that their products are made responsibly and don't contribute to the development of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in environmental bacteria. (Dall, 5/15)

Uptake of lecanemab (Leqembi), a monoclonal antibody approved to treat early Alzheimer's disease, appeared to be marked by racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities, an analysis of Medicare data suggested. Of all Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries during the study timeframe, 1,725 beneficiaries used lecanemab, reported John Mafi, MD, MPH, of the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California Los Angeles, and co-authors in a JAMA Network Open research letter. (George, 5/15)

CVS Health Corp. is trying to buy stores and patient data from Rite Aid Corp., the beleaguered pharmacy chain that is going out of business after filing for bankruptcy a second time earlier this month. CVS, which already owns the largest chain of retail pharmacies in the US, put in a bid for a significant number of stores in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, as well as patient prescription information, Rite Aid Chief Executive Officer Matthew Schroeder told employees Thursday, according to a recording of the meeting reviewed by Bloomberg News. (Swetlitz, 5/15)

Infectious-disease detective Victoria Chu had only a few hours notice for her unusual assignment. Fly in a military helicopter to a cruise ship idling off the coast of San Francisco. Rappel down to the ship deck, then test passengers and crew for the deadly coronavirus that was spreading around the globe. It was early March 2020. The virus had already killed 14 Americans, including a passenger who had previously traveled on the ship. (Sun, 5/15)

Kevin Boyce was a homebody at heart. Just weeks prior, he was peeling off his heavy boots as he got home from work. He was sinking into the couch to watch TV with his wife. He was romping around on the living room floor with his now 2-year-old granddaughter. It was hard to believe he was now dying of Powassan virus. (Douglas, 5/12)

Nearly every day in Santa Fe, N.M., people released from jail trudge along a dangerous highway to get back to town. Jails often fail to offer safe transport options for prisoners. (Bogel-Burroughs, 5/12)

A new clinic, opened by a pulmonologist who lost his home in the Palisades blaze, is addressing the health issues developing among people exposed to the fires. (Baumgaertner Nunn, 5/13)

In the circular office designed by Charlap Hyman & Herrero, each and every room is a unique experience. (Schilling, 5/12)

Allan O’Briant knows that providing clean drinking water to 125,000 customers can be a tall order. As the water treatment plant supervisor for Harnett Regional Water, he’s constantly balancing the need to disinfect the water supply with controlling potentially harmful byproducts. One of the challenges O’Briant and his colleagues face is controlling trihalomethanes, a chemical liquid byproduct that forms when chlorine, used to kill microorganisms, reacts with natural organic matter in the water. (Atwater, 5/12)

For a pontiff, Pope Leo XIV is young. At 69, he’s seven years junior to his predecessor Francis when he became pope, and nine years to Benedict XVI before him. Still, the new pope is already older than many people are when they retire. And he is not simply adopting a new hobby. He is taking on a high-stakes, high-stress role that he is expected to occupy until death. (Agrawal and Ravindranath, 5/13)

Next week at the World Health Assembly in Geneva, 193 member countries of the World Health Organization (with the U.S. notably absent) are expected to adopt the Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response Agreement, also known as the Pandemic Treaty. In anticipation of its adoption, the final agreement has been celebrated as a triumph of multilateralism. But after three years of negotiation, the agreement does little to solve the very problem it set out to address: the lethal delay low‑ and some middle‑income countries face in getting access to vaccines, tests, and treatments when a new pathogen strikes. (Stephanie Psaki and Ashish K. Jha, 5/16)

Does the research really show that seed oil is harmful to health, as Kennedy claims? Not exactly. Though it would be tempting to dismiss his anti-seed-oil campaign as yet another conspiracy theory, it’s important to consider the science objectively. (Leana S. Wen, 5/15)

In an industry known for its caution, the Food and Drug Administration’s decision to rapidly deploy generative AI across all medical product review offices by the end of June is a rare and seismic move. It’s bold. It’s ambitious. And if implemented well, it could mark the beginning of a desperately needed transformation in how we bring trustworthy innovation to the regulation of medical product development. (Jennifer Goldsack, 5/16)

Last year, over 20 million workers were laid off or fired at some point from their jobs. Many of those workers ended up losing not just all of their income but also their employer-sponsored health care. Medicaid is supposed to provide a backstop for these workers, but if we tie eligibility to work, they will find themselves locked out of the health care system because of decisions their employers made, often for reasons beyond their control. (Matt Bruenig, 5/16)

WeightWatchers and its commercial diet program peers have struggled to maintain market share in the era of GLP-1s, the class of drugs that includes Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro, which give users a much higher chance of success. (Jennifer Weiner, 5/15)