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Saturday's killing of Alex Pretti, an intensive care unit (ICU) nurse at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), by one or more U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis, Minn., represented the end of a “life devoted to healing," according to his family, coworkers, and others across the health care industry. Pretti obtained his nursing license in January 2021 and worked in the ICU caring for critically ill veterans at the Minneapolis VA. He attended nursing school at the University of Minnesota and assisted on scientific research projects prior to moving to clinical work supporting critically ill veterans, according to reports. (Wile and Mordowanec, 1/25)

He was a calm presence amid hospital chaos. A mentor who taught kindness and patience to younger friends and colleagues. A singer with a knack for dancing. A bicyclist who treasured the beauty of Minnesota. This weekend, the family, co-workers and friends of Alex Pretti, who was killed by immigration agents in a confrontation after he was apparently filming them, remembered his life, even as the circumstances of his death were debated on the national stage. (Minsberg, Knoll and Bosman, 1/25)

With Americans split between those supporting the Trump administration and those backing anti-ICE protesters, multiple conservatives — including those strongly supportive of gun rights in the past — have justified Pretti’s shooting on the grounds that his carrying of a holstered gun showed he had violent intentions. Asked if Pretti ever brandished his gun, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem said Saturday: “I don’t know of any peaceful protester that shows up with a gun and ammunition rather than a sign. This is a violent riot when you have someone showing up with weapons and are using them to assault law enforcement officers.” ... This position is at odds with the usual stance of many gun rights supporters, who often defend the rights of Americans to carry firearms in almost all situations. (Bendavid and Bellware, 1/25)

Minnesota's secretary of state rejected a request from Attorney General Pam Bondi for federal access state voter rolls and welfare data, as tensions flare in Minneapolis after a man was shot and killed by immigration agents. (Montoya-Galvez and Walsh, 1/25)

Also —

Chances for a partial shutdown of the U.S. government by the end of this week grew on Sunday due to outrage over federal immigration agents fatally shooting Alex Pretti in Minnesota, the second such incident this month. A growing chorus of Democratic senators warned that they will not vote for a massive $1.2 trillion package to fund federal government operations if it includes appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees immigration enforcement efforts. (Downs, 1/25)

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends children be vaccinated against 18 diseases, more than the U.S. government directs after it overhauled its schedule. The doctors group, which released its recommendations Monday, kept its guidance largely unchanged from its previous version from last year. The group said it doesn’t endorse the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s childhood-vaccine schedule. The agency now recommends all children get vaccinated against 11 diseases. (Petersen, 1/26)

In related news —

For more than 60 years, doctors have recommended that babies receive a vitamin K shot at birth to protect them from severe bleeding in early life. This recommendation has significantly reduced vitamin K deficiency bleeding. Without this injection at birth, babies are over 80 times more likely to develop severe bleeding, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, in recent years, health care professionals say more parents are refusing vitamin K shots for their newborns. Additionally, a study published earlier this month found that the proportion of newborns who did not receive a vitamin K shot has nearly doubled in recent years. (Cobern and Kekatos, 1/23)

Routine childhood vaccinations, nor the aluminum used as vaccine adjuvants, are not associated with an increased risk of epilepsy in young children, according to a new case-control study published this week in The Journal of Pediatrics. The study, led by a team from the Marshfield Clinic Research Institute in Marshfield, Wisconsin, examined whether being up to date on recommended vaccines or having higher cumulative exposure to vaccine-related aluminum was linked to the development of epilepsy in children under age four. (Bergeson, 1/23)

Dr. William Foege, a leader of one of humanity’s greatest public health victories — the global eradication of smallpox — has died. Foege died Saturday in Atlanta at the age of 89, according to the Task Force for Global Health, which he co-founded. The 6-foot-7 inch Foege literally stood out in the field of public health. A whip-smart medical doctor with a calm demeanor, he had a canny knack for beating back infectious diseases. (Stobbe, 1/25)

On measles, flu, and other health threats —

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced just one day after the U.S. officially withdrew from the World Health Organization (WHO) that his state would become the first to join the organization’s Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network, in a seeming rebuke of the Trump administration’s withdrawal from international collaborations. Newsom traveled this week to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where he was scheduled to speak at an event but was canceled at the last moment. During his trip, he met with WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. (Choi, 1/23)

The South Carolina Department of Public Health (DPH) today confirmed 54 new measles cases in just three days, raising the size of its outbreak, which DPH first reported in October, to 700 cases. The news comes as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed 416 total US cases so far this month—an increase of 245 infections in the past week—and as US health officials downplay the burgeoning outbreak and the key role that vaccines play in preventing illness. (Wappes, 1/23)

Flu activity is starting to decline nationwide, according to newly released data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC estimated on Friday that there have been at least 19 million illnesses, 250,000 hospitalizations and 10,000 deaths from flu so far this season. Currently, seven states are seeing "very high" levels of flu-like illnesses while 23 states are seeing "high" levels, CDC data shows. (Benadjaoud, Zhang, and Kekatos, 1/23)

The US Department of Health and Human Services notified states on Saturday that it would pause public health grants worth about $5 billion, then hours later said it would lift the halt. The grants were suspended to evaluate whether activities were in “alignment with administration and agency priorities,” according to an email viewed by Bloomberg News. The temporary pause was for HHS to implement a new review process and to “ensure funds are used for their intended purposes,” said Andrew Nixon, a spokesperson for the agency. He said that states would be notified that the pause had been lifted. (Nix, 1/24)

Genetic researchers were seeking children for an ambitious, federally funded project to track brain development — a study that they told families could yield invaluable discoveries about DNA’s impact on behavior and disease. They also promised that the children’s sensitive data would be closely guarded in the decade-long study, which got underway in 2015. Promotional materials included a cartoon of a Black child saying it felt good knowing that “scientists are taking steps to keep my information safe.” The scientists did not keep it safe. (McIntire, 1/24)

The American Academy of Neurology (AAN) sounded the alarm after learning that Walter Koroshetz, MD, long-time director of the NIH's National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) was not reappointed for another 5-year term, asking Congress to step in immediately. In an urgent letter, the AAN pressed Senate health committee Chairman Bill Cassidy, MD (R-La.), and other key lawmakers to leverage their authority with HHS to find out why Koroshetz's appointment was not renewed despite support from the NIH review panel, and called for transparency in future leadership decisions and for any leadership change to prioritize evidence-based medicine. (George, 1/23)

On abortion —

Thousands of marchers descended on the National Mall Friday as some of the nation’s most powerful politicians pledged to take the next steps to ending abortion. The annual March for Life rally serves as a key jumping point for abortion-related policy announcements from conservatives. But anti-abortion advocates had warned that the Trump administration has not done enough to advance their cause and that could have political ramifications. (Raman, 1/23)

On Obamacare and Medicare —

Millions of Americans are starting to see their monthly health-insurance bills rise, a new pressure point for a nation still frustrated with the high cost of living. Many of those facing the most dramatic dollar increases are middle-income Americans who buy health insurance through the marketplaces set up by the government’s Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare. (Ensign, 1/26)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: �鶹Ů�� Health News’ ‘On Air’: Journalists Mine News For Insights On Tylenol, Obamacare Credits, And Rural Health Funding
Céline Gounder, �鶹Ů�� Health News’ editor-at-large for public health, discussed a year of changes at the Department of Health and Human Services and its Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on NPR’s 1A on Jan. 22. On CBS News 24/7’s The Daily Report on Jan. 16 and CBS Saturday Morning’s HealthWatch on Jan. 17, Gounder also discussed a study that found no link between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and autism or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. She also commented on rising measles cases and decreasing vaccination rates on CBS News 24/7’s The Daily Report on Jan. 15. (1/24)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: �鶹Ů�� Health News’ ‘An Arm and a Leg’: Charity-Care Nonprofit Scales Up And Doubles Down
As premium payments for Affordable Care Act insurance plans soar and cuts to Medicaid start to affect hospitals and patients, many people in 2026 will need help paying medical bills. And charity care may be a solution. One group working on this is Dollar For, a nonprofit focused on helping people access the financial assistance that hospitals are legally required to offer patients who make less than a certain amount. (Weissmann, 1/26)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Sick Of Fighting Insurers, Hospitals Offer Their Own Medicare Advantage Plans
Ever since Larry Wilkewitz retired more than 20 years ago from a wood products company, he’s had a commercial Medicare Advantage plan from the insurer Humana. But two years ago, he heard about Peak Health, a new Advantage plan started by the West Virginia University Health System, where his doctors practice. It was cheaper and offered more personal attention, plus extras such as an allowance for over-the-counter pharmacy items. Those benefits are more important than ever, he said, as he’s treated for cancer. (Jaffe, 1/26)

Public health risks will remain after the snow and sleet stop. Subzero temperatures are forecast in parts of the U.S. through Friday. (Dennis, Noll, Craig and Shepherd, 1/25)

More health news from across the U.S. —

A pregnant woman with two American-born children — including a breastfeeding infant — is awaiting deportation in a Louisiana immigration detention facility. She has been separated from her family for more than three weeks. (Luthra, 1/23)

In 2023, Morgan Bryant went to her first syringe exchange. ... “You’re always on the run. Chasing after that high, that bag, that dealer,” Bryant said. “I was looking for a way out.” She found one at the Damien Center, Indy’s oldest AIDS service organization. Each week, Bryant exchanged her used needles for clean supplies and boxes of naloxone, a life-saving medication that can reverse an opioid overdose. Staff helped treat her wounds from injecting, too. Lawmakers are re-evaluating syringe exchanges like this one, which operate in six counties across Indiana. (Molloy, 1/23)

A massive pipe that moves millions of gallons of sewage has ruptured and sent wastewater flowing into the Potomac River northwest of Washington, D.C., polluting it ahead of a major winter storm that has repair crews scrambling. DC Water, which operates the sewer system, is hooking up pumps to divert sewage around the rupture and allow crews to make repairs. It has cautioned people to stay out of the area and to wash their skin if exposed. (Phillis, Boone and Fields, 1/24)

Domestic violence victims convicted of crimes in Maryland could present evidence of how the abuse factored into their crimes while seeking a lighter sentence under a bill being considered by state lawmakers. (Golden, 1/26)

For Julia Hewitt, the removal of LGBTQ+ services from the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline and potential funding freezes and cuts are a personal and professional issue. (Simpson, 1/23)

If you need help —

Fewer than 20% of online health information videos produced by health professionals had high-quality evidence to support claims made in the videos, according to a review of content on the popular YouTube video platform. Two-thirds of the videos, all related to cancer or diabetes, had low, very low, or no evidence to support health claims. About 15% of the 309 videos had moderate-quality evidence. A multivariate analysis showed that videos with lower-quality evidence attracted more views than those with the highest level of evidence. (Bankhead, 1/14)

More health industry news —

The Ohio Supreme Court ordered the state to pay nursing homes up to $1 billion. Four months later, the money still hasn’t arrived. (Staver, 1/25)

VNA Health Care is planning to expand one of its busiest health centers in Aurora with the help of a recently-announced $750,000 award from Endeavor Health. (Smith, 1/23)

Lakeland Regional Health delivered 4,500 babies in 2025, up from roughly 3,200 in 2018. But access to high-quality maternity care remains uneven across Florida, particularly for high-risk pregnancies. Nearly 1 in 5 Florida counties are classified as maternity care deserts, according to March of Dimes. (Borg, 1/26)

In pharma and tech developments —

A narrow-spectrum antibiotic candidate for Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) was highly effective and well-tolerated in a small phase 2 trial, researchers reported yesterday in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. (Dall, 1/23)

When Baby KJ was introduced to the world last year as the first recipient of a personalized gene-editing treatment, the logical next question was: How can we get to more Baby KJs? (Mast, 1/26)

When Harith Rajagopalan considers the millions of patients who have taken a GLP-1 drug to treat diabetes or obesity, he sees a revolution that is failing to realize its promise. “We are literally lighting tens of billions of dollars on fire,” he said. Rajagopalan is referring to studies showing that most patients stop taking GLP-1 medications within a year or two, preventing them from reaping the long-term benefits like reducing cardiovascular risk. A cardiologist by training, Rajagopalan believes there’s a better way to harness the benefits of GLP-1 drugs: a gene therapy that, with a single infusion, can program the body to make more of the GLP-1 hormone naturally for years. (Gilbert, 1/24)

A startup that runs one of the world’s largest health-care digital platforms is seeking to leverage artificial intelligence to capitalize on its trove of medical data, potentially ushering in a new era for diagnostics and positioning the firm for a public listing. Docplanner, founded in Poland in 2012 to operate an online platform for booking doctor’s appointments, currently connects 100 million monthly users with 2.8 million medical professionals. Subject to patient consent, the company plans to use the data to create medical files which AI models could analyze to enhance diagnostics, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Mariusz Gralewski said in an interview. (Wanat, 1/26)

The early returns are in from providers using agentic artificial intelligence tools to address operational challenges across healthcare. Agentic AI tools are programmed to autonomously make decisions and achieve specific goals. Organizations have begun adopting agentic AI in healthcare to communicate with patients, reduce administrative overhead and renew prescriptions. (Famakinwa, 1/23)

Long-term alcohol use has been linked to higher risks of colorectal cancer, according to a study published Monday in the journal Cancer. Researchers found that those with heavy lifetime alcohol consumption have up to a 91% higher risk of developing colorectal cancer compared with those who drank very little. That risk significantly increased with consistent heavy consumption, whereas those who quit drinking may have demonstrated decreased risk of precancerous tissue. (Beauchamp, 1/26)

Alcohol seems to have lost its grip on American life in recent years. Younger adults are drinking less. Sober bars and alcohol-free member clubs are cropping up across the country. ... But rather than harnessing that momentum, the dietary guidelines that the Trump administration released earlier this month no longer put a concrete limit on alcohol consumption. ... “Alcohol is a social lubricant that brings people together,” Oz said during a White House briefing on Jan. 7. “In the best-case scenario, I don’t think you should drink alcohol, but it does allow people an excuse to bond and socialize, and there’s probably nothing healthier than having a good time with friends in a safe way.” (Bendix and Melendez, 1/24)

Also —

Health officials found spores that can cause infant botulism at a supplier for formula-maker ByHeart Inc. as part of their investigation into an outbreak that sickened dozens of babies in the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. Food and Drug Administration testing identified the spores in a whole milk powder at a ByHeart supplier. The supplier wasn’t named. The tests also found links between samples from one of the infants involved in the outbreak and the whole milk powder, according to the CDC. (Edney and Nix, 1/23)

The Food and Drug Administration is updating a nationwide chocolate recall to include several additional flavors potentially contaminated with Salmonella. Spring & Mulberry of North Carolina issued a voluntary recall earlier this month for Salmonella risks associated with its Mint Leaf chocolate. Now, the recall has been expanded to include Earl Grey, Lavender Rose, Mango Chili, Mixed Berry, Blueberry Fennel, Pecan Date and Pure Dark Minis. (Gagnon, 1/23)

Like many people who strap on an Apple Watch every day, I’ve long wondered what a decade of that data might reveal about me. So I joined a brief wait list and gave ChatGPT access to the 29 million steps and 6 million heartbeat measurements stored in my Apple Health app. Then I asked the bot to grade my cardiac health. (Geoffrey A. Fowler, 1/26)

When Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s allies at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention upended the childhood vaccine schedule, public health leaders reacted with alarm, warning that the change would sow confusion, undermine trust in vaccines, and put children at risk. For many in public health, this moment felt like the final straw, proof that the Make America Healthy Again movement is dangerous, unserious, and must be fought head-on or ignored altogether. That instinct is understandable. It is also wrong. (Tom W. Johnson and Brinda Adhikari, 1/26)

The recent overhaul of the U.S. pediatric vaccine schedule under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. touched off a firestorm of criticism — most of it for demoting six vaccines from routinely recommended to “shared clinical decision-making” (SCDM). The implication was that these six vaccines are optional, less safe, or less useful than the routinely recommended ones. (Peter M. Sandman, 1/26)

Leave it to the Trump administration to pick this particular moment — deep into one of the worst flu seasons America has seen in decades — to officially shrug off the importance of flu shots. As must be said more and more these days regarding official health recommendations from this government: Don’t listen. (1/25)

Washington keeps arguing over who should pay the bill while ignoring what’s driving costs in the first place — a policy failure decades in the making. (Ashish K. Jha, 1/26)