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Vice President JD Vance announced Wednesday that the Trump administration would withhold $259 million in Medicaid payments for Minnesota, escalating its fight with the state as the White House seeks to elevate health care fraud as an election-year issue. “We have decided to temporarily halt certain amounts of Medicaid funding that are going to the state of Minnesota in order to ensure that the state of Minnesota takes its obligation seriously to be good stewards of the American people’s tax money,” Vance said at a news conference, standing alongside Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (Viser and Diamond, 2/25)

In other Trump administration news —

Democrats are eyeing aggressive oversight of controversial Trump administration moves on vaccines, Medicaid cuts and drug pricing if they flip control of one or both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections. (Sullivan, 2/25)

In his State of the Union address on Tuesday, President Donald Trump acknowledged his deals with drugmakers may not last past his administration if Congress does not make them law. He then urged lawmakers to make that happen. But whether they will comply is far from certain. While Republicans are generally reluctant to publicly oppose Trump, few have come out in favor of the effort. (Lim and King, 2/25)

A new report from the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) finds that two key federal programs designed to bolster the nation’s public health emergency readiness lack formal coordination and do not adequately track whether states and local jurisdictions can respond effectively to public health threats and emergencies. GAO reviewed US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) documentation, including notices of funding opportunity, templates, and examples of documents from eight jurisdictions selected to include variation among geographic location, proportion of the population living in rural areas, and public health governance structure. (Bergeson, 2/25)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: ‘You Aren’t Trapped’: Hundreds Of US Nurses Choose Canada Over Trump’s America
Last month, Justin and Amy Miller packed their vehicles with three kids, two dogs, a pet bearded dragon, and whatever belongings they could fit, then drove 2,000 miles from Wisconsin to British Columbia to leave President Donald Trump’s America. The Millers resettled on Vancouver Island, their scenic refuge accessible only by ferry or plane. Justin went to work in the emergency room at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital, where he became one of at least 20 U.S.-trained nurses hired since April. Fear of Trump, some of the nurses said, was why they left. (Kelman, 2/26)

Foreign aid has long been a way for the United States and China to gain soft power and influence — providing public services in low-income countries that help them tackle poverty and disease, and engaging with people to build cooperation over the long run. For decades, the two countries had adopted separate international aid strategies. But the Trump administration has dismantled much of the United States' traditional foreign aid systems and is charting a new path, while China has also been adjusting its approach —stepping up visible contributions to global institutions while scaling back some of the large infrastructure projects that once defined its strategy. (Tanis, 2/24)

Also —

President Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential race after his initial opponent, then-President Joe Biden, withdrew over worries about his age and mental sharpness. But a year-plus into Trump’s four-year term, polls suggest the American people aren’t just increasingly unhappy with his job performance; they’re increasingly concerned about his mental capacity as well. (Blake, 2/26)

President Donald Trump's surgeon general nominee, Dr. Casey Means, indicated she supports vaccines but stopped short of recommending certain shots during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) committee on Wednesday. Means, who has a medical degree but does not hold an active medical license, appeared hesitant to say that some vaccines, such as the flu vaccine, prevent serious disease. (Kekatos, 2/25)

More vaccine news —

Recent changes to CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) prompted the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) to withdraw as a liaison organization. (Robertson, 2/25)

Covid vaccines are once again on the agenda for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory panel. The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) is scheduled to meet next month and plans to discuss Covid vaccine injuries, as well as potentially vote on recommendations, according to a Federal Register notice for the meeting posted Wednesday. (Lovelace Jr., 2/25)

Trump administration officials are downplaying their push to overhaul vaccine policy and instead touting their work on food and drug pricing, as some Republicans warn that vaccines could prove to be a liability in the midterm elections. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who started making stops in cities around the country last month, has not highlighted during the tour how his department has enacted the most sweeping and controversial reduction to the childhood vaccine schedule in decades. And Kennedy did not list his vaccine actions in a supercut video posted to social media ahead of President Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech thanking the president for letting him “go wild.” (Roubein and Weber, 2/26)

Even as legislation pushed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to expand Florida’s religious exemption for vaccines moves through the Capitol, pediatricians are preemptively moving to relax their own vaccine requirements to keep young patients healthy from a variety of illnesses. (Sarkissian, 2/26)

Transgender Kansans are being informed on the eve of a new state law going into effect that their driver’s licenses will be considered invalid as of Thursday. (Kelly, 2/25)

Several bills focused on gender identity were on the table in the House Judiciary Committee last week, including bills that were amendments or variations on legislation Gov. Kelly Ayotte vetoed last year and earlier this month. (Richardson, 2/25)

More health news from across the U.S. —

A Dearborn Heights pharmacy owner has pleaded guilty to a federal charge over his role in a $3 million medical insurance fraud scheme, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Michigan said. Mohammad Hamdan, 44, was convicted of conspiracy to commit health care fraud in a five-year scheme that resulted in over $3 million in losses to Medicare, Medicaid, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.  The plea was entered on Tuesday in federal court in Detroit. (Wethington, 2/25)

An 87-year-old resident of a Maryland assisted-living facility was shot and killed by a man authorities say was a 22-year-old staff member who later fired two shots at a state trooper during a traffic stop, according to records filed in Montgomery County District Court on Wednesday. The incidents — 10 days apart and in different areas of the state — led to the arrest Tuesday afternoon of the staff member who is being held in a Montgomery jail. (Morse, 2/25)

Since November, North Carolina lawmakers have been grappling with the problems plaguing the state’s intertwined mental health and criminal justice systems during hours-long monthly meetings packed with presentations from experts and state officials. Their goal? To address the revolving door of people with mental illness who cycle in and out of emergency departments, jail cells and psychiatric hospitals. It’s not an easy fix. (Knopf, 2/26)

The Allegheny County Health Department is warning pet owners about a rabies vaccine recall. According to a message that the health department posted to Facebook on Tuesday, Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health issued a voluntary recall because some vials contained sterile water instead of a rabies vaccine. (Bartos, 2/25)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: ‘Kind Of Morbid’: Health Premiums Threaten Their Nest Egg. A Terminal Diagnosis May Spare It
Early on, Jean Franklin got some career advice she followed religiously: “Pay yourself first.” So she did, socking away hundreds of thousands of dollars in retirement savings by the time she became a stay-at-home mom at age 41. She and her husband, Charles, a former high school teacher who goes by Chaz, planned to retire comfortably in the three-bedroom house where they raised their kids about 60 miles northwest of Sacramento. But early last year, the 63-year-old became unsteady on her feet. (Mai-Duc, 2/26)

The “forever chemicals” known as PFAS appear to be aging men faster in their 50s and early 60s, a new study found. (LaMotte, 2/26)

More than 70% of American adults are very or somewhat concerned about exposure to toxic chemicals in their food and drinking water, according to a new survey by the Pew Charitable Trusts. Public concern is so intense that 5 out of 6 adults in the United States said they wanted the federal government and industry to do more to protect them. (LaMotte, 2/26)

Lead in playground soil, water pipes, and paint peeling off old buildings is pervasive in New Orleans and poses significant public health risks, particularly for children, an investigation by Verite News has found. But approaches taken by two cities and one state that faced similar problems may give the cash-strapped Big Easy a roadmap for lowering those risks. Verite News tested soil samples from 84 city parks with playgrounds in its four-month investigation conducted at the end of 2025 and found that at least 46 had lead concentrations that exceed the 2024 federal hazard level for soil in urban areas. (Parker, 2/25)

Emissions from data centers can cause breathing issues and premature deaths for those living nearby, according to a new report. The report was compiled by Community & Environmental Defense Services (CEDS) founder and president Richard Klein, who has been working in development-related concerns for 40 years. Klein found that a single data center could pose negative health risks for people living at least 0.6 miles away, sometimes further. Klein said risks increase when a home is near multiple data centers. (Millard, 2/25)

Living at high altitudes may lower the risk of diabetes, and scientists believe they have finally figured out why. A new study from the Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco examined how red blood cells behave in low-oxygen environments. The findings, published in the journal Cell Metabolism, reveal that at high elevations, red blood cells begin absorbing large amounts of glucose from the bloodstream, acting as a "sponge" for sugar. (Quill, 2/24)

In other public health news —

The H5N1 bird flu virus that devastated South American elephant seal populations has been confirmed in seals at California’s Año Nuevo State Park, researchers from UC Davis and UC Santa Cruz announced Wednesday. The virus has ravaged wild, commercial and domestic animals across the globe and was found last week in seven weaned pups. The confirmation came from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa. (Rust, 2/25)

Health experts are warning that the 2025-26 flu season isn't over yet. In fact, people should prepare for the virus to linger well into the warmer months, according to Dr. Michael Glazier, chief medical officer and pediatrician at Bluebird Kids Health in Florida. The current season is tracking with historical trends, the doctor said, as influenza A typically strikes first and most aggressively. (Quill, 2/25)

In a sobering look at risk factors for heart disease and stroke, new projections estimate that 6 out of 10 women will develop at least one type of cardiovascular disease over the next 25 years. Moreover, disease will show up at younger ages. (Cooney, 2/25)

A Public Health Alerts report today describes a US multistate outbreak of infant botulism tied to powdered infant formula, identifying a clear link between illness in dozens of infants and exposure to a specific formula product. Public Health Alerts, a new collaboration between NEJM Evidence and CIDRAP, fills a gap in reliable data, offering expert-reviewed reports that translate frontline observations into actionable public health evidence. An NEJM Evidence editorial  explains the initiative further. (Wappes, 2/25)

An Oregon-based company is recalling nearly 60,000 pounds of frozen blueberries that may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. Willamette Valley Fruit Company in Salem, Oregon, voluntarily ordered the recall Feb. 12, and on Tuesday, the FDA labeled the recall Class I, its most severe. The classification is reserved for situations in which exposure to the item has a “reasonable probability” of causing “serious adverse health consequences or death,” according to the FDA website. (Tanner, 2/25)

Leaked documents reveal that Meta, the parent company of Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, has blocked its AI chatbot from discussing topics including abortion with minors—a blanket policy that contrasts sharply with the firm’s handling of child sexual exploitation claims, and that may also inadvertently affect its content for adults. Internal Meta documents obtained by Mother Jones, containing a comprehensive list of policy guidelines for Meta’s chatbot interactions with users under the age of 18, shed light on how the company is training its chatbots to respond to children’s questions on issues ranging from sexual health to suicide and self-harm, eating disorders, and other mental health issues. (Parmar, 2/25)

More reproductive health news —

An appellate court in Cincinnati on Wednesday upheld a lower court ruling that permanently blocks a law requiring the burial or cremation of fetal remains from surgical abortions. (McGowan, 2/25)

Opposing abortion has been an Illinois Republican litmus test for decades, but even the party’s four candidates seeking the GOP nomination for governor are walking away from recently filed legislation that would criminalize the procedure as murder and make women who undergo an abortion and those who assist her eligible for the death penalty. (Pearson, 2/25)

A Tennessee bill that would amend the state’s criminal code to allow the death penalty for people who receive abortions is likely to stall, as sponsor Sen. Mark Pody (R-Lebanon) says there’s a lack of support for the policy in the Senate.  (Taylor, 2/24)

A Tennessee woman says Ascension St. Thomas Midtown canceled her scheduled sterilization surgery Friday morning hours after she had been admitted and an IV had been placed. The woman said she had been seeking a salpingectomy — a surgery that removes the fallopian tubes — after years of trying other birth control options. (Mehling, 2/23)

A new case in Louisiana tests how far courts will go to restrict access in a post-Roe landscape. (Martin, 2/24)

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has piled onto the legal woes of a Bay Area doctor accused of helping women overcome their states’ extreme abortion bans by sending abortion pills through the mail. Paxton announced Tuesday that his office had sued Dr. Remy Coeytaux along with nonprofit Aid Access and its founder Rebecca Gomperts, claiming they conspired to mail abortion medication into Texas against the state’s laws. (Hosseini, 2/25)

In a new consensus statement, a task force convened by the American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology (ASCP) detailed circumstances in which the deprescribing of psychotropic medications may be clinically indicated. (Jeffrey, 2/25)

More pharma and tech developments —

Cardiac imaging centers around the world may need to update their protocols and equipment, suggested findings of a large-scale study of radiation effective doses to patients undergoing diagnostic testing for coronary artery disease (CAD). (Lou, 2/25)

Ambulatory surgery centers in November won Medicare coverage for pulsed field ablation. The procedure, which addresses atrial fibrillation, is among several cardiac ablation treatments the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services began covering in the setting this year. But ambulatory surgery centers receive lower Medicare payments for the procedure than hospitals do. Despite generally having fewer overhead costs, the centers still need to pay for the expensive equipment, specialized staff and training. (Dubinsky, 2/25)

The FDA approved dupilumab (Dupixent) for treating allergic fungal rhinosinusitis, a first for the condition, the agency announced on Wednesday. Approval stipulates use in individuals 6 years and older with prior sino-nasal surgery, as the condition has a high rate of post-operative recurrence. (Ingram, 2/25)

Two years ago, Megan Selser was folding her 7-week-old infant’s clothes, clutching his fuzzy red head to her chest, when her phone rang. She answered and heard on the other end the pained voice she had used herself many times as an ICU nurse delivering bad news. (Mast, 2/26)

Novo Nordisk A/S will partner with US biotech firm Vivtex Corp. to develop next-generation drugs for obesity, diabetes and other metabolic diseases in a deal potentially worth up to $2.1 billion. The Danish drugmaker, which is looking to boost its pipeline to find successors to blockbusters Wegovy and Ozempic, said the tie-up will give it access to new technologies that could help it create oral treatments for obesity and other metabolic diseases. (Hipwell, 2/25)

Mike Willis just wants to go to the pub. He wants to stroll down the street, walk into a bar, and shoot the breeze with his friends. But the Cambridge, England, resident can’t do that anymore. Over the last six years, Willis, 71, has lost the ability to speak and socialize because of a neurodegenerative disorder. (Broderick, 2/26)

Also —

About once a week, Erinne Kennedy, DMD, MPH, treats patients with complex dental infections who need antibiotics. She writes these prescriptions with care, because she knows the harm they can cause. In 2015, Kennedy’s grandmother suffered multiple infections with a superbug called Clostridioides difficile, also known as C difficile or C diff, which is associated with antibiotic use.Watching her grandmother battle the infection, which kills nearly 30,000 people in the United States each year, “was really devastating,” said Kennedy, assistant dean for curriculum and integrated learning at Kansas City University College of Dental Medicine in Missouri. (Szabo, 2/25)

If you’ve ever had a wisdom tooth removed, you probably received an antibiotic from your dentist. Dentists wrote 27.3 million antibiotic prescriptions last year, according to data provided exclusively to CIDRAP News by the IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science, an organization based in Parsippany, New Jersey that provides research and analysis on health care data. Many of these antibiotics are unnecessary. (Szabo, 2/26)

A blood test for detecting cancer early being developed by the diagnostics firm Grail failed to meet its main goal in a giant study being conducted with England’s National Health Service, the company said Thursday. (Herper and Chen, 2/19)

A novel single-tablet regimen (STR) combining the drugs bictegravir and lenacapavir provided similar viral suppression as multi-pill antiretroviral therapy among older adults with HIV, according to a phase 3 clinical trial published today in The Lancet. The STR also increased treatment satisfaction among participants for 48 weeks of follow-up, or about 11 months. (Bergeson, 2/25)

A large 9-year Korean study showed that current smoking status, not historical use, was the primary driver behind a reduced risk of Parkinson's disease. (George, 2/25)

University of Maryland researchers found that watching someone get relief from pain in a video can have pain-relieving effects. (Hille, 2/23)

A selective strategy for calcium supplementation after total thyroidectomy was just as safe and effective as blanket routine supplementation, and spared some patients from potentially unnecessary medication, a randomized trial showed. (Monaco, 2/19)

For decades, autism was believed to overwhelmingly affect boys. Yet a big new study out of Sweden provides perhaps the best evidence yet that girls aren’t less likely to be autistic — they’re just less likely to be diagnosed young. (Lisa Jarvis, 2/26)

The miseries of aging are more linked to late-life infections than was previously understood. (Donald G. McNeil Jr., 2/26)

Watching the measles outbreak spread to North Carolina because of unvaccinated people made me angry. Then I remembered: I was vaccine-hesitant once. (Joel Burgess, 2/22)

Trump is making it impossible for trans children, even in blue states, to access the care they deserve. Democrats need to start acting – with urgency. (Sara Pequeno, 2/26)

Walk into any drugstore, natural market, or Costco and you’ll find a dazzling array of supplements promising everything from sharper thinking and stronger immunity to calmer nerves and balanced hormones. (Elise Felicione, 2/26)