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The Trump administration is expanding its ranks of health care providers who work in immigration detention centers around the country as deaths in custody mount and federal oversight is weakened by layoffs. The push by the Department of Homeland Security to hire more than 40 doctors, nurses, psychiatrists, pharmacists and health administrators follows the revelation that nearly as many immigrants have died in custody so far this year than over the course of the Biden administration, according to government records. (Ollstein and Reader, 10/20)

Cary López Alvarado, of Hawthorne, California, was nine months pregnant when she was arrested by immigration officials alongside her husband, an immigrant from Guatemala. Alvarado was held overnight but was never sent to a detention facility: After taking her into custody, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) learned she was a U.S. citizen. Immediately after her release, she began to experience sharp pains in her stomach, according to a claim she filed against the federal government. She gave birth a few days later. (Luthra and Barclay, 10/20)

Updates on the federal shutdown —

CDC researchers are being forced to skip a pivotal conference on infectious disease this week due to the government shutdown, missing out on high-level discussions not long after surges in measles and whooping cough hit the U.S. IDWeek, the largest annual meeting of infectious disease experts in the nation, is the leading venue for experts to trade information about diagnosing, treating and preventing threats including bird flu, superbugs and HIV, among many other topics. (Stobbe, 10/20)

After administration officials wrote in court filings that nearly 1,000 fired Health and Human Services employees were not subject to a Wednesday block, a federal judge held an emergency meeting to specify her intent to the contrary. The judge's initial temporary restraining order required federal agencies to temporarily halt reductions in force (RIFs) affecting workers represented by bargaining units that first filed on Sept. 30 to block any cuts attributed to the government shutdown. The administration, in filings, said that many of those to whom it had issued RIFs were unaffected by the order, as many departments and agencies had stopped recognizing those collective bargaining units over the summer in compliance with a March executive order. (Beavins, Minemyer and Muoio, 10/20)

Head Start programs that serve tens of thousands of the nation’s neediest preschoolers are facing a cutoff of federal funding at the end of the month because of the government shutdown, leaving many scrambling to figure out how to keep their doors open. The early education initiative is funded almost entirely by the federal government, making it particularly vulnerable to funding disruptions. The programs — which are run by schools, local governments and nonprofits — receive new grants annually and are not allowed to carry over unspent money. (Balingit, 10/20)

The federal agency tasked with overseeing the U.S. nuclear stockpile has begun furloughing employees as part of the ongoing federal government shutdown, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Monday. In a visit to Nevada, Wright said the National Nuclear Security Administration is furloughing 1,400 federal workers as part of the shutdown, which began Oct. 1. Nearly 400 federal workers will remain on the job, along with thousands of NNSA contractors, the Energy Department said. The NNSA, a semi-autonomous branch of the Energy Department, also works to secure nuclear materials around the world. (Daly, 10/20)

No end is in sight to a government shutdown now tied for the second-longest ahead of President Donald Trump’s expected departure for Asia at the end of the week for summits. There’s no sign he’ll emulate his first predecessor, President Barack Obama, who canceled a tour of the region in 2013 because of a similar stalemate. (Collinson, 10/20)

In other news on the presidency —

Former President Joe Biden on Monday completed a round of radiation therapy treatment for the aggressive form of prostate cancer he was diagnosed with after leaving office, a spokesperson said. Biden had been receiving treatment at Penn Medicine Radiation Oncology in Philadelphia, said aide Kelly Scully. (Superville, 10/21)

Kenvue Inc. urged US regulators to deny a request warning against Tylenol’s use during pregnancy, laying out the most detailed defense of its biggest product after Trump administration officials tied its use to autism. A citizen petition filed last month asked for changes to the label “that are unsupported by the scientific evidence and legally and procedurally improper,” the company said in an Oct. 17 submission to the US Food and Drug Administration. The “overwhelming weight of the evidence” contradicts any claim that the nonprescription medicine used to treat pain and reduce fevers is a risk for neurodevelopmental disorders, the company said. (Brown, 10/20)

In other pharmaceutical news —

The Congressional Budget Office has revised its forecast showing the recently enacted One Big Beautiful Bill Act will cost taxpayers as much as $8.8 billion — up from earlier estimates of $4.9 billion — over 10 years thanks to provisions that will exempt or delay certain drugs from Medicare pricing negotiations. (Silverman, 10/20)

The upheaval at the Food and Drug Administration appears to be taking a toll on the pharmaceutical industry, according to a new analysis of key agency metrics. (Silverman, 10/20)

WeightWatchers is joining forces with Amazon Pharmacy to make it easier for members to access weight management medications. The company announced Monday that through the partnership its members will be able to access information on real-time medication availability, automated coupon savings and home delivery for key medications they use to manage their weight. (Minemyer, 10/20)

Walmart will become the first U.S. retailer to sell an over-the-counter continuous glucose monitor in physical stores, as Abbott's Lingo rolls out to more than 3,500 locations and online, the health care company told Axios exclusively Tuesday. (Tyko, 10/21)

On marijuana and gun ownership —

The Supreme Court said on Monday that it will consider whether people who regularly smoke marijuana can legally own guns, the latest firearm case to come before the court since its 2022 decision expanding gun rights. President Donald Trump’s administration asked the justices to revive a case against a Texas man charged with a felony because he allegedly had a gun in his home and acknowledged being a regular pot user. The Justice Department appealed after a lower court largely struck down a law that bars people who use any illegal drugs from having guns. (Whitehurst, 10/20)

President Trump’s $100,000 H-1B visa fee will only apply to new visa applicants outside the country, the government confirmed in new guidance on Monday. That means that under the new policy, employers won’t need to pay the fee for anyone already living in the U.S., such as international students. (Hackman, 10/20)

The number of physicians serving Medicare patients grew from 2013 to 2023, but program exit rates in rural and underserved areas increased, according to an analysis of Medicare claims data.While the proportion of physicians in the Medicare program grew by 6.3% from 2013 to 2023, physicians living in nonmetropolitan counties were more likely to exit the program compared with those in metropolitan counties (2.71% vs 2.58%). (Firth, 10/20)

The University of South Florida launched an interactive dashboard that visualizes the shortage of behavioral health professionals in the state. Florida ranks slightly above average (21 out of 51) in overall prevalence of mental health issues and access to care, according to a 2024 report by Mental Health America. (Neira, 10/21)

Primary care physicians (PCPs) clocked more than 60 hours a week caring for their patient panel, a cross-sectional study suggested. ... The finding translated to a median of 1.7 hours per patient per year, they wrote in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Patient panel characteristics and patient message volume also were associated with physician time expenditure. (Henderson, 10/20)

A new lawsuit alleges that a Skokie OB-GYN and leader at St. Francis Hospital in Evanston sexually assaulted a patient at his private practice. The lawsuit, filed anonymously under the name Jane Doe, contends that Dr. Riley Perry Lloyd sexually assaulted the patient in late October 2023 while she was visiting Lloyd’s practice for medical issues. (Schencker, 10/20)

U.S. dietary guidelines could soon undergo another overhaul under the Trump administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” initiative, and the proposal has already drawn criticism. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is set to unveil new guidance encouraging the consumption of more foods previously considered unhealthy, including those high in saturated fats. (Smith, 10/20)

Americans’ steadfast dedication to their beliefs can be a good thing, but it can also go too far, Dr. Jessica Steier says – like when adults yell at Girl Scouts that the cookies they’re selling are “poison.” Steier, a science misinformation expert, says a mom recently told her that her daughter was berated by natural-foods fanatics while selling Toffee-tastics and Thin Mints outside a local grocery store. (Christensen, 10/20)

More health and wellness news —

For the first time, researchers restored some vision to people with a common type of eye disease by using a prosthetic retinal implant. If approved for broader use in the future, the treatment could improve the lives of an estimated one million, mostly older, people in the United States who lose their vision to the condition. The patients’ blindness occurs when cells in the center of the retina start to die, what is known as geographic atrophy resulting from age-related macular degeneration. (Kolata, 10/20)

The largest known study on elective fertility preservation has found that more women in the United States are freezing their eggs than ever before. However, only a small proportion of patients return to thaw those eggs in hopes of getting pregnant. (Narang, 10/20)

Incidence of several cancers increased among adults of all ages in the past two decades, a global surveillance study found. From 2003-2017, incidence rates for six of 13 cancers assessed rose among younger adults (ages 20-49) in over 75% of the countries studied, reported Amy Berrington de Gonzalez, DPhil, of the Institute of Cancer in Sutton, England, and colleagues in Annals of Internal Medicine. (Monaco, 10/20)

About 9 in 10 adults in the United States have not heard of cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic syndrome despite nearly 90% of adults being at risk for the condition, according to a recent survey from the American Heart Association. Cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic syndrome, or CKM syndrome, is a disorder caused by the connections between heart disease, kidney disease, diabetes and obesity. The syndrome, which was defined by the AHA for the first time in October 2023, reflects how these conditions can influence or worsen each other. (Moniuszko, 10/20)

Vaccination against herpes zoster (shingles) may reduce the risk of heart disease, dementia, and death in adults aged 50 and older, according to Case Western University research presented yesterday at IDWeek 2025 in Atlanta. (Van Beusekom, 10/20)

Two skilled nursing facilities in North Carolina reached a settlement this month that bars them from discriminating against people with a history of substance use — potentially setting a precedent for how long-term care facilities nationwide treat people with addiction. (Facher, 10/21)

Hartford HealthCare said Monday it won a bid to purchase two Connecticut hospitals from bankrupt Prospect Medical Holdings. The deal, which is subject to court approval, involves Manchester Memorial Hospital and Rockville General Hospital. (Hudson, 10/20)

The Justice Department and Kaiser Permanente are nearing a deal in their behind-the-scenes negotiations over the government’s claim that the California health care giant bilked Medicare out of $1 billion. (Bannow, 10/20)

Almost six months after work virtually stopped on a new psychiatric forensic hospital on Clinton Street, the construction site remains quiet due to issues with the foundation, and it is unclear when work will continue. (Brooks, 10/20)

City and county leaders in Charlotte said they are pressing for answers after a Charlotte Ledger/NC Health News article last week highlighted slow progress on affordable housing tied to the city’s new medical innovation district, The Pearl. Some are also asking why the city’s contract with Atrium Health doesn’t legally require the hospital to fulfill all of the affordable housing commitments presented in 2021, when the city and county approved $75 million in public money for the district. (Crouch, 10/21)

Ascension Florida will expand its telehealth services for pregnant people after the award of a $7.8 million grant from the Florida Department of Health. The program will be fully operational in early 2026, according to Ascension Florida chief clinical officer Dr. Syed Jafri. (Brown, 10/20)

On the use of AI in health care —

The American Medical Association on Monday announced a new Center for Digital Health and AI to influence how novel technology is used and regulated in health care. The center is one of the first major initiatives from CEO John Whyte, who took the helm of the physician lobbying group earlier this year after seven years as the chief medical officer of WebMD. (Aguilar, 10/21)

Humata Health will provide its prior authorization automation tool through Microsoft’s generative artificial intelligence assistant, Dragon Copilot. Microsoft launched Dragon Copilot in March to assist clinicians with documentation, revenue cycle management, patient engagement and decision support. (DeSilva, 10/20)

A record 154,000 public school students in New York City were homeless during the last school year, according to data released Monday, grim evidence that the city’s worsening housing crisis is wreaking havoc on its youngest and most vulnerable residents. Almost all these children sleep in shelters or in overcrowded apartments shared by other families, where they are considered homeless under federal education law. (Closson, 10/20)

More health news from across the U.S. —

A group of two dozen public health leaders for major U.S. municipalities signed a letter published Monday, stating their united stance on supporting vaccinations and denouncing “repeated false claims” coming from federal officials. Published by the Big Cities Health Coalition, the letter was signed by the public health directors, commissioners and chief public health officers of places including Chicago, Los Angeles County, Boston, Seattle, Baltimore and Cleveland. (Choi, 10/20)

Michigan’s new bipartisan state budget will limit Medicaid coverage of a group of weight loss drugs whose use has exploded in popularity in recent years. GLP-1 receptor agonists like Wegovy, Saxenda and Zepbound will be restricted in Michigan “exclusively to individuals classified as morbidly obese” under the new budget, with coverage contingent on the failure of other weight loss interventions to prevent higher-cost bariatric surgery. (Newman, 10/20)

Wyoming lawmakers on the interim Joint Labor, Health and Social Services Committee voted to sponsor a draft bill on Oct. 17 that would ask the feds for permission to ban candy and soda from SNAP purchases, formerly called food stamps. (Clements, 10/20)

The home addresses of 40% of the members of a groundbreaking prescription drug price-capping board raise a surprising question: Does it matter if the people serving on boards setting policy for Colorado actually live in Colorado? Two of the five members of Colorado’s Prescription Drug Affordability Board now live outside the state, though they lived in Colorado when first appointed. State regulators say there’s nothing wrong with them continuing to serve on the influential board. (Ingold, 10/21)

Domestic violence homicide has gone up in Iowa, according to the latest crime data analyzed by the Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence. The group's study gathered data from all homicides that were a result of domestic violence, which is defined as violence in personal relationships, including romantic and family relationships. (McKinney, 10/20)

Just as one large measles outbreak peters out in the United States, another outbreak of the virus has taken off along the border of Utah and Arizona. The new outbreak began in August and has sickened more than 100 people, making it the second-largest cluster of cases in the country this year. A majority of the cases are in unvaccinated people. (Rosenbluth, 10/21)

A newborn girl was found abandoned at the bottom of a staircase in a busy subway station in Midtown on Monday morning, according to the police and an internal police document. The police received an anonymous 911 call around 9:30 a.m. about the baby, who was discovered at the base of the staircase in a subway passageway at the 34th Street-Penn Station stop, according to the report and investigators inside the station. Her umbilical cord was still attached, according to a state official with knowledge of the matter. (Marcius and Cohen, 10/20)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: ‘Cancer Doesn’t Care’: Citizen Lobbyists Unite To Push Past Washington’s Ugly Politics
Mary Catherine Johnson is a retired small-business owner from outside Rochester, New York. She voted for Donald Trump three times. Lexy Mealing, who used to work in a physician’s office, is from Long Island. She’s a Democrat. But the women share a common bond. They both survived breast cancer. And when the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network organized its annual citizen lobby day in Washington last month, Johnson and Mealing were among the more than 500 volunteers pushing Congress to keep cancer research and support for cancer patients at the top of the nation’s health care agenda. (Levey, 10/21)

On paper, the drive from Kansas City to Osage Beach is only a couple of hours. In health care terms, it can feel like another world. Yet what holds together in Missouri towns such as Butler, Warsaw and Osage Beach may be what saves American medicine when the next wave of pressure hits larger cities. (Holland Haynie, 10/20)

GLP-1s are much more likely to succeed at scale. As of last year, an estimated 15 million adults were taking these medications. The millions of eligible adults on Medicaid, however, are mostly not covered, and this population generally cannot afford to pay out of pocket. (Emily Oster, 10/20)

We teach graduate students in public health, one of us focusing on management, one on communications. Like many in public health, we are deeply disappointed by the toxicity surrounding the subject these days. We worry about the field, its leadership, and its leading institutions. Our students at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health share these concerns. (Michaela Kerrissey and Richard J. Tofel, 10/21)

Catheters physically save my life every single day. But my catheters, and with them my health and safety, are now at risk under a new proposal from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to include urological and ostomy supplies in the competitive bidding program. (Ali Ingersoll, 10/21)

In 2000, a Canadian woman named Sally Rhoads-Heinrich carried and delivered a set of twins for a Maryland couple. It was her first experience as a surrogate, she told me, and she found it so rewarding that, a year later, she established the agency Surrogacy in Canada Online, which helps connect intended parents with potential surrogates. Between 2002 and 2008, she recalls that she underwent eight more IVF cycles to help other infertile couples become parents. Instead, she ended up miscarrying four times. None of these subsequent attempts produced a baby. (Ferrukh Faruqui, 10/20)