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Children will die if proposed changes to federal vaccine policy take effect, doctors warned today during a joint press conference with representatives from six leading health organizations. Experts were responding to a vote by members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)—all handpicked by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—to limit the use of hepatitis B vaccines in newborns, in spite of evidence that the shots prevent cancer and save lives. (Szabo, 12/9)

The Food and Drug Administration has launched a safety review of two approved RSV drugs for infants, the latest immunizations to face scrutiny under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. No safety issues have been reported with either of the respiratory syncytial virus drugs: Beyfortus, from Sanofi and AstraZeneca, and Enflonsia, from Merck. (Lovelace Jr., 12/9)

More news about children's health —

The number of U.S. hospitals equipped to handle pediatric cases fell over two decades, data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Kids' Inpatient Database showed. From 2003 to 2022, the proportion of hospitals with the broadest range of pediatric services (level 1) decreased by 38%, while the proportion of hospitals with the lowest pediatric capability (level 4) increased by 137%, reported Kenneth Michelson, MD, MPH, of the Ann & Robert Lurie Children's Hospital in Chicago, and colleagues in Pediatrics. (Henderson, 12/10)

Young children really struggle in the heat. Their bodies are too small to cool down by sweating, like adults. And they're wholly reliant on grown-ups to find any kind of relief, be it air conditioning or shade or a cool drink. Now, new research points to a potentially lifelong setback for little ones exposed to extreme heat, which is becoming more common due to climate change. In a study of nearly 20,000 kids, young children who experienced hotter temperatures than usual were less likely to meet basic developmental milestones than those living in nearby, but slightly cooler areas, researchers report in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. Children in lower-income households and urban areas were especially vulnerable. (Lambert, 12/9)

When Alessandro Barbera was rushed to a California hospital with infant botulism in October, his father had barely heard of the disease, never mind the rare and costly treatment that likely saved the newborn’s life. Now, however, Tony Barbera is deeply grateful for BabyBIG, the sole antidote to the paralyzing and potentially deadly illnesses linked to contaminated ByHeart infant formula. “It is hugely remarkable,” said Barbera, 35, whose son is slowly recovering. (Aleccia, 12/9)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was running for the Democratic party’s presidential nomination when he sat for an interview with Jordan B. Peterson, a controversial Canadian psychologist, during his eponymous podcast. About an hour into the conversation, which published in June 2023, Kennedy pivoted from answering a question about climate change to bringing up a very different subject: He stated that a lot of the sexual dysphoria seen in children, particularly in boys, “is coming from chemical exposures.” (Schmidt, 12/10)

Representative Haley Stevens of Michigan, a Democrat running for Senate, filed articles of impeachment on Wednesday against Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., making an all but certainly futile bid to charge him with undermining public health, diminishing decades of scientific and medical progress and imperiling the health of the American people. In accusing Mr. Kennedy of an assault on the public health system that constitutes high crimes and misdemeanors, Ms. Stevens said the secretary had delayed biomedical innovation through the “far-reaching” and “haphazard” termination of working scientists. She cited Mr. Kennedy’s cancellation of $8.9 billion in federal research grants, and said he was “chilling medical innovation, including lifesaving clinical research” in what amounted to a violation of his oath of office. (Karni, 12/10)

More on RFK Jr. and MAHA —

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. waxed lyrical about the nutritional qualities of “a mother's breast” and inveighed against unhealthy airport food, then handily beat Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy in a pull-up contest in front of reporters at Washington D.C.'s Reagan International Airport. “Fourteen, fifteen — whoah man, he's coming for you!” exclaimed an onlooker as the 71-year-old rapidly executed pull-ups in his work shirt and famous skinny tie, finally stopping at 20. (Dodds, 12/9)

The actor’s remark comes amid renewed news coverage and commentary about her husband’s 2024 presidential bid. (Vargas, 12/9)

In the U.S., the Trump administration, driven by health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has elevated the issue of chronic diseases to never-before-seen political salience. Prioritizing these ailments could improve the nation’s health and kick-start its stubborn life expectancy rates, Kennedy preaches. Here in Slovenia, that approach would be old news. (Joseph, 12/10)

In a closely watched case, the U.S. solicitor general has urged the Supreme Court to review a controversy over so-called skinny labels for medicines, arguing that an appeals court finding threatens the availability of lower-cost generic drugs. (Silverman, 12/9)

The Supreme Court will revisit on Wednesday how states assess intellectual disabilities to decide which capital defendants should be spared the death penalty. The justices will hear arguments in an Alabama case that involves how I.Q. tests should be used to assess mental capacity. It comes two decades after the court barred the execution of people with mental disabilities as a violation of the Constitution’s Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment. (Marimow, 12/10)

In other Trump administration updates —

The Environmental Protection Agency has removed any mention of fossil fuels — the main driver of global warming — from its popular online page explaining the causes of climate change. Now it only mentions natural phenomena, even though scientists calculate that nearly all of the warming is due to human activity. Sometime in the past few days or weeks, EPA altered some but not all of its climate change webpages, de-emphasizing and even deleting references to the burning of coal, oil and natural gas, which scientists say is the overwhelming cause of climate change. (Borenstein, 12/9)

After years of conservative complaints, the Justice Department moved Tuesday to kill a decades-old provision of civil rights law that allows statistical disparities to be used as proof of racial discrimination. The new regulations reinterpret a key plank of the Civil Rights Act and were issued without an opportunity for public comment, which is unusual for major regulatory action. The rules are final and will take effect Wednesday. While they apply only to Justice Department programs, the administration has made clear that it plans similar regulatory rollbacks across the government. (Meckler, 12/9)

A diplomatic standoff between the U.S. and the Central African nation of Chad is preventing two American doctors from delivering life-changing care. (12/10)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: This HIV Expert Refused To Censor Data, Then Quit The CDC
John Weiser, a doctor and researcher, has treated people with HIV since the beginning of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s. He joined the CDC’s HIV prevention team in 2011 to help lead its Medical Monitoring Project, the only in-depth survey of HIV across the United States. The project has shaped the country’s response to the epidemic over two decades, but the Trump administration censored last year’s findings and stopped funding it. (Maxmen, 12/10)

Also —

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) changed the name of former Adm. Rachel Levine, a transgender woman who served as the agency’s assistant secretary under former President Biden, to her birth name, or “dead name,” on her official portrait. HHS confirmed on X Tuesday that the department changed the name during the government shutdown, saying that they wanted to depict “biological reality.” (Anderson, 12/9)

President Donald Trump said he had recently “aced” a third cognitive exam as he looked to bat down questions about his age and acuity. Trump, in a social media post Tuesday night, said that in addition to a battery of “long, thorough, and very boring Medical Examinations” he had “on three separate occasions, the last one being recently” taken a cognitive examination. “I ACED all three of them in front of large numbers of doctors and experts, most of whom I do not know,” Trump said. (Sink, 12/10)

The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have issued new guidance on expanding Health Savings Account (HSA) eligibility, delivering a tax-free means for millions more Americans to save and pay for health care costs. The update, prompted by the One, Big, Beautiful Bill (OBBB), marks a major shift for consumers who rely on high-deductible health plans (HDHPs), direct primary care arrangements, and, for the first time, those enrolled in Bronze and Catastrophic plans offered on or outside Insurance Exchanges. (Stevenson, 12/10)

The latest on the ACA —

Republican leaders on Capitol Hill are moving decisively away from extending key Obamacare tax credits that help more than 20 million Americans pay for health insurance — following direct cues from President Donald Trump while also stoking ire among many in the GOP who fear severe political repercussions. (Lee Hill and Guggenheim, 12/9)

The Senate is heading toward dueling partisan votes on health care this week after Republicans said Tuesday that they had united around a plan, for now, that would allow COVID-era health care subsidies to expire. Both the Republican plan, which would replace the subsidies with new savings accounts, and a Democratic bill to extend the enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits for three years lack the bipartisan support needed for passage. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said Tuesday that the Democratic legislation does not include enough reforms to curb fraud or limit high-income recipients. That legislation “will fail,” Thune said. (Jalonick and Swenson, 12/10)

Sen. Bill Cassidy said he is open to a compromise with Democrats to temporarily extend the enhanced Obamacare subsidies – especially if it includes elements of his own plan – until conservative reforms can be made. “That may be the sweet spot, where we actually have a short term extension, but we allow the patient to take that subsidy and put it into a health savings account, as opposed to just getting stuck with a $6,000 deductible,” said the Republican chair of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, referring to the highest deductible for a silver tier plan. (Paun and King, 12/9)

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) expressed concern that Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies will not be extended before the end of this year. “It’s a tragedy,” Sanders told host Kaitlan Collins on CNN’s “The Source.” The Vermont progressive added that Americans “are not prepared” for the ramifications if the subsidies expire, which they are set to do at the end of this month if Congress does not intervene. On Thursday, the Senate will vote on competing Democratic and Republican health care proposals. (Rego, 12/9)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Plan-Switching, Sign-Up Impersonations: Obamacare Enrollment Fraud Persists 
Florida resident Keith Jones says his Affordable Care Act insurance plan was changed multiple times this year without his permission. Now the 52-year-old is struggling with his health problems while facing large premium bills he says he shouldn’t owe. The third time, he sought help from an insurance agent, who got Jones on the phone with the federal healthcare.gov call center to sort things out. During that call, “literally, there was someone opening a new policy without my consent,” Jones said. (Appleby, 12/10)

More than 100 health systems and other provider organizations “have united to oppose” cybersecurity and privacy regulations proposed back in January. The groups, corralled by the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives, wrote the Department of Health and Human Services this week, warning that the financial burdens and “unreasonable implementation timelines” outlined by the prior administration run counter to President Donald Trump’s deregulatory agenda. (Muoio, 12/9)

Pharmacy leaders from many health systems say their organizations are not prepared for potential changes to the 340B drug pricing program, new pharmacy benefit management models or a looming surge in uncompensated care costs. Roughly 60% of 298 pharmacy leaders surveyed this year said by 2030, they expect all drugmakers to require a rebate-based model for 340B-covered facilities, according to a Tuesday report from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. (Kacik and Broderick, 12/9)

Health insurance companies spent two years getting ready for a new Medicare Advantage quality metric intended to tackle health disparities. Then the government pulled the plug. The Excellent Health Outcomes for All measure — also known as EHO4All and formerly known as the health equity index — likely won’t be part of the Medicare Advantage Star Ratings program in 2027 after all, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid proposed in a draft regulation last month. (Tepper, 12/9)

Minnesota insurance regulators are pressing a state judge to let them seize control of troubled health insurance company UCare. UCare is scheduled to shut down next year after a rival health insurance company Medica acquires its final insurance business. The deal is projected to close in the first half of 2026, pending regulatory approval. (Tepper, 12/9)

Several experts in senior care say that Maryland officials need to take action to prevent a dangerous underground network of unlicensed assisted living facilities from expanding. (Hauf, 12/9)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: How Delays And Bankruptcy Let A Nursing Home Chain Avoid Paying Settlements For Injuries And Deaths
Nancy Hunt arrived at an emergency room from a Genesis HealthCare nursing home in Pennsylvania in such dreadful shape, including maggots infesting her gangrened foot, that the hospital called an elder abuse hotline and then the police, her son alleged in a lawsuit. Hunt died five days later. Her death certificate said the foot injury was a “significant” factor. Genesis denied wrongdoing but agreed to pay $3.5 million in a settlement Hunt’s son signed in August 2024. (Rau, 12/9)

Health systems are finding that improving the patient experience at their hospitals goes far beyond better food in the cafeteria and cute stuffed animals in the gift shop. Significant investments into a tech-enabled patient experience are taking place, even as health systems deal with tightening margins. The top priority of nearly 50% of C-suite health system executives was improving how patients interact with their organizations, up from 36% in 2023, according to a recent survey of 101 executives by advisory firm Sage Growth Partners. (Perna, 12/9)

A couple with deep ties to the Chicago area is donating $11 million to Lurie Children’s Hospital in hopes of speeding research, treatment and diagnosis for children with rare and genetic disorders. (Schencker, 12/10)

Also —

The University of Maryland School of Medicine may increase its class size from 175 to 200 per year by the fall of 2031. The move was approved by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, the organization that accredits medical schools in the United States and Canada. (Hille, 12/9)

Dr. Mattson Mathew and Celeste Keelin huddled around a laptop in an examination room. Mathew asked Keelin about the patient she saw this morning. “Just looking at her x-ray here, was there any additional workup done in the emergency room that kind of pushed the team in the direction to think [it’s] croup?” Mathew asked. (Kudelska, 12/9)

The percentage of medication abortions arranged via telehealth grew again in the first half of 2025, according to a report released Tuesday, despite Republican efforts to keep doctors in blue states from prescribing pills to women in states where abortion is illegal. Twenty-seven percent of the nearly 592,000 abortions provided from January to June relied on clinicians prescribing and mailing pills to patients seeking care remotely, according to the report by #WeCount, a project from the Society of Family Planning, which supports abortion rights. The number, up from 25 percent at the end of 2024, comes as Republicans file lawsuits and enact legislation to try to curtail pill access. (Somasundaram, 12/9)

When Melanie walked out of the abortion clinic in her city, it felt like a weight was lifted off of her shoulders. The 32-year-old, who is using a pseudonym to protect her privacy, had a procedural abortion at 10 weeks of gestation after unintentionally getting pregnant with her then-partner. (Santilli, 12/9)

In other health news from across the U.S. —

Eli Lilly on Tuesday said it will spend $6 billion to build a manufacturing plant in Huntsville, Alabama, to help boost production of its closely watched experimental obesity pill and other drugs. (Constantino, 12/9)

A federal judge has permanently ordered Georgia’s prison system to keep providing some kinds of gender-affirming care for transgender prisoners, although the state plans to appeal. U.S. District Judge Victoria Marie Calvert last week ruled that a new state law denying hormone therapy to inmates violated their protection against cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. She ordered the state to keep providing hormones to inmates who had been receiving therapy and to allow others medically diagnosed as needing hormone therapy to begin receiving treatment. (Amy, 12/9)

Carey Carlock never imagined she’d have so much trouble finding a therapist for her teenage child. She was a hospital CEO, on the board of a prominent local mental health organization and well connected. Yet the Oak Park mother couldn’t locate a therapist in her community who took her health insurance. (Schencker, 12/9)

This fall, Americans got to see what it’s like to go without a safety net for the hungry. With the U.S. government shut down for multiple weeks and President Donald Trump refusing to fund SNAP, the federal food stamp program, a panic set in among the more than 40 million people who rely on it. Families skipped meals, and babies went unfed. Food banks ran out of food, and some people turned to dumpster diving. It was just a glimpse of what’s to come. Starting next October, Trump’s so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act will shift billions in SNAP costs from the federal government onto states. (Hager, 12/9)

Two cases of the MERS coronavirus were identified in France this month, a surprising development for a virus typically confined to the Arabian Peninsula. Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), which can cause a litany of symptoms and even death, hasn't been a major concern since early in the pandemic with the arrival of the novel coronavirus. (Scribner, 12/9)

In other health and wellness news —

The birds lingered for days at a Catholic school near Cincinnati as agencies haggled over who was responsible for removing them. Officials said the public health risk was low. (Vigdor, 12/9)

He was healthy and fit at 54, an avid runner with no vices — he didn’t smoke, drink or do drugs. So when he suddenly experienced left-sided weakness, numbness and difficulties with balance, walking, swallowing and speech, a family member rushed him to a nearby stroke clinic. (LaMotte, 12/9)

Australia’s social media ban for youths took effect Wednesday, a landmark move that’s drawn global attention at a time governments are increasingly enacting rules to shield minors from toxic content and cyberbullying. ... Australia becomes the world’s first democracy to undertake such a crackdown in response to growing concerns about social media’s harms. (Purnell and Said, 12/10)

The statistics are incontrovertible: Since 1992, the diagnoses of eight cancers has doubled in the United States in patients under age 50, including cancers in the thyroid, anus, kidney, small intestine, colorectum, endometrium and pancreas, as well as the blood cancer myeloma. Other types, including breast cancer, also are on the rise. ... What if these cancers had never been detected? Are doctors offering treatments to younger patients with early-stage diseases that may do as much harm as good? (Kolata, 12/8)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Listen To The Latest '�鶹Ů�� Health News Minute'
Zach Dyer reads the week’s news: Immigration enforcement personnel are showing up in hospitals, and road-safety advocates worry regulations aren’t keeping up with the popularity of e-bikes. (Cook, 12/9)

Today’s Food and Drug Administration seems to be of two very different minds about oversight. For some things like vaccines, even strong data apparently are not good enough. But for other products, the FDA is signaling that relatively little data will be needed. This dualism seems driven more by ideology than biomedical science, so it presents big risks to patients and the field. (Paul Knoepfler, 12/9)

The high cost of health care in America is suppressing wages, driving job losses and fueling inequality. (Zack Cooper, 12/10)

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) thinks he has a new idea: no taxes on health care. He has proposed making all out-of-pocket health care expenses tax deductible, saying that would “help people immediately.” But would it? (12/8)

I have spent my career caring for people facing some of the world’s most dangerous infectious diseases — Ebola, mpox, Covid-19. I have worked in outbreak zones, in understaffed hospitals, in field units built out of necessity. I’ve seen firsthand how vaccines transform the trajectory of a disease, a community, and a country. But nothing has prepared me for the exam room conversations I’m having now. (Krutika Kuppalli, 12/10)

On Wednesday, December 10, Australian kids are waking up to a world that was once inconceivable: They don’t have social media anymore. The country is the first to prohibit social apps for children under age 16. The ban on 10 platforms includes TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, Facebook, X and Reddit. If parents outside of Australia adopt the same rules, our kids will thank us later. (Kara Alaimo, 12/9)