First Edition: Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025

KFF Health News: What RFK Jr. Might Face In His Nomination Hearings This Week
President Donald Trump has nominated Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an environmental lawyer with no formal medical or public health expertise, as secretary of Health and Human Sciences. Two Senate committees will question Kennedy this week on how his disproven views of science and medicine qualify him to run the $1.7 trillion, 80,000-employee federal health system. (Allen, 1/28)

KFF Health News: Schools Aren’t As Plugged In As They Should Be To Kids’ Diabetes Tech, Parents Say
Just a few years ago, children with Type 1 diabetes reported to the school nurse several times a day to get a finger pricked to check whether their blood sugar was dangerously high or low. The introduction of the continuous glucose monitor (CGM) made that unnecessary. The small device, typically attached to the arm, has a sensor under the skin that sends readings to an app on a phone or other wireless device. The app shows blood sugar levels at a glance and sounds an alarm when they move out of a normal range. (Galewitz, 1/28)

Stat: Trump Orders Pause On Federal Grants, Loans 
The White House’s budget office ordered government agencies to pause grants and loans on a host of government programs, the latest in a freeze on federal action that has upended health agencies. The internal memo, sent on Monday, explicitly targets gender-affirming care and global financial assistance, citing two of President Trump’s priorities during his campaign and his initial storm of executive orders on Inauguration Day. (Owermohle, 1/27)

Bloomberg: US HHS Sets Antiabortion Stance Before RFK Jr. Senate Hearing
The US Department of Health and Human Services announced Monday that it would return to policies that ensure no federal funds are used to pay for or promote abortions. The news release was the first since the Trump administration placed a temporary freeze last week on some government work and communications on health topics. (Rutherford, 1/27)

The Hill: Democrats Call On White House To Restore NIH Operations
A trio of Democrats on Monday called on the Trump administration to restore full operations at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) warning that the halt in the agency’s grant process could cause “disastrous” consequences domestically and abroad. Democratic Maryland Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) wrote to acting Health and Human Service (HHS) Secretary Dorothy Fink about their concerns regarding disrupted NIH research. (Choi, 1/27)

Stat: NIH Eases Restrictions On Staff After Trump Freeze Sparked Chaos 
The National Institutes of Health’s myriad divisions can start new work on mission-critical research, and continue working on ongoing studies, but cannot publicly communicate about them until the new Trump administration lifts a communications freeze, the acting director said in a memo to leaders of the agency’s 27 institutes and centers on Monday. (Owermohle, 1/27)

AP: CDC Ordered To Stop Working With WHO Immediately
U.S. public health officials have been told to stop working with the World Health Organization, effective immediately. A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official, John Nkengasong, sent a memo to senior leaders at the agency on Sunday night telling them that all staff who work with the WHO must immediately stop their collaborations and “await further guidance.” Experts said the sudden stoppage was a surprise and would set back work on investigating and trying to stop outbreaks of Marburg virus and mpox in Africa, as well as brewing global threats. It also comes as health authorities around the world are monitoring bird flu outbreaks among U.S. livestock. (Stobbe, 1/27)

The New York Times: Trump Administration Puts Dozens Of U.S.A.I.D. Officials On Paid Leave
The Trump administration placed several dozen senior officials at the U.S. Agency for International Development on administrative leave in response to what an official characterized as resistance to President Trump’s policy. An email on Monday to U.S.A.I.D. staff from the agency’s acting administrator, Jason Gray, said that Trump officials “have identified several actions within U.S.A.I.D. that appear to be designed to circumvent” an executive order. (Crowley and Wong, 1/27)

The New York Times: Trump Administration Halts H.I.V. Drug Distribution In Poor Countries
The Trump administration has instructed organizations in other countries to stop disbursing H.I.V. medications purchased with U.S. aid, even if the drugs have already been obtained and are sitting in local clinics. The directive is part of a broader freeze on foreign aid initiated last week. It includes the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the global health program started by George W. Bush that is credited with saving more than 25 million lives worldwide. (Mandavilli, 1/27)

The Washington Post: Trump Order Targets Transgender Troops And ‘Radical Gender Ideology’ 
President Donald Trump on Monday night issued an executive order targeting transgender service members and an array of other people, saying that the U.S. military has been “afflicted with radical gender ideology to appease activists” and that “many mental and physical health conditions are incompatible with active duty.” The list of conditions identified could affect tens of thousands of people depending on how it is interpreted. It cites diagnoses “that require substantial medication or medical treatment to bipolar and related disorders, eating disorders, suicidality, and prior psychiatric hospitalization.” (Lamothe, Ryan and Horton, 1/28)

NBC News: When Is A Person's Sex Determined? Trump Has No Conception, Experts Say
On his first day back in power, President Donald Trump issued an executive order on gender that essentially states that males become males and females become female “at conception.” But that, medical experts say, is wrong. All fertilized eggs or embryos are filled with both male Y and female X chromosomes, and the gender doesn’t reveal itself until weeks later, they said. And even then, it’s sometimes hard to tell whether it’s a girl, a boy, or a baby with the sexual characteristics of both. (Siemaszko, 1/27)

The Hill: Donald Trump To Reinstate Service Members Dismissed For COVID-19 Vaccine Refusal
Service members dismissed from the military for failing to get vaccinated against COVID-19 will be reinstated with full back pay and benefits under an executive order President Trump is expected to sign Monday. ... Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also vowed to reinstate military members dismissed over the COVID-19 shot, saying during his confirmation hearing that those service members “will be apologized to. They will be reinstated, reinstituted with pay and rank.” (Weixel, 1/27)

Politico: RFK Jr. Says He’s Open To Seizing Drug Patents
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. expressed openness to adopting a key progressive proposal for lowering drug prices during a closed-door meeting with Senate Finance Committee staffers, according to three people familiar with the exchange, who were granted anonymity to speak freely about private discussions. President Donald Trump’s health secretary nominee last week indicated he’d consider authorizing the government to seize the patents of high-priced medicines from manufacturers and share them with other drug makers as a way to force down costs, said the three people. (Cai and Cancryn, 1/27)

Politico: ‘A Sign Of A Sickness’: Abortion Opponents Grapple With RFK Jr. Nomination
The nation’s leading anti-abortion groups are holding their fire in the battle over Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to lead the government’s health agencies, despite harboring serious concerns about his past support for abortion rights. Their reluctance to oppose Kennedy stems in part from the deference the anti-abortion movement feels it owes Trump after he nominated the justices who overturned Roe v. Wade and took a slew of anti-abortion actions last week. (Payne and Ollstein, 1/27)

Stat: Analyzing RFK Jr.’s Vaccine Plans Ahead Of Hearings For Top Trump Health Role
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has insisted he doesn’t want to take away vaccines  —  he just wants to make sure they’re safe.   But he has already sketched out a blueprint that could subject recommended vaccines to renewed scrutiny, redirect research, strip legal protections for vaccine makers, and change how vaccines are advertised. (Zhang and Owermohle, 1/28)

AP: State Lawmakers Are Pushing For Vaccine Exemptions Even As Childhood Vaccination Rates Fall
Vaccination bills are popping up in more than 15 states as lawmakers aim to potentially resurrect or create new religious exemptions from immunization mandates, establish state-level vaccine injury databases or dictate what providers must tell patients about the shots. Many see a political opportunity to rewrite policies in their states after President Donald Trump’s return to the White House and anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ‘s nomination as the next secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. (Haigh and Shastri, 1/27)

Health News Florida: A Florida Bill Would Mandate That 'Edible Vaccines' Carry Proper Food Labeling
A Florida bill has been filed would require foods genetically engineered to contain vaccines “or vaccine material” to be labeled as such. The measure (SB 196), introduced Jan. 13 by Sen. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, would revise the definition of “drug” to includes such edible vaccines. It would deem a drug misbranded “if it is a food containing a vaccine or vaccine material, but its label does not include specified information.” (Mayer, 1/27)

The 19th: Senators Reintroduce Bill Clarifying TSA Breast Milk Guidance
Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois is set to try again on a bill to make air travel easier for breastfeeding parents that has gotten bipartisan support in both chambers of Congress and has passed the U.S. Senate. Duckworth on Monday is reintroducing The BABES Enhancement Act with Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, a Democrat, and Republican Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Steve Daines of Montana. The bill aims to ensure that breastfeeding parents can bring breast milk and breastfeeding supplies through airport security without delays or risks of contamination. (Panetta, 1/27)

Modern Healthcare: GuideWell Layoffs Hit 3% Of Workforce
GuideWell, the parent company of health insurer Florida Blue, is laying off about 3% of its total workforce, a spokesperson for GuideWell said Monday. The workforce reduction is part of the company’s efforts to streamline operations and address regulatory challenges and rising healthcare costs, the spokesperson said in an email. (Berryman, 1/27)

Crain's Chicago Business: Walgreen-Sycamore Partners Sale Is 'Mostly Dead': Report
Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance tumbled today following a CNBC report that the Deerfield-based pharmacy chain was unlikely to sell itself to a private-equity firm. CNBC’s David Faber said on air this morning that sources say the possible deal in which Walgreens would sell itself to New York-based Sycamore Partners is “mostly dead.” (Davis, 1/27)

Fierce Healthcare: Independent Pharmacies Weigh Stocking Price Negotiated Drugs
The National Community Pharmacists Association (NPCA) is warning the feds that independent pharmacists are likely to face significant financial hardship due to Medicare drug price negotiations. In comments submitted on the latest Medicare advance notice, the organization says it conducted a survey of 8,000 pharmacy owners and managers about the drug price negotiation program and found that 93.2% have either decided not to stock drugs under negotiation or are considering not stocking these products. (Minemyer, 1/28)

The New York Times: Wisconsin’s Supreme Court Race: A Pivotal Battle Over Abortion
Two years ago, a race for the Wisconsin Supreme Court vividly demonstrated how local elections that once flew under the radar were becoming expensive, nationalized and highly partisan affairs. Now, Democrats and Republicans in Wisconsin are preparing for yet another contest in April that will again determine control of the state’s top court — and with it the fate of abortion rights, labor rights and two congressional districts. (Epstein, 1/27)

Wyoming Public Radio: Abortion Restrictions Pass Wyoming House Committee
Two bills that would add conditions to Wyomingites’ access to procedural and medication abortions passed the House Labor, Health and Social Services Committee on Jan. 24. One would cause the closure of Wyoming’s only clinic that provides procedural abortions. The other would require pregnant people to “catch” their fetal tissue following a medication abortion and return the tissue to their physician for disposal. (Clements, 1/27)

CBS News: State Report Calls For Medicaid Changes To Better Serve American Indian Communities
A new Minnesota Department of Human Services report is proposing changes to improve health gaps American Indian communities in Minnesota face. The Pathways to Racial Equity in Medicaid: Improving the Health and Opportunity of American Indians in Minnesota report calls for investing in traditional healing practices and redefining health and well-being to align with indigenous values. (Lentz, 1/27)

CBS News: Minnesota AG Announces Novo Nordisk Settlement Capping Monthly Insulin Payments At $35
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison says his office has settled with the last of the three largest insulin manufacturers following its 2018 lawsuit over unaffordable prices that led several diabetics to ration their medications with fatal consequences. Ellison says the agreement requires Denmark-based manufacturer Novo Nordisk to cap monthly out-of-pocket payments for insulin at $35 a month for the next five years, even for people without health insurance. (Swanson, 1/27)

ProPublica, Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting: Dozens Died In Sober Living Homes As Arizona Fumbled Fraud Response
At least 40 Native American residents of sober living homes and treatment facilities in the Phoenix area died as state Medicaid officials struggled to respond to a massive fraud scheme that targeted Indigenous people with addictions. The deaths, almost all from drug and alcohol use, span from the spring of 2022 to the summer of 2024, according to a review of records from the Maricopa County Office of the Medical Examiner. Over half died as officials ignored calls to address lax oversight later shown to have contributed to thousands of patients being recruited into sham treatment programs. (Hudetz and Bassett, 1/27)

CIDRAP: Kansas Tuberculosis Outbreak Now Largest In US
A tuberculosis (TB) outbreak in Kansas City has become the largest documented TB outbreak on record in the United States. Data on the outbreak from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) show that 67 active TB cases and 79 latent cases have been reported since the beginning of 2024 in Wyandotte and Johnson counties, which are part of the greater Kansas City area. Most of the cases have been in Wyandotte County. KDHE says it has been working with local health departments in response to the outbreak and is following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to ensure patients are receiving proper treatment. (Dall, 1/27)

CIDRAP: FDA Aims To Tackle Berry-Linked Foodborne Illness With New Strategy
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has rolled out a strategy to help prevent outbreaks of enteric (intestinal) viruses such as hepatitis A and norovirus linked to fresh and frozen berries. "While no enteric virus outbreaks associated with domestic berries have been reported in 35 years, there have been reported outbreaks linked to imported fresh and frozen berries," the FDA said in a news release. (Van Beusekom, 1/27)

San Francisco Chronicle: Rare Bird Flu Strain Detected At Central California Farm
A rare strain of bird flu, H5N9, has been detected on a duck farm in California’s Merced County, marking the first confirmed case of this virus in U.S. poultry. The World Organization for Animal Health reported the outbreak on Monday, also noting that the more common H5N1 strain was present at the same farm. In response, nearly 119,000 birds were culled to prevent the virus from spreading. “This is the first confirmed case of HPAI H5N9 in poultry in the United States,” the U.S. Department of Agriculture stated in a report. (Vaziri, 1/27)

CBS News: Wind-Blown Bird Poop May Help Transmit Bird Flu, Minnesota's Infectious Disease Expert Warns
Flu expert says bird flu virus may be spread by infected feces blowing in the wind. Dr. Michael Osterholm is a medical detective and Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, or CIDRAP, at the University of Minnesota. Osterholm has nearly 50 years of investigating infectious disease outbreaks and public health threats. (Lofgren, 1/27)

The New York Times: Sleep-Related Infant Death Rates Increased, Study Says
Rates of sudden unexpected infant death in the United States increased by nearly 12 percent from 2020 to 2022, according to new research published on Monday in the journal JAMA Pediatrics. Though the study offered some good news — overall infant mortality rates dropped by 24 percent from 1999 to 2022 — it also raised questions about why more babies appear to be dying during sleep, and why rates of sleep-related death remain notably higher among Black, Native American and Pacific Islander babies than among white and Asian infants. (Pearson, 1/27)

ABC News: Heart Disease Remains Leading Cause Of Death In US, New Report Finds
Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States, according to a new report. The American Heart Association (AHA) report, published Monday in the journal Circulation, found that 941,652 Americans died from cardiovascular disease in 2022, the most recent year for which data is available. That's an increase of more than 10,000 from the just over 931,500 reported to have died from cardiovascular disease in 2021. (Kekatos, 1/27)

The Wall Street Journal: The Scientific Fight Over Whether Aging Is A Disease
A small but growing movement of scientists wants to classify aging as a disease. They face an uphill battle. An improving scientific understanding of the biology of aging is leading some scientists, doctors and entrepreneurs to argue that aging is a disease. It’s a major driver of illness and death, they say, and classifying it as such could make it easier to get drugs approved to treat aging itself, rather than just age-related health problems. (Janin, 1/27)

CBS News: Can Elon Musk's Brain Chip Help Cure Paralysis? Miami Study Aims To Find Out
Elon Musk's Neuralink brain-computer interface is now at the forefront of paralysis research, with the University of Miami's Miller School of Medicine chosen as the second U.S. site for its clinical trial. The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis has partnered with Neuralink to test a revolutionary device that could allow individuals with paralysis to control external devices using only their thoughts. (Maldonado, 1/27)