ACIP Vice Chair Resigns After Judge Questions Advisers’ Qualifications
A federal judge said last week that Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices panelists do not have the expertise needed to make vaccine recommendations. Dr. Robert Malone cited "uncompensated labor, incredible hate from many quarters" as some of the reasons for why he quit the panel.
The New York Times:
Key Adviser Quits Federal Vaccine Panel
Dr. Robert Malone, vice chair of the federal committee that recommends vaccines to Americans, angrily resigned his position on Tuesday. The panel, called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, is currently in judicial limbo. A federal judge ruled last week that the advisers, appointed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., did not have the expertise needed to make vaccine recommendations and prevented them from meeting as planned this month. The judge also blocked all of the committee’s actions to date, including decisions to rescind recommendations for some childhood vaccines. (Mandavilli, 3/24)
Modern Healthcare:
CMS Launches ASPIRE Medicaid Pay Model For Children
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will promote wraparound services for high-risk Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Plan enrollees under 21 years old through a payment demonstration, the agency announced Tuesday. The Accelerating State Pediatric Innovation Readiness and Effectiveness Model, or ASPIRE, is a voluntary, 10-year program that will provide a handful of states with funding to improve care for for children and young adults with complex behavioral and physical healthcare needs who are enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP. (Early, 3/24)
Scroll down to Editorials and Opinions to read more about this pilot program.
Modern Healthcare:
Medicaid Work Requirements Spotlight Medical Frailty Definition
Two small words President Donald Trump’s tax law — medical frailty — promise to have an enormous impact. States that expanded Medicaid eligibility to working-age adults without children or disabilities under the Affordable Care Act of 2010 need to have work requirements in place by Jan. 1. Beneficiaries will have to verify that they are working, volunteering or attending school at least 80 hours each month to get and retain coverage. (McAuliff, 3/24)
Regarding the CDC, FDA, and rural health —
NBC News:
Trump Is Expected To Nominate New CDC Director, As Measles Keeps Spreading
As the Trump administration prepares to nominate a new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, insiders say they worry the nominee will only further undermine trust in the nation’s top health agency, even as outbreaks of measles escalate and the federal government’s vaccine policies face resistance. President Donald Trump is expected to name the candidate on Truth Social by Wednesday. If confirmed by the Senate, the director will inherit an agency marked by the yearlong chaos of mass layoffs, a deadly shooting and hollowed-out leadership. (Edwards, 3/24)
Axios:
Trump's CDC, FDA Vacancies Offers Chance To Pivot On Health
Multiple high-level vacancies at federal health agencies are giving the Trump administration a chance to pivot from contentious vaccine policies to a more mainstream public health strategy. The anticipated nomination of a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director and selection of a top Food and Drug Administration vaccine regulator will be closely watched for signs the White House wants to break from the drama that characterized much of the past year. (Sullivan, 3/25)
KFF Health News:
Demoralized CDC Workforce Reels From Year Of Firings, Funding Cuts, And A Shooting
On the coffee table at her home in Atlanta, Sarah Boim has a pile of documents from her old job at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They are printouts of her employment records. Boim lost her job in the first big wave of CDC firings — more than 1,000 people were suddenly let go last February. “This is the termination letter. I also printed off my performance review from 2024,” she said. “I knew I wouldn’t have access to it, and everything was so chaotic that I needed proof of what was happening.” (Mador, 3/25)
The Washington Post:
RFK Jr. And Dr. Oz Have A Plan To Save Rural Health Care. Here’s The Catch
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his team want to Make Rural America Healthy again. He has suggested that AI nurses could save dying rural hospitals. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz said robots could give ultrasounds to women and touted how AI avatars could help. And President Donald Trump’s administration is infusing $50 billion over five years to improve rural health, with some states proposing to use the money for drones to deliver lab samples or prescriptions. (Weber, 3/24)
Also —
Fox News:
Higher-Dose Obesity Medication Wins FDA Approval, Promises Greater Weight Loss
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced on Thursday its approval of a new, higher-dose Wegovy (semaglutide) injection. The 7.2 mg dosage, called Wegovy HD, is intended for weight loss and long-term weight loss maintenance for adult patients. It is triple the previous maximum dose of 2.4 mg. (Stabile, 3/24)
Axios:
HHS Pressed To Expand Vaccine Injury Table
A leading anti-vaccine activist is petitioning the Department of Health and Human Services to add more than 300 conditions to a table used for vaccine injury compensation claims — and is threatening to sue the agency if it doesn't. (Owens, 3/25)
