New ACIP Charter That Tweaks Criteria For Membership To Go Into Effect Soon
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices' amended charter — which calls for a “balance of specialty areas" — was published Monday in the Federal Register and likely will be filed next week after a required seven-day notice is fulfilled. This comes after the previous committee was blocked by a federal judge.
The Hill:
RFK Jr. Adjusts CDC Vaccine Panel Eligibility After Federal Judge Found New Members Unqualified
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s amended charter for a vaccine advisory committee was published Monday and is set to go into effect soon, but there are currently no members after a federal judge effectively nullified those handpicked by the secretary. On April 6, Kennedy’s amended charter for the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was published in the Federal Register. Kennedy’s charter renewal broadens the criteria for membership to the committee. (Choi, 4/7)
Politico:
Poll: Here’s What MAHA Actually Believes
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s ideas have gone mainstream, but his Make America Healthy Again movement is struggling to find its footing. MAHA-coded ideas about food and nutrition are broadly popular and a third of Americans now identify as MAHA supporters. But new results from The POLITICO Poll suggest Kennedy’s movement is disjointed. His supporters aren’t political diehards and they have a wide array of priorities that don’t neatly align with those of MAHA leadership, the poll suggests. (Brown and Hooper, 4/6)
KFF Health News:
Trump’s Personnel Agency Is Asking For Federal Workers’ Medical Records
The Trump administration is quietly seeking unprecedented access to medical records for millions of federal workers and retirees, and their families. A brief notice from the Office of Personnel Management could dramatically change which personally identifiable medical information the agency obtains, giving it the power to see prescriptions employees had filled or what treatment they sought from doctors. The regulation would require 65 insurance companies that cover more than 8 million Americans — including federal workers, retired members of Congress, mail carriers, and their immediate family members — to provide monthly reports to OPM with identifiable health data on their members. (Seitz and Rosenfeld, 4/8)
KFF Health News:
Listen To The Latest 'KFF Health News Minute'
Arielle Zionts reads the week’s news: Scientists say staff losses at the National Institutes of Health could lead to fewer medical breakthroughs. Plus, doctors worry they’ll see more kids with potentially deadly complications from measles, as cases surge. (Cook, 4/7)
Also —
CNN:
Trump’s Immigration Crackdown May Put Doctors Out Of Jobs
Nearly 1,000 patients come to Dr. Faysal Al Ghoula’s pulmonology clinic in southwestern Indiana every year. Some come to manage chronic lung disease; others reckon with a new lung cancer diagnosis. The 38-year-old doctor also spends weeklong stretches in an understaffed ICU, watching over patients as ventilators hum and conversations tip between survival and loss. On his days off, he volunteers at a clinic for uninsured patients. But even as demand for Al Ghoula grows, he fears that his ability to care for patients is at risk. He’s from Libya, one of the 39 countries officials now call “high-risk.” (Ruprecht, 4/7)
