Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
363 Pregnant, Postpartum Immigrants Deported In 13 Months Of Crackdown
The 19th: ICE Has Been Deporting Pregnant Immigrants. DHS Just Told Us How Many.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has detained and deported hundreds of pregnant, postpartum and nursing immigrants since the start of the Trump administration, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed for the first time Wednesday. Federal policy says that such individuals should only be detained in limited circumstances. (Luthra, 3/18)
The 19th: Pregnant People In ICE Detention Report Lack Of Medical Care
Amanda Isabel Fanego Cardoso was about 11 weeks pregnant when she was detained last September, then transferred between five immigration facilities over several months. Because her medical care was so limited, she said, it was only after her release this February that she learned she had developed potentially life threatening pregnancy-related conditions. (Luthra, 3/18)
Updates from the FDA —
Stat: FDA’s Top Infectious Disease Regulator To Depart Agency
The Food and Drug Administration official in charge of reviewing infectious disease products is leaving the agency, according to an email viewed by STAT. (Lawrence, 3/18)
NBC News: FDA Pulls Proposed Rule Barring Teens From Indoor Tanning
The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday withdrew a proposed rule that would have barred all Americans under age 18 from using tanning beds. Dozens of states — including California, Delaware, Illinois, Kansas and Minnesota — as well as Washington, D.C., already ban the use of tanning beds for minors. Other states have restrictions that allow teens to use tanning beds with parental consent. (Sullivan, 3/18)
CIDRAP: Six In 10 US Foodborne Illnesses In 2024 Linked To Contaminated Produce, Annual Report Reveals
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Office of Coordinated Outbreak Response, Evaluation, & Emergency Preparedness (CORE+EP) has released its annual report on 2024 foodborne illness investigations, showing that vegetables and fruits were responsible for 60% of illnesses, trailed by multi-ingredient foods (20%), dairy products (10%), and nuts and seeds and eggs (5% each). The multi-ingredient foods were frozen shakes, shrimp salad, bagged salad mix, chocolates, gummies, and cones, while the nuts were walnuts, and the cheese consisted of raw cheddar, queso fresco, and cotija. The produce included mangoes, romaine lettuce, spinach, cucumbers, jalapeno peppers, carrots, onions, sprouts, alfalfa sprouts, basil, and parsley. (Van Beusekom, 3/18)
MedPage Today: First TAVR System Approved For Severe Aortic Regurgitation
The FDA approved the Trilogy Transcatheter Heart Valve System for the treatment of symptomatic severe aortic regurgitation, device maker JenaValve Technology announced. This approval makes Trilogy the only transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) system indicated for patients with symptomatic severe aortic regurgitation who are at high risk for surgical aortic valve replacement. (Lou, 3/18)
On federal funding for scientists —
Stat: National Survey Of NIH-Funded Researchers Shows Precarious State Of U.S. Science — ‘This Is Like The Titanic’
A nationwide STAT survey of federally funded researchers reveals that, a year after Donald Trump’s return to the White House, many academic scientists are reeling. Rather than waning, the impacts of the administration’s seismic changes to science funding are intensifying, causing researchers to drastically scale back the ambition of their work and driving some to shut down their labs entirely. (Wosen, 3/19)
Stat: Researchers Surveyed By STAT Detail The Scientific And Personal Toll Of Grant Cuts: ‘This Can’t Be How It Ends’
Scientists, as a whole, are a resilient and patient bunch. Expanding the frontiers of human knowledge by even an iota can take decades and comes with frequent disappointment. But for many, the uncertainty they’ve confronted over the past year, amid a dizzying array of funding cuts, delays, and other changes by the Trump administration, is unprecedented. It has caused some biomedical researchers to hit their breaking point. (Wosen and Oza, 3/19)
