Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
HHS Permits Access To 6 Peptides Not Yet Approved By The FDA
NBC News: RFK Jr. Takes Shortcut To Make Some Unapproved Peptides Available For Use
The Department of Health and Human Services is giving compounding pharmacies a temporary green light to make six peptides while the agency continues to work on a formal rule change. In a notice filed Wednesday, the agency said it would exercise “enforcement discretion,” meaning it will not take legal action against compounding pharmacies that make the six unapproved peptides. In practice, that means these pharmacies can start offering them now, even though the peptides aren’t yet on the Food and Drug Administration’s list of ingredients compounding pharmacies are allowed to make. (Lovelace Jr., 10/28)
ProPublica: Top U.S. Health Official Backed A Medication Policy Shift That Benefited A Company She Has Stock In
Last November, the Department of Health and Human Services announced the elimination of “black box” warnings on hormone replacement therapies, aiming to reverse nearly two decades of stigma surrounding a key treatment for menopause symptoms. Among the officials at a press conference about the decision was Alicia Jackson, director of a federal health agency that invests taxpayer money in medical technology and research. As Jackson stood behind a lectern adorned with the HHS logo, she praised the new policy, calling it a victory for women and science. (Johnson and Roberts, 10/29)
Bloomberg: DOGE Chief’s Husband Hired By HHS Weeks After Department Layoffs
Amy Gleason, a little-known health tech entrepreneur, was catapulted into the public eye in February 2025 when she was revealed as the acting administrator of the controversial Department of Government Efficiency. Less than three months later, her husband got a job at an under-the-radar division of the US Department of Health and Human Services that had just been ravaged by DOGE-driven layoffs, according to people familiar with the matter. (Cohrs Zhang, 10/28)
Stat: Treasury Limits On Chinese Biotech Deals Raise A Key Licensing Issue
Ever since the Treasury Department proposed to limit U.S. investment in the Chinese biotech industry last week, players across the U.S. are arguing over the significance of the restrictions. (Wilkerson and Garde, 10/29)
On the Nov. 3 midterm elections —
Stat: Senate Candidate El-Sayed Wants To ‘Grill’ RFK Jr., Calls Him The ‘Most Incompetent HHS Secretary Ever’
Abdul El-Sayed doesn’t make headlines as the Senate candidate who wrote a book on applying systems science to public health, or who worked to rebuild Detroit’s health system, or who researched the ways social circumstances can impact maternal mortality. (Oza, 10/28)
Stat: Politicians Have Failed To Tackle Health Care Affordability. It’s Now Voters’ Rallying Cry
Voters across the country are furious over the high cost of health care, with resentment rippling across workers who get health coverage through their jobs. (Herman, 10/29)
KFF Health News: The Campaign To Defend Trans Healthcare In Missouri Is Slow Going, On Purpose
Reneé Luckfield tries not to knock like a cop. In fact, the 29-year-old spends a lot of time thinking about how to make strangers comfortable when she shows up at their door to talk about transgender healthcare. A syncopated “tap — tap-tap-tap” sounds friendly even when she knocks loudly. In each encounter, she masks her own unease. “Honestly, it’s not something that I’m entirely comfortable with,” Luckfield, a transgender woman, said while walking door to door in this affluent St. Louis suburb. “And it’s not fair that we have to do this work.” (Sable-Smith, 10/29)
KFF Health News: Data Center Health Worries Animate Midterm Campaigns
Doug Herrera still lives in the house his father built, though his dad died some time ago from cancer. Herrera wonders if that illness could have been linked to pollutants from nearby uranium mining. Now, he worries that a possible new neighbor — a proposed $10 billion mega data center — could imperil his health. “I’m a patriot, but I’m highly against the data center,” Herrera, 64, said from his front porch near a yard sign that reads “No Data Centers.” “There is light pollution, sound pollution. The temperature is going to rise,” he said. (Armour and Seitz, 10/29)
