Biden Moves To Overturn More Trump Policies

Stat: Health Officials Toss Trump-Era Proposal To Exempt AI Tools From Review
In a searing rebuke, the Biden administration is formally withdrawing a last-minute proposal by the Trump administration to exempt a wide swath of medical devices and artificial intelligence tools from regulatory review. Officials with Biden’s Health and Human Services Department and the federal Food and Drug Administration posted a document on the federal register indicating that they will not proceed with the proposed exemptions. The document sharply criticizes a lack of transparency by Trump officials and cites errors and badly flawed logic in proposing to relax scrutiny of some devices whose malfunctioning could result in serious harm or even death. (Ross, 4/15)

The Washington Post: Biden Administration Poised To Change Trump Restrictions On Fetal Tissue Research 
The Biden administration is preparing to announce Friday that it will alter Trump-era restrictions on federal funding of research that uses fetal tissue, according to the nation’s top health official, potentially allowing a resumption of thwarted scientific studies into covid-19 treatments, HIV and other diseases. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra told Capitol Hill lawmakers Thursday that the National Institutes of Health would make an announcement about what he characterized as a fetal tissue ban. (Goldstein, 4/15)

KHN: The Great Undoing: Which Of Trump’s Policies Will Biden Reverse?
KHN has put together an interactive tool of significant health policies implemented by the Trump administration using its own authority — executive orders, agency guidance or formal regulations — and is tracking Biden administration and court actions. (Rovner)

In other news from the Biden administration —

AP: AP Sources: Tool Behind Crackdown On Opioids Could Expire
The Biden administration has been slow-walking its work on the extension of a legislative order that would keep in place a sweeping tool that’s helped federal agents crack down on drugs chemically similar to fentanyl, three people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. In recent weeks, the people said, the White House and Justice Department leaders have, on several occasions, canceled meetings with officials at the Drug Enforcement Administration to discuss the plan around so-called fentanyl analogues, which are generally foreign-made drugs with a very close chemical makeup to the dangerous opioid. The people had direct knowledge of the discussions but were not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity. (Balsamo, 4/15)

AP: The Problem Within: Biden Targets Lead Pipes, Pushes Equity
Given short shrift by public officials for decades, the lead pipes snaking through Chicago and communities of every size from rural Maine to suburban California are in the national spotlight now as President Joe Biden pushes to spend $45 billion to replace every lead water pipe in the country as part of his big infrastructure package. The moon-shot plan could have huge ramifications for this city and others where a swath of Black, Latino and low-income residents have been left effectively drinking from a lead straw decades after scientists established that lead consumption is unsafe at any level. The White House holds out its lead-pipe proposal as a generation-changing opportunity to reduce brain-damaging exposure to lead in 400,000 schools and child care centers and 6 million to 10 million homes. It’s also an effort that the administration says can help create plenty of good-paying union jobs around the country. (Madhani, 4/15)

Stat: FDA Wants More Data On Promising ALS Drug, Frustrating Patients 
People living with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, in the U.S. will have to wait longer than their counterparts in Europe and Canada for access to a potentially beneficial treatment, even though the medicine is being developed here. Patient advocates have responded by accusing the Food and Drug Administration of ignoring the desperate needs of people with ALS and reneging on commitments to speed the approval of new medicines to treat the fatal, neuro-degenerative disease. (Feuerstein, 4/15)

Stateline: New OSHA Leader Urged To Issue Pandemic Workplace Rules
For the better part of a year, workplace safety advocates have called on the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue COVID-19 safety standards to protect workers during the pandemic. With the nomination of a new leader for OSHA, they’re hoping they will finally be heard. Earlier this week, President Joe Biden appointed Doug Parker, head of California’s workplace safety division, to lead the federal agency. In California, Parker helped put into place the nation’s strictest COVID-19 safety standards. (Brown, 4/15)

Indianapolis Star: Federal Jobs Program Aims To Help People Struggling With Mental Health
Indiana is one of seven states selected to participate in a federal program that aims to help people with mental health issues find jobs and make career advancements. In addition to Indiana, the states of Florida, Iowa, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Virginia and Wisconsin will work with mental health advocacy organizations to develop their own plans. There's no federal funding, but states will get federal assistance to start the programs. Federal officials are working with the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Labor said. (Huang, 4/15)

Modern Healthcare: FCC To Open Next Round Of COVID-19 Telehealth Program Applications
The Federal Communications Commission will begin accepting applications for the second round of its COVID-19 telehealth program on April 29, the agency announced Thursday. The initial application window for the program, under which the FCC will distribute at least $150 million of the $249.95 million allocated by Congress, will close the following week on May 6. The agency will award funding in two phases, so that applicants have the opportunity to provide the agency with supplemental information if they're denied funding during the first phase. (Kim Cohen, 4/15)

In news about the Trump administration —

CBS News: Mike Pence Undergoes Surgery To Have Pacemaker Implanted 
Former Vice President Mike Pence underwent surgery on Wednesday to have a pacemaker implanted, his office said on Thursday. "The routine surgery was successful, and he is expected to fully recover and return to normal activity in the coming days," Pence's office said. Pence's office said that in 2016, he disclosed to the Trump team that he had a diagnosis of asymptomatic left bundle branch block, and over the past two weeks, he experienced symptoms such as a slow heart rate. (Linton, 4/15)