CDC Team That Advises On Infection Control Has Ceased Operating
Hospitals and staff "will be sort of flying by the seat of their pants” without updated guidance from the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee, one expert notes. HICPAC was shut down in March. Separately, vaccine critic Vinay Prasad, MD, will take the helm at the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, which oversees vaccine approvals.
NBC News:
Trump Administration Has Shut Down CDC's Infection Control Committee
The Trump administration has terminated a federal advisory committee that issued guidance about preventing the spread of infections in health care facilities. The Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) crafted national standards for hand-washing, mask-wearing and isolating sick patients that most U.S. hospitals follow. Four committee members said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention delivered the news about HICPAC’s termination to members Friday. (Bendix, 5/7)
CBS News:
HHS Revokes Some Layoff Notices, Including To 9/11 Program
The Department of Health and Human Services formally revoked some layoff notices on Tuesday, multiple federal health officials told CBS News, restoring some staff at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration. Tuesday's letters to laid-off workers notifying them that their employment was being restored went a step further from some previous reinstatements touted by department officials, which often amounted only to a request for civil servants to continue working for a few more weeks to wind down or prepare to hand off their assignments. (Tin, 5/6)
The latest news from the FDA —
MedPage Today:
Vinay Prasad, Critic Of COVID Measures, Picked As FDA's Top Vaccine Official
Vinay Prasad, MD, MPH, a frequent critic of the FDA and COVID-19 lockdowns and vaccination policies, will be the next director of FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), the center that oversees vaccine approvals. FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, MD, MPH, announced the selection Tuesday on X, saying Prasad "brings the kind of scientific rigor, independence, and transparency we need at CBER." (Clark, 5/6)
Politico:
FDA Names First-Ever AI Chief
Jeremy Walsh is now heading up artificial intelligence and information technology in a newly created position at the FDA. He announced the move on LinkedIn. Walsh comes from the government contractor Booz Allen Hamilton, where he worked for 14 years and was chief technologist, building out cloud networks and data analytics systems for the agencies the firm works with, Ruth reports. ... This is the first time the FDA has appointed a chief AI officer. Former chief information officer Vid Desai managed IT for the agency. (Lim, 5/6)
Bloomberg:
Top FDA Inspector Michael Rogers Asks Staff To ‘Persevere’ In Resignation Note
The US Food and Drug Administration’s top inspection official asked colleagues to persevere in a resignation letter Monday, amid efforts by President Donald Trump’s administration to squeeze more work out of the agency as it cuts staff. “Persevere through challenges and adversity, and use your strengths and versatility to support each other as the frontline of the FDA,” Associate Commissioner for Inspections and Investigations Michael Rogers wrote to colleagues, according to a copy of the email seen by Bloomberg News. (Edney, 5/6)
KFF Health News:
Watch: How The FDA Opens The Door To Risky Chemicals In America's Food Supply
To a great extent, the FDA leaves it to food companies to determine whether their ingredients and additives are safe. Some chemicals and additives are tied to health risks while others are absent from product labels. Watch this video explainer to learn more. (Hilzenrath, Norman and Zenda, 5/7)
More from the Trump administration —
Bay Area Reporter:
US Supreme Court Allows Trans Military Ban, For Now
The U.S. Supreme Court will allow the country’s armed forces to implement President Donald Trump’s ban on transgender servicemembers while the matter continues to be litigated in the federal courts. The 6-3 ruling Tuesday from the country’s highest court stays a national injunction against enforcing the ban until the constitutional issues can be fully litigated in the lower courts. By issuing the stay, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority is allowing the Trump administration to enforce its ban until the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the high court can act on the constitutional issues involved. (Keen, 5/6)
KFF Health News:
Trump Policies At Odds With ‘Make America Healthy Again’ Push
In his March address to Congress, President Donald Trump honored a Texas boy diagnosed with brain cancer. Amid bipartisan applause, he vowed to drive down childhood cancer rates through his “Make America Healthy Again” initiative. A few days later, the administration quietly dropped a lawsuit to cut emissions from a Louisiana chemical plant linked to cancer. (Armour, 5/7)
AP:
UNAIDS To Slash Workforce By More Than Half As Funding By US And Other Big Donors Disappears
The U.N. agency that fights HIV plans to slash its workforce by more than half and move many posts to cheaper locations as a result of drastic funding cuts from longtime donors in the United States, Asia and Europe, the agency and staffers told The Associated Press on Tuesday. UNAIDS said “the overall global AIDS response is facing a severe shock and many of the gains made in the past few decades are at risk of being reversed.” (Keaten, 5/6)
NPR:
Feeding The Hungry Will Be Harder Than Ever For The World's Largest Food Aid Agency
The United Nations World Food Programme is by far the largest international organization fighting hunger. It reports that it served more than 100 million people in 2024. FIve years ago, it won the Nobel Peace Prize. But WFP is about to radically downsize in the wake of dwindling donations and the Trump administration's cuts to foreign aid. (Spitzer, 5/6)
