Childhood Vaccine Schedule Will Be Scrutinized, RFK Jr. Pledges
Despite his pre-confirmation assurances that he would not make changes, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. plans to investigate topics that “were formally taboo or insufficiently scrutinized.” Additional news is about cuts to the 9/11 survivor program, an FDA official's ousting, and more.
AP:
RFK Jr. Says Panel Will Examine Childhood Vaccine Schedule
To earn the vote he needed to become the nation’s top health official, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made a special promise to a U.S. senator: He would not change the nation’s current vaccination schedule. But on Tuesday, speaking for the first time to thousands of U.S. Health and Human Services agency employees, he vowed to investigate the childhood vaccine schedule that prevents measles, polio and other dangerous diseases. (Seitz, 2/18)
NPR:
A Pediatrician Warns Of 'Long-Lasting' Consequences Of RFK Jr. Leading HHS
As Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has a history of anti-vaccine activism, takes the helm at the Department of Health and Human Services, infectious disease specialist and pediatrician Adam Ratner is weighing in with serious concerns. Speaking on behalf of himself and not the organizations he is affiliated with, Ratner says: "It's very disturbing that someone who has spent so much of his career trying to undermine confidence in vaccines, trying to tear down the infrastructure that approves and recommends vaccines, has the potential to be in a position of power over the infrastructure that has those goals." (Mosley, 2/18)
The New York Times:
Is This Common Herbicide Harming Your Health?
As part of his pledge to “Make America Healthy Again,” Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said he wants to build an “off-ramp” from the country’s reliance on insecticides and herbicides to grow food. ... Mr. Kennedy’s opposition to herbicides, particularly a widely used chemical called glyphosate, has earned support from some environmental advocates, so-called “MAHA moms” and wellness influencers. But some of the claims he and others have made about glyphosate — including that it is potentially linked to cancer, gluten allergies and a variety of other health issues — are based on science that is still not settled. (Sheikh, 2/19)
The Hill:
Chuck Schumer, Kirsten Gillibrand Blast RFK Jr. Cuts To 9/11 Survivor Program
New York Democratic Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand wrote a Monday letter to newly minted Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., urging him to reverse recent cuts to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that impact a program for 9/11 first responders. “...These brutal cuts mean layoffs for staff who have dedicated their careers to caring for our 9/11 survivors. It means delayed care for our sick first responders,” Schumer said in a Tuesday statement about the reported cut to the World Trade Center Health Program (WTCHP). (Fields, 2/18)
More health news from the Trump administration —
Bloomberg:
FDA Official With Oversight Of Musk’s Neuralink Devices Fired
An official who oversees a team at the Food and Drug Administration that reviews Neuralink Corp. devices was fired, according to an email the agency sent to staff Tuesday morning viewed by Bloomberg. Ross Segan, who was formerly the director of the Office of Product Evaluation and Quality at the FDA’s medical device center, was one of thousands of employees fired across the US Department of Health and Human Services in recent days. (Cohrs Zhang and McBride, 2/18)
Bloomberg:
Pharma Leaders To Meet Trump In Push To Change Biden Policies
The pharmaceutical industry’s biggest lobbying group is scheduled to meet with President Donald Trump on Thursday, according to people familiar with the matter, part of an effort to persuade him to scale back some of his predecessor’s policies. The meeting will include Stephen Ubl, head of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, one of the people said, along with the CEOs of several major drugmakers. The industry is hoping to win the new administration’s support for changes to a law that allows the federal government to negotiate certain drug prices. (Garde, Muller, and Wingrove, 2/19)
KFF Health News:
Republicans Are Eyeing Cuts To Medicaid. What’s Medicaid, Again?
In January, during a congressional hearing on his way to becoming secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. got basic details wrong about Medicaid — a program he now oversees. He said that Medicaid is fully funded by the federal government (it’s not) and that many enrollees are unsatisfied with high out-of-pocket costs (enrollees pay limited, if any, out-of-pocket costs). (Rayasam and Whitehead, 2/19)
