Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
CMS' Attempt To Strip Hospital Funds Over Trans Care Could Take A While
Stat: Trump Administration Crackdown On Gender-Affirming Care Targets Hospitals
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services proposed on Thursday two rules to withhold federal funds in connection with gender-affirming care for trans minors, including puberty blockers, hormones, and surgery. The most stringent rule would bar facilities that offer this care from receiving any funding from the federal Medicare or Medicaid programs, a move that would effectively force most medical centers to cease providing it. (Gaffney, Payne and Cirruzzo, 12/18)
In related LGBTQ+ news —
Them: 3 Democrats Signed On To Marjorie Taylor Green's Bill Criminalizing Trans Youth Care
Four Republicans broke with their party to vote against the bill, but three Democrats — Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez of Texas, and Donald Davis of North Carolina — crossed party lines themselves to pass Greene’s bill out of the chamber. (Riedel, 12/18)
K-12 Dive: Fewer Than Half Of Transgender, Nonbinary Youth Report Others Use Their Pronouns
Fewer than half — 46% — of transgender and nonbinary young people ages 13-24 report that most or all of the people in their lives use what they consider to be their pronouns, according to data released by The Trevor Project last week. For teens ages 13-17, that percentage drops to 40%. Transgender and nonbinary young people who were addressed by their pronouns had lower rates of suicide attempts in the past year compared to those whose pronouns were ignored — 11% vs. 17%. That’s a 31% less chance of a past-year suicide attempt, according to the nonprofit that provides crisis support services for LGBTQ+ people. (Modan, 12/18)
More updates from HHS —
CNN: Childhood Vaccines: HHS Planning To Overhaul Schedule To Recommend Fewer Shots, Source Says
The US Department of Health and Human Services is planning to overhaul the schedule of recommended vaccines for children in the US, a person familiar with the plans told CNN on Thursday. The proposed new schedule would recommend fewer shots, bringing it closer in line with what’s recommended in other developed countries. The expectation is that the US schedule will be close to, if not identical to, recommendations in Denmark, according to the person, who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to speak about the matter. (Cancryn, Tirrell, Goodman and Dillinger, 12/18)
Stat: CDC Grant Goes To Danish Researchers With Ties To Tracy Beth Høeg
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has awarded a $1.6 million grant to controversial researchers at the University of Southern Denmark with ties to top Food and Drug Administration official Tracy Beth Høeg. The funding is for a study on hepatitis B vaccines that some experts say may be unethical and is unlikely to generate data relevant to use of the vaccine in this country. (Lawrence and Branswell, 12/18)
KFF Health News: Inside The FDA’s Vaccine Uproar
Six days after a senior FDA official sent a sweeping internal email claiming that covid vaccines had caused the deaths of “at least 10 children,” 12 former FDA commissioners released an extraordinary warning in the Dec. 3 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. They wrote that the claims and policy changes in the memo from Vinay Prasad, the head of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, pose “a threat to evidence-based vaccine policy and public health security” and break sharply from long-standing scientific norms. (Gounder, 12/19)
Stat: FDA Voucher Program Has Led To Political Interference In Drug Reviews, Staffers Say
A new program intended to fast-track drug reviews at the Food and Drug Administration is quickly becoming a way for the White House and top political officials at the agency to exert control over which medicines make their way fastest to patients in the United States. (Lawrence, 12/19)
The New York Times: F.D.A. Turmoil Keeps Spotlight On Its Commissioner
Days after a division chief at the Food and Drug Administration resigned amid accusations that he used his federal power to seek revenge on a former business associate, the scandal took on a new life. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nation’s health secretary, and his top deputies brought the matter to the White House as evidence that the F.D.A.’s leadership was in chaos. (Jewett, 12/19)
