Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
DOD Adds Gender Dysphoria Screening To Troops' Annual Checkups
AP: Military Commanders Will Be Told To Send Transgender Troops To Medical Checks To Oust Them
Military commanders will be told to identify troops in their units who are transgender or have gender dysphoria, then send them to get medical checks in order to force them out of the service, officials said Thursday. A senior defense official laid out what could be a complicated and lengthy new process aimed at fulfilling President Donald Trump’s directive to remove transgender service members from the U.S. military. The new order to commanders relies on routine annual health checks that service members are required to undergo. (Baldor, 5/16)
On prescription prices and tariffs —
Bloomberg: Hospitals Could Make More Drugs In-House Under Trump Proposal
The Trump administration wants to bring the production of more drugs, including medicines like antibiotics that may be in short supply, closer to the patient — including inside the hospital. The partnership between some of the nation’s top health agencies and a handful of companies, including the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company, is intended to use artificial intelligence and other tools to make eight drugs in the places where people actually get medical care. (Nix, 5/15)
KFF Health News: Pharmacists Stockpile Most Common Drugs On Chance Of Targeted Trump Tariffs
In the dim basement of a Salt Lake City pharmacy, hundreds of amber-colored plastic pill bottles sit stacked in rows, one man’s defensive wall in a tariff war. Independent pharmacist Benjamin Jolley and his colleagues worry that the tariffs, aimed at bringing drug production to the United States, could instead drive companies out of business while raising prices and creating more of the drug shortages that have plagued American patients for several years. (Fortiér and Allen, 5/16)
On the federal budget cuts and funding freeze —
The New York Times: Trump Budget Cuts Hobble Antismoking Programs
Students at Wyoming East High School in West Virginia’s coal country had different reasons for joining Raze, a state program meant to raise awareness about the health risks of tobacco and e-cigarettes. ... This high school’s program cost West Virginia less than $3,000 a year and was meant to protect teenagers in the state that has the highest vaping rate in their age group. It fell prey to U.S. government health budget cuts that included hundreds of millions of dollars in tobacco control funds that reached far beyond Washington, D.C. (Jewett, 5/15)
Boise State Public Radio News: After Being Shut Down By Federal Layoffs, Registration Portal For Major Firefighter Cancer Study Is Back Online
After being shut down “indefinitely” at the start of April, the registration portal of the National Firefighter Registry for Cancer is operational again. The registry is considered by many to be one of the largest and most promising efforts to further understand cancer risks among firefighters, including wildland firefighters. (Woodhouse, 5/14)
The New York Times: Nine Federally Funded Scientific Breakthroughs That Changed Everything
The U.S. is slashing funding for scientific research, after decades of deep investment. Here’s some of what those taxpayer dollars created. (Burdick and Anthes, 5/16)
AP: Children Die As USAID Aid Cuts Snap A Lifeline For The World's Most Malnourished
Under the dappled light of a thatched shelter, Yagana Bulama cradles her surviving infant. The other twin is gone, a casualty of malnutrition and the international funding cuts that are snapping the lifeline for displaced communities in Nigeria’s insurgency-ravaged Borno state. ... For years, the United States Agency for International Development had been the backbone of the humanitarian response in northeastern Nigeria, helping non-government organizations provide food, shelter and healthcare to millions of people. But this year, the Trump administration cut more than 90% of USAID’s foreign aid contracts and $60 billion in overall assistance around the world. (Adebayo, 5/16)
Bloomberg: Trump Funding Cuts Won’t Sink HIV Program, South Africa Says
South Africa will ensure its HIV-AIDS treatment program doesn’t collapse despite the withdrawal of support from the US, and 659 million rand ($36 million) has already been allocated to extend access to antiretroviral drugs, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said. South Africa has the world’s biggest HIV epidemic and about 17% of the funding for its response has come from America’s President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or Pepfar. President Donald Trump suspended that program in January, leaving a hole of 7.9 billion rand. (Kew, 5/15)
KFF Health News: In Bustling NYC Federal Building, HHS Offices Are Eerily Quiet
On a recent visit to Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan, some floors in the mammoth office building bustled with people seeking services or facing legal proceedings at federal agencies such as the Social Security Administration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In the lobby, dozens of people took photos to celebrate becoming U.S. citizens. At the Department of Homeland Security, a man was led off the elevator in handcuffs. But the area housing the regional office of the Department of Health and Human Services was eerily quiet. (Andrews and Fawcett, 5/16)
