Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
FDA OKs New Natural Food Dyes As HHS Aims To Remove Artificial Ones
ABC News: FDA Approves, Expands 3 Natural Color Additives After RFK Jr.'s Plan To Remove Artificial Food Dyes
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved on Friday additional color additives from natural sources in line with the Department of Health and Human Services' goal to eliminate artificial food dyes. The agency approved two dyes and expanded approval of a third, meaning it can now be used in a wider range of food products. (Kekatos, 5/9)
Axios: FDA's Plan To Roll Out AI Agencywide Raises Questions
The Food and Drug Administration is rolling out an aggressive plan to make generative AI a linchpin in its decision-making, part of a bid to get faster and leaner in evaluating drugs, foods, medical devices and diagnostic tests. The plan raises urgent questions about what's being done to secure the vast amount of proprietary company data that's part of the process and whether sufficient guardrails are in place. (Reed, 5/12)
More on 'MAHA' —
The Hill: RFK Jr.: Casey Means Left Traditional Medicine Because It Does Not Cure Patients
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in a Thursday interview said President Trump’s new nominee for surgeon general turned away from modern medicine because “she was not curing patients.” Casey Means, an ally of Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” movement, has come under scrutiny since Trump made her the surgeon general pick, as she never finished her residency and does not have an active medical license. Kennedy defended Means during the interview Thursday on Fox News’s “Special Report.” (Fields, 5/9)
The Washington Post: Unpacking RFK Jr.’s ‘Doublespeak’ On Vaccines
Early last month, after two Texas children had died of measles, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. acknowledged that the MMR vaccine prevents the spread of that virus. But later that day, he posted photos of himself with anti-vaccine doctors, calling them “extraordinary healers” and promoting unproven treatments. In a television interview three days later, Kennedy, the nation’s top health official, encouraged vaccination for measles. In the same conversation, he cast doubt on whether one of the children had actually died of measles-related complications. (Weber, 5/11)
In other Trump administration news —
AP: Trump To Sign Executive Order To Cut Prices Of Medicines
President Donald Trump says he’ll sign an executive order on Monday that, if implemented, could bring down the costs of some medications — reviving a failed effort from his first term on an issue he’s talked up since even before becoming president. The order Trump is promising will direct the Department of Health and Human Services to tie what Medicare pays for medications administrated in a doctor’s office to the lowest price paid by other countries. (Weissert and Seitz, 5/12)
Bloomberg: US To Probe Reports Of Swabs On Its Citizens Arriving In China
The US embassy in China said it received reports that American citizens are being subjected to “invasive medical testing” upon arrival in the country. “We are looking into these reports,” the embassy in Beijing said in a response to a query by Bloomberg. “The U.S. Mission to China has no greater priority than the safety and security of U.S. citizens in China.” (5/10)
