First Edition: Friday, May 16, 2025

KFF HEALTH NEWS ORIGINAL STORIES

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)

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)

KFF Health News: Even Where Abortion Is Still Legal, Many Brick-And-Mortar Clinics Are Closing
On the last day of patient care at the Planned Parenthood clinic in Marquette, Michigan, a port town on the shore of Lake Superior, dozens of people crowded into the parking lot and alley, holding pink homemade signs that read “Thank You!” and “Forever Grateful.” “Oh my god,” physician assistant Anna Rink gasped, as she and three other Planned Parenthood employees finally walked outside. The crowd whooped and cheered. Then Rink addressed the gathering. (Wells, 5/16)

KFF Health News: KFF Health News’ ‘What The Health?’: GOP Poised To Cut Billions In Health Benefits
After all-night markups, two key House committees approved GOP budget legislation that would cut hundreds of billions of dollars from federal health programs over the next decade, mostly from the Medicaid program for people with low incomes or disabilities. The legislation is far from a done deal, though, with at least one Republican senator voicing opposition to Medicaid cuts. Meanwhile, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testified before Congress for the first time since taking office. (Rovner, 5/15)

KFF Health News: Pain Clinic CEO Faced 20 Years For Making Patients 'Human Pin Cushions.' He Got 18 Months
Federal prosecutors sought a maximum prison sentence of nearly 20 years for the CEO of Pain MD, a company found to have given hundreds of thousands of questionable injections to patients, many reliant on opioids. It would have been among the longest sentences for a health care executive convicted of fraud in recent years. Instead, he got 18 months. (Kelman, 5/15)

VACCINES

The Wall Street Journal: RFK Jr’s HHS To Stop Recommending Routine Covid Vaccines For Children, Pregnant Women
The Trump administration is planning to drop recommendations that pregnant women, teenagers and children get Covid-19 vaccines as a matter of routine, according to people familiar with the matter. The Department of Health and Human Services, led by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is expected to remove the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendations for those groups around the same time it launches a new framework for approving vaccines, the people said. (Essley Whyte, 5/15)

The Washington Post: FDA To Issue New Vaccine Approval Guidance
The head of the Food and Drug Administration said the agency will soon unveil a new framework detailing what companies must do to seek approval of vaccines, a move that comes as the Trump administration has introduced uncertainty into the annual process for green-lighting updated coronavirus shots traditionally offered in the fall. ... FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said Thursday during a conference of the Food and Drug Law Institute, a nonprofit organization. “We want to create a framework for vaccine makers that they can use so they have a predictable FDA where they don’t have to worry how is this going to be received.” (Roubein, 5/15)

CIDRAP: WHO Advisers Say Current Strains OK For COVID Vaccine Production
The World Health Organization (WHO) Technical Advisory Group on COVID-19 vaccine composition, after meeting earlier this month, today released its recommendations for updated vaccines, which say the current monovalent JN.1 or KP.2 strains are still appropriate, but monovalent LP.8.1 is a suitable alternative. Over the last 2 years, after examining the latest data on virus changes and response to current vaccines, the group has been weighing in on strain recommendations twice a year, once in the spring and once in December. (Schnirring, 5/15)

The Wall Street Journal: New Allegations About Timing Of Pfizer Covid Vaccine Passed To House Panel
Lawmakers are investigating whether Pfizer waited to share results of the Covid vaccine in 2020 until after that year’s presidential election, based on new allegations that a former Pfizer scientist has said he was part of an effort to “deliberately slow down” the testing, according to a new letter from the House Judiciary Committee. The House panel is seeking information from Pfizer and from the scientist, Philip Dormitzer, after learning he allegedly told colleagues in 2024 at a subsequent job he was worried he would face an investigation of his role in the vaccine’s release and asked to be relocated to Canada. (Linskey and Dawsey, 5/15)

'MAHA' AND RFK JR.

Bloomberg: FDA To Expand Review Of Chemical Preservatives Used In Food
The Food and Drug Administration is planning to expand its review of food additives beyond artificial dyes, targeting preservatives and chemicals used as whitening agents and dough conditioners. The agency will issue an updated list of chemicals that it will evaluate, including the common preservatives butylated hydroxytoluene, or BHT, and butylated hydroxyanisol, or BHA. Azodicarbonamide, or ADA, a whitening agent used in cereal flour and as a dough conditioner, will also be on the list, the agency said in a statement. (Cohrs Zhang, 5/15)

Stat: Federal Health Officials Join Anti-Vaccine Activists At MAHA Event 
The Make America Healthy Again movement is coalescing around a new effort to turn its goals into federal policy. The Trump administration is listening. The MAHA Institute, a policy center launched Thursday, is pushing to change the American health and food systems: from rethinking vaccine availability and review to removing processed foods from schools, to using keto diets to treat mental illnesses and reforming the regulatory systems intended to protect the public. (Payne, 5/15)

Politico: RFK Jr. Says HHS Is Already Using AI
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is promising to “do more with less” — with the help of artificial intelligence. “The AI revolution has arrived, and we are already using these new technologies to manage health care data more efficiently and securely,” he told the House Appropriations Committee at Wednesday’s hearing on the Department of Health and Human Services’ budget. (Reader, 5/15)

MEDICAID AND THE GOP 'MEGABILL'

NBC News: Senate Republicans Put House On Notice: We Won't Accept Your Trump Agenda Bill Without Changes
As House Republicans scramble to corral the votes to pass a massive bill for President Donald Trump's agenda, their Senate counterparts are making clear the emerging package won’t fly as written when it reaches them. Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., was categorical that the product coming out of various House committees cannot pass the Senate as it currently stands. “No. We’ll make changes,” Hoeven said. “We’ve been talking with the House and there’s a lot of things we agree on. … But there’ll be changes in a number of areas.” (Kapur, Tsirkin and Thorp V, 5/15)

The 19th: If Medicaid Work Requirements Are Imposed, Women Stand To Lose The Most
Congressional Republicans are poised to make massive spending cuts to the Medicaid program that provides health insurance to millions of Americans — in part by enacting federal work requirements that they claim won’t affect the most vulnerable recipients. But data analysis shows that poor middle-aged and older women would be among the most impacted. (Rodriguez, 5/15)

Politico: Need A Gun Silencer? You Might Get A Tax Break
The sprawling tax package before the House is pocked with the sort of bespoke tax breaks lawmakers in both parties have long lamented. In a search for votes, and hemmed in by their tiny majority, Republicans have included a hodgepodge of tax provisions demanded by colleagues that are aimed at narrow constituencies. In legislation otherwise focused on extending a slate of major tax cuts set to expire at the end of this year, there’s also a $1 billion tax break on gun silencers. (Faler, 5/15)

MORE FROM THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

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)

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)

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)

SCIENCE AND INNOVATIONS

The New York Times: Baby Is Healed With World’s First Personalized Gene-Editing Treatment
Something was very wrong with Kyle and Nicole Muldoon’s baby. The doctors speculated. Maybe it was meningitis? Maybe sepsis? They got an answer when KJ was only a week old. He had a rare genetic disorder, CPS1 deficiency, that affects just one in 1.3 million babies. If he survived, he would have severe mental and developmental delays and would eventually need a liver transplant. But half of all babies with the disorder die in the first week of life. (Kolata, 5/15)

REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH

NBC News: Georgia Mother Says She Is Being Forced To Keep Brain-Dead Pregnant Daughter Alive Under Abortion Ban Law
A pregnant woman in Georgia who was declared brain-dead is being kept alive by ventilators because of the state’s law banning abortions, the woman’s mother says, telling local news that the family has no say in the matter. April Newkirk said her 30-year-old daughter, Adriana Smith, began experiencing intense headaches in early February. Smith was nine weeks pregnant at the time with her second child, NBC affiliate WXIA-TV of Atlanta reported. (Burke, 5/15)

STATE WATCH

The Guardian: Florida Becomes Second State To Ban Adding Fluoride To Drinking Water
Ron DeSantis, the Republican governor of Florida, on Thursday signed a bill making it the second state after Utah to ban adding fluoride, or any other additives, to drinking water. Legislators approved the bill last month that goes against the concerns of public health experts and medical professionals, who say the measure will increase tooth decay and cavities, especially in children. (Luscombe, 5/15)

News Service of Florida: DeSantis Says He Will Veto Measure To Change 1990 Florida Medical Malpractice Law 
Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday he will veto a bill that seeks to expand lawsuits by some people pursuing medical malpractice claims involving the deaths of family members. DeSantis said the proposal (HB 6017) to repeal a long-controversial 1990 law will cause insurance premiums to “skyrocket” by allowing people to expand economic damage claims to include noneconomic damages. (5/15)

AP: Kentucky Auditor Sues Governor In Bid To End Dispute Blocking Kinship Care Law
Kentucky’s Republican auditor sued Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear on Thursday, asking a judge to untangle a dispute blocking the implementation of a state law meant to support adults who step up to care for young relatives who endured suspected abuse or neglect at home. The standoff revolves around whether funds are available to carry out the law’s intent — enabling relatives who take temporary custody of children to later become eligible for foster care payments. (Schreiner, 5/15)

HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY

Becker's Hospital Review: Care New England Hospital Workers Launch Open-Ended Strike: 5 Things To Know
Members of Service Employees International Union1199 New England began an open-ended strike May 15 at Care New England’s Butler Hospital in Providence, R.I. Five things to know: 1. The strike involves more than 800 staff at the hospital, including registered nurses, mental health workers, clerical, environmental service and dietary staff, according to a May 15 union news release. Care New England employs more than 8,000 workers total. (Gooch, 5/15)

Fierce Healthcare: Study Suggests Upcoding Practices Are Fairly Common Across Outpatient Care
A new study suggests "upcoding" practices are growing across outpatient service lines. The report, compiled by researchers at Trilliant Health, found that the share of visits that were coded at higher intensities grew in emergency care, urgent care and physician office visits between 2018 and 2023. For example, the number of emergency department visits coded as 99284, or level four of five total, grew from 32.5% to 39.6% in the study window. (Minemyer, 5/15)

PHARMACEUTICALS

Bloomberg: CVS Bids For Rite Aid Stores, Patient Files In Pacific Northwest
CVS Health Corp. is trying to buy stores and patient data from Rite Aid Corp., the beleaguered pharmacy chain that is going out of business after filing for bankruptcy a second time earlier this month. CVS, which already owns the largest chain of retail pharmacies in the US, put in a bid for a significant number of stores in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, as well as patient prescription information, Rite Aid Chief Executive Officer Matthew Schroeder told employees Thursday, according to a recording of the meeting reviewed by Bloomberg News. (Swetlitz, 5/15)

MedPage Today: FDA Grants First Approval To First-Line Therapy For Advanced Anal Cancer
The FDA granted a first-ever approval for a first-line therapy for anal cancer to the PD-1 inhibitor retifanlimab (Zynyz), the agency announced Thursday. ... "Patients with inoperable, locally recurrent, or metastatic anal cancer have historically faced poor 5-year survival rates and limited treatment options," said Marwan Fakih, MD, of City of Hope in Duarte, California, in a statement from drugmaker Incyte. "This approval marks an important advancement as it makes a new treatment approach available for this challenging disease." (Bankhead, 5/15)

CIDRAP: Industry Group Updates Standards For Responsible Antibiotic Manufacturing
The AMR Industry Alliance announced this week that it has updated its Antibiotic Manufacturing Standard to be more aligned with World Health Organization (WHO) antibiotic manufacturing guidelines. The Standard, developed in 2022 in collaboration with the British Standards Institute (BSI), provides guidance to antibiotic manufacturers to help ensure that their products are made responsibly and don't contribute to the development of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in environmental bacteria. (Dall, 5/15)

MedPage Today: Alzheimer's Drug Used Mainly By Relatively Affluent, Urban White Men
Uptake of lecanemab (Leqembi), a monoclonal antibody approved to treat early Alzheimer's disease, appeared to be marked by racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities, an analysis of Medicare data suggested. Of all Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries during the study timeframe, 1,725 beneficiaries used lecanemab, reported John Mafi, MD, MPH, of the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California Los Angeles, and co-authors in a JAMA Network Open research letter. (George, 5/15)

PUBLIC HEALTH

AP: The US Has 1,001 Measles Cases And 11 States With Active Outbreaks
New Mexico announced two new measles cases Thursday and North Dakota added one. The U.S. surpassed 1,000 measles cases Friday. Texas still accounts for the vast majority of cases in an outbreak that also spread measles to New Mexico, Oklahoma and Kansas. Two unvaccinated elementary school-aged children died from measles-related illnesses in the epicenter in West Texas, and an adult in New Mexico who was not vaccinated died of a measles-related illness. (Shastri, 5/15)

CIDRAP: Woman Dies Of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Almost 50 Years After Taking Prion-Contaminated Growth Hormone
A University of California–led case report in Emerging Infectious Diseases, describes a 58-year-old woman who, an estimated 48 years after treatment with cadaver-derived human growth hormone, died of iatrogenic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (iCJD), a prion disease. The patient, who sought care after developing gait imbalance and tremors 2 weeks earlier, had received prion-contaminated cadaveric human growth hormone (chGH) for 9.3 years starting at age 7. (Van Beusekom, 5/15)

CounterPunch.Org: Is A Prion Epidemic Brewing? 
The deaths of two people and illness of one from a possible fatal and rare brain disease clustering in Oregon have public health officials and medical professionals worried. They fear a returning threat from the prion disease mad cow (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) which roiled US markets 20 years ago. It led to devastating international boycotts of US beef, agricultural market upheavals, medical panic and widespread distrust of the US government which was seen to mismanage the outbreak. (Rosenberg, 5/16)