Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
First Edition: Monday, Aug. 17, 2026
KFF HEALTH NEWS ORIGINAL STORIES
KFF Health News: Kennedy’s Quiet Hunt For Autism Culprits Stalls As Trump Orders Baseless Changes To Childhood Shots
President Donald Trump has ordered a reduction in childhood vaccines — publicly faulting the shots for an increase in autism cases — even as the nation’s top health official, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has failed to produce evidence linking vaccinations to the disorder. While the executive order released Aug. 10 does not directly mention autism, Trump’s demand to limit vaccine recommendations has puzzled leading medical groups, doctors, and political analysts alike. The directive landed less than 90 days before midterm elections, which Trump’s own pollsters have warned could be jeopardized by anti-vaccine rhetoric. (Seitz and Armour, 8/17)
KFF Health News: Newsom Promotes Affordable Insulin, But California’s Generic Label Off To A Slow Start
At a Walgreens in this city’s bustling Japantown neighborhood, pharmacist Margaret On stocks two boxes of long-acting insulin pens from California’s new prescription drug label, CalRx, emblazoned with the state’s iconic grizzly bear. Although she hasn’t dispensed any, On plans to keep them on hand. “It’s good to have if a patient comes in and doesn’t have health insurance,” she said. “Or just in case of emergencies.” (Hart, 8/17)
KFF Health News: KFF Health News’ ‘On Air’: Gounder Brings Clarity To Egg Freezing, AI Virus Creation, And New Trump Vaccine Order
Céline Gounder, KFF Health News’ editor-at-large for public health, discussed Americans’ skepticism toward public health experts and President Donald Trump’s executive order on childhood vaccines on CBS News 24/7 and CBS News’ CBS Mornings, respectively, on Aug. 11. On Aug. 10, Gounder discussed the risks and benefits of egg freezing on CBS Mornings. (8/15)
SALMONELLA AND CYCLOSPORIASIS
The Hill: Outbreaks Threaten Robert F. Kennedy Jr.-Led HHS 'Real Food' Agenda
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wants America to “eat real food” as a solution to the chronic disease epidemic, but that message is being lost amid outbreaks of foodborne illness and a health agency that has struggled with effectively tracking the sources and messaging about safety. This summer has seen a record number of cyclosporiasis infections, with nearly 30,000 illnesses and two deaths. Other foodborne outbreaks have also emerged in recent months affecting fresh produce. (Weixel, 8/16)
The New York Times: FDA Classifies Egg Recall As Class I For Highest Health Risk
The Food and Drug Administration this week gave an egg recall that started last month over salmonella concerns its highest-risk designation, meaning that eating the eggs could cause “serious adverse health consequences or death.” Midwest Poultry Services voluntarily recalled 19 million eggs in July “as a precautionary measure,” the company said. (Cerro, 8/14)
The Washington Post: FDA In Mexico A Month After Linking Taylor Farms To Cyclospora Outbreak
Food and Drug Administration investigators traveled to Taylor Farms’ operation in Mexico for the first time this week to start inspecting the facilities linked to the largest cyclospora outbreak in the U.S., according to four people with knowledge of the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. Donald Prater, the FDA’s acting deputy commissioner for food, confirmed in an interview Friday that inspectors were on-site at the processing facility and plan to be in the fields next. (Roubein, Sun and Gilbert, 8/14)
CIDRAP: Best-By Dates Of Recalled Iceberg Lettuce Linked To Massive Cyclospora Outbreak Have Passed, Says FDA
The best-if-used-by dates of recalled iceberg lettuce associated with the massive Cyclospora outbreak have passed, according to an update from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday. This means that Cyclospora-tainted Taylor Farms lettuce should no longer be available at stores and restaurants. (Holohan, 8/14)
OUTBREAKS AND HEALTH THREATS
CIDRAP: With 101 New Cases, US Measles Total Tops 2,500
With 101 newly confirmed measles cases nationwide, the US total has now reached 2,566 this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in its weekly update. This is the second straight week of about 100 new cases after previous weeks’ totals of about half that. Most this week’s cases are in Pennsylvania, though Ohio also saw a substantial increase. (Wappes, 8/14)
CIDRAP: FDA Grants Emergency Use Authorization For Another New World Screwworm Treatment
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday granted emergency use authorization for Simparica Trio as another potential treatment New World screwworm (NWS) infestations in puppies and dogs. This is the latest medication with emergency approval for NWS in canines after the agency approved nitenpyram for dogs and cats in June. The FDA noted the scientific evidence indicates the benefits of Simparica Trio outweigh its risks. (Holohan, 8/14)
CIDRAP: Lyme Disease Is Spreading Into Southern Appalachia, Increasing The Need For Public Education
Lyme disease is expanding into southern Appalachia, and a town in the Blue Ridge Mountains appears to be on the edge of this growing territory. In an analysis yesterday in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 76.9% of the blacklegged (deer) ticks collected (Boden, 8/14)
AP: Surveillance System Struggles In Eastern Congo As Ebola Outbreak Spreads
Every day, community health worker Gédéon Banga Ngbape and his team fan out across communities in eastern Congo looking for people who may have crossed paths with the country’s fastest-growing Ebola outbreak in history. The workers investigate dozens of alerts, search for those exposed to suspected or confirmed cases and try to get anyone showing symptoms into care before the virus spreads further. (Same Bagalwa and Banchereau, 8/15)
MENTAL HEALTH
NBC News: ‘Everything Felt So Real’: Mothers Who Experienced Postpartum Psychosis Speak Out Amid Lindsay Clancy Trial
Three moms who survived postpartum psychosis describe their experiences — and what they want people following the Clancy trial to know. (Melendez, 8/16)
Bloomberg: USS Abraham Lincoln Crew Mental Health Addressed By Admiral Cooper After Visit
A top US military commander said mental health is a valid concern after meeting crew deployed on the USS Abraham Lincoln, where conditions aboard the aircraft carrier have led to complaints during its long deployment in the Iran war. Admiral Brad Cooper’s visit to the carrier in the Arabian Sea followed outrage among family members about reports of food shortages, water contamination, moldy showers and long shifts in wartime aboard the vessel, which has been deployed without a port call for more than 200 days. Some family members have said the situation has deteriorated so badly that some sailors have attempted to throw themselves overboard. (Czuczka, 8/16)
Bloomberg: Trump Downplays USS Lincoln Carrier Conditions As Deployment Nears Nine Months
President Donald Trump downplayed concerns over conditions for sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, amid an uproar from service members’ families as its deployment to the Middle East approaches nine months. Numerous relatives of the roughly 5,000 sailors and Marines aboard the aircraft carrier have voiced outrage at reports of food shortages, water contamination, moldy showers and long shifts in wartime aboard the vessel. Some family members have said the situation has deteriorated so badly that sailors have attempted to jump ship. (Dymova, Subramanian, and Judson, 8/14)
THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION
The Washington Post: Department Of Defense Will Offer Reimbursements For Egg And Sperm Freezing
Active military personnel who decide to freeze their eggs or sperm are eligible for $10,000 maximum reimbursement per year under a new three-year pilot program, according to a Department of Defense notice. Active-duty personnel who have received orders for duty in a dangerous country are eligible, according to the notice. And troops likely to be on an active-duty order in a dangerous country within four months, or separated from their partner for at least six months, are also eligible. (Canino-Quiñones, 8/14)
AP: Appeals Court Revives Trump Subpoena Of Gender Care Provider
President Donald Trump’s goal of ending gender-affirming care is not improper and cannot be the basis for quashing a subpoena issued by the Justice Department against a provider of medical treatment for transgender youth, a divided federal appeals court ruled Friday. The Justice Department announced last year that it had issued more than 20 subpoenas to doctors and clinics that provide gender-affirming care as part of an effort to investigate healthcare fraud. Federal judges have quashed many of the subpoenas as illegitimate efforts to intimidate providers into ending care. (Thanawala, 8/15)
AP: Fauci Declines Request To Appear Before A Second Senate Panel
Dr. Anthony Fauci on Friday declined a request to appear voluntarily before a second Senate panel after majority Republicans on the Homeland Security Committee voted along partisan lines last week to hold the longtime infectious disease expert in contempt. In a pointed letter to Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, a lawyer for the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said any effort to compel him to appear before a Senate subcommittee, after a contentious July 29 hearing, would be to “impermissibly harass or degrade Dr. Fauci for political purposes.” (Beaumont, 8/15)
Politico: How $600B Of Biden’s Clean Energy Funding Escaped Trump’s Cuts
President Donald Trump has spent more than 18 months demolishing Joe Biden’s expansive green agenda. Yet pieces of the former president’s would-be legacy stubbornly cling to life — along with roughly $600 billion in congressionally approved spending that has so far escaped Trump’s wrecking ball, a new POLITICO analysis has found. The breakdown sheds fresh light on one of the most endlessly repeated pledges of Trump’s second term: his vow to unravel the nearly $1.6 trillion in spending and tax breaks that Biden had set in motion for a sprawling array of climate, clean energy and infrastructure programs. (Blaeser, Storrow and Tamborrino, 8/15)
PUBLIC HEALTH
MedPage Today: What's Going On With Fall COVID And Flu Shots?
By this time of year, both the FDA and CDC normally have weighed in on fall respiratory virus vaccine recommendations. But given ongoing controversies over vaccination spurred by the Trump administration, a wrench has once again been thrown into the gears of that process. The FDA has done its part, making recommendations about vaccine composition for influenza vaccines in March, followed by recommendations for COVID shots in May. But the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) hasn't done its part as it hasn't held its March or June meetings this year. (Henderson, 8/14)
The New York Times: This Pesticide May Be Too Dangerous To Use. Farmers Say They Need It
California’s pesticide regulator announced on Monday the state would phase out the herbicide paraquat, which studies increasingly associate with Parkinson’s disease and other health problems. The action by the country’s largest agricultural state highlights the growing concerns over the chemical’s health effects, even as American farmers say it is an essential tool and continue to spray millions of pounds of it on crops each year. (Alcorn, 8/13)
AP: Bedbugs Control And Prevention: What To Do About Them
Bedbugs are sometimes called the vampires of the insect world — hiding during the day and coming out at night to feast on human blood. Generations of children have been told: “Sleep tight. Don’t let the bedbugs bite.” Well, bad news: Bedbug infestations are increasing. This is the time of year when they tend to be at their worst. And some scientists think the reviled pests might be capable of spreading an antibiotic-resistant infection called MRSA. (Stobbe, 8/15)
The Washington Post: New Weekly Injection Offers Diabetics Alternative To Daily Insulin Shots
More than 36 million people in the United States have Type 2 diabetes, and roughly 22 percent of them — or about 8 million — require daily insulin injections to control their blood glucose levels. Starting this week, that grueling regimen can be reduced to just one shot a week. Novo Nordisk announced Tuesday that it is rolling out a weekly insulin injection for Type 2 diabetes called Awiqli. It is the first-of-its-kind weekly dose to reach the market, after approval by the Food and Drug Administration in March. (Rowland, 8/16)
Axios: Why Prescription Drug Prices Are Plunging
America is experiencing its biggest prescription drug price deflation in generations. Why it matters: By one important measure, there is a striking reversal underway for one of health care's most stubbornly expensive necessities amid a major Washington push to lower drug costs. (Brown, 8/17)
SCIENCE AND INNOVATIONS
The Wall Street Journal: AI Is Helping Patients Solve Medical Mysteries
Patients with rare diseases often spend five years or more searching for a diagnosis. Now artificial intelligence is helping some get answers faster. Rachel Hinken long wondered why her son, Oliver, seemed to be missing key growth milestones, including speech and walking delays. He consistently tracked between the zero and first percentile for height. At age 10, he wasn’t more than 4 feet tall. Doctors said he was fine. He would catch up. Hinken wasn’t convinced. (Janin, 8/15)
AP: Obesity Drugs Show Early Promise Against PMOS
Charlotte Touzalin was still a young teenager when she began struggling with weight gain, abnormal periods and unwanted facial hair — the same puzzling symptoms that plagued her mom for decades and that no doctor could piece together. “I’d go home and I’d cry,” said Touzalin, an 18-year-old college student from Colorado. “I didn’t understand why all this weight was coming back or why my friends didn’t have to shave their faces and I had to.” (Ungar, 8/15)
CIDRAP: When Pregnant Women Turn To Reddit About The Tdap Vaccine, It Tends To Be For Clarity, Reassurance
Social media has a reputation as a playground for extreme vaccine views and alarmist rhetoric, but, according to a study published yesterday in PLOS Global Public Health, pregnant women discussing the tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (Tdap) vaccine on the social media platform Reddit were often looking for more practical things: clear answers, reassurance, and stories of other women navigating similar questions. The study identified fewer outright instances of vaccine hesitancy and refusal than have often been observed for other vaccines. (Bergeson, 8/14)
CIDRAP: Real-World Studies Show RSV Immunizations Protect Newborns In Their First Year Of Life
A pair of new studies confirm that recently developed immunizations against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) protect infants in their first year of life. The research, including one study conducted in France and another in the United Kingdom, confirm that the immunizations are effective in the real world, not just in carefully supervised clinical trials. (Szabo, 8/14)
MedPage Today: Genomic Newborn Screening Could Identify Childhood Cancer Predisposition
Adding genomic testing to routine newborn screening identified children at increased risk of developing certain childhood cancers, researchers found. By analyzing archived newborn dried blood spots from nearly 2,000 children who later developed a solid or brain tumor by age 8 years, and using a panel of 11 genes linked to pediatric cancer predisposition syndromes, pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants were found in 132 children (6.8%), reported Lisa Diller, MD, of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, and colleagues. (Bassett, 8/14)
AP: Tommy John, Pioneer Of Elbow Surgery And MLB Pitcher With 288 Wins, Dead At 83
Tommy John, who won 288 games during a 26-year big league career and became the first pitcher to successfully return following groundbreaking elbow surgery that later was named after him, has died. He was 83. He died at his home in Bradenton, Florida, on Saturday night, agent Mike Maguire said Sunday. He had been in hospice care. (Harris, 8/16)
HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY
AP: Luigi Mangione Pleads Guilty In Killing Of UnitedHealthcare CEO
Luigi Mangione pleaded guilty on Friday to federal stalking charges in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, admitting matter-of-factly that he trailed the executive to an investor conference and gunned him down on a New York City street in 2024. Mangione, 28, said he made a gun with the aid of a 3D printer, traveled to New York and used a ruse — posing as an investor at a multibillion-dollar firm — to contact the company for details on the event. (Sisak, Neumeister and Peltz, 8/14)
The New York Times: Outrage At UnitedHealth And Other Insurers Persists After Brian Thompson Killing
The murder of Brian Thompson, the UnitedHealthcare executive, in late 2024 unearthed a torrent of public outrage against the health insurance industry. And since then, Americans’ anger has solidified into deep mistrust of the companies. Much of the current dissatisfaction stems from rising economic concerns: More and more people cannot afford the increasing costs of insurance premiums and medical bills. (Abelson, 8/14)
Modern Healthcare: Epic UGM 2026: Here's What To Know About The Annual Meeting
Thousands of Epic Systems’ customers will convene at the electronic health record vendor’s highly anticipated Users Group Meeting next week in Verona, Wisconsin. The company will host more than 20,000 attendees, including representatives from health systems, health plans and tech vendors. Innovations in artificial intelligence and interoperability are some of the event’s main areas of focus, according to an Epic spokesperson. The event runs Monday through Thursday. (Famakinwa, 8/14)
Modern Healthcare: Why CMS’ Medicaid 1115 Waiver Pullback Matters To Providers
Federal regulators are chipping away at a weedy, but critical, Medicaid tool that could have significant financial implications for providers and states. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is paring down policies enacted via what are known as Medicaid 1115 waivers as it narrows the program to align with President Donald Trump’s fiscal and ideological goals. The changes could increase enrollee churn, undercut finances for providers, drive up administrative costs and leave states less able to innovate, experts said. (Early, 8/15)
Modern Healthcare: Providence Health Plan To Wind Down After Medicare Deal Fails
Providence Health Plan will seek to wind down its operations after failing to sell its Medicare Advantage business. The insurance division of the Renton, Washington-based nonprofit health system in May said it would exit the commercial and Medicaid markets in 2027, but that it hoped to partner with a national carrier to continue its Medicare Advantage plans. Providence Health Plan and the national insurance company were unable to agree on a deal, a Providence spokesperson said in a Friday statement. The spokesperson declined to specify which national insurer had been interested in operating its Medicare Advantage business. (Tepper, 8/14)
Modern Healthcare: Hospital Mergers, Acquisitions Grow As Providers Seek Relief
Providers are seeing consolidation as a way to weather financial headwinds and keep their doors open. Merger and acquisition activity has risen over the past several years — and 2026 has been no exception. The increase in dealmaking comes as operating and supply costs continue to rise while reimbursements from Medicare and Medicaid decrease. Recent cuts to Medicaid and an increase in the uninsured population are expected to exacerbate the issue. (DeSilva, 8/14)
Modern Healthcare: HRSA Distributes $102M To Community Health Centers
The Health Resources and Services Administration announced a $102 million tranche of funding for community health centers Thursday. Congress boosted federally qualified health center funding in a spending bill enacted this year. The dollars will support 158 new and existing community health centers, help establish new sites and promote primary care, the Health and Human Services Department said in a news release. (Early, 8/14)
STATE WATCH
MedPage Today: HIV-Positive Woman Donated Breast Milk Over Social Media
Health officials from California warned on the dangers of acquiring breast milk outside of vetted channels after multiple infants were potentially exposed to HIV from donor milk obtained via social media. It's unclear if infants actually drank the milk in four of the five cases, and they all tested negative for HIV, reported Akanksha Vaidya, MD, MPH, of the Santa Clara Public Health Department, and colleagues in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. (Henderson, 8/14)
AP: Judge: Idaho Cannot Prosecute Doctors For Abortions To Protect A Patient's Health
A federal judge says Idaho can’t prosecute doctors who perform abortions to protect a pregnant person’s health or prevent self-harm. U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill made the ruling Thursday, writing that Idaho’s “Defense of Life Act” and “Fetal Heartbeat Act” — which together create a near-total ban on abortion — violate the due process and equal protection clauses of the 14th Amendment. Physicians who violate the laws can lose their license and face up to five years in prison. (Boone, 8/14)
The CT Mirror: CT’s First State-Funded Methadone Vans Expand Access To Treatment
Mobile methadone units did not exist in Connecticut when Frankie DeJesus started his recovery in 2012. He wishes they did. DeJesus, a recovery support specialist for Community Health Resources, has spent nearly all his life in Enfield, right by Connecticut’s northern border. After a Percocet prescription for knee pain developed into a dependence on heroin and other opioids, DeJesus began traveling to Hartford’s Root Center to receive methadone, widely considered the most effective treatment for opioid use disorder. (Oetama, 8/16)
North Carolina Health News: What Is Medetomidine?
North Carolina’s supply of illicit street drugs is in a constant state of change. People are no longer buying just heroin, fentanyl or opioid pills anymore, as most samples of these illegal drugs have more than one substance in them. People often don’t know what is in their drugs because dealers constantly change the adulterants in the supply. This has made it challenging for advocates who want to help people who use drugs stay safe or get into treatment. (Knopf, 8/17)
Bridge Michigan: A Renewed Push To Ban Seclusion, Reduce Restraint In Michigan Schools
Thousands of times a year in Michigan schools, students who are considered a potential danger to themselves and others — many of them children with disabilities — are physically restrained or put in seclusion. That’s despite an almost 10-year-old law aimed at reducing instances where students are secluded or restrained. The broad consensus is that schools should do more to reduce their reliance on these techniques, but there’s disagreement on whether new legislation is needed to make that happen. (Lohman, 8/14)
