First Edition: Monday, Aug. 25, 2025

KFF HEALTH NEWS ORIGINAL STORIES

KFF Health News: As Measles Exploded, Officials In Texas Looked To CDC Scientists. Under Trump, No One Answered
As measles surged in Texas early this year, the Trump administration’s actions sowed fear and confusion among CDC scientists that kept them from performing the agency’s most critical function — emergency response — when it mattered most, an investigation from KFF Health News shows. The outbreak soon became the worst the United States has endured in over three decades. (Maxmen, 8/25)

KFF Health News: FTC Has Long Said Products Must Back Up Health Claims. A MAHA Lawsuit Would Upend That
Don’t get Nathan Jones started on xylitol, the active ingredient in his chewing gum, nasal spray, and other products. He’ll talk your ear off about its wondrous powers against tooth decay, as well as its potential to fight covid, heart disease, Alzheimer’s — you name it. For now, Jones, the founder of Xlear, can’t make those claims in his company’s advertising. But if the lawsuit his company brought against the Federal Trade Commission succeeds, he’ll likely be able to say anything he wants. (Allen, 8/25)

VACCINES

The New York Times: Covid Vaccine Opponent Tapped To Lead Federal Review Team
A task force formed by an influential advisory committee to review the safety of Covid vaccines will be led by a panel member who has described the shots as “the most failing medical product in the history of medical products.” That member, Retsef Levi, is a management and health analytics expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and was appointed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to serve on the larger advisory committee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Jewett, 8/22)

Bloomberg: OB-GYNs Clash With RFK Jr. To Back Covid Shots During Pregnancy
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommended Covid vaccines for pregnant women in its updated immunization schedule issued Friday, signaling another split between practicing doctors and the nation’s top health official. Women should get immunized when planning to become pregnant, during pregnancy or when lactating, according to the premier US organization for physicians who specialize in women’s health. (Nix, 8/22)

MedPage Today: RFK Jr. Warns Docs Of Liability If They Stray From CDC On Vaccines
The American Academy of Pediatrics' (AAP) recent pediatric COVID-19 vaccine recommendations, which differ from those of the CDC, have raised concerns from HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who responded with an oblique warning to any physicians who might follow the AAP's advice. "AAP should ... be candid with doctors and hospitals that recommendations that diverge from the CDC's official list are not shielded from liability under the 1986 Vaccine Injury Act," Kennedy posted this week on X. (Frieden, 8/22)

Medical Xpress: US Suspends Chikungunya Vaccine Ixchiq Over 'Serious' Side Effects: Valneva
US health authorities have suspended the license for the Ixchiq vaccine against the chikungunya virus following reports of "serious adverse events," the drug's French maker said Monday. Ixchiq is one of just two vaccines approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the mosquito-spread virus, which mainly occurs in tropical and subtropical regions but has recently been discovered in countries worldwide. (Zinin, 8/25)

The Washington Post: How Your Vaccine Access Has Already Changed Under RFK Jr.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. promised before his confirmation that he would not take away Americans’ vaccines. But in the four months since he took office, Kennedy, who has a lengthy history of disparaging vaccines, has undermined that access while agreeing to recommend some vaccines, such as the seasonal flu shot. (Sun, Weber and Roubein, 8/22)

Stat: RFK Jr.’s MAHA Turns 1 — Momentum Or Veering Out Of Control? 
Nobody knew what Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was going to say. Inside Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Ariz., a crowd howled as he walked onto a stage sizzling with pyrotechnics, the Foo Fighters’ “My Hero” blaring. “I don’t think I’ve ever introduced anyone that got applause like he just got. I must tell you, it’s true,” said then-candidate Donald Trump. (Cueto, 8/25)

FEDERAL REORGANIZATION AND FUNDING CUTS

AP: HHS Moves To Strip Thousands Of Federal Health Workers Of Union Rights
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has moved to strip thousands of federal health agency employees of their collective bargaining rights, according to a union that called the effort illegal. HHS officials confirmed Friday that the department is ending its recognition of unions for a number of employees, and are reclaiming office space and equipment that had been used for union activities. It’s the latest move by the Trump administration to put an end to collective bargaining with unions that represent federal employees. (Stobbe, 8/22)

The War Horse: Exodus At VA: 10,000 Employees Are Resigning In September. Here’s The List
It’s been six months since a now-infamous email presented millions of federal workers with a pivotal decision: They could reply “resign” to give up their job and receive full pay and benefits through the end of September. Or they could stay in their positions and hope they didn’t get laid off in the ensuing chaotic months of the second Trump administration. (Frankel, Rohan and Hansen-Dewar, 8/25)

The Wall Street Journal: The Words Scientists Are Changing To Scrub Diversity From Research Grants
Scientists are removing words like “diverse” and “disparities” from hundreds of federal grant renewals to avoid getting flagged in the Trump administration’s focus on eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion programs, a Wall Street Journal analysis shows. At least 600 research projects funded by the National Institutes of Health have been modified in the fiscal year starting in October to remove terms associated with diversity, equity and inclusion, the Journal analysis found. Nearly all of those projects were multiyear grants that had already been approved but were up for routine annual reviews. The modified grants were worth $480 million this cycle. (Randazzo, Ostroff and Shifflett, 8/23)

FDA

Stat: FDA 'Uncertainty' Forces Krystal Biotech To Shutter A Cancer Drug Trial 
The Food and Drug Administration’s controversial rejection of a skin cancer therapy from Replimune Group has wrought some collateral damage — the premature shutdown of a clinical trial involving a similar drug from Krystal Biotech. (Feuerstein, 8/21)

AP: FDA Faces Lawsuit In US Court In Hawaii Over Mifepristone Restrictions For Abortions
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration continues to overly restrict access to mifepristone, a medication for abortions and miscarriage management, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union argued Friday in a lawsuit by a Hawaii doctor and healthcare associations challenging the legality of the restrictions. They are asking a judge to find that the FDA violated the law by restricting a safe medication without scientific justification, but stop short of flat-out seeking an immediate elimination of the restrictions, which currently include special certification for prescribers and pharmacies and requiring patients to review a counseling form. (Sinco Kelleher, 8/23)

HEALTH INDUSTRY AND PHARMACEUTICALS

Modern Healthcare: AAFP's Shawn Martin Urges Primary Care To Drop Pay Model
American Academy of Family Physicians CEO Shawn Martin said he is ready to move past the initial shock and anger after Congress handed down more than $1.1 trillion in cuts to healthcare programs. Martin recalled watching the sunset and contemplating the pending cuts July 3, the day before the tax law was signed by President Donald Trump. (Hudson, 8/22)

Bloomberg: Trump's Medicaid Cuts ‘Blow Up’ Financing Options For Rural Hospitals
The Medicaid cuts passed in President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” could push rural hospital systems out of the municipal bond market, according to Columbia Threadneedle Investments. “Rural hospitals were already uninvestible, in our mind,” Shannon Rinehart, the firm’s co-head of muni investments, said in an interview. “What this has done is blow up any chance they have.” (Rembert, 8/22)

Modern Healthcare: What Trump's Anti-Competition Executive Order Withdrawal Means
Hospitals and other healthcare organizations pursuing mergers and acquisitions may face fewer regulatory hurdles after President Donald Trump revoked antitrust guidance. Trump last week withdrew a 2021 executive order on competition issued by former President Joe Biden. The executive order had broadly reaffirmed federal agencies’ role in breaking up monopolies and boosting competition across all sectors of the economy. (Kacik, 8/22)

Politico: Floodwater Engulfed A Hospital. Then Came The Megalaw
When Hurricane Helene forced a rural Tennessee hospital into a dramatic rooftop evacuation last September, its top executive vowed to rebuild the damaged facility as he watched the rescue unfold from a washed-out bridge. That promise is now in peril because of the One Big Beautiful Bill. (Wittenberg, 8/24)

Minnesota Public Radio: University Of Minnesota Medical School’s Duluth Campus Shifts To 4-Year Program 
For the first time since the school’s founding more than a half-century ago, incoming students at the University of Minnesota Medical School’s Duluth Campus this fall will be able to complete all four years of their training in Duluth. (Kraker, 8/24)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: BJC Phases Out Pension Benefits, Bars New Participants
BJC Health System is phasing out its pension plan, barring new participants since the start of July. The nonprofit health system in a statement Thursday said current participants will be able to contribute and accrue benefits until 2030, when the plan will be frozen. (Suntrup, 8/22)

Stat: Amid Cries For Retraction, A Medical Journal Reviews A Discredited, 24-Year-Old Paper On An Antidepressant
Amid demand for retraction, a leading medical journal is reviewing a study published in 2001 that touted the benefits of a depression pill for adolescents, but was subsequently discredited and became the focal point of a searing controversy over inappropriate marketing of the medicine. (Silverman, 8/25)

The New York Times: Where U.S. Medicines Are Made And How Trump’s Tariffs Could Affect Them
President Trump’s repeated threats to impose punishing tariffs on imported medicines have sparked interest in where Americans’ drugs are produced. The picture is complex. Most of the time, drugs are not made in a single country from start to finish. More often, a factory imports raw materials that it uses to make a drug’s active ingredients, which then get shipped to a plant in another country that formulates the drug into a tablet or liquid. (Robbins and Corum, 8/23)

STATE WATCH

Modern Healthcare: ACA Enrollment, Eligibility Rule Partially Blocked By Court
A federal court in Maryland has blocked several parts of a health insurance exchange enrollment and eligibility rule days before they were set to take effect. The U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland temporarily stayed seven provisions from a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services rule issued June 20 and set to go live Monday. (Early, 8/22)

Minnesota Public Radio: Health Insurance Premiums Set To Rise In Minnesota 
Health insurance premiums for thousands of Minnesotans are expected to increase in 2026. The proposed rate hikes are driven by rising health care costs, and federal subsidies designed to make coverage more affordable are set to expire at the end of 2025. Preliminary filings released by the Minnesota Department of Commerce indicate that insurers are seeking average premium increases ranging from 7 percent to 26 percent for 2026 plans on the individual market, and between 7 percent and 17 percent on the small group market. (Zurek, 8/25)

AP: Judge Rejects Plea Deal For Colorado Funeral Home Owner Who Abused 191 Corpses
A judge on Friday rejected a plea agreement for a Colorado funeral home owner who acknowledged abusing 191 corpses, after family members described the pain and shame they’ve carried since learning their loved ones’ bodies were left to rot. The rare decision to reject the plea agreement that called for a 20-year prison sentence followed anguished testimony from family members seeking a more severe punishment. (Slevin, Brown and Bedayn, 8/23)

AP: Alaska Medical Professionals Could Face Disciplinary Action Over Gender-Affirming Care
Alaska medical professionals who provide gender-affirming care for children could risk disciplinary action under proposed changes to state regulations approved by the state medical board on Friday. The board unanimously approved draft language that would add those providing medical or surgical intervention to “treat gender dysphoria or facilitate gender transition” to a state regulation outlining unprofessional conduct. (Thiessen, 8/22)

CNN: Mississippi Declares Public Health Emergency Over Rising Infant Mortality Rate 
The Mississippi health department declared a public health emergency Thursday over rising infant mortality rates in the state. There were 9.7 deaths for every 1,000 births in Mississippi in 2024, the highest rate in more than a decade, according to a news release from the state health department. More than 3,500 babies in Mississippi have died before the age of 1 since 2014. (McPhillips, 8/22)

AP: California May Be First State To Make Restaurants Put Food Allergens On Menus
Braxton Kimura dreads eating at restaurants. The California teenager is severely allergic to peanuts, shellfish and most tree nuts. Consuming even a tiny amount could send him to the emergency room. ... Restaurant dining in California could soon become a little less stressful for Braxton and the growing number of Americans with severe food allergies. State lawmakers are set to vote on legislation that would make California the first U.S. state to require restaurants to disclose whether a menu item contains any of the nine most common food allergens: milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, sesame and soybeans. (Chea, 8/23)

OUTBREAKS AND HEALTH THREATS

Axios: US Screwworm Human Case Found After Maryland Patient Traveled From El Salvador
A case of the flesh-eating New World screwworm parasite was detected in a person in Maryland who returned to the U.S. after traveling to El Salvador, the Department of Health and Human Services said Sunday evening. (Falconer, 8/24)

CIDRAP: Kansas Declares End Of Measles Outbreak As Wisconsin Total Grows
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) yesterday announced the end of a large measles outbreak in the southwestern part of the state, after two incubation periods passed with no new cases. The outbreak began in January and initially had links to the West Texas outbreak. The state confirmed 87 illnesses linked to the outbreak, 80% of them in children and 90% in people who were not vaccinated. Eight patients were hospitalized. (Schnirring, 8/22)

San Francisco Chronicle: Detection Of West Nile Virus Brings Bay Area Health Advisory
West Nile virus has been detected in a bird found near Goodyear Road in Benicia, according to the Solano County Mosquito Abatement District, which has offered tips to prevent transmission to humans via mosquitoes. Although most people infected with West Nile virus have no symptoms, some may experience fever, headaches and body aches. In severe and rare cases, people have been hospitalized and died. Those with chronic conditions, such as diabetes and high blood pressure, are more at risk. (Dizikes, 8/23)

AP: North Carolina Supreme Court Says Bars Can Keep Seeking Damages From COVID-19 Orders
The North Carolina Supreme Court issued favorable rulings Friday for bars and their operators in litigation seeking monetary compensation from the state for COVID-19 restrictions first issued by then-Gov. Roy Cooper that shuttered their doors and, in their view, treated them unfairly compared to restaurants. The majority decisions by the justices mean a pair of lawsuits — one filed by several North Carolina bars and their operators and the second by the North Carolina Bar and Tavern Association and other private bars — remain alive, and future court orders directing the state pay them financial damages are possible. (Robertson, 8/22)

CIDRAP: US COVID Markers Continue Upward Trend
COVID-19 markers continue to rise in the United States, with activity increasing in most parts of the country, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in its latest data updates. Over the past week, test positivity rose a bit from 8.9% to 9.9%, with levels as high as 15% in the south-central part of the country, followed by levels at the 10% to 12% range in western states. The CDC said its modeling estimates suggest COVID infections are likely growing or growing in all states. (Schnirring, 8/22)

The Hill: Air Pollution From U.S. Oil And Gas Causes Health Crisis: Study
Air pollutants from U.S. oil and gas operations are causing 91,000 premature deaths and hundreds of thousands of health issues each year — with racial and ethnic minority populations bearing the biggest burden, a new study has found. The outdoor contaminants, which include fine particulate matter (PM 2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ozone, take the biggest toll on Black, Asian, Native American and Hispanic groups, according to the study, published Friday in Science Advances. (Udasin, 8/22)

LIFESTYLE AND HEALTH

The New York Times: Green Funerals Are Becoming A Popular Choice For Environmentally Conscious Americans
Nobody can count how many Americans now choose green or natural burials, but Lee Webster, former president of the Green Burial Council, is tracking the growing number of cemeteries in the United States that allow them. The first, Ramsey Creek Preserve, began its operations in Westminster, S.C., in 1998. By 2016, Ms. Webster’s list included 150 cemeteries; now she counts 497. Most, like the one in Wellfleet, are hybrids accommodating both conventional and green burials. (Span, 8/23)

NPR: Tinted Sunscreen Adds Extra Protection For Hyperpigmentation, Melasma
"Wear sunscreen" is some of the most basic health advice you can get — right up there with eating fruits and vegetables. But standard sunscreen — the kind that comes out of the bottle white or cream colored and disappears into the skin — leaves out an important benefit, says Dr. Jenna Lester, associate professor of dermatology at the University of California, San Francisco. Over the last decade or so, there's been more research into hyperpigmentation — which can show up as dark spots or patches — and melasma, a condition where brown or bluish-gray patches develop on the skin. These issues happen much more frequently for people with darker skin. (Muraskin, 8/23)

Fox News: Genetic Test Predicts Adult Obesity In Children As Young As Age 5
A genetic test could predict whether a child will be obese as an adult. A global study, published in the journal Nature Medicine, found that the risk of severe obesity in adulthood can be identified in early childhood through a polygenic risk score (PGS). The PGS acts as a "calculator" that combines the impact of different genetic risk variants that a person can carry, according to researchers. (Stabile, 8/23)