Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
First Edition: Monday, June 2, 2025
KFF HEALTH NEWS ORIGINAL STORIES
KFF Health News: Role Reversal: Millions Of Kids Are Caregivers For Elders. Why Their Numbers Might Grow
High school senior Joshua Yang understands sacrifice. When he was midway through 10th grade, his mom survived a terrible car crash. But her body developed tremors, and she lost mobility. After countless appointments, doctors diagnosed her with Parkinson’s disease, saying it was likely triggered by brain injuries sustained in the wreck. At 15, Yang, an aspiring baseball player and member of his school’s debate team, took on a new role: his mother’s caregiver. (Fabel, 6/2)
KFF Health News: RFK Jr. Says Healthy Pregnant Women Don’t Need Covid Boosters. What The Science Says
You’re pregnant, healthy, and hearing mixed messages: Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is not a scientist or doctor, says you don’t need the covid vaccine, but experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Protection still put you in a high-risk group of people who ought to receive boosters. The science is on the side of the shots. (Fortiér, 6/2)
KFF Health News: Journalists Draw Link Between Internet Dead Zones, Threatened Medicaid Cuts, And Health
Céline Gounder, KFF Health News’ editor-at-large for public health, discussed covid-19 vaccines and prostate cancer on WAMU’s “1A” on May 27. Senior correspondent Sarah Jane Tribble discussed how internet dead zones deepen chronic health issues in rural communities on The Commonwealth Fund’s “The Dose” on May 23. (5/31)
COVID
The New York Times: CDC Issues New Advice On Covid Vaccines For Children That Contradicted RFK Jr.
Days after Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that Covid shots would be removed from the federal immunization schedule for children, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued updated advice that largely countered Mr. Kennedy’s new policy. The agency kept Covid shots on the schedule for healthy children 6 months to 17 years old, but added a new condition. Children and their caregivers will be able to get the vaccines in consultation with a doctor or provider, which the agency calls “shared decision-making.” (Jewett, 5/30)
The Baltimore Sun: Makary Clarifies Trump Administration's Position On COVID-19 Vaccines
Dr. Marty Makary, the Johns Hopkins surgeon and professor whom President Donald Trump tapped to lead the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, says it’s up to patients and their doctors whether they should get the COVID-19 vaccine — not the federal government. Makary stood alongside Robert F. Kennedy Jr. earlier in the week as the controversial Health and Human Services secretary announced changes to COVID-19 recommendations. (Woodall, 6/1)
Stat: Activists Upend MRNA Biotech Advance With Political Power
mRNA, a Nobel-winning technology harnessed by Trump officials to create Covid shots in record time, is becoming a political reject as the nation’s leaders openly embrace vaccine skepticism. Republican lawmakers and federal health officials alike are shunning messenger RNA, a basic building block of biology that proved its value during Covid, and that holds promise for combating the next pandemic and unlocking new cancer treatments. (Lawrence and Cueto, 6/2)
CANCER
The New York Times: Breast Cancer Patients Get Early Warning Of Faltering Drugs With Blood Test
Breast cancer patients whose tumors have spread to other parts of their bodies live from scan to scan. ... But a new study sponsored by the drug company AstraZeneca showed that there is an alternative: Instead of waiting for a scan to show that a cancer is growing, it’s possible to find early signs that the cancer is resisting the drugs that were controlling it. To do that, researchers used a blood test to find mutations in cancer cells that let the tumors defy standard treatments. (Kolata, 6/1)
The Washington Post: Nonhormonal Menopause Drug, Veozah, Gives Options To Women, Experts Say
During breast cancer treatment, Sharity Keith began experiencing hot flashes and night sweats. She had been placed on medications that caused her to start experiencing menopause symptoms. But because of her cancer, she was not a candidate for hormone therapy, which is considered the most effective treatment for many menopause symptoms, including hot flashes and night sweats. (Bever, 5/31)
MedPage Today: Adjuvant Immunotherapy Ups Survival In DMMR Colon Cancer
The risk of recurrence or death after surgery for deficient mismatch repair (dMMR) colon cancer decreased by 50% in patients who received immunotherapy in addition to adjuvant chemotherapy, a large randomized trial showed. After 3 years of follow-up, 86% of patients treated with atezolizumab (Tecentriq) and chemotherapy remained alive without evidence of disease. That compared with 76.6% of patients who received chemotherapy only after surgery. (Bankhead, 6/1)
Newsweek: Biden Admin Accused Of Covering Up Cancer Clusters In East Palestine
The Biden administration is facing accusations of not publicly releasing concerning health information related to the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment, including internal warnings about the toxic burn plume's potential to cause "cancer clusters," Lesley Pacey, an investigator with the Government Accountability Project, said. Newsweek has reached out to Pacey and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for comment via email on Sunday. (Taheri, 6/1)
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH
The Hill: Kansas Law Nullifying End-Of-Life Wishes During Pregnancy Challenged In Court
A Kansas state law that revokes a person’s decisions about end-of-life care if they are pregnant is now being challenged in court. Three women, one of whom is currently pregnant, and two doctors filed a lawsuit in Kansas over a clause in the state’s Natural Death Act that denies people who are pregnant with the ability to accept or refuse health care if they become incapacitated or terminally ill. The plaintiffs argue that the clause violates their rights to liberty and personal autonomy and infringes their right to privacy. (O’Connell-Domenech, 5/30)
AP: Lawsuit Challenging Kentucky's Near-Total Ban On Abortions Is Withdrawn
Attorneys for a woman who sued Kentucky seeking to restore the right to an abortion have dropped their challenge to the state’s near-total ban on the procedure. The attorneys filed a motion Friday to voluntarily dismiss the lawsuit, but did not give a reason for seeking to drop the case. The lawsuit had been filed last year in state court in Louisville on behalf of a woman who was seven weeks pregnant at the time and identified only by the pseudonym Mary Poe to protect her privacy. (5/31)
AP: Abortion Pill Inventor Etienne-Emile Baulieu Dies In Paris, Aged 98
French scientist Etienne-Emile Baulieu, best known as the inventor of the abortion pill, died on Friday aged 98 at his home in Paris, his institute said in a statement. Both a doctor and a researcher, Baulieu was known around the world for the scientific, medical and social significance of his work on steroid hormones. “His research was guided by his attachment to the progress made possible by science, his commitment to women’s freedom, and his desire to enable everyone to live better, longer lives,” the Institut Baulieu said in the statement posted on its website. (5/31)
The Washington Post: Tech Industry Aims To Capitalize On Women’s Health Needs
Could you use some discreet help with birth control from a $14.99-a-month period-tracking app? ... These products and more are part of a fast-growing industry known as “femtech” — high-tech solutions for women’s health needs — whose many female founders say they’re tackling age-old inequities. Investors have jumped in, growing the market from $40.2 billion in 2020 to a projected $75 billion this year. (Ellison, 6/1)
FEDERAL REORGANIZATION AND FUNDING CUTS
AP: Deep Cuts Erode The Foundations Of US Public Health System, End Progress, Threaten Worse To Come
Americans are losing a vast array of people and programs dedicated to keeping them healthy. Gone are specialists who were confronting a measles outbreak in Ohio, workers who drove a van to schools in North Carolina to offer vaccinations and a program that provided free tests to sick people in Tennessee. State and local health departments responsible for invisible but critical work such as inspecting restaurants, monitoring wastewater for new and harmful germs, responding to outbreaks before they get too big — and a host of other tasks to protect both individuals and communities — are being hollowed out. (Ungar and Smith, 5/31)
San Francisco Chronicle: AIDS/LifeCycle’s Final Ride: Thousands Hit Road In Bay Area
With a tinge of melancholy, more than 2,400 bicyclists gathered Sunday morning to kick off the last AIDS/LifeCycle, bringing to a close more than three decades of fundraising through the annual event for HIV and AIDS prevention, care and support services. Cyclists will travel 545 miles over seven days from the Cow Palace in Daly City to Santa Monica. (Gollan, 6/2)
Stat: DOGE's Brad Smith: The Little-Known Architect Of $67B In HHS Cuts
The relentless drumbeat of cuts to U.S. government research and disease prevention have devastated tens of thousands of affected workers and academics. To hear them tell it, today’s children and grandchildren will live shorter lives and the brightest scientists will flee the country. There’s one man at the center of it all and, chances are, you haven’t even heard of him. (Bannow, 6/2)
Axios: Health Watchdog Find Savings From Trump, Biden HHS Of $16 Billion
The Department of Health and Human Services' watchdog identified more than $16 billion in overpayments, fraudulent billings and possible cost savings in health programs over a half year spanning the Biden and Trump administrations, including more than $3.5 billion to be returned to the government. Why it matters: The semiannual summary, first shared publicly to Axios, comes as the Trump administration says it's prioritizing government efficiency and rooting out waste, fraud and abuse. (Goldman, 6/2)
CAPITOL WATCH
Modern Healthcare: HHS Budget Plan Sets Up Restructuring, Moves 340B Program To CMS
The Health and Human Services Department overhaul is coming into focus after the White House released an outline for its fiscal 2026 budget proposal Friday. Big change is coming if President Donald Trump, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Congress follow through with these plans. The budget summary comprises a mix of priorities for the department, some of which can be done under executive branch authority and some of which would require new legislation from the majority-Republican legislature. (Early, 5/30)
The Guardian: Loan Plan In Republican Bill Could Worsen Doctor Shortage, Experts Warn
Doctors’ associations, medical schools and student advocates warn that a proposal in the Republican-led budget bill being considered by Congress restricts graduate federal student loans and could worsen a national shortage of doctors. The new Republican proposal would limit federal student loans for “professional programs” – such as medical school – to $150,000, eliminate a federal graduate loan program and put limits on loan forgiveness. (Glenza, 6/1)
Politico: OMB Director Flatly Denies Megabill Represents An Attack On The Social Safety Net
President Donald Trump’s top budget officer is playing down concerns among Republican senators that the administration’s sweeping megabill will add to the budget deficit and result in politically punishing Medicaid cuts. “We continue to work with people in the Senate as to working them through the specifics of the bill, what it does and what it doesn’t do,” Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought told CNN’s Dana Bash on Sunday on “State of the Union.” (Svirnovskiy, 6/1)
The Hill: Johnson Says 4.8 Million Americans Won’t Lose Medicaid Access ‘Unless They Choose To Do So’
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) doubled down on his claim that there won’t be Medicaid cuts in President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” despite projections that millions of low-income individuals would lose health insurance as a result of the bill. Johnson, during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” pushed back on independent projections that the bill would lead to 4.8 million people who would lose coverage because of work requirements, saying they won’t lose it “unless they choose to do so.” ... He added that the people who are complaining about losing their coverage are doing so “because they can’t fulfill the paperwork,” noting that the policy follows “common sense.” (Scully, 6/1)
Politico: ‘They're The Backbone’: Trump’s Targeting Of Legal Immigrants Threatens Health Sector
The Trump administration’s efforts to strip protections from more than half a million legal immigrants could devastate the health sector, endangering care for the elderly and worsening rates of both chronic and infectious diseases. Hundreds of thousands of health care workers, including an estimated 30,000 legal immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, are at risk of being deported — worrying providers and patients who rely on them for everything from nursing and physical therapy to maintenance, janitorial, foodservice and housekeeping work. (Ollstein, 5/31)
PUBLIC HEALTH
CBS News: CDC Steps Up Measles Travel Warning After Spread In Airplane
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated its warning about the risk of contracting measles while traveling, after the agency tallied dozens of cases so far this year in travelers who were infectious while flying on airplanes within the U.S. "Travelers can catch measles in many travel settings including travel hubs like airports and train stations, on public transportation like airplanes and trains, at tourist attractions, and at large, crowded events," the agency now says, in an update published Wednesday. (Tin, 5/30)
CIDRAP: Salmonella Outbreak Linked To Backyard Poultry Grows To 104 Illnesses, 1 Death
A multistate Salmonella outbreak has grown in just a few weeks from 7 to 104 cases, with 1 death now recorded, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in an update yesterday. Since its previous update on May 5, the CDC has confirmed 97 new cases, and the number of affected states rose from 6 to 35. Twenty-five of the outbreak patients (30%) have required hospitalization. The death was in Illinois. The CDC says the true number of outbreak cases, however, is "likely much higher." (Wappes, 5/30)
CIDRAP: Woman Dies From Brain Ameba After Flushing Nose With RV Water
A previously healthy 71-year-old woman in Texas died within 2 weeks of using tap water from a recreational vehicle (RV) for nasal irrigation. She was diagnosed as having primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM) a rare, often fatal brain infection caused by the ameba Naegleria fowleri, according to a report yesterday in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. CDC and Texas investigators said the woman developed severe neurologic symptoms, including fever, headache, and an altered mental state, within 4 days of using a nasal irrigation device filled with tap water from an RV's water system at a campground in Texas. (Wappes, 5/30)
The Washington Post: Girls Report More Trauma Associated With Cyberbullying Than Boys
Cyberbullying in any form can cause symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and should be considered an “adverse childhood experience” (ACE), a recent analysis finds. Writing in BMC Public Health, researchers drew from a nationally representative sample of 13-to-17-year-olds in the United States, homing in on the 53.9 percent of the group that reported having been cyberbullied in the past. (Blakemore, 5/31)
SCIENCE AND INNOVATIONS
CBS News: A Misplaced MRI Found A Tumor On Her Spine. Doctors Removed It Through Her Eye In A First-Of-Its-Kind Surgery
Karla Flores was 18 when she started experiencing double vision. She knew something was wrong but struggled to find a diagnosis. Finally, she saw an ophthalmologist who referred her to a neurosurgeon. Flores, then 19, was diagnosed with a chordoma wrapped around her brain stem. Chordomas are incredibly rare — only about 300 are diagnosed per year in the United States, according to the Cleveland Clinic — and they are slow-growing, malignant tumors. (Breen, 5/31)
HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY
Modern Healthcare: Hospitals Spent $18.3B Managing Violence In 2023: AHA Report
Hospitals spend billions of dollars a year managing patients and staff who face assault, murder, suicide, shootings and other violent acts, according to a new report commissioned by the American Hospital Association. Providers spent $18.3 billion in 2023 to prevent and prepare for violence, treat patients and grapple with violence-related fallout such as staff turnover and post-traumatic stress disorder, according to estimates from the University of Washington. Researchers used Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data and other sources to trace roughly three-quarters of the costs to treating patients with violent injuries. (Kacik, 6/1)
Bloomberg: Telehealth Firm Hims Cuts 4% Of Staff In Strategy Shift
Hims & Hers Health Inc. is cutting more than 4% of its workforce as it pivots away from selling cheap copycat versions of popular weight-loss drugs. The San Francisco-based telehealth company employs more than 1,600 staff. The moves will affect 68 people across various divisions, a spokesperson said. The company didn’t say which positions will be affected, but emphasized the changes will “sharpen” how it executes its business plans and won’t affect the “priorities or the specialties we’re committed to.” (Muller, 5/30)
Bloomberg: Ascension In Advanced Talks To Buy Amsurg For $3.9 Billion
AmSurg, the ambulatory surgery company once part of Envision Healthcare, is in advanced talks to sell itself to Ascension Health for about $3.9 billion, according to people with knowledge of the matter. A purchase by Ascension could be struck within weeks, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information. A final agreement hasn’t been reached and terms could change or talks could falter, they added. (Ronalds-Hannon and Davis, 5/30)
Bloomberg: Sanofi To Buy Blueprint For $9.1 Billion Equity Value
Sanofi SA agreed to buy Blueprint Medicines Corp. for at least $9.1 billion as the French drugmaker further expands its rare immunological disease portfolio. Sanofi will pay $129 per share in cash for the US biotech, it said in a statement. That represents a 27% premium to Blueprint’s closing price on Friday. (Sedgman, Tong, and Furlong, 6/2)
STATE WATCH
Health News Florida: Florida Subpoenas Hospitals For Probe Into Price Transparency
Attorney General James Uthmeier says the state would not sit on the sideline while many hospitals have "extorted patients who have come in with life-or-death cases and left with crippling debt.” Noting that "we must protect patients," Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier on Friday opened an investigation into the price transparency and billing practices of Florida hospitals. (Mayer, 6/1)
North Carolina Health News: NC Lawmakers Target Pharmacy “Middlemen” In Proposed Reforms
Jennifer Burch is a second-generation pharmacist who’s been working at Central Pharmacy in Durham since she was a teen. Some of her current customers have been coming to the store since the days when she still worked with her father. In those days, when they worked with pharmacy benefits managers, they paid a transmission fee — a simple financial transaction. Now, pharmacy benefit managers “control the entire pharmacy benefit very tightly,” she said. They’re part of the reason it’s now hard to keep Central Pharmacy in business, Burch said. (Vitaglione, 6/2)
AP: Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst At Contentious Town Hall: 'We All Are Going To Die'
Republican Sen. Joni Ernst was met with shouts and groans when she said “we all are going to die” as she addressed potential changes to Medicaid eligibility at a town hall in north-central Iowa on Friday. ... Facing several constituents concerned about cuts to Medicaid, she defended the $700 billion in reduced spending, saying it would keep immigrants in the U.S. illegally and those who have access to insurance through their employers off the rolls. Then someone in the crowd yelled that people will die without coverage. (Fingerhut, 5/31)
