First Edition: Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025

KFF Health News: Human, Bird, Or Dog Waste? Scientists Parsing Poop To Aid DC’s Forgotten River
On a bright October day, high schoolers from Francis L. Cardozo Education Campus piled into a boat on the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C. Most had never been on the water before. Their guide, Trey Sherard of the Anacostia Riverkeeper, started the tour with a well-rehearsed safety talk. The nonprofit advocates for the protection of the river. (Fortiér, 2/27)

KFF Health News: Republicans Once Wanted Government Out Of Health Care. Trump Voters See It Differently
Like many Americans who voted for Donald Trump, Jason Rouse hopes the president’s return will mean lower prices for gas, groceries, and other essentials. But Rouse is looking to the federal government for relief from one particular pain point: high health care costs. “The prices are just ridiculous,” said Rouse, 53, a retired Michigan firefighter and paramedic who has voted for Trump three times. “I’d like to see a lower cap on what I have to pay out-of-pocket.” (Levey, 2/27)

NBC News: FDA Cancels Meeting To Select Flu Strains For Next Season's Shots
A Food and Drug Administration vaccine advisory committee meeting scheduled for March to select the strains to be included in next season's flu shot has been canceled, a panel member said Wednesday. Federal health officials notified members of the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee of the cancelation in an email Wednesday afternoon, said committee member Dr. Paul Offit, the director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. (Lovelace Jr., 2/27)

NBC News: First Measles Death Reported In Texas As Kennedy Downplays The Outbreak
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday appeared to downplay the seriousness of the West Texas measles outbreak that has killed a school-age child. The child’s death, the first from the disease in a decade in the United States, was confirmed by Katherine Wells, director of public health at the health department in Lubbock, Texas. The child had not been vaccinated against the measles. The outbreak has so far infected at least 124 people — mostly children — in rural West Texas. (Edwards, 2/26)

Bloomberg: As Measles Cases Surge In Texas, WHO’s Global Control Program Risks Collapse
The World Health Organization has warned that its largest global laboratory network is on the brink of collapse unless new funding is secured to replace the support lost after President Donald Trump’s order to withdraw from the United Nations agency. The Global Measles and Rubella Laboratory Network — known internally as “Gremlin” — is the backbone of efforts to track and control infectious threats. With 760 labs worldwide, it tests about 500,000 patient samples annually, identifying outbreaks before they cross borders. Its potential collapse threatens the elimination of measles, which killed a school-age child in a growing outbreak in Texas. (Gale, 2/26)

Bloomberg: Trump Team Considers Pulling Funding For Moderna Bird Flu Vaccine
US health officials are reevaluating a $590 million contract for bird flu shots that the Biden administration awarded to Moderna Inc., people familiar with the matter said. The review is part of a government push to examine spending on messenger RNA-based vaccines, the technology that powered Moderna’s Covid vaccine. The bird flu shot contract was awarded to Moderna in the Biden administration’s final days, sending the company’s stock up 13% in the two days following the Jan. 17 announcement. (Muller, Griffin and Swetlitz, 2/26)

CNN: CDC Investigating Hospitalizations Of Five People Who Recently Received Chikungunya Vaccine
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is currently investigating five hospitalizations that occurred in people who had recently received a vaccine that prevents disease caused by the chikungunya virus. (Howard, 2/26)

MedPage Today: Proposed Legislation Targets Breaking Up NIAID
Proposed legislation, should it make its way through Congress, would dismantle the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) as it currently exists, replacing it with three separate research institutes. The bill would replace NIAID with a new National Institute of Allergic Diseases, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, and National Institute of Immunologic Diseases, according to an announcement from its sponsor, Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas). (Henderson, 2/26)

Politico: Chief Justice Allows Trump Administration To Keep Foreign Aid Frozen For Now
Chief Justice John Roberts on Wednesday night granted a respite to the Trump administration as it seeks to keep billions of dollars in foreign aid frozen, despite a judge’s order directing the administration to resume payments immediately. Roberts’ intervention heads off the possibility of administration officials being held in contempt for failing to comply with the order from U.S. District Judge Amir Ali, who imposed a deadline of 11:59 p.m. Wednesday for the federal government to pay nearly $2 billion in unpaid invoices from foreign-aid contractors. (Gerstein and Cheney, 2/26)

NPR: Nearly All USAID Programs Have Been Cut By The Trump Administration
The Trump administration is terminating thousands of USAID foreign assistance grants and awards, according to the State Department. The move effectively guts the six-decade-old agency. Elisha Dunn-Georgiou, president and CEO of the Global Health Council, said the situation is "horrible." She said that even some of the programs that had received waivers for being "life saving humanitarian assistance" – including ones that provided HIV medications – have now received termination notices. (Tanis and Langfitt, 2/26)

The New York Times: Trump Administration Ends Global Health Research Program
An obscure but influential program that gave detailed public health information to about half of the world’s nations will fold as a result of the Trump administration’s freeze on foreign aid. With funding from the United States Agency for International Development, the Demographic and Health Surveys were the only sources of information in many countries about maternal and child health and mortality, nutrition, reproductive health and H.I.V. infections, among many other health indicators. (Mandavilli, 2/26)

NPR: NIH Partially Lifts Freeze On Funding Process For Medical Research
The Trump administration has partially lifted a hold that had frozen ability of the National Institutes of Health to review new grant applications for research into diseases ranging from heart disease and COVID to Alzheimer's and allergies. The freeze occurred because the Trump administration had blocked the NIH from posting any new notices in the Federal Register, which is required before many federal meetings can be held. The stoppage forced the agency to cancel meetings to review thousands of grant applications. (Stein, 2/26)

Stat: Trump NIH Indirect Costs: Why Foundations Pay Less For Overhead 
One of the key justifications the Trump administration has offered for its bombshell proposal to sharply cut what the National Institutes of Health pays research grant recipients for overhead costs is that most private organizations place similar restrictions on funding for what’s known as indirect costs. (Oza, 2/27)

Military.Com: VA Research On Cancer, Suicide Prevention, Toxic Exposure At Risk From Federal Hiring Freeze
Hundreds of Department of Veterans Affairs medical research projects are being threatened by a hiring freeze across the federal government, a pair of top Democratic senators warned in a letter to the department this week. About 200 research personnel could be cut and an estimated 370 studies and clinical trials could be canceled or suspended in the next 90 days if the freeze isn't lifted, the senators said, "directly impacting up to 10,000 veterans currently participating in research studies." (Kheel, 2/26)

Politico: EPA Moves To Ditch Finding That Greenhouse Gases Cause Harm
The Environmental Protection Agency will move to reverse its 2009 declaration that greenhouse gases endanger human health and welfare — a step that would threaten most major climate regulations and make it harder for future presidents to enact new ones. Three people granted anonymity to discuss the action said EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has recommended to the White House that the agency overhaul the finding, which underpins all Clean Air Act climate regulations. (Chemnick, Colman, Guillén and Cama, 2/26)

Modern Healthcare: PBM Legislation Will Pass In 2025, Lawmakers Say 
Lawmakers who support tough rules on pharmacy benefit managers reaffirmed their ambitions to reanimate legislation that nearly passed Congress in December. The House Energy and Commerce Committee's Health Subcommittee relaunched the push at a hearing Tuesday that featured declarations from majority Republicans and minority Democrats that they will tackle high pharmaceutical prices and limited competition in the PBM market through bills that have lingered for more than a year without final action. (McAuliff, 2/26)

Politico: 5th Circuit Rebuffs Ruling Against Planned Parenthood
A three-judge panel at the conservative-leaning 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday reversed a lower court ruling that Planned Parenthood could be liable for nearly $2 billion for defrauding Medicaid. The unanimous ruling overturns a decision by Texas U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Donald Trump appointee. (Ollstein, 2/26)

The CT Mirror: CT Approves Funds For Planned Parenthood To Stockpile Abortion Pill
Connecticut will stockpile mifepristone, known as the abortion pill, to facilitate access to the drug in the wake of threats to curb its availability. One of two emergency-certified bills passed by the state legislature this week includes $800,000 in funding to Planned Parenthood of Southern New England. Use of the funding is up to the discretion of the organization, but vice president Gretchen Raffa confirmed that part of it will go towards stockpiling mifepristone, a drug used to end pregnancies. (Golvala, 2/26)

The Washington Post: Eli Lilly Says It Will Spend Billions To Move Drug Manufacturing To U.S. Soil
Eli Lilly said Wednesday it will build three manufacturing plants in the United States to make the key raw ingredients in its medicines, a push to bring home a critical part of the pharmaceutical supply chain that largely comes from foreign sources. The Indianapolis-based drugmaker said it will more than double its planned investments in manufacturing to $50 billion, including plants it has announced since 2020, as part of what it called the largest manufacturing investment by a pharmaceutical firm in U.S. history. (Gilbert, 2/26)

Modern Healthcare: Philips Updates AI Tech For MRI Scanners
Philips released an updated artificial intelligence technology for its MRI scanners on Wednesday called SmartSpeed Precise, which the company says triples exam speed and improves image resolution by 80%. The release is the latest iteration of Philips’ SmartSpeed AI-powered MRI acceleration software, which received Food and Drug Administration clearance in July 2022. (Dubinsky, 2/26)

Modern Healthcare: UnitedHealthcare's AI Lawsuit Not Deterring Claims Automation
A recent court ruling on UnitedHealth Group’s use of automation in the claims process may signal what’s ahead for its competitors. Earlier this month, a federal judge partially advanced a potential class action lawsuit against UnitedHealth Group and its UnitedHealthcare insurance unit over their alleged use of artificial intelligence to deny post-acute care for some Medicare Advantage members. That could spell bad news for other insurers like Humana and Cigna that also automate the process and have seen lawsuits filed against them, legal experts said. (Berryman, 2/26)

Stat: New York Congressman Launches Examination Of UnitedHealth Clinics In Hudson Valley
Following complaints from constituents, a New York congressman is launching an examination of UnitedHealth Group’s management of large physician groups in the state’s Hudson Valley region. (Ross, 2/26)

Axios: Telehealth Advocates Turn Up The Pressure As Medicare Deadline Nears
Providers, patients and digital health companies are ramping up their calls for more certainty that Medicare will continue to reimburse them for telehealth appointments after the current authority to do so expires on April 1. (Goldman, 2/27)

Modern Healthcare: Mass General Brigham, Atrium Health Partner On Rural Medical Vans
Mobile medical units will deliver hospital-at-home care to patients in rural communities as part of a five-year pilot program aimed at expanding healthcare access in underserved areas. The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health recently awarded an undisclosed amount of funding to Boston’s Mass General Brigham, University of Utah’s Huntsman Cancer Institute and Kentwood, Michigan-based Homeward Health to develop programs that will extend hospital-level care to patients in remote communities using mobile platforms. (Eastabrook, 2/26)

MedPage Today: Legal Group Issues 'Restatement' Of Medical Malpractice Law
The American Law Institute — an organization of judges, professors, and practicing attorneys — published a new standard for medical malpractice that takes into account evidence-based medicine. "The new standard of care ... represents a shift away from strict reliance on medical custom and invites courts to incorporate evidence-based medicine in malpractice law," wrote Christopher Robertson, JD, PhD, of the Boston University School of Law, and co-authors in JAMA. (Frieden, 2/26)

Stat: Medicare Advantage Enrollment Growth Slows Sharply, Misses Estimates 
The number of people enrolled in a private Medicare Advantage plan grew just 3.1% from 2024 to 2025 — well below projections from the federal government and Wall Street, and one of the slowest years of growth ever in the program. (Herman, 2/26)

Modern Healthcare: UVA Health CEO Dr. Craig Kent Resigns
UVA Health CEO Dr. Craig Kent resigned following an internal investigation spurred by the health system’s physician group. The University of Virginia board and UVA President James Ryan had a special meeting on Feb. 25 to discuss the findings of an independent investigation into UVA Health. Kent resigned after the meeting, a University of Virginia spokesperson said. (Kacik, 2/26)

ProPublica, Montana Free Press: Dr. Thomas Weiner’s Montana Medical License Renewed Despite Criminal Inquiry
In late 2020, St. Peter’s Hospital in Helena, Montana, fired its oncologist, Dr. Thomas C. Weiner, and took the extraordinary step of publicly accusing him of hurting patients. The hospital said the doctor overprescribed narcotics and gave chemotherapy to patients who didn’t have cancer, among other allegations. Despite being notified by St. Peter’s that it had revoked Weiner’s privileges, the Montana Board of Medical Examiners renewed his license in 2021 and 2023. This week, the board renewed his license again for another two years. (Silvers and McSwane, 2/26)

AP: Texas Says This Doctor Illegally Treated Trans Youth. He Says He Followed The Law
On the Texas border, Dr. Hector Granados treats children with diabetes at his El Paso clinics and makes hospital rounds under the shadow of accusations that have thrown his career into jeopardy: providing care to transgender youth. In what’s believed to be a U.S. first, Texas is suing Granados and two other physicians over claims that they violated the state’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors, calling the doctors “scofflaws” in lawsuits filed last fall that threaten to impose steep fines and revoke their medical licenses. He denies the accusations, and all three doctors have asked courts to dismiss the cases. (Stengle, 2/27)

Health News Florida: BayCare's New Behavioral Health Center Is The First-Of-Its-Kind Urgent Care In Florida
If you're dealing with a mental health or addiction issue, you have a new place to get help in Pasco County. BayCare Behavioral Health opened a new urgent care center in New Port Richey. The grand opening of the center comes a little over a year after the Pasco County Commission gave BayCare almost $3.6 million for the project. (Marsee, 2/27)

North Carolina Health News: NC Defendants With Mental Illness Wait Months In Jail For Court-Ordered Treatment
For nearly a year, Jake Davis languished in jail, waiting for a bed in a state-run psychiatric hospital to get court-ordered mental health treatment. Davis, 37 and diagnosed with bipolar and delusional disorder, was arrested and booked into the Watauga County Detention Center in Boone on Mother’s Day Weekend 2023 for nonviolent crimes. His mother, Jama Hinson, said he committed those crimes while in a state of psychosis. His mental status continued to be “off the chain” in the weeks that followed, she said. (Crumpler, 2/27)