Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
First Edition: Thursday, May 28, 2026
KFF HEALTH NEWS ORIGINAL STORIES
KFF Health News: In A Vaccine-Skeptical California County, A Potential Playbook To Contain Measles
James Mu had braced for the call that came in late January. A patient from his rural Northern California county had measles, a disease so rare there that many physicians have never treated a case. While California has some of the strictest vaccine laws in the country, conservative Shasta County’s approach during the covid pandemic stood in stark contrast with the state’s guidance. Its local leaders opposed masking and vaccine mandates, and they ousted the county public health officer, who had sought to enforce those state policies and other safety measures. (Sciacca, 5/28)
KFF Health News: Listen To The Latest ‘KFF Health News Minute’
Jackie Fortiér [FOR-tee-ay] reads this week’s news: Suicide prevention experts argue that improving Americans’ financial well-being could save lives. Plus, the Trump administration proposes looser artificial intelligence safeguards to speed innovation in healthcare. (5/28)
EBOLA OUTBREAK
AP: Uganda Closes Its Border As Ebola Cases Surge In Neighboring Congo
Uganda on Wednesday ordered the closure of its border with Congo, where suspected cases of a rare type of Ebola are surging, and as cases have been confirmed at home after Ugandan health workers were exposed to the disease from Congolese patients. The measure, which goes against the guidance by the World Health Organization, underscores growing fears of contagion in East Africa from Bundibugyo, a rare type of the Ebola virus that is behind this outbreak and that has no approved medicines or vaccines. (Muhumuza, 5/27)
Bloomberg: Congo Seeks Experimental Ebola Antibody As Cases Surpass 1,000
Congo is seeking access to an experimental antibody treatment targeting multiple Ebola strains as confirmed infections and deaths continue climbing in the country’s conflict-hit east. The Democratic Republic of Congo reported 121 confirmed Ebola cases and 17 confirmed deaths as of May 26, while suspected cases climbed to 1,077 and suspected deaths reached 238, according to health ministry figures released Wednesday. Sixteen new confirmed infections were recorded in Ituri province alone, the ministry said. (Gale, 5/28)
The Hill: Ebola-Infected American Doctor Weak But Not Critically Ill, Officials Say
An American medical missionary doctor infected with Ebola while working in the Democratic Republic of the Congo remains weak but is not critically ill after being evacuated to Germany for treatment, officials said. During a news conference on Wednesday, health officials said Dr. Peter Stafford has not required intensive care and has not suffered organ failure. Officials said his viral counts are steadily decreasing as he receives antiviral treatment. Stafford is being treated in a fully isolated ward at the Charité Hospital in Berlin, though officials said he can still see his family through a window. (Delandro, 5/27)
The Guardian: ‘Among The Things He Feared Most Was Death’: The Doctors And Nurses Dying On The Ebola Frontline
When Dr Vladimir Maduali died of Ebola in the early hours of Sunday morning, he was the fourth member of staff at his hospital to be killed by the disease in as many days. Two days later, his colleague Dr Tibenderana Katho Blaisealso died of the disease at the Bunia Evangelical medical centre, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Maduali graduated from the University of Bunia just three years ago and had been working in the Rwampara region, one of the areas of eastern DRC’s Ituri province worst hit by Ebola. The 30-year-old died at Rwampara’s isolation centre, where he had spent two days on oxygen therapy, according to his family. (Ngorora, 5/28)
Reuters: DR Congo Say World Cup Delegation Compliant With US Ebola Protocols
The Democratic Republic of Congo said its national football federation and FIFA had confirmed its World Cup delegation is compliant with U.S. protocols related to the Ebola outbreak, clearing the way for the team to compete at the tournament. A team official had said on Saturday that preparations would continue as planned despite a U.S. requirement for individuals to complete a 21-day isolation period before entering the country. (5/28)
CNN: This Year’s World Cup Is Testing The Public Health Playbook
The FIFA World Cup is now just a few weeks away, but Dr. Rebecca Katz has been worrying about the public health threats it poses for years. “With any mass gathering event, there are certain disease conditions that people worry about,” said Katz, who leads Georgetown University’s Center for Global Health Science and Security. “There’s always something happening.” There’s a well-established playbook for planning how to protect the public’s health during mass gatherings like the World Cup, experts say. But broader circumstances surrounding this year’s tournament, which is expected to bring millions of visitors to North America, are poised to test that playbook. (McPhillips, 5/27)
The Hill: What Are The Enhanced Ebola Screening Procedures At US Airports
Americans who have visited Congo, South Sudan or Uganda in the past 21 days must reenter the country through select airports for enhanced screening during an Ebola outbreak in these African nations. Three airports are involved in the process: Washington Dulles International Airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and George Bush Intercontinental Airport. (Davis, 5/27)
HANTAVIRUS OUTBREAK
People: Hantavirus Cruise Ship Will Proceed With Next Sailing 34 Days After Infected Passengers Disembarked
The cruise ship at the center of a deadly hantavirus outbreak is preparing to welcome new passengers on board. The MV Hondius plans to set sail for North Spitsbergen, an Arctic region in Norway's Svalbard archipelago on June 13, 34 days after 140 passengers and crew members who were on board during the outbreak disembarked in Spain's Canary Islands to be repatriated and enter quarantine or self isolate. (Thayer, 5/27)
The New York Times: Why The Ebola And Hantavirus Outbreaks Have Confounded Scientists
This month, a pair of viruses seized the headlines. First came a hantavirus outbreak aboard a cruise ship, which caused as many as 13 infections, three of which were fatal. Then an Ebola outbreak flared in Africa, so far leading to more than 900 infections and 220 deaths. In both cases, the news has been not only frightening but also confusing, even to scientists. The hantaviruses didn’t seem to be acting like hantaviruses, and the Ebola viruses weren’t behaving like Ebola viruses. (Zimmer, 5/27)
PUBLIC HEALTH
The New York Times: Scientists Find A Potential Cure For Chronic Hepatitis B
A new drug has essentially cured 1 in 5 patients with chronic hepatitis B infections, researchers reported on Thursday, a feat that has stymied scientists for years. “It’s the first major advance in the treatment of chronic hepatitis B in decades,” said Dr. William Jarnagin, a surgeon and liver specialist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. (Kolata, 5/28)
ABC News: New Guidelines Could Help Millions More Americans Get Colon Cancer Testing
New guidelines from the American Cancer Society are expanding colon cancer screening options beyond colonoscopies and established stool-based tests. The recommendations still call for colorectal cancer screening in people at average risk starting at age 45 and continuing through age 75 for those with a life expectancy of 10 more years. And colonoscopy is still considered the gold standard test. But for the first time, the updated guidelines now include a blood-based screening test done in a doctor’s office. They also add new stool sample kits and a recently FDA-approved at-home test that looks for blood and different molecular markers in stool samples. (Goldstein, 5/27)
AUTISM
Los Angeles Times: Parental Mental Health — Not Medication — Drives Autism Correlation, Study Finds
A sweeping new review of prenatal antidepressant use underscores a finding that has surfaced repeatedly throughout the last decade: While parental depression is strongly linked to child neurodevelopmental disorders, taking antidepressants during pregnancy does not appear to significantly increase a child’s risk of autism. In an analysis of 37 separate studies covering more than 25 million pregnancies, a research team from the University of Hong Kong found that children born to women who took antidepressants while pregnant were indeed more likely to later be diagnosed with autism or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). (Purtill, 5/27)
CNN: Jill Biden Says She Worried Joe Biden Was Having A Stroke During 2024 Debate
Former first lady Jill Biden says former President Joe Biden’s performance in his 2024 debate against Donald Trump “scared me to death,” and she worried her husband was having a stroke. “I was frightened, because I had never ever seen Joe like that before or since. Never,” Jill Biden told CBS News in an interview slated to air Sunday. CBS published a clip from the interview Wednesday. “I don’t know what happened,” she said. “As I watched it, I thought, ‘Oh, my God, he’s having a stroke.’ And it scared me to death.” (Bradner, 5/27)
Politico: Pam Bondi Recovering From Thyroid Cancer Treatment
Former Attorney General Pam Bondi is recovering from treatment for thyroid cancer, just weeks after leaving the Justice Department. Bondi told CNN she had surgery a few weeks ago and is still undergoing treatment, but is “doing well.” President Donald Trump ousted Bondi in April, having criticized her for failing to bring lawsuits against his perceived political foes. (Daniels, 5/27)
HEALTHCARE COSTS AND COVERAGE
Stat: Trump’s Drug-Pricing Deals Set To Be Tested By New Product Launches
The public is about to get its first look at the prices of drugs launched since President Trump struck his most-favored-nation deals with 17 drugmakers. (Wilkerson, 5/28)
Fierce Healthcare: GoodRx Rolls Out Healthcare Subscription Program
GoodRx announced Wednesday the launch of GoodRx Companion, a subscription program that offers access to virtual healthcare services and prescription medications at discounted prices. Through the $14.99 monthly GoodRx Companion subscription, users can access free and low-cost generic medications, online care visits and additional healthcare services. The company says the new subscription advances its strategy by adding broader offerings alongside its weight loss, erectile dysfunction and hair loss programs. (Gleeson, 5/27)
Modern Healthcare: CMS Home Health Freeze Could Slow Hospital Discharges
A federal initiative aimed at cracking down on fraudulent operators could further hamstring efforts to expand access to home healthcare. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ six-month freeze on new home health provider enrollments in Medicare also means established operators can’t open locations in new territories or expand into home health services. (Eastabrook, 5/27)
AP: About 8% Of The Country Lacked Health Insurance In 2025, New Data Shows. That Could Rise Next Year
The proportion of Americans without health insurance held steady at around 8% of the population in 2025, according to new findings from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The national survey results, released Thursday, show the all-ages uninsured rate has stayed significantly down from where it was several years ago, but the ranks of the uninsured could soon expand as the Trump administration’s sweeping changes to the health landscape begin to take hold. (Stobbe and Swenson, 5/28)
NBC News: When Drug After Drug Failed, A Teen Hoped Brain Surgery Could Fix Her Daily Seizures. Insurance Denied It
Brandi Sharp tends to find herself restless at night. Her 13-year-old daughter, Cambrie, has uncontrolled seizures. Sharp, a mother of three, is constantly up, checking to make sure Cambrie is breathing. During the day, when she’s not at work as a school nurse, Sharp, of rural Hazel Dell, Illinois, is laser-focused on finding effective treatment for Cambrie’s epilepsy. It’s all-consuming, she said. “We tried everything,” Sharp said, listing off more than 20 anti-seizure medications Cambrie’s doctors have prescribed over an eight-year span, including multiple benzodiazepines and phenobarbital. (Taylor, Kopf and Vespa, 5/27)
Modern Healthcare: Hospitals Use AI To Curb Insurance Claim Denials, Boost Revenue
Health systems are spending more on artificial intelligence to combat claim denials. They also are investing in their people. Some AI models cannot yet interpret payer-specific policies or aggregate complex denial appeals, underscoring the need for people to be involved in the process, particularly as insurers ramp up claim denials, executives said. (Kacik, 5/27)
MORE ON THE HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY
The New York Times: KFF’s Chief Executive To Retire
Drew Altman, the founding president and chief executive of KFF, who helped shape the organization into one of the nation’s most influential nonprofit health policy sources, told his staff on Wednesday that he would retire at the end of the year. Dr. Altman, 75, has worked at KFF since 1990. It was formerly known as the Kaiser Family Foundation. He will be replaced by two senior KFF executives, Larry Levitt, 63, who will serve as chief executive, and Mollyann Brodie, 59, who will serve as president. (Abelson, 5/27)
MedPage Today: Seattle Hospitalists Vote To Unionize
A group of about 115 hospitalists at five Swedish Medical Group locations across the Seattle area voted to unionize as a wave of physician organizing continues nationwide. The hospitalists voted to join Northwest Medicine United (NWMU), AFT Local 6552, which represents hundreds of physicians and advanced practice providers throughout the Northwest, the union announced. They represent the first group of doctors in the Providence health system to organize in the state of Washington. (Henderson, 5/27)
Chicago Tribune: Nurses At Saint Mary Of Nazareth Hospital Protest
Nurses at Saint Mary of Nazareth Hospital in Chicago rallied outside the facility Wednesday, protesting what they describe as a crackdown on their efforts to unionize by owner Prime Healthcare. (Schencker, 5/27)
CNBC: Amazon's Top Health Exec Is Stepping Down, Will Be Replaced By Amwell Co-Founder
Amazon’s top health-care boss will step down from his role and be replaced by the cofounder of telemedicine company Amwell, the company announced Wednesday. (Palmer, 5/27)
Cardinal News: Carilion Announces Plan For New Rehab Hospital
Carilion Clinic partnered with a Pennsylvania-based Select Medical Corporation to open a rehabilitation hospital in Roanoke. Carilion announced plans for the new free-standing rehabilitation hospital in 2024 shortly after submitting a letter of intent to the state’s Certificate of Public Need Division. In August 2025, the division approved the project. (Schabacker, 5/28)
PHARMA AND TECH
The Washington Post: Ozempic May Be Reshaping The Brain, Scientists Say
Ozempic was supposed to be a gut story. Then Allison Shapiro looked at the brain scans. An assistant professor at the University of Colorado Anschutz, she was part of a team studying 13 teens and young women with a hormonal disorder affecting the ovaries who were put on GLP-1 drugs. As part of testing to catalogue the effect of the medication on their bodies, Shapiro took snapshots of their brains before and after. She was astonished to find extensive changes. (Cha, 5/28)
MedPage Today: Decnupaz Approved For Rare Blood Cancer
The FDA approved the antibody-drug conjugate pivekimab sunirine (Decnupaz) for the rare hematologic malignancy blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN). The approval stipulates use of the drug in adults. Although BPDCN occurs most often in patients ages 60 and older, the condition can affect patients in any age group. (Bankhead, 5/27)
CIDRAP: Over-The-Counter Antibiotic Sales A ‘Significant Barrier’ To Addressing Antibiotic Resistance
The results of a survey conducted among healthcare professionals in 37 countries suggest over-the-counter (OTC) antibiotic sales remain all too common, researchers reported last week in JAC-Antimicrobial Resistance. The electronic survey, sent to members of the AMR Insights Ambassador Network by a team of international researchers, assessed demographic characteristics, the existence of national regulations regarding OTC antibiotic sales, and the availability of specific antibiotics for purchase without a prescription. Although research has shown that the use of OTC antibiotics remains ubiquitous in many countries, particularly in Asia and Africa, the researchers said the practice “remains inadequately described on a global scale.” (Dall, 5/27)
Stat: BioVAT Stem Cell Heart Patch Offers Hope For Heart Failure Patients
Hearts can’t heal themselves. After a heart attack or other cardiovascular insult, hearts can’t regenerate weakened muscles, leaving them less able to pump blood throughout the body. While medications to manage symptoms of heart failure — including newer obesity drugs — have been improving outcomes, many people ultimately face only two solutions: a heart transplant or heart device implant. (Cooney, 5/27)
CIDRAP: Century-Long Analysis Of Biosafety Incidents Identifies Strongest Predictors Of Outbreaks, Deaths
A new analysis of more than a century of laboratory biosafety incidents found that disease outbreaks are closely linked to operational failures, lab settings, and type of personnel involved. The findings also suggest that deaths associated with accidental lab exposures were driven largely by the virulence of the organisms involved. (Bergeson, 5/27)
Bloomberg: Australia Sues 3M For $1.4 Billion Over Defense Site PFAS
Australia has sued 3M Co. and its local arm for more than A$2 billion ($1.4 billion) in damages relating to contamination from perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, at 28 defense bases. The Department of Defence is looking to recover “significant past and future expenses” incurred by investigating and managing contamination resulting from the historic storage and use of 3M’s aqueous film-forming foam, Assistant Minister for Defence Peter Khalil said in a statement Thursday. (Leigh and Ma, 5/28)
STATE WATCH
Iowa Public Radio: Reynolds Signs Pediatric Cancer Funding Into Law, Channeling Money From New Vape Tax
The University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital will receive up to $3 million for pediatric cancer research annually, under a bill signed into law Tuesday. The law (SF 2480) implements a 5-cent tax on vapes and alternative nicotine products. The first $3 million from the tax money collected each year will go toward clinical trials, lab research and other research activities for pediatric cancer treatment. (Luu, 5/27)
Verite News: Bill Tightens Immigrants' Access To SNAP, Healthcare
A state Senate bill that would increase barriers for immigrants to access public food assistance and health insurance has passed both chambers of the state legislature. The Louisiana House of Representatives voted 66-28 Tuesday in favor of the measure. This bill builds on a state law passed last year that required state agencies to report applicants for public benefits without “satisfactory” immigration status to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. (Parker, 5/27)
The Texas Tribune: Camp Mystic Health Officer Barred From Direct Patient Care
The Texas Board of Nursing restored Camp Mystic’s chief health officer’s nursing license but barred her from working directly with patients after the board temporarily suspended her license on May 19. (Runnels, 5/27)
The Baltimore Sun: Construction Starts On Hickory Emergency Services Hub
Harford County began construction this week on a new Emergency Services Special Operations facility in Hickory, meant to centralize all emergency response teams. (Foster, 5/27)
AP: West Coast Chemical Emergencies Raise Questions On Regulating Safety
There are millions of chemical tanks around the U.S., and experts say it is exceedingly rare for them to fail as long as they are properly maintained and inspected. Yet this past week, there were two major hazardous chemical emergencies on the West Coast. A large tank containing a corrosive chemical at a Longview, Washington, paper mill ruptured on Tuesday, killing two and possibly nine others. And late last week about 50,000 people were evacuated in Southern California after a chemical tank overheated and threatened the area with a catastrophic explosion. Authorities mitigated that risk, and people have been able to return home. (Bellisle and Funk, 5/28)
Los Angeles Times: ‘Monster Who Killed Him’: Matthew Perry’s Former Assistant Gets More Than Three Years In Prison
A former live-in assistant to Matthew Perry was sentenced Wednesday to more than three years in prison after repeatedly injecting the actor with ketamine, including the fatal dose that killed him. Kenneth Iwamasa, who previously made $150,000 a year working for Perry, pleaded guilty in August 2024 to conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death. He admitted to repeatedly injecting Perry, 54, with ketamine without medical training, including multiple injections on Oct. 28, 2023 — the day of Perry’s death. (Mejia, 5/27)
GUN VIOLENCE EPIDEMIC
The Baltimore Sun: Gov. Moore Signs Law Banning Most Glocks In Maryland
A collective of gun rights organizations, including the National Rifle Association, sued Gov. Wes Moore and other Maryland officials over the newly signed legislation banning the manufacture, sale and purchase of handguns that can be easily converted into fully automatic weapons in Maryland. (Chingarande, 5/26)
The San Diego Union-Tribune: Long Before San Diego Mosque Shooting, Teen Suspect’s Chula Vista School Raised Alarms
Well more than a year before the May 18 attack, Caleb Vazquez’s behavior had so concerned officials that he was placed on a 72-hour involuntary hold for a mental health evaluation, feared to be a danger to himself or others, court documents indicate. He was then 17 years old and a student at High Tech High in Chula Vista. (Figueroa, 5/26)
