Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
First Edition: Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026
KFF HEALTH NEWS ORIGINAL STORIES
THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION
Stat: Ralph Abraham, No. 2 Official At CDC, Abruptly Steps Down
The drama and chaos surrounding the leadership of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have taken another twist, with the announcement Monday that the agency’s No. 2 official, Ralph Abraham, has resigned. (Branswell, 2/23)
Politico: RFK Jr. Says We Need More Herbicide Production, Stunning His Followers
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s decision to endorse increased production of a chemical herbicide he has previously called a carcinogen has sparked a furious reaction among his followers and stressed the MAGA-MAHA alliance. The health secretary explained in a post to X on Sunday night he was backing a directive from President Donald Trump to boost manufacturing of agricultural chemicals he says “put Americans at risk” in order to reduce dependence on them from “adversarial nations,” alarming supporters of his Make America Healthy Again movement. (Reader, Burns and Brown, 2/23)
Becker's Hospital Review: AHA Urges HHS To Align AI Rules With Existing Healthcare Regulations
The American Hospital Association is calling on federal health officials to reduce regulatory barriers and ensure clinician oversight as artificial intelligence becomes more integrated into clinical care. In a Feb. 23 letter to the Department of Health and Human Services, the AHA outlined recommendations in response to the agency’s request for information on accelerating AI adoption in healthcare. (Diaz, 2/23)
The New York Times: Trump, Bruised And Unpopular, Turns To State Of The Union For A Reset
This year, a substantial number of Democrats are planning to boycott the speech and attend an alternative event, a rally called the “People’s State of the Union,” which will take place on the National Mall near the Capitol. Representative Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York and the minority leader, has encouraged members to either sit silently through the speech or boycott it altogether, rather than attend and create distractions in the House chamber. Such protests potentially risk alienating swing voters ahead of the midterms. (Broadwater, 2/24)
TRANSGENDER CARE
The Marshall Project: Federal Prisons Prohibit Gender-Affirming Care For Transgender People
The federal prison system will stop providing gender-affirming medical or social transition care to almost any transgender people, under a new policy released by the Bureau of Prisons Thursday. (Schwartzapfel, 2/23)
SUPREME COURT
The Washington Post: Supreme Court To Consider Whether States Can Sue Over Greenhouse Gas Emissions
The Supreme Court agreed Monday to take a case examining whether states and cities can sue fossil fuel companies over harms caused by climate change, a legal tactic modeled on the push to hold tobacco companies responsible for the health effects of smoking. The case is significant because dozens of municipalities are seeking billions in damages from oil and gas companies, often accusing them of misleading the public or hiding evidence about the links between greenhouse gases and climate risks. The companies deny any wrongdoing. (Jouvenal, 2/23)
VACCINE POLICY AND COVID
MedPage Today: RFK Jr. May Eliminate The USPSTF, Original Task Force Members Warn
HHS could completely eliminate the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) or delegitimize the independent body like it did with CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), two original USPSTF members warned. "The USPSTF, the entity established by the Reagan administration to bring scientific rigor to prevention policy, is now under threat by the Trump administration, particularly Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr.," argued Robert Lawrence, MD, the first chair of the task force when it started over four decades ago, and Steven Woolf, MD, MPH, its first scientific advisor, in an Annals of Internal Medicine commentary. (Frieden, 2/23)
CIDRAP: Moderna’s 2-In-1 Flu And COVID Vaccine Shows Encouraging Results In Small Trial
Moderna announced late last week that its mRNA combined seasonal flu and COVID-19 vaccine proved robust and produced a durable immune response in a small, mid-stage trial. There were also no serious safety concerns. According to Reuters, the study involved 550 healthy US adults ages 18 to 75 who received either the experimental combo vaccine (mRNA-1073) and a placebo, or two separate shots of Moderna’s commercially available mRNA flu and COVID vaccines. (Soucheray, 2/23)
CIDRAP: College Students Bounced Back After Pandemic, Long-Term Study Suggests
A long-term study from Michigan State University (MSU) finds that most college students bounced back emotionally after the COVID-19 pandemic, with improved psychological functioning, less loneliness, and more satisfaction with their lives. (Szabo, 2/23)
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH
CNN: Estrogen Patch Shortage As Demand For Menopause Hormone Therapy Grows
Emily Padgett has spent months trying to get her hands on estrogen patches, bouncing between pharmacies, transferring prescriptions and switching brands three times. For a couple of anxious weeks in January, she had to go without them entirely. (Howard, 2/23)
Newsweek: Getting Sick During Pregnancy Increases Child’s Suicide Risk Later In Life
Getting sick during pregnancy may have lasting consequences for a child’s mental health, according to a new study. The research, published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, analyzed national health data from Denmark, following more than two million people from childhood into adulthood. (Gray, 2/23)
HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY
San Francisco Chronicle: Kaiser Mental Health Therapists Authorize Strike In Northern California
Kaiser Permanente mental health therapists across Northern California and the Central Valley have voted overwhelmingly to authorize a one-day unfair labor practice strike, just as the health system’s largest union ended a historic four-week walkout. The National Union of Healthcare Workers said Monday that 92% of participating members backed the strike authorization. The vote covers about 2,400 therapists, social workers and psychologists who provide care in the Bay Area, Sacramento and the Central Valley. (Vaziri, 2/23)
AP: Kaiser Permanente Health Workers Return After 4-Week Strike
An estimated 31,000 registered nurses and other front-line Kaiser Permanente health care workers will return to work on Tuesday after a four-week strike in California and Hawaii to demand better wages and staffing. The United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals said in a statement Monday that “significant movement at the bargaining table” prompted an end to the walkout. The statement didn’t offer more specifics. (Weber, 2/24)
Bloomberg: CVS Boosts Employee Bonuses After Beating 2025 Profit Target
CVS Health Corp. increased bonuses for regular corporate employees as new executives grew profitability, fixing some of the challenges that had previously dragged down the company’s Aetna insurance unit. Bonuses for 2025 will be 42.3% above baseline levels, according to records reviewed by Bloomberg News. That’s a drastic reversal from last year, when bonuses were more than 60% below targets. (Swetlitz, 2/23)
Modern Healthcare: Enhabit To Be Acquired By Kinderhook Industries In $1.1B Deal
Private equity firm Kinderhook Industries has inked a $1.1 billion deal to acquire Enhabit Home Health and Hospice. Enhabit is one of the nation’s largest home care providers, with 376 locations across 34 states. It was a unit of Encompass Health until its spinoff in 2022. Under terms of the definitive agreement, Kinderhook would pay stockholders $13.80 per share for Dallas-based Enhabit, the home care company said Monday. (Eastabrook, 2/23)
Modern Healthcare: No Surprises Act Arbitration Drags Patients Into Billing Disputes
Providers and health insurance companies are accusing each other of gaming the No Surprises Act of 2020, sometimes pulling patients back into the middle of billing disputes the law was meant to prevent. Physician groups, hospitals and air ambulance companies have flooded third-party mediators with millions of claims seeking higher reimbursement from insurers for out-of-network care. Providers argue insurers’ flawed reimbursement methodology is decreasing payment and forcing them to seek arbitration, while insurers contend providers are committing fraud by submitting ineligible claims. (Kacik and Tepper, 2/23)
Modern Healthcare: ViVe 2026: How Health Plans Are Implementing AI Agents
Health plans are strategically implementing artificial intelligence agents to manage member services. At the ViVE 2026 conference in Los Angeles, health plan leaders from Clever Care Health Plan and Medical Mutual of Ohio detailed the ways their organizations have been able to handle call volume and engage members. (Famakinwa, 2/23)
PHARMA AND TECH
MedPage Today: New Pill Approved For Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder
The FDA approved milsaperidone (Bysanti) tablets as first-line therapy for adults with schizophrenia and manic or mixed episodes related to bipolar I disorder, Vanda Pharmaceuticals announced on Friday. Milsaperidone is an active metabolite of Vanda's existing drug iloperidone (Fanapt) and represents a new chemical entity in the atypical antipsychotic class. In clinical research, milsaperidone was bioequivalent to iloperidone across all therapeutic doses, Vanda said. (Monaco, 2/23)
Stat: Bayer Sues J&J Over 'Misleading Claims' About Prostate Cancer Drug
Underscoring the high-stakes market for prostate cancer medicines, Bayer filed a lawsuit accusing Johnson & Johnson of launching a “false advertising campaign” that uses flawed data to wrongfully promote its rival drug as a more effective treatment. (Silverman, 2/23)
Chicago Tribune: AbbVie Plans To Build Two New Manufacturing Facilities
Biopharmaceutical company AbbVie plans to spend $380 million building two new manufacturing facilities in North Chicago — a rare example of a project that’s in line with initiatives by the administrations of Gov. JB Pritzker and President Donald Trump. (Schencker, 2/23)
The Wall Street Journal: Merck Revamps Pharmaceutical Unit, Creating Separate Cancer Business
Merck is shaking up the leadership of its main pharmaceutical unit as the U.S. drugmaker braces for sales pressure later this decade. The Rahway, N.J.-based company said Monday it will split its human-health business into two divisions. One will house its cancer drugs, including the blockbuster Keytruda. The immunotherapy accounts for nearly half of total Merck sales but is due to lose U.S. patent protection in 2028, exposing it to lower-cost copycat competition. (Loftus, 2/23)
The Hill: Diabetes Drug Mounjaro Linked To Reduced Alcohol Intake: Study
An ingredient in the prescription diabetes drug Mounjaro was found to reduce alcohol intake in rodents, according to a recent study. In the study, published in early January in the medical journal eBioMedicine, researchers in Sweden, South Carolina and Brazil looked at how the ingredient, tirzepatide, affected rodents. The researchers found that alcohol’s “rewarding properties” were lessened by the ingredient and that behaviors including the voluntary consumption of alcohol and binge drinking dropped. (Suter, 2/23)
MedPage Today: Breakable Mechanical Heart Valves Eyed For Future Intervention
Failed mechanical heart valves could get a new life with device fracture and subsequent valve-in-valve therapy, research suggested. Contemporary mechanical valve leaflets were successfully fractured using standard angioplasty balloons in controlled lab experiments, leaving the intact valve rings unobstructed and available for possible transcatheter heart valve implantation -- which has implications for people with dysfunctional mechanical heart valves, reported Paulina Jankowska, MD, of University Hospital Heart Center Brandenburg in Neuruppin, Germany, and colleagues. (Lou, 2/23)
STATE WATCH
Roll Call: Florida Officials, Lawmakers Probe Stalled Medicaid Application
The state of Florida and the Trump administration are at odds over the status of a multibillion-dollar application for a Medicaid program that boosts payments to state hospitals. Inaction by the administration has prompted members of Florida’s Republican congressional delegation, who less than a year ago voted to rein in these programs in part to help pay for tax cuts, to intervene to get approval. (Hellmann, 2/23)
CIDRAP: One Month After Spill, Potomac River Still Testing Positive For E Coli, Staph
University of Maryland School of Public Health researchers continue to test water from the Potomac River one month after a wastewater pipe broke, dumping millions of gallons of raw sewage into the river, and find the river still has high levels of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, or staph. (Soucheray, 2/23)
The Texas Tribune: Camp Mystic Parents Sue State, Accusing Texas Officials Of Not Enforcing Evacuation Plan Requirement
Texas health officials failed to follow state law when they licensed Camp Mystic without making sure it had an evacuation plan, parents of nine children and counselors who died in the July 4 flood allege in a new federal lawsuit. Camp Mystic’s emergency instructions directed kids to stay in their cabins during floods, even though Texas rules require youth camps to have evacuation plans for disasters, the lawsuit states. (Foxhall, 2/23)
River City Journalism Fund: How East St. Louis Became Ground Zero Against A Chemical Giant
Joe Harrison’s quest for justice against the Swiss agrochemical giant Syngenta began, officially at least, in August 2023 — just three months before his death. That’s when Harrison’s attorneys filed a lawsuit in the federal courthouse in East St. Louis, Illinois. Harrison owned a small cattle ranch in northeastern Oklahoma, and the lawsuit accuses Syngenta of failing to provide adequate warnings about the dangers of paraquat, the key ingredient in its blockbuster weedkiller Gramoxone. (Fitzgerald, 2/23)
San Francisco Chronicle: SF Bay Area Regulators Issue $10 Million Penalty Against Refinery
An East Bay refinery will pay $10 million to settle allegations stemming from more than 100 notices of environmental violations over four years, including multiple releases of harmful dust that blanketed nearby properties, local officials announced last week. (Park, 2/23)
San Francisco Chronicle: Former S.F. Nonprofit CEO Misspent $1.2 Million, Collected Hidden ‘Double Salary,’ DA Says
The former chief executive of a major San Francisco homeless services provider is facing charges for allegedly misappropriating at least $1.2 million in public funds, some of which appeared to bankroll her luxury lifestyle, prosecutors said Monday. (Barba, 2/23)
San Francisco Chronicle: Cartel Leader ‘El Mencho’ Was First Caught Dealing Drugs In San Francisco At Age 19
More than two decades before Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes built the violent cartel that made him one of the most wanted fugitives in Mexico, he was a young man selling drugs on the streets of San Francisco. The killing of 59-year-old Oseguera Cervantes by the Mexican army on Sunday brought renewed attention to the powerful drug lord known as “El Mencho,” including his early beginnings as a small-time drug dealer in the Bay Area, where he lived with family. (Bauman, 2/23)
PUBLIC HEALTH
NBC News: Microplastics Found In Prostate Tumors In Small Study
In a new study, researchers found microplastics deep inside prostate cancer tumors, raising more questions about the role the ubiquitous pollutants play in public health. The findings — which come from a small study of 10 men — were presented Monday at the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s Genitourinary Cancers Symposium and have not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal. (Cox, 2/23)
Fortune: Scientists Are Pushing Back On The Health Damage Microplastics May Cause, Saying People Are Obese
Don’t toss that scratched-up, questionably stained, borderline EPA Superfund site, 12-year-old cutting board just yet! Your vintage fermentation lab with knife marks might not be so dangerous after all. (Gioino, 2/24)
MedPage Today: Youth Alcohol Cravings May Rise While Scrolling Social Media, Study Suggests
For young adults, seeing alcohol-related social media content translated to greater desire to drink alcohol, especially when coming from lifestyle influencers whom they saw as highly credible, found a randomized trial. (Firth, 2/23)
THE EPSTEIN FILES
AP: Medical Influencer Attia Quits CBS News After Name In Epstein Files
Dr. Peter Attia, a medical influencer whose emails with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were revealed in the latest U.S. Justice Department release of files, has resigned a post with CBS News. Attia, podcast host and author of “Outlive: The Science & Art of Longevity,” was one of a group of people named last month by CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss as a contributor to network programming. He was the subject of a “60 Minutes” profile that ran on the network last October. But shortly after the appointment, Attia’s name surfaced in hundreds of Epstein documents. (2/23)
Stat: Epstein Blood Samples Ignited A 2013 Furor In Harvard Genome Lab
Among several fridges inside the Harvard Medical School lab of renowned geneticist George Church is one devoted to housing tubes of human blood and spit destined to have their cellular contents cracked open, the DNA letters read out and posted to the wilds of the open internet. Eventually. (Molteni, 2/24)
