Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
First Edition: Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025
KFF Health News: With RFK Jr. In Charge, Supplement Makers See Chance To Cash In
Last fall, before being named the senior U.S. health official, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the Trump administration would liberate Americans from the FDA’s “aggressive suppression” of vitamins, dietary supplements, and other substances — ending the federal agency’s “war on public health,” as he put it. In fact, the FDA can’t even require that supplements be effective before they are sold. (Allen, 2/25)
KFF Health News: Opioid Cash Grab: As Federal Funding Dries Up, States Turn To Settlement Money
At a recent Nevada legislative committee hearing, lawmakers faced off with members of the governor’s administration over how to fill gaping holes in the state’s upcoming budget. At issue: whether opioid settlement money — paid by health care companies that were sued for fueling the opioid crisis and meant to help states abate addiction — should be funneled to two counties for a safety-net program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, which is aimed at helping low-income children and families. (Pattani, 2/25)
The Hill: Supreme Court Schedules Arguments In Case Where Trump Administration Is Defending ACA
The Supreme Court on Monday scheduled arguments for April 21 in a case that could decide the legality of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) requirement that insurers cover certain preventive services. In a surprising move, the Trump administration said it will continue the Biden White House’s defense of that requirement. But some legal experts said the arguments being presented by the Justice Department indicate a desire to give Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. substantial control over an independent government task force. (Weixel, 2/24)
The Washington Post: Challenge To Abortion Clinic Buffer Zones Turned Away By Supreme Court
A divided Supreme Court on Monday turned away a pair of free speech challenges by abortion opponents to city laws in New Jersey and Illinois that restrict protests directly outside clinics and hospitals where abortions are performed. The court declined to reconsider a 25-year-old precedent that has allowed local governments to create protest-free buffer zones around health-care facilities — a ruling that has long been criticized by some conservative justices. (Marimow, 2/24)
Axios: Justice Thomas Urges Supreme Court To Reconsider Free Speech Rules Near Abortion Clinics
Justice Clarence Thomas issued a scathing dissent Monday after the Supreme Court declined to hear a case challenging free speech rights around abortion clinics, suggesting he wants to revisit the matter after the court ended the federal constitutional right to abortion in 2022. The high court's move marked a loss for abortion opponents who claimed their First Amendment rights are violated by laws that limit demonstrations near clinics. (Habeshian, 2/24)
The Hill: VA Fires Another 1,400 Employees
The Department of Veterans Affairs on Monday fired another 1,400 employees amid outcry over a lack of transparency from the agency after 1,000 workers were axed earlier this month. The VA said the individuals dismissed were “non-mission critical” probationary employees who have served less than two years, according to a department statement. (Mitchell, 2/24)
NBC News: FDA Rehires Staff To Its Medical Devices Division After Mass Layoffs
The Trump administration is reinstating some employees in the Food and Drug Administration's medical devices division after dozens were laid off as part of a government-wide cost-cutting initiative led by billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency, according to two people familiar with the matter. Around 180 employees from the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health, including physicians and cybersecurity experts, were let go on Feb. 15, two workers said they were told by their supervisors. (Lovelace Jr., 2/24)
CNN: FDA Delays When A Final Rule On What Foods Can Be Labeled As ‘Healthy’ Goes Into Effect
The US Food and Drug Administration’s new standards for foods before they can be labeled as “healthy” on their packaging will go into effect about two months later than planned, according to a government document scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on Tuesday. (Howard, 2/24)
Stat: Some NIH Study Sections To Resume Reviews; Grant Funding Remains Unclear
After weeks of being blocked by the Trump administration, one crucial step in the National Institutes of Health process for funding biomedical research is being largely restored, but it seems that won’t immediately allow new grants to be approved and resume the flow of millions of dollars to universities and medical schools. (Molteni and McFarling, 2/24)
Axios: Rare Disease Meeting Gets Pushed Off By HHS
As hundreds of researchers, patient advocates and policymakers gather in Washington, D.C., this week for an advocacy fly-in on rare diseases, a notable gap has appeared on their schedule: an annual gathering hosted by the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health. (Reed, 2/25)
Stat: U.S. Joins WHO-Led Flu Vaccine Meeting, Despite Planned Withdrawal From Agency
Two U.S. government agencies that are key players in the World Health Organization-led process to select the flu viruses for next winter’s influenza vaccines are participating in a meeting to discuss the issue, despite the Trump administration’s plans to withdraw from the global health agency, sources told STAT. (Branswell, 2/24)
Politico: Dems Are Preparing To Blast Republicans On Health Care. It Worked In 2018.
House Democrats hammered Republicans on health care to win back the majority in 2018. Now, they are preparing to punish them again. Private messaging guidance from party leaders, sent to Democratic lawmakers ahead of a planned Tuesday budget vote and obtained by POLITICO, urged them to accuse Republicans of “betray[ing] the middle class by cutting Medicaid while giving huge tax breaks to billionaire donors.” And it encouraged members to “localize” the effects of slashing billions from Medicaid. (Schneider and Wu, 2/25)
Modern Healthcare: UPMC Shooting Prompts Calls For Increased Hospital Security
Clinicians, medical groups and unions have been vocal about rising workplace violence against employees. A 2023 survey from National Nurses United found more than 80% of nurses had experienced workplace violence, ranging from bites and punches to racist remarks and sexual harassment. ... Hospitals have varying levels of security based on the location, patient population and services they provide, said Paul Sarnese, owner of Secured & Prepared Consulting. He said more hospitals are arming their security officers and installing metal detectors to monitor for weapons.(Hudson, 2/24)
Stat: UnitedHealth Works To Protect Its Executives, Reputation, And Profits
Beyond public relations concerns, the company is facing potential shareholder lawsuits and multiple government investigations, including a Department of Justice antitrust probe focused on how it uses its physician workforce to benefit its insurance business. While it largely remains in a defensive crouch, UnitedHealth has begun pushing back, enlisting libel attorneys to go after critics on social media, attempting to squelch dissent from shareholders, and publicly blaming hospitals and drug companies for high prices. It is also moving to align itself with the new Trump administration. (Bannow, Herman, Ross and Lawrence, 2/25)
Politico: BGR Signs New Health Care Coalition
A group of health care investors have launched a new advocacy coalition that aims to promote responsible private investment in health care, according to a press release shared with PI. The group, Association for Responsible Healthcare Investment, has signed on with BGR Group. (Long, 2/24)
Stat: Covid, Inflation Blamed For Indigenous Med School Enrollment Drop
The tiny number of Indigenous students in U.S. medical schools has long been a concern, but Native American medical leaders were taken aback to see 22% fewer American Indian or Alaska Native students had enrolled last year when numbers were released in January. (McFarling, 2/25)
San Francisco Chronicle: 9th Circuit Upholds Elizabeth Holmes' Fraud Conviction
A federal appeals court on Monday upheld the fraud convictions, 11-year prison sentence and $452 million restitution order against Elizabeth Holmes, founder of the blood-testing company Theranos, for falsely claiming revolutionary technology that could conduct hundreds of lab tests from a few drops of blood. Holmes and her then-boyfriend, Ramesh “Sonny” Balwani, Theranos’ president and chief operating officer, were convicted in separate trials in 2022 of deceiving investors and the public about the capabilities of their blood-testing equipment. Holmes was convicted of four counts of fraud, while Balwani was convicted of 12 felony charges and sentenced to nearly 13 years in prison. (Egelko, 2/24)
The Hill: Pfizer Hires Former FDA Drug Division Head As Chief Medical Officer
The former head of the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) drug division is joining Pfizer as its chief medical officer, the company announced Monday. Patrizia Cavazzoni was formerly director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) from 2020 until January, when she resigned just ahead of President Trump’s return to office. Cavazzoni previously worked at Pfizer prior to joining the FDA in 2018. (Weixel, 2/24)
The Wall Street Journal: Red Light Therapy Gets The Green Light, Sort Of
Red-light therapy is getting the green light in some health circles, but it’s early yet to say whether that’s a good thing. The treatment, a type of light therapy called photobiomodulation that involves exposing the body to low levels of red or near-infrared light, purports to help users lose weight, look younger and balance mood. It’s popping up everywhere from hotel spas to European beehives. (Janin, 2/24)
Axios: States Consider Raising Health Premiums For Their Employees
Rising health costs are squeezing states' budgets to the point where some are considering raising premiums for hundreds of thousands of teachers and public employees for the first time in more than a decade. (Goldman, 2/25)
Wyoming Public Radio: Wyoming Bill That Would Likely Close Only Clinic Providing Procedural Abortions Goes To Governor
For the second time in two legislative sessions, Wyoming is poised to enact a law that would likely shut down the only clinic providing procedural abortions in the state. It would require Wellspring Health Access in Casper to become a licensed ambulatory surgical center. That means the clinic would need to renovate some of its doorways and halls. It would also mandate the clinic’s physicians to get admitting privileges for their patients at a hospital no more than 10 miles away from Wellspring, which was set on fire in 2022 and protested by anti-abortion activists on a weekly basis since it reopened in 2023. (Clements, 2/24)
The Texas Tribune: Cancer Cluster Identified Near Texas Toxic Waste Site
Texans living in a 250-square-mile area of Harris County that includes a hazardous Superfund site had abnormally high rates of certain types of cancer, according to a new assessment from the state’s health department. (Martinez, 2/24)
San Francisco Chronicle: Former Stanford Employee Convicted Of Altering Breast Cancer Data
A former Stanford University research coordinator is facing up to 21 years in federal prison after being convicted last week of illegally accessing and altering a breast cancer database hours after she was fired, prosecutors said Monday. Naheed Mangi, 66, was convicted of two counts of intentional damage to a protected computer and one count of accessing a protected computer without authorization, according to the U.S. attorney’s office for the Northern District of California. Her sentencing is scheduled for July 21. (Parker, 2/24)
River City Journalism Fund: Disabled Missourians Suffer Abuse And Death In State System
A review of state records, court documents and department policies, as well as interviews with frontline employees working in the state, reveal a dysfunctional developmental disability system riddled of accusations of abuse, neglect, and in some cases, concerning deaths. From 2017 through 2023, 74 people with developmental disabilities died in some sort of accident while in state care, according to state records obtained by the River City Journalism Fund. Additionally, nine homicides and seven suicides occurred amongst this population during that time, according to the records. Another 2,200 died of natural causes and 392 had an “undetermined” cause of death. (Skipworth, 2/24)
CBS News: Maryland School-Based Mental Health Services Expanded For Medicaid-Enrolled Students
Maryland's health department has expanded its coverage for families on Medicaid to provide students with certain behavioral and mental health services. Now, Maryland public schools can bill Medicaid for students to be given behavioral and mental health services, which could include diagnostic evaluations, individual therapy, family therapy and group therapy, according to the state. (Thompson, 2/24)
WJCT / Jax Today: To Boost Early Childhood Literacy And Health, Duval Is Sending Doctors Out With Books
Duval County has long trailed its urban peers in the state when it comes to producing proficient third-grade readers. Rather than waiting for children to arrive in school to create a culture of literacy and reading, the nonprofit Kids Hope Alliance plans to use a $5.8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Treasury to place books in the hands of mothers almost immediately after they give birth. (Brown, 2/24)
CNN: Antidepressants May Hasten Decline From Dementia, Study Says. Experts Are Unconvinced
Doctors often use antidepressants to manage the depression, anxiety and agitation that accompanies a diagnosis of dementia. Now, a new study suggests the use of antidepressants may hasten the cognitive decline of people with dementia. It’s a conclusion that some experts consider unwarranted. (LaMotte, 2/24)
The Guardian: Antioxidants In Fruits And Flowers Seem To Counteract Harmful Effects Of Microplastics, Study Shows
Antioxidants that give fruits and flowers their vibrant colors seem to counteract some of the most dangerous reproductive system effects of exposure to microplastics, such as decreased fertility, and could ultimately be used in developing treatments, new peer-reviewed research shows. The paper focused on microplastics’ reproductive toxicity and plant compounds called anthocyanins, which are widely found in nuts, fruits and vegetables. The new review of scientific literature on anthocyanins found that the compounds are probably protective against a range of plastic-induced impacts on hormones, reductions in testosterone and estrogen, decreased sperm counts, lower sperm quality, erectile dysfunction and ovarian damage. (Perkins, 2/24)
CNN: Colon Cancer Diagnosis: Exercise May Play A Key Role In Survival, Study Finds
There is something you can do that may help you live longer after a colon cancer diagnosis, and you can start it on your own, at your home or a gym. Exercise is associated with longer lives for patients with colon cancer, according to a new study published Monday in Cancer, a journal of the American Cancer Society. (Holcombe, 2/24)
MedPage Today: No Spike In Cardiac Arrest Among Athletes During The Pandemic, Study Says
Despite concerns, there was no significant increase in sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) among young athletes during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to national surveillance data. Comparing prepandemic and pandemic periods, the numbers of SCA and sudden cardiac death (SCD) logged in the UNC National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research (NCCSIR) database were not significantly different (203 vs 184, P=0.33), reported Jonathan Drezner, MD, of the University of Washington in Seattle, and colleagues. (Lou, 2/24)
