Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
First Edition: Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026
KFF HEALTH NEWS ORIGINAL STORIES
KFF Health News: Her Breast MRI Was Approved, But That Didn’t Mean Her Insurance Would Pay
Last year, Stephanie Halver’s primary care doctor consulted a risk assessment tool to calculate her chances of one day developing breast cancer. Halver, now 43, remembered the likelihood “popped up really high.” That’s partly because Halver’s mother and aunt have had breast cancer. Her age and dense breast tissue also put her at higher risk. (Sausser, 8/26)
KFF Health News: Trump Puts Autistic Kids In The Spotlight And Cuts Agencies Built To Protect Them
At Chain of Lakes Elementary School in Winter Haven, Florida, Josette Smith’s 9-year-old son, Ethan, gets to do what he loves most: crafts, math, and science. That is, when he isn’t being pulled out of class. Ethan has autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. He was diagnosed with autism in kindergarten after displaying behavior that concerned his relatives: He paced, flapped his arms, and became consumed with highly specific interests, such as Martin Luther King Jr. and dachshunds. (Sibonney, 8/26)
THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION
San Francisco Chronicle: Trump Can't Cut Funds To Cities With Policies He Opposes, Court Rules
The Trump administration has no legal authority to cut off billions of dollars in federal health care and housing funds to local governments, including San Francisco, Alameda, Santa Clara and Sonoma counties, unless they cooperate with his policies on immigration, abortion and “gender ideology,” a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday. While engaged in separate court battles to cut off funding for abortions and medical care for transgender youths, President Donald Trump has also sought to withhold aid to cities and counties that use any funds, including their own, for abortions or transgender care, and fail to check the immigration status of everyone receiving aid. (Egelko, 8/25)
The Marshall Project: 600K People Put In Immigration Detention During Trump’s Second Term
More than 45,000 people were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement last month, the highest number since Donald Trump retook office, according to data the Deportation Data Project released Monday. In total, since Trump’s inauguration last year, ICE has detained over 610,000 people — more than the population of Atlanta, Baltimore, Milwaukee or the entire state of Wyoming. (Schwartzapfel and Flagg, 8/25)
OUTBREAKS AND HEALTH THREATS
The Washington Post: 2 Measles-Related Deaths Reported In Pennsylvania, The State’s First In 35 Years
Two Pennsylvania residents have died after contracting measles, the first such deaths in the state in 35 years and the first reported in the United States this year. The deaths prompted Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) to sharply confront the nation’s health secretary over federal vaccine messaging that he said is confusing and harmful. Both the people who died were residents of Lancaster County. The Pennsylvania Health Department declined to release their ages or other information, citing the privacy of the people and their families. (Sun and Roubein, 8/25)
CIDRAP: While Rare, The Tick-Borne Bourbon Virus May Be More Common In US Than Thought
A study published yesterday in the Journal of Infectious Diseases based on plasma antibody testing suggests that a rare tick-borne virus is circulating more widely in the United States than previously thought. (Van Beusekom, 8/25)
CIDRAP: California’s Changing Agricultural Landscape May Bring A Valley Fever Risk
As drought, climate change, and groundwater regulations reshape California’s agricultural landscape, a new study suggests those changes could have consequences for Valley fever risk. The study, published late last week in Science Advances, found that communities surrounded by dry natural landscapes, certain types of farmland, and recently fallowed fields had higher rates of Valley fever (coccidioidomycosis), a fungal infection caused by inhaling Coccidioides spores. (Bergeson, 8/25)
MedPage Today: Trump Cuts Mask True Extent Of Cyclospora Outbreaks
While one major multistate Cyclospora outbreak has been making headlines, there are at least six others simmering -- and the sources haven't yet been identified in those cases. Getting to the bottom of those outbreaks may be more difficult given that infrastructure for tracking cyclosporiasis cases was gutted by the Trump administration last year, an expert told MedPage Today. The massive outbreak of Cyclospora tied to Taylor Farms' iceberg lettuce has reached 10,930 reported cases in 17 states, with the bulk of cases in Michigan. This outbreak has resulted in 454 hospitalizations and two deaths. (Robertson, 8/25)
CIDRAP: DR Congo Suffers Deadliest Week In Its Ebola Outbreak
The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) tracked its highest weekly death toll last week, with more than 300 new deaths. The outbreak, centered in centered in Ituri province, has now grown to 5,514 cases and 2,642 deaths caused by the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola. The outbreak continues to be the fastest-growing in history, and has now recorded seven times more deaths than the 2014-2016 West African Ebola outbreak in the first three months of transmission. The West African outbreak was the deadliest in history, taking the lives of more than 11,000 over a two-plus-year period. (Soucheray, 8/25)
VACCINES
The Hill: Senators Press RFK Jr. Over Promised Divestment In Gardasil Lawsuit
Several Senate Democrats are questioning whether Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. truly divested his financial interests in a lawsuit he helped spearhead challenging the HPV vaccine Gardasil. Before he was confirmed as HHS secretary, Kennedy was part of a lawsuit led by the firm Wisner Baum against the pharmaceutical company Merck, alleging that its HPV vaccine Gardasil caused neurological and autoimmune injuries. (Choi, 8/25)
CIDRAP: MRNA COVID Vaccine Linked To Lower Risk Of Myocarditis In Teens, Young Adults
After reports surfaced of rare cases of myocarditis following COVID-19 vaccination, some parents worried that mRNA vaccines might cause heart disease in their children. But a study published last week in Vaccine looking at more than 4 million children and young adults concludes that those who receive a Pfizer/Biotech COVID-19 vaccine have a lower risk of myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle), pericarditis (inflammation of the sac surrounding the heart), and death than those who do not. (Holohan, 8/25)
Stat: Shingrix Vaccine May Reduce Risk Of Heart Disease And Dementia
The newer shingles vaccine has been turning heads since its link to lower dementia rates was reported two years ago. Now the same research team behind that observation has found an association between receiving the Shingrix shot and a reduced risk of heart disease. (Cooney, 8/26)
POP CULTURE AND CELEBRITIES
Medical Economics: Dolly Parton's Health Care Legacy: Two Decades Of Giving
Dolly Parton, who died Tuesday at 80, funded research at Vanderbilt, the covid vaccine, a women's health center in her home county and the Knoxville children's hospital that bears her name. (Littrell, 8/25)
Becker's Hospital Review: 7 Ways Dolly Parton Left Her Mark On Healthcare
Dolly Parton, the country music icon known for hits like “9 to 5” and “I Will Always Love You,” died Aug. 25 in Nashville, Tenn., at the age of 80, after a brief battle with cancer. Beyond her music and film career, Ms. Parton spent decades directing philanthropic dollars toward hospitals and medical research, much of it concentrated in her native East Tennessee and at Nashville-based Vanderbilt Health. Here are seven ways her giving left an imprint on healthcare. (Bruce, 8/25)
The Guardian: ‘I Just Give From My Heart’: How Dolly Parton’s Philanthropy Focused Most On Helping Children
Dolly Parton never had children, but she felt a particular duty to them. “I didn’t have children because I believed that God didn’t mean for me to have kids so everybody’s kids could be mine,” she told Oprah Winfrey in 2020, the same year she would read picture books aloud on YouTube on Thursday nights for 10 weeks, to distract scared kids during Covid. (Cain, 8/26)
HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY
The New York Times: Medication Mix-Up Leaves Knee Surgery Patient Paralyzed
On Aug. 14, Glenda Dorton, a retired schoolteacher from central Tennessee, went to a Nashville hospital for routine knee replacement surgery. On Tuesday, now paralyzed from her sternum down, she arrived at a spinal injury rehabilitation clinic in Chicago, where she will receive intensive treatment for approximately six weeks to maximize her physical function. (Hassan, 8/26)
STLPR: Lawmaker Seeks Answers About Health Of Gateway Regional Medical Center
U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Springfield, is asking the owners of a Granite City hospital about issues that she said have kept patients from receiving care. In a letter addressed to the CEO of Gateway Regional Medical Center and the head of Los Angeles-based American Healthcare Systems, the company that owns the hospital, the Illinois lawmaker outlined reports of the hospital’s inability to pay employees, staffing issues and disruptions in care for critically ill patients. (Fentem, 8/25)
Healthcare Dive: VA Deploys Oracle EHR To 3 Medical Centers In Indiana
The Department of Veterans Affairs deployed the Oracle electronic health record to three VA hospitals in Indiana on Saturday, marking the third round of rollouts this year. The EHR system has now been deployed at 11 hospitals this year, most recently at four medical centers in Ohio and Kentucky in June and four in Michigan in April. The latest rollout in Indiana gets the VA one step closer to its goal of deploying the federal EHR at 13 sites this year. (Hughes, 8/25)
Modern Healthcare: FTC Finalizes Ascension-Amsurg Consent Order
The Federal Trade Commission finalized a consent order as part of Ascension’s $3.9 billion Amsurg acquisition. The order required Ascension to divest seven Amsurg ambulatory surgery centers — six to SC Affiliates in Nashville, Tennessee; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Waco, Texas; and Wichita, Kansas, and one to Florida Gastroenterology Center in Panama City, Florida. (Hudson, 8/25)
The CT Mirror: CT Funds Housing Development For Waterbury Healthcare Workers
The Connecticut Department of Housing and the city of Waterbury are teaming up on a first-of-its-kind affordable housing development aimed at attracting and retaining healthcare workers. (Golvala, 8/25)
Chicago Tribune: Ex-Loretto Hospital CEO Gets Diversion Deal
In the latest consequences of a grand jury scandal at the U.S. attorney’s office, the former CEO of Loretto Hospital entered into a pretrial diversion agreement Tuesday that will see conspiracy charges against him dismissed as long as he stays out of trouble for a year. (Meisner, 8/25)
Axios: Americans Spend More Than 2.5 Hours In The ER
Patients now spend an average of more than two and a half hours in hospital emergency departments, and visits have been getting longer in nearly half of the states, new federal data shows. (Goldman, 8/25)
Stat: Women's Health As A Profit Driver: The ROI Of Understudied Disorders
The flip side of each new discovery about women’s health is a history of research neglect. Now, as federal funding becomes increasingly precarious, some advocates, academics, and executives are appealing to another incentive. It’s called the profit motive. (Cooney, 8/26)
HealthDay: Want A Doc To Respond To Your Portal Message? These Tips Will Improve Your Odds, Study Says
Doctors were more likely to respond to messages that addressed them by name and had a positive tone, researchers reported Aug. 24 in JAMA Network Open. “One of the most important writing-style features was the message’s salutation,” lead researcher Mitchell Tang said in a news release. He is an assistant professor of health policy and management at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York City. “Simply beginning a message with ‘Dear Dr. Tang’ seemed to make it much more likely that Dr. Tang would end up responding,” he said. (Thompson, 8/25)
PHARMA AND TECH
The Hill: FDA Recalls Potentially 'Superpotent' Thyroid Tablets
Vitruvias Therapeutics is voluntarily recalling one lot of thyroid tablets because they could potentially be “superpotent,” federal regulators announced this week. The high potency 30mg tablets could cause hyperthyroidism, or an overactive thyroid, according to the Food and Drug Administration. The affected lot (504950) was distributed nationwide to Vitruvias Therapeutics’ direct accounts from Jan. 31 to Sept. 30, 2025. (Kaplan, 8/25)
MedPage Today: FDA Authorizes First Wearable Dual Glucose-Ketone Sensor
The FDA authorized the Libre Duo 10 Day Continuous Dual Glucose-Ketone Monitoring System for people ages 2 years and older with diabetes, the agency announced Tuesday. As the first wearable device to track both ketones and glucose simultaneously, the system may reduce the need for traditional single-point blood or urine tests. It's designed for patients who may be at higher risk of elevated ketones, including those with type 1 or type 2 diabetes who use insulin or other glucose-lowering medications. (Monaco, 8/25)
MedPage Today: 'Practice-Changing' Data Expand Zanidatamab's Approval To Gastroesophageal Cancer
The FDA approved zanidatamab (Ziihera) plus tislelizumab (Tevimbra) and chemotherapy as first-line treatment for unresectable/metastatic HER2-positive gastroesophageal cancer. The approval stipulates use in adults with unresectable locally advanced or metastatic gastric, gastroesophageal junction, or esophageal adenocarcinoma with HER2 positivity confirmed by an FDA-approved test. The approval allows use of zanidatamab plus platinum-containing chemotherapy with or without tislelizumab. At the same time the agency approved two diagnostic tests to identify patients who are candidates for zanidatamab, a HER2-targeting bispecific antibody. (Bankhead, 8/25)
Stat: Three Drugmakers Race To Prove Lp(A) Drugs Can Prevent Heart Disease
Many people who face a heightened likelihood of heart disease and heart attacks can take protective measures, whether by adjusting their lifestyle or starting medication. But 1 in 5 people carry a risk factor that isn’t so easily addressed. (Joseph, 8/26)
Bloomberg: PepsiCo Scraps Coverage Of Weight-Loss Drugs For Employees
Some PepsiCo Inc. employees were notified this week that weight-loss drugs will no longer be covered by their company health insurance as of October due to skyrocketing costs. “Prescription weight-loss medications have become one of the fastest-growing costs in the PepsiCo plans,” according to an email sent to some employees that was viewed by Bloomberg News. “Removing coverage for prescription weight-loss drugs enables us to maintain a healthcare program that is sustainable and affordable for all PepsiCo employees.” (Peterson, 8/25)
Bloomberg: Fitbit Founders Launch Screen-Free Health Tracker For Seniors
The co-founders of Fitbit, nearly six years after agreeing to sell their company to Alphabet Inc.’s Google, are launching a new type of wearable tracker: a screen-free device to be worn on the wrist, aimed at continuously monitoring family members, including aging parents. The company, called Luffu, announced its first hardware product Tuesday, prioritizing a jewelry-like design over the clunky appearance of traditional medical devices. The news comes as wearable giants like Whoop, Oura, Garmin and Google embrace increasingly sophisticated screenless devices that focus on serving as sensor packs that pair with smartphone apps. (Kelly, 8/25)
MENTAL HEALTH
Newsweek: Depression May Be Early Warning Sign Of Brain Changes, Study Finds
Rising levels of a protein tied to Alzheimer's disease may show up as depression years before memory problems set in, according to a new study that suggests changes in mood could serve as an early warning sign of brain deterioration in older adults. The research, published in The Journal of Neuroscience, found that as levels of a protein called tau increased in cognitively healthy older people, so did their depressive symptoms. The pattern did not hold in people who already had mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer's disease, suggesting the link between tau and mood may be strongest in the earliest stages of brain change—before other symptoms appear. (Fleur Afshar, 8/26)
STLPR: Suicide Survivors Need Postvention, Says St. Louis Researcher
Four years after he lost his 24-year-old son to suicide, worker wellness advocate John Gaal sat down with his wife and daughter to watch a movie. He said it was one of the first times the family gathered in a relaxed way since his son, John Gaal Jr., died. Then, about 20 minutes into the movie, Gaal’s phone blew up. His friend was calling to ask for support because he just lost his own son to suicide. (Woodbury, 8/25)
Stat: Sword Health To Acquire Headspace, According To Filing
Sword Health, a digital health company known for its AI-powered virtual physical therapy offering, plans to acquire mental health company Headspace, according to a regulatory filing. (Aguilar, 8/25)
STATE WATCH
AP: Michigan AG Releases Report On Flint Water Crisis
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said a report released Tuesday on the lead-water crisis in the city is the final step her office can take toward accountability, years after a state Supreme Court ruling shut down criminal cases against a former governor and eight other people. Flint residents suffered through years of health concerns after lead from old pipes leached into the city’s drinking water once officials began drawing water from the Flint River to save money in 2014. Most of the 101-page report provides a history of the crisis, local and state officials’ slow response and the attempt to bring 42 felony and misdemeanor charges against nine people, including former Republican Gov. Rick Snyder. (Ganun and Collins, 8/25)
ProPublica: Idaho Law Protects Faith Healers. It Wasn’t Always That Way
In Idaho, parents who say their faith prohibits lifesaving medical care for their children can’t be charged with child neglect or manslaughter. Supporters of this protection over the years have included lawmakers who voiced support for “traditional” Idaho values. But from at least the 1880s through the early 1970s, it was illegal for parents in Idaho to choose prayer over medical care when a child’s life was at stake, newspaper archives and historical documents show. (Dutton, 8/26)
The Marshall Project: The Youth ‘Treatment’ Centers Kids Risk Their Lives To Escape
Across the U.S., thousands of kids live locked inside residential treatment centers. They vary in age, but can be as young as 5 years old. They arrive through foster care, court orders, or parents pushed to the brink who were promised their children would finally get help. Instead, many get shipped hundreds of miles across state lines, away from everyone they know. (Bartley and Washington, Jr., 8/25)
AP: California Couple And Surrogate In Legal Battle Over Baby With Severe Heart Defect Testify In Texas
A California couple in an escalating fight with their surrogate over a newborn with a life-threatening heart defect told a Texas court Tuesday that the child’s condition has worsened and they are anguished by attempts to deny them parental rights because they previously wanted an abortion. “He’s our child,” Nausheen Gilkar said, wiping away tears on the witness stand. “She’s unstable,” Gilkar said of surrogate McKenna West, who was sitting across from her in the Dallas courtroom. “She’s trying to take him from us.” (Stengle and Wilder, 8/26)
Los Angeles Times: L.A. Takes Aim At Phenibut, An Unregulated 'Gas Station Drug' That Is Growing In Popularity
Los Angeles is looking to regulate another “gas station drug” on commercial shelves. In a unanimous vote Tuesday, the L.A. City Council instructed the city attorney to draft new regulations for phenibut, a Cold War-era drug that is said to have been used by Soviet cosmonauts, but is abused now as a central nervous system depressant. (McDonald, 8/25)
GLOBAL WATCH
The New York Times: Americans Encounter Risks At Psychedelic Clinics Abroad
A 40-year-old social worker from New Mexico suffered a fatal heart attack in August 2024 after taking the psychedelic drug ibogaine at a retreat in Costa Rica. In 2025, a patient undergoing drug detoxification at a psychedelic clinic in Mexico died during the treatment. And in June, a 41-year-old building inspector from Alabama died of multiple organ failure after ingesting ayahuasca, a hallucinogenic brew, at a spiritual retreat in Peru. Amid surging interest in psychedelic treatments, Americans are traveling abroad, often to Latin America, for mind-altering therapies that remain illegal in the United States. Few understand that this form of medical tourism can carry substantial risks. (Daly and Jacobs, 8/26)
Stat: Turkish Officials Probe Teva For Allegedly Gaming Patent System, Disparaging Rivals
Turkish antitrust regulators are investigating Teva Pharmaceutical, the world’s largest generic drugmaker, for allegedly manipulating the patent system and making misleading statements to health care authorities about the safety and effectiveness of rival medicines. (Silverman, 8/25)
The New York Times: 14 Newborns Die In Hospital Fire In Pakistan’s Capital
Fourteen newborn babies died on Wednesday in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, after a fire broke out in a nursery in the city’s largest hospital, according to officials. Health Minister Syed Mustafa Kamal said in a statement that the fire broke out after an air conditioning unit exploded and that it spread rapidly because of the presence of oxygen cylinders. (Peltier, 8/26)
AP: Hungary Investigates Possible Fraud In Orbán-Era Ventilator Purchases
Hungary’s foreign ministry has filed a criminal complaint with prosecutors over what it says was possible fraud related to the previous government’s purchase of ventilators worth some $965 million during the COVID-19 pandemic, Foreign Minister Anita Orbán said Tuesday. Hungary’s previous government under former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán purchased the roughly 17,000 ventilators from China in March and April 2020, drawing criticism at the time that it was buying far more units than could be realistically deployed and paying much more per unit than other European countries. (Spike, 8/26)
