Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
First Edition: Wednesday, May 27, 2026
KFF HEALTH NEWS ORIGINAL STORIES
KFF Health News: Montana Hurries To Adopt Trump’s Medicaid Work Rules Amid Budget Woes
Montana plans to be one of the first states to enforce President Donald Trump’s work mandate for Medicaid enrollees, adding another challenge for state health officials trying to plug a massive budget hole. Clinicians and patient advocates say the incoming changes will deliver a twofold blow: They expect the work requirements to kick more patients off Medicaid, meaning fewer can afford care, while the health department’s budget problems make it harder for doctors to serve those who keep the coverage. (Houghton, 5/27)
KFF Health News: Nurse Convicted In Patient’s Death Turns Fatal Drug Error Into A Cautionary Tale
When RaDonda Vaught got her first speaking request, it had been a year since that day in a Nashville courtroom, when she listened as a jury read her guilty verdict for negligent homicide and neglect of an impaired adult. That was in 2022. Vaught was sentenced to three years of probation for administering the wrong medication and killing a patient at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 2017. (Farmer, 5/27)
KFF Health News: KFF Health News’ ‘Letters To The Editor’: Readers Address Drugged Driving, Suicide Prevention, Worker Shortages
KFF Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories. (5/27)
KFF Health News: Listen To The Latest 'KFF Health News Minute'
Katheryn Houghton reads this week’s news: Some Republican-controlled states require their public health agencies to participate in immigration enforcement. Plus, research finds work requirements for food assistance can drive up unemployment. (Cook, 5/26)
EBOLA OUTBREAK
The New York Times: Trump Administration To Send Americans Exposed To Ebola To Kenya
The Trump administration plans to send to Kenya U.S. citizens exposed to the Ebola virus rather than bring them home for observation and treatment, according to three people with knowledge of the plans. The approach is a stark contrast to the way previous administrations responded to outbreaks, during which health care workers and other U.S. citizens exposed to the virus were brought home to be treated at specialized medical units. The administration this month flew an American doctor who developed symptoms to a hospital in Germany, and transported six other Americans for monitoring in Germany and the Czech Republic. (Mandavilli and Kanno-Youngs, 5/26)
Bloomberg: Ebola Outbreak Prompts CDC To Expand Airport Screening Efforts In US
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is seeking volunteers from its workforce to go to domestic airports and help screen for Ebola as the deadly viral outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda intensifies. The public health agency wants to expand its screening capabilities for international travelers and has prioritized so-called CDCReady Responders for screenings, according to an internal email sent Tuesday by Jay Bhattacharya and viewed by Bloomberg News. (Nix, 5/26)
The Wall Street Journal: Ebola Outbreak Is Now Third Largest In History. Here’s What To Know.
An outbreak of a rare strain of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo is already the third largest in history, just weeks after it likely began. It is spreading rapidly in one of the most volatile and vulnerable regions of the world, worrying U.S. and international health officials. Cuts to international health aid over the past year and a half are adding to the burden, some public-health leaders say. (McKay, 5/26)
AP: People In Congo Displacement Camp Face Ebola Threat With Few Resources
There is one handwashing station and one infrared thermometer to fight the Ebola epidemic in a camp for 10,000 displaced people in Bunia, a city at the heart of the outbreak in eastern Congo. Camp leaders say they tell residents to wash their hands before eating — with soap for the lucky ones who have it. For the rest, the advice is to use oatmeal or sand. “My fear is that we are here with nothing to protect ourselves. We have no protection, no water or soap, and we live near garbage,” Francine Leve Janguzi, a resident of the so-called ISP camp told The Associated Press, as she opened an empty tap in a sea of tarpaulin roofs. (Kabumba and Pronczuk, 5/27)
Bloomberg: India Says Suspected Ebola Patient Has Tested Negative For Virus
India’s first suspected Ebola case has tested negative for the deadly virus, the country’s health ministry said on Wednesday, after a traveler who recently arrived in the country from Uganda developed symptoms and was isolated. (Gupta, Roy, and Sanjay, 5/27)
Bloomberg: Ebola Vaccine From Oxford Covid Team Nears Production For Trials
Production of an experimental Ebola vaccine from the developers of a Covid-19 shot is expected to begin soon, with animal studies underway as researchers race to bring a much-needed tool to the spiraling outbreak. Clinical trials for the shot could begin in two to three months, said Teresa Lambe, head of vaccine immunology, at the University of Oxford’s Pandemic Sciences Institute. “We are cautiously optimistic around that timing,” she said at a briefing. Animal studies, which are required for a vaccine to be tested in humans, have begun and more will get underway soon. (Furlong and Kew, 5/26)
Medical Xpress: Experimental MRNA Vaccine From China Shows Promise Against Multiple Ebola Strains
Scientists from China have developed a new broad-spectrum mRNA vaccine that could provide long-term protection against the most lethal family of Ebola viruses, including the Bundibugyo strain behind the current outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. (Arnold, 5/25)
CNN: Exclusive: Trump Admin Policy Shutting US Disease Researchers Out Of WHO Virus Response Talks
Key officials responsible for leading US research on infectious disease threats have been barred from speaking directly with the World Health Organization — effectively shutting some of them out of the global discussions on virus outbreaks, according to documents and multiple sources who spoke to CNN. The internal Trump administration policy stops individuals at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from communicating with the WHO unless authorized by senior staff. (Owermohle, 5/26)
IMMIGRATION CRISIS
AP: ICE Detainees Dying By Suicide At 'Alarming' Rate, AP Investigation Finds
Brayan Rayo Garzon was distraught. Detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he was on his fourth day of isolation in a Missouri jail as he battled the fevers and chills of COVID-19. His request for mental health treatment had been put off, records show, and staff had forbidden Rayo from making his nightly call to his mother as a precaution intended to prevent the spread of illness. (Foley, Biesecker and Lee, 5/27)
NBC News: Expired Food, Neglected Medical Care And Hunger Strike Allegations Fuel Protests At N.J. ICE Facility
Days of protests outside a New Jersey immigration detention center, including clashes with federal law enforcement, continued Tuesday as demonstrators and lawmakers allege the facility, where detainees waged a hunger strike, has inedible food and lacks access to medical care. Selenia Destefani, the managing attorney for Nova Law Group, which she said represents dozens of detainees at Delaney Hall in Newark, told NBC News on Tuesday that her clients have been given expired food and meals with worms in them. (Silva, 5/27)
ProPublica: Lawmakers Demand Reforms To Immigration Officers’ Use Of Tear Gas And Pepper Spray
Three U.S. senators have called for an overhaul of federal agents’ use of tear gas and pepper spray, citing a ProPublica investigation that found at least 79 children were left screaming, coughing or hurt by these chemicals during President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. Lawmakers said the findings showed more restrictions are needed to avoid injuring bystanders — including children — with chemical munitions. Such weapons were designed to combat rioters and soldiers, and their compounds are toxic, especially to children, who breathe more rapidly than adults relative to their body weight. (Song and Miller, 5/27)
San Francisco Chronicle: ICE Tried To Separate An SF Mom From Her Baby But She Fought Back
Yulisa Alvarado Ambrocio joined fellow asylum-seekers in blocking arrests at San Francisco’s immigration courthouses. They’re on the cusp of a bigger victory. (Hosseini, 5/26)
THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION
Military.com: VA Launches MDMA Clinical Trial To Measure Effects On PTSD, Mental Health
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) on Tuesday announced a new clinical trial of methylenedioxymethamphetamine-assisted therapy, more commonly known as MDMA, to evaluate the safety and efficacy when treating current and former military personnel for severe mental health disorders including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol use disorder. The latest announcement comes on the heels of a strong federal government-wide push across multiple branches to study and, ultimately, lawfully recognize different modalities like MDMA, psilocybin, LSD and ibogaine. Legislation has been crafted on bipartisan levels in both the U.S. House and Senate to accelerate the pace for which the VA, Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) can collectively give the green light for more widespread use in controlled settings. (Mordowanec, 5/26)
NBC News: Trump Administration Floats Requiring All Federal Workers To Sign NDAs
The Trump administration is proposing a rule to require federal workers to sign nondisclosure agreements, according to a draft notice the Office of Personnel Management posted Tuesday. “OPM believes that a governmentwide NDA form will promote consistency across Government, better protect confidential information, and better inform Federal employees of their rights and obligations regarding confidential information,” says the notice, which was posted to the Federal Register. (Gregorian and Dean, 5/26)
USA Today: RFK Jr. Wrangles Snakes Barehanded, Gets Bitten In Latest Animal Video
Add snakes to the list of creatures Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has wrangled. Kennedy, in a now-viral video he posted May 26 on X, is seen grabbing and picking up two of the creatures at the home of Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (Walrath-Holdridge, 5/26)
COVID
EdSource: California Launches Trust Fund For Foster, Covid-Bereft Youth
California foster youth and children who have lost a parent to Covid-19 can now apply for a trust fund to help them begin their adult lives. (Lambert 5/26)
PHARMA AND TECH
MedPage Today: New First-Line Option Approved In Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
The FDA on Friday approved datopotamab deruxtecan (Dato-DXd; Datroway) as a first-line option for unresectable or metastatic triple-negative breast cancer patients ineligible for immunotherapy. (Bassett, 5/26)
MedPage Today: FDA OKs First Treatment For Chronic Hepatitis D Infection
Chronic hepatitis delta virus (HDV) infection has its first FDA-approved treatment, after the agency granted accelerated approval to bulevirtide (Hepcludex) injection for adults without cirrhosis or with compensated cirrhosis. The most severe form of viral hepatitis, HDV infection only occurs in people with hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and brings greater risks of disease progression, liver failure, and mortality than HBV alone. An estimated 40,000 people in the U.S. have chronic HDV. Bulevirtide blocks entry of both HBV and HDV into liver cells. (Rudd, 5/26)
MedPage Today: FDA Approves Neuromodulation Device To Treat PTSD Symptoms
The FDA granted de novo approval for a neuromodulation device to treat symptoms associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), maker Neurovalens announced Tuesday. The wearable, non-invasive device -- dubbed Modius Spero -- uses electrical vestibular system stimulation to target specific brain areas. It is prescribed and overseen by a healthcare professional as part of a comprehensive PTSD care plan. (Monaco, 5/26)
The New York Times: Eli Lilly To Buy 3 Vaccine Developers
Eli Lilly said on Tuesday that it would buy three vaccine developers in deals collectively worth up to $4 billion, a move that signals a return to an area that had not been a major focus for the company in recent years. The three are Curevo, a Seattle-area company developing a vaccine against shingles; LimmaTech Biologics, a Swiss firm targeting staph infections; and Vaccine Company, homing in on the Epstein-Barr virus. None of the three have products on the market. (Robbins, 5/26)
SCIENCE AND INNOVATIONS
The Baltimore Sun: Scientists Identify Protein Driving Parkinson's Spread In The Brain
Scientists from the University of Pennsylvania have identified an immune-system protein that facilitates the spread of Parkinson’s disease to new brain cells and regions. (Hille, 5/27)
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH
WXII: ‘Legacy Of Life’: North Carolina Family Shares How Kyle Busch’s Bundle Of Joy Fund Helped Them Overcome Infertility
In the wake of his death, NASCAR driver Kyle Busch is being remembered not only for his historic wins on the track but also for his work to help families experiencing infertility. In 2015, he and his wife, Samantha, started the Bundle of Joy Fund after struggling to conceive and undergoing in vitro fertilization to have their two children. The couple recognized that the cost of IVF procedures can be out of reach for many families, so they decided to help lift that burden by providing grants. (Kendall, 5/25)
ProPublica: In Arkansas, Emily Waldorf Nearly Died After Being Denied Miscarriage Care
On the morning of Sept. 16, 2024, Emily Waldorf’s preschooler found her curled on the bathroom floor. Waldorf had felt a strange pressure during a shower, like a balloon bulging into her vagina, and was now bleeding. “I can be your pillow, mommy,” her daughter said, nuzzling into her neck. Waldorf was 17 weeks pregnant. She and her husband, Justin, dropped their daughter off at her grandparents’ and rushed to Washington Regional Hospital in Fayetteville, Arkansas, where Waldorf worked as an acute care physical therapist. (Surana, 5/26)
HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY
Modern Healthcare: CVS Files Lawsuit Against Tennessee Pharmacy Board Over PBM Law
CVS Health sued the Tennessee Board of Pharmacy over a law targeting pharmacy benefit managers. The law, signed by Gov. Bill Lee (R) last week and set to go into effect in 2027, will prohibit people or companies from owning, managing or controlling pharmacies in the state at the same time as PBMs and health insurance issuers. In the complaint filed Friday in the Middle District Court of Tennessee, CVS Health argues the law allegedly unfairly favors independent, local pharmacies and is unconstitutional. (DeSilva, 5/26)
San Francisco Chronicle: UCSF Doctor Has Bold Plan For Universal Primary Care In California
Leading Democratic candidates for California governor say they support universal healthcare, but have offered few concrete plans on how to make it happen. An article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association last week, co-authored by a UCSF physician, proposes one way the state could move toward a single-payer system: Make primary care a public utility, like electricity or clean water, and create a “common fund” financed by public and private sources that would directly pay primary care doctors to treat patients. (Ho, 5/26)
Honolulu Civil Beat: Insurer's Latest Move Could Worsen Doctor Shortage
Dr. Katie Min was 36 when she took over her father’s primary care practice in the Queen’s Physicians Office Building in Honolulu’s Punchbowl neighborhood in 2022. Min’s father had taken the practice over from his father, who had started it in the 1940s. Now after three generations, Min says the multigenerational practice is facing an existential financial threat after the state’s largest insurer gave her 60 days’ notice that it was radically changing its reimbursement model for primary care doctors. (Yerton, 5/26)
MedPage Today: Gender Pay Gap A Problem In Pediatrics, AAP Policy Statement Says
Equity in pay should be a professional and public health imperative in pediatrics, where pervasive gender-based pay gaps impact an increasingly female pediatric workforce, a new policy statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) said. The organization made several recommendations to help organizations address those inequities, including metric-based compensation, family-friendly work practices, transparent career advancement pathways, and equitable attainment of leadership positions. (Henderson, 5/26)
Chicago Tribune: Faith Leaders, Doctors Press To Reopen West Suburban Hospital
With the future of West Suburban Medical Center still up in the air, local faith leaders, doctors and employees gathered in front of the hospital Tuesday to demand it be reopened with the community’s needs in mind. “We need to have a serious call to action,” said Bishop Dwight Gunn of Heritage International Christian Church in Austin, noting that his two children were born there. “Not so long ago this hospital stood as a place of hope for many.” (Schencker, 5/26)
Modern Healthcare: WakeMed Backs Atrium Merger Over UNC Health Proposal
WakeMed Health & Hospitals rejected an unsolicited proposal from UNC Health to combine. The proposal followed Atrium Health’s May 1 announcement it plans to merge with WakeMed. A UNC Health spokesperson said the Chapel Hill, North Carolina-based system submitted a proposal to WakeMed for a “broader partnership” May 5. (Hudson, 5/26)
Modern Healthcare: Healthcare Construction Growing Despite Delays, High Costs
High construction costs, shrinking margins and lower reimbursement rates are making it harder for healthcare organizations to invest in capital projects. (DeSilva, 5/26)
Stat: Stanford Health Care Brings Patients Into Decisions On AI Tools
At Stanford University, it’s easy to get carried away with technology. The computer mouse was invented there. So was Google. And now, it’s pumping out a myriad of tools for artificial intelligence in health care. (Trang, 5/27)
STATE WATCH
AP: Chemical Tank Implodes At Washington Mill, Killing 1 And Leaving 9 Missing
A massive chemical tank holding nearly a million gallons of a highly corrosive liquid imploded and collapsed Tuesday at a Washington paper mill, killing at least one worker and leaving nine others unaccounted for with no hope for rescue, authorities said. (Rush and Boone, 5/27)
The New York Times: Evacuation Orders Lifted As Southern California Chemical Tank Cools
Southern California officials lifted a sweeping evacuation order in Orange County late Tuesday after firefighters announced they had stabilized a damaged chemical tank that had posed a risk of a potentially catastrophic explosion or spill. (Hubler and Raney, 5/26)
AP: Supreme Court Rejects Meta's Bid To Avoid Vermont Teen-Harm Lawsuit
The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a push to avoid a lawsuit alleging that Facebook and Instagram harmed young users, a decision that comes as social media companies increasingly face legal scrutiny. Parent company Meta Platforms Inc. appealed after Vermont’s highest court allowed a suit filed by its attorney general in 2023 to move forward. The company is facing similar lawsuits from states across the country, accusing it of knowingly designing addictive features. (Whitehurst, 5/26)
WLRN Public Media: Florida Lawmakers Reach Deal To Restore Funding For HIV Medication Assistance Program
Florida lawmakers have reached a budget deal to fund the AIDS Drug Assistance Program, reversing the cuts made by the Florida Department of Health earlier this year. The new deal, struck Monday, restores eligibility to 400% of the federal poverty level ($62,600 per year), reverses the drug restrictions and provides $75 million to run the program. (Gillespie, 5/26)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: St. Louis Police Look To Launch Drone Unit To Respond To Emergencies
St. Louis police aim to launch a fleet of remote-controlled drones to respond to emergencies before officers can arrive on scene. The department said Tuesday that drones would be stationed at docking stations throughout the city "based on crime trends, 911 call volume, response patterns and operational needs." (Nelson, 5/26)
The Baltimore Sun: Maryland Advocates Call For Mandatory Radon Testing Laws
As a nonsmoker with no family history of cancer, Anju Bhargava had no reason to think her occasional cough could be something serious. But then, about four years ago, she was diagnosed with lung cancer, and a subsequent test of her Ellicott City home found elevated levels of the radioactive gas radon, the leading cause of lung cancer in nonsmokers. (Marbella, 5/27)
The Washington Post: Human Composting Turns Bodies To Soil. Now It's An Option In Maryland.
From the outside, the grocery-store-size facility that sits off a highway a short drive from Baltimore looks like a Costco store. Inside is the equipment for one of the funeral industry’s fastest-growing trends: human composting. (Hedgpeth, 5/27)
GLOBAL WATCH
AP: Hantavirus Cruise Ship Has To Undergo Extra Cleaning In Dutch Port
A cruise ship at the center of a deadly hantavirus outbreak is undergoing further cleaning before it returns to its home port, the company that operates it said Tuesday. In a written statement, Oceanwide Expeditions said the extra work is being carried out on the advice of the GGD local health authority in the port city of Rotterdam, where the vessel returned early last week. It’s home port is in nearby Vlissingen in the southern Netherlands. (Corder, 5/26)
The New York Times: A Powerful H.I.V. Drug Lands In Zambia. But Will It Reach Those Who Need It?
Dozens of students freshly trained as recruiters streamed into the dormitories on the sprawling green campus of the University of Zambia on a muggy morning in March. They wended their way past piles of papers, laundry and instant noodle packages, pouncing on any classmate who slowed long enough to listen to their pitch: “Come with me, right now, and get an injection! It will protect you from H.I.V. infection for the next six months. It will take two minutes! And it’s free!” (Nolen, 5/26)
