Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
No Child Deaths Conclusively Linked To Covid Vaccine, FDA Says In Quietly Released Report
NBC News: No Child Deaths Definitively Linked To Covid Shots, FDA Says
No child deaths have been definitively linked to Covid vaccines, according to a report from the Food and Drug Administration that was quietly made public last week. The analysis comes nearly six months after former FDA vaccine chief Dr. Vinay Prasad said, without releasing evidence, that the agency had identified at least 10 previously unreported child deaths tied to the vaccines. (Lovelace Jr., 5/22)
Politico: Relief Group Is Phasing Out Vaccines RFK Jr. Believes Are Unsafe
An international relief group that provides vaccines to poor countries says it’s phasing out some vaccines that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. believes are unsafe. The health secretary has cited Gavi’s use of the shots in blocking $600 million in U.S. funding. In a bid to get Kennedy to relent, the group on Thursday offered to speed the transition to shots that do not contain thimerosal, a mercury-containing preservative. (Paun, 5/22)
In other Trump administration news —
AP: Trump Is Getting A Medical Exam On Tuesday
President Donald Trump is scheduled to get a medical exam on Tuesday, putting his health under renewed public scrutiny after he has worked to dismiss concerns over his age and stamina. The 79-year-old president is scheduled to visit Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for what the White House described as annual preventative medical and dental checkups. It will be Trump’s fourth publicly disclosed medical exam since he returned to office for a second term, and comes as he tries to project strength ahead of midterm elections that will test his sway with voters. (Binkley, 5/26)
Politico: Anti-Abortion Activists' Frustrations Escalate After Abortion Pill Ruling
The Supreme Court’s recent ruling to preserve access to telehealth abortions has escalated anti-abortion activists’ frustrations with the Trump administration and ramped up the groups’ pressure campaign directed at the White House. With the high court unwilling for now to curb the availability of drugs used in more than two-thirds of abortions, abortion opponents are demanding the federal agencies President Donald Trump oversees take immediate action or risk depressing conservative turnout in the upcoming midterm elections. (Ollstein, 5/25)
ProPublica: Lawmakers: DOJ Inspector General Should Investigate Alleged Drugs-For-Votes Scheme In Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico’s representative in Congress and four other members of the House of Representatives have asked the Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General to investigate why a federal probe into a prison drugs-for-votes scheme was abandoned after the 2024 elections. “Credible allegations of election fraud uncovered through federal investigative work warrant serious scrutiny and transparent explanation,” the members of Congress wrote in the May 20 letter, adding that it was essential for “public confidence in democratic institutions” that such claims are handled consistently, “regardless of the political actors involved.” (Rutledge, 5/26)
Stat: What Prompted, And What's Holding Up, An Agency For Men's Health
Just before he was sworn in as assistant secretary for health at the end of 2025, Admiral Brian Christine — a urologist whose practice treated primarily male patients — talked at an FDA panel on testosterone about a series of alarming statistics: Male life expectancy is close to seven years shorter than women’s; men have higher mortality rates in 10 of the leading causes of death; and they make up the vast majority of deaths by suicide. (Merelli, 5/22)
Stat: Acting FDA Commissioner Kyle Diamantas Is Defying Expectations
People in the food world didn’t know what to expect when the Trump administration appointed a little-known Florida attorney as the FDA’s top food official in 2025. (Lawrence, 5/26)
On military food and nutrition —
Military.com: Robert Irvine’s 23-Year Fight To Fix Military Food Is Finally Paying Off
The Army spends roughly $3 billion annually on food procurement and has been expanding a campus-style dining modernization effort designed to improve quality, access and flexibility for soldiers. Robert Irvine says the transformation is long overdue. (Lindsay, 5/25)
