Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
HHS Renews Funding For States' Cancer Prevention, Tracking Programs
Stat: HHS To Continue Funding Cancer Prevention, Tracking In States
The Department of Health and Human Services will renew funding to states for cancer prevention and tracking efforts, alleviating anxieties among local officials about the future of their work. (Cueto, 6/30)
NBC News: USAID Cuts Could Lead To 14 Million Deaths Over The Next Five Years, Researchers Say
More than 14 million people could die over the next five years because of the Trump administration’s dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development, according to an analysis published Monday in the medical journal The Lancet. Researchers calculated the lifesaving benefits of USAID funding over a 21-year period, then used the data to determine how many lives would be lost without USAID funding in the future. (Bendix, 6/30)
AP: Bush, Obama — And Singer Bono — Fault Trump's Gutting Of USAID
Former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush delivered rare open criticism of the Trump administration — and singer Bono recited a poem — in an emotional video farewell Monday with staffers of the U.S. Agency for International Development. Obama called the Trump administration’s dismantling of USAID “a colossal mistake.” (Knickmeyer, 7/1)
KFF Health News: HHS Eliminates CDC Staff Who Made Sure Birth Control Is Safe For Women At Risk
For Brianna Henderson, birth control isn’t just about preventing pregnancy. The Texas mother of two was diagnosed with a rare and potentially fatal heart condition after having her second child. In addition to avoiding another pregnancy that could be life-threatening, Henderson has to make sure the contraception she uses doesn’t jeopardize her health. (Pradhan, 7/1)
Bloomberg: Singapore Disease Testing Helps Fill Gap Left By US Funding Cuts
Several times a year, a dozen or so health professionals from across Southeast Asia spend a week in Singapore examining human excrement. They scoop sewage out of manholes and bring it back to a bright, sterile lab at the city-state’s environmental agency, where they concentrate the wastewater, dribble it into test tubes and evaluate it for pathogens. At these training sessions, organized by Duke-NUS Medical School—a leader in infectious disease research—they learn how to extract genetic materials that might indicate the presence of viruses. (Kan, 7/1)
MedPage Today: Experts Skeptical Of Trump's So-Called 'Gold Standard Science'
Federal health agencies are expected to adopt so-called "gold standard science" in line with an executive order, but many in the research community worry this framework creates yet another avenue for political appointees to control what is deemed legitimate evidence. Characteristics of gold standard science listed in the order include being reproducible, transparent, communicative of error and uncertainty, accepting of negative results, and without conflicts of interest, among others. (Robertson, 6/30)
On RFK Jr. and MAHA —
Bloomberg: Hershey To Remove Synthetic Dyes From Its Snacks By End Of 2027
Hershey Co. will remove synthetic dyes from its snacks by the end of 2027, the latest in a string of major food companies that have announced similar moves. The Pennsylvania-based maker of Hershey’s chocolates, Jolly Ranchers candy and SkinnyPop popcorn cited the challenges of navigating the profusion of new state legislation around food dyes. (Peterson, 7/1)
Bloomberg: Lactalis To Review Yoplait, Go-Gurt Ingredients Amid RFK Jr.’s MAHA Push
Top dairymaker Lactalis says it will assess ingredients in newly-acquired yogurt brands like Yoplait and Go-Gurt as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Movement” campaigns for changes in the US food supply, including reducing sugar and removing artificial ingredients. The company, which completed its acquisition of General Mills’s US yogurt business on Monday, will start discussions on ingredients within the next 30 days, said Lactalis US Yogurt Chief Executive Officer Bill Cassidy. The deal was first announced last September. (Peng and Davis, 6/30)
Stat: RFK Jr.'s Latest Move On Vaccine Policy Targets Injury Program
Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has assembled a team that he says will work on ways to expand a federal program aimed at compensating people who have been injured by vaccines, though his power to make big changes without congressional action is unclear. (Cirruzzo, 7/1)
Politico: RFK Jr. Is Bringing Psychedelics To The Republican Party
Driven by a desire to help ex-servicemembers with mental illness, GOP lawmakers led a failed campaign last year to persuade the Biden administration to approve psychedelic drugs. Now they may have found the ally they need in President Donald Trump’s health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Schumaker, 6/29)
