Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
MAHA Influencer 'Dr. Casey' Means Tapped As Surgeon General
Stat: Trump Nominates Casey Means, MAHA Influencer, For Surgeon General
The health entrepreneur and “Make America Healthy Again” leader Casey Means has been nominated to be the U.S. surgeon general after President Trump pulled his prior nominee suddenly on Wednesday. (Cueto, 5/7)
The New York Times: Who Is Casey Means, Trump’s Pick For Surgeon General?
President Trump said on Wednesday that he would nominate Casey Means, a Stanford-educated doctor turned critic of corporate influence on medicine and health, as surgeon general. Dr. Means, an ally of the health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has described becoming disillusioned by establishment medicine. She rose to prominence last year after she and her brother, Calley Means, a White House health adviser and former food industry lobbyist, appeared on Tucker Carlson’s show. (Mueller and Jewett, 5/7)
On RFK Jr. and autism —
The New York Times: RFK Jr. Announces New Database For Research Into ‘Root Causes’ Of Autism
After weeks of confusion about his plans for autism research, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said on Wednesday that his department would build a “real-world platform” that would allow researchers to hunt for causes of the disorder by examining insurance claims, electronic medical records and wearable devices like smart watches. The department will draw the records from Medicare and Medicaid, which together cover around 40 percent of Americans. (Gay Stolberg, 5/7)
Stat: Kennedy Data Plan Faces Same Obstacles That Stymied Earlier Efforts
As health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. prepares to investigate vaccine complication rates, chronic diseases, and autism, real patients’ health records have emerged as a coveted resource. (Palmer, 5/8)
Chicago Tribune: Pritzker Restricts Collection Of Autism Data In Response To RFK Jr. Plan
Gov. JB Pritzker on Wednesday signed an executive order that formally restricts the unauthorized collection of autism-related data by state agencies. Pritzker’s order responds to federal efforts under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to create databases of personal information for those with autism “without clear legal safeguards or accountability,” according to a news release from Pritzker’s office. (Wright, 5/7)
AP: Disabled Workers Question Federal Government Inclusion Amid Trump Cuts
Spencer Goidel, a 33-year-old federal worker in Boca Raton, Florida, with autism, knew what he could be losing when he got laid off from his job as an equal employment opportunity specialist at the IRS. Because of his autism spectrum disorder diagnosis, Goidel had been able to secure his spot as one of more than 500,000 disabled workers in the federal government under Schedule A, which allows federal agencies to bypass the traditional hiring process and pick a qualified candidate from a pool of people with certain disabilities. (Hunter and Hussein, 5/6)
In other 'MAHA' news —
Politico: Nuclear Radiation Survivors See Hope In MAHA
Victims of radiation exposure are putting their hopes in the Trump administration to push through a long-stalled $60 billion bill to compensate people sickened by nuclear waste. Despite President Donald Trump’s efforts to gut environmental and public health regulations and agencies, the bill’s supporters are encouraged by the administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” initiative, writes Andres Picon. (Skibell, 5/6)
