RFK Jr. Pushes Off Next Meeting Of HHS’ Preventive Services Committee
In a move that raises questions about its future role and composition, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s office has called off a scheduled meeting of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. The panel recommends services that health insurers must cover under the Affordable Care Act.
CNN:
HHS Abruptly Calls Off Meeting Of Expert Panel On Preventive Care, Raising Questions About Its Future
The US Department of Health and Human Services called off an upcoming meeting of expert advisers on preventive health care, raising questions about the future of the longtime nonpolitical advisory group. (Owermohle, Tirrell and Luhby, 7/9)
Stat:
DOJ Issues Subpoenas Related To Gender-Affirming Care
The Department of Justice has issued “nearly 20 subpoenas” to clinics that provide gender-affirming care in relation to “transition-related investigations,” DOJ chief of staff Chad Mizelle said at an event held by the Federal Trade Commission Wednesday. The department has also issued subpoenas to major manufacturers of “the drugs used in trans-related medical interventions” in relation to investigations around drug marketing laws and the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, Mizelle added. (Gaffney, 7/9)
Politico:
Supreme Court Disabuses Federal Workers Who Thought Their Jobs Were Safe
Tens of thousands of workers across the federal government are hoping their unions and allies in local governments and nonprofit groups have a Plan B — a day after the Supreme Court said the Trump administration could proceed with firing them. The hope hangs on the ruling’s suggestion that lower courts could still consider direct challenges to agencies’ reorganization plans. But that will require plaintiffs to bring more detailed cases quickly and convince judges to stop the layoffs before they become a fait accompli. (Schumaker, 7/9)
From Capitol Hill —
Roll Call:
Senate HELP Panel Advances Monarez For CDC Director
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Wednesday voted along party lines, 12-11, to advance Susan Monarez, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to the Senate floor. (Cohen, 7/9)
MedPage Today:
NIDDK Director Fields Questions About Cuts During Senate Committee Hearing
During a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on Wednesday, senators questioned Griffin Rodgers, MD, director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), about recent NIH funding cuts. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), who co-chairs the Senate Diabetes Caucus, expressed concerns that the Trump administration had terminated or frozen NIDDK grants and that the institute could be merged with others amid restructuring efforts. (Henderson, 7/9)
MedPage Today:
Tensions Flare Between Senators At Health Cybersecurity Hearing
Tensions ran high between the two leaders of the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee at a committee hearing Wednesday. The hearing was entitled "Securing the Future of Health Care: Enhancing Cybersecurity and Protecting Americans' Privacy," but Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the committee's ranking member, said that although cybersecurity in healthcare is an important issue, that's not what he would be speaking with witnesses about. (Frieden, 7/9)
Regarding RFK Jr. and MAHA —
The Guardian:
Kennedy Touts Ultra-Processed Meals He Once Called ‘Poison’
Robert F Kennedy Jr, promoted a company whose meals contain ultra-processed ingredients – which he has repeatedly railed against – on his “Make America healthy again” tour. The US health secretary appeared at an enormous food plant in Oklahoma for a company called Mom’s Meals, which makes 1.5m “medically tailored” meals each week and ships them all over the country. (Glenza, 7/9)
The Hill:
Synthetic Dyes Are Under Fire, But M&Ms And Skittles Will Still Use Them
Major American brands have vowed to remove synthetic food dyes from their products, but M&M’s and Skittles, made by Mars, remain colorful holdouts. Mars has continued to use synthetic dyes in its candies after backing off a 2016 plan to remove all artificial colors from its food portfolio. (Dorn, 7/9)
Bloomberg:
Natural Dye Maker Oterra Says There’s Enough To Meet US Demand
There’s plenty of natural food coloring for US companies leaving synthetic dyes behind, but they will have to plan ahead, according to the chief executive officer of one of the world’s largest providers of the ingredient. “You need a year’s heads-up,” Martin Sonntag, CEO of Oterra A/S, said Wednesday in an interview. Most of the crops only grow once a year, he said. (Peterson and Kubzansky, 7/9)
Stat:
What MAHA Gets Right — And Wrong — About European Food
The idea of making the U.S. more like Europe is anathema to many in the Trump administration. But that’s what the Make America Healthy Again movement says it wants — at least when it comes to food. (Todd, 7/10)
Regarding the FDA and PEPFAR —
MedPage Today:
FDA Approves Label Change For Alzheimer's Amyloid Drug
The FDA approved a label update with a new titration schedule for donanemab (Kisunla), an anti-amyloid drug approved to treat early symptomatic Alzheimer's disease, drugmaker Eli Lilly said. The move was designed to reduce the risk of a potentially serious or fatal adverse event -- known as amyloid-related imaging abnormalities with edema and effusion (ARIA-E) -- while maintaining sufficient amyloid reduction. (George, 7/9)
Politico:
Filling The Void Left By PEPFAR
A prominent South African HIV activist is calling on Brazil, China, India and Thailand to step in to help fill the void left by U.S. funding cuts for HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment abroad. How so? Those countries have the capacity to manufacture HIV drugs and, in the case of China and India, strong enough economies to help provide African countries with those medicines, said Zackie Achmat, the founder of the Treatment Action Campaign, a South African HIV activist organization. (Paun and Reader, 7/9)
