Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Trump Signs Into Law Measure Funding Drug Addiction Recovery
Bloomberg: Trump Signs Law To Unlock Billions For Drug Addiction Recovery
President Donald Trump on Monday signed into law a measure authorizing billions of dollars in federal funding to help prevent drug overdoses and aid patients recovering from addiction, according to the White House. The measure effectively reauthorizes a public health program that was first established under Trump in 2018 and expired five years later. Included are a raft of services designed to combat drug addiction and address mental health, as well as initiatives to bolster research and repay loans for professionals treating substance abuse. Funding generally will still be subject to future appropriations by Congress. (Dlouhy, 12/1)
In related news —
AP: More Of Maine's Oldest Residents Are Struggling With Drug Addiction, And Seeking Medical Treatment
Megan Harrigan hurried around the Union Street Brick Church in Bangor in September, gathering clients and bringing them to the back corner of the church where there was a makeshift clinic of folding tables and metal chairs. Each client was homeless, and most had an opioid addiction. Harrigan knew them all by name. Between helping patients get referrals for opioid treatment medication, providing care for wounds that can come with opioid use, checking on clients she hadn’t seen in a while, and joking with other staff of the street medicine team, Harrigan talked with a Maine Monitor reporter about a shift she has witnessed in recent years: more older adults are doing harder drugs. (Lundy, 12/1)
In vaccine news —
The Hill: Vaccine Critic Martin Kulldorff Joins HHS In Chief Science Officer Role
The chair of a federal vaccine advisory committee, himself a well-known vaccine critic, will be moving to an official role within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the agency announced Monday. HHS announced Martin Kulldorff was appointed to be chief science officer for the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE). Kulldorff, a Swedish biostatistician, served as chair of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier this year after HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired and remade the entire committee with many known vaccine skeptics and critics. (Choi, 12/1)
KFF Health News: RFK Jr. Wants To Delay The Hepatitis B Vaccine. Here’s What Parents Need To Know
Working out of a tribal-owned hospital in Anchorage, Alaska, liver specialist Brian McMahon has spent decades treating the long shadow of hepatitis B. Before a vaccine became available in the 1980s, he saw the virus claim young lives in western Alaskan communities with stunning speed. One of his patients was 17 years old when he first examined her for stomach pain. McMahon discovered she had developed liver cancer caused by hepatitis B, just weeks before she was set to graduate from high school as valedictorian. She died before the ceremony. (Fortiér, 12/2)
The Colorado Sun: CU Anschutz Settles For $10 Million In COVID Vaccine Mandate Case
The University of Colorado Anschutz will pay more than $10 million to settle a lawsuit brought by students and staff who sued in 2021 after being denied religious exemptions to the campus’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate, according to a group that represented the plaintiffs. (Ingold, 12/2)
Bloomberg: China’s 78-Cent Flu Shots Show Price Squeeze For Vaccine Makers
Chinese vaccine makers are caught in a steep downturn, as intensifying competition pushes prices lower and erodes profits, underscoring the far-reaching deflationary pressure across the world’s second-largest economy. Two of the country’s biggest vaccine makers — Chongqing Zhifei Biological Products Co and Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Enterprise Co — posted their first nine-month losses since going public in 2010 and 2021, respectively. Meanwhile, other vaccine producers reported their weakest quarterly earnings in years, with profits plunging by 36% or more. (Tong, 12/1)
In other Trump administration news —
The Hill: Trump Admin To Review Miners' Silica Dust Health Rule
The Trump administration says it will reconsider aspects of a rule that aims to protect miners from exposure to cancer-causing silica dust on the job. In a court filing last week, the Trump administration said that the Labor Department plans to “reconsider” portions of the rule that are the subjects of an ongoing legal fight. It did not specify what exactly it plans to reconsider about the rule, and a spokesperson did not immediately respond to questions from The Hill. (Frazin, 12/1)
Undark: A Cadre Of EPA Scientists Move To The Private Sector
The country's highest-achieving scientists have been leaving the Environmental Protection Agency in droves for the private sector. It’s exactly what President Donald Trump’s administration said it was going to do: shrink the agency’s scientific research apparatus. It’s also an outcome that could come back to bite the EPA in times of crisis, departing researchers say. (Kramer, 12/2)
Stat: CDC Employees Say No Clarity About Reasonable Accommodation Requests
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is asking employees seeking telework as a reasonable accommodation to return to the office until their requests can be processed under a new Health and Human Services policy that is yet to be rolled out across the CDC. (Broderick, 12/2)
Stat: FDA Offers Staff 'Agentic AI' To Support Pre-Market Reviews, Other Tasks
The Food and Drug Administration on Monday announced plans to offer its employees a broader set of artificial intelligence tools to use in premarket reviews and for other purposes amid persistent concerns that the technology can behave unpredictably. (Aguilar, 12/1)
The New York Times: After Trump’s M.R.I. Claim, His Doctor’s Memo Offers Little Clarity
The White House released a letter from President Trump’s physician on Monday about the results of “advanced imaging tests.” The statement, by Dr. Sean P. Barbabella, said the tests on his cardiovascular system and abdominal region showed the president “remains in excellent overall health.” Some medical experts said it was unclear what tests doctors conducted, why they were done or what the results mean. And, they said, a person without symptoms would not have imaging tests as part of a routine medical exam under ordinary medical circumstances. (Kolata, 12/1)
KFF Health News: Feds Promised ‘Radical Transparency’ But Are Withholding Rural Health Fund Applications
Medication-delivering drones and telehealth at local libraries are among the ideas state leaders revealed in November for spending their share of a $50 billion federal rural health program. The Trump administration, which has promised “radical transparency,” said in an FAQ that it plans to publish the “project summary” for states that win awards. Following the lead of federal regulators, many states are withholding their complete applications, and some have refused to release any details. (Tribble and Zionts, 12/2)
