Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Jay Bhattacharya Tapped By Trump To Lead NIH
The New York Times: Trump Picks Stanford Doctor Who Opposed Lockdowns to Head N.I.H.
President-elect Donald J. Trump said on Tuesday evening that he had selected Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a Stanford physician and economist whose authorship of an anti-lockdown treatise during the coronavirus pandemic made him a central figure in a bitter public health debate, to be the director of the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Bhattacharya is one of three lead authors of the Great Barrington Declaration, a manifesto issued in 2020 that contended that the virus should be allowed to spread among young healthy people who were “at minimal risk of death” and could thus develop natural immunity, while prevention efforts were targeted to older people and the vulnerable. (Stolberg, 11/26)
The Wall Street Journal: Covid-Lockdown Critic Jay Bhattacharya Chosen To Lead NIH
Some public-health leaders expressed hope that Bhattacharya could strengthen the agency he once criticized. “Dr. Bhattacharya is a strong choice to lead the NIH,” said Dr. Ned Sharpless, a former National Cancer Institute director. “The support of moderate Senate Republicans will be critical to NIH funding, and Dr. Bhattacharya’s Covid work will give him credibility with this constituency.” (Whyte, 11/26)
Newsweek: What Jay Bhattacharya, Trump's NIH Pick, Has Said About Anthony Fauci
Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, President-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead the National Institutes of Health, remains a vocal critic of Dr. Anthony Fauci and his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Bhattacharya has accused Fauci and other leaders of suppressing scientific research and debate during the pandemic. "The rot, having accumulated over decades, was plain for all to see," he wrote in an opinion piece published on UnHerd, a British news and opinion site, earlier in November. [Scroll down to our op-ed section to read the story.] (Rahman, 11/27)
Jim O'Neill is nominated for HHS deputy chief —
Politico: Trump Picks Jim O’Neill For No. 2 Spot At HHS
President-elect Donald Trump tapped Jim O’Neill, a close associate of early Trump backer Peter Thiel, for HHS deputy secretary. The rise of the former CEO of the Thiel Foundation comes years after O’Neill was in the mix to be Trump’s first FDA commissioner in his first term. O’Neill has ties across Silicon Valley and previously served as HHS principal associate deputy secretary during the George W. Bush administration. (Lim, 11/26)
On CMS and the FDA —
Axios: A Medicare Minefield Awaits Oz
Mehmet Oz, President-elect Trump's pick to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, is about to land in the middle of brewing tensions among Republicans over how the Medicare Advantage program works. Privately run Medicare Advantage plans now enroll more than half of America's seniors, costing the federal government an estimated $83 billion more per year than the traditional Medicare program would for the same enrollees. (Goldman, 11/27)
Bloomberg: Hims & Hers Shares Rally As FDA Pick Marty Makary Seen As Major Ally
Hims & Hers Health Inc. shares surged 24% to close at fresh record after Hunterbrook Media said the company is poised to be a major beneficiary of President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of Marty Makary to lead the Food and Drug Administration. Hunterbrook said in a Monday report that Hims & Hers may have “a key ally” in Makary, who is an executive at Sesame Inc., a startup that also sells compounded GLP-1 weight loss drugs. (Reinicke, 11/25)
