Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Insights From Inventor Of Hepatitis B Vaccine; Need For Medical AI Safety Research Is Urgent
Stat: A Doctor's Lessons From The Inventor Of The Hepatitis B Vaccine
Baruch Samuel Blumberg, M.D., Ph.D, led the team of American scientists who discovered the hepatitis B virus in 1965, then developed the first screening test and the first vaccine to protect against infection. In 1976, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery while working at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. (Emilie G.C. Thompson, 1/15)
Stat: Medical AI Safety Research Must Be Ramped Up Now
On Jan. 6, the Food and Drug Administration released updated guidance for clinical decision support (CDS) tools, relaxing key medical device requirements. With this change, many generative artificial intelligence tools that provide diagnostic suggestions or perform supportive tasks like medical history-taking — tools that probably would have required FDA sign-off under the prior policy — could reach clinics without FDA vetting. (Katherine E. Goodman and Daniel Morgan, 1/15)
The Baltimore Sun: The FDA's Growing Addiction To 'No'
According to a recent analysis by Nature, FDA approvals appear to be plateauing. The agency’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research approved 46 new therapeutic agents in 2025, in line with its five-year average. (Ross Marchand, 1/14)
The Washington Post: RFK Jr. Wants To Take Your Child's Vaccines Away By Bankrupting Manufacturers
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wants to flood the vaccine injury compensation program to hurt vaccine access in the U.S. (Ezekiel J. Emanuel and Paul Friedrichs, 1/15)
The Seattle Times: New Vaccine Recommendations Will Harm Americans — For No Good Reason
The American Academy of Pediatrics, with succinct accuracy, criticized the new recommendations as “dangerous and unnecessary.” (Christopher Sanford and Paul Pottinger, 1/14)
