Roll Call: Kennedy Defends CDC Shake-Up, Accusing Medical Experts Of Lies 
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was unrepentant Thursday about his shakeup of the nation’s public health agency and overhaul of federal vaccine policy, accusing a departed director and top medical organizations of lying. (Hellmann and Cohen, 9/4)

Politico: RFK Jr. Says CDC Director’s Firing Is Just A Start 
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has no plans to try to lower the temperature around the upheaval he’s caused at his department. “We are the sickest country in the world. That’s why we have to fire people at the CDC. They did not do their job,” Kennedy said. “I need to fire some of those people to make sure this doesn’t happen again.” (Levien, 9/4)

The Guardian: RFK Jr Hints Access To Key Abortion Drug Could Be Cut Back 
The US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, has suggested that Biden-era regulations expanding access to abortion pills could be rolled back because the Biden administration had “twisted the data” behind the pills. Kennedy made the remark more than an hour into a tense interrogation by members of the US Senate judiciary committee over his chaotic tenure at the health department, which has been marked by thousands of layoffs and the promotion of leaders with little background in public health and medicine. (Sherman, 9/4)

The Hill: Senate Democrats Press RFK Jr. To Step Down As HHS Secretary
Almost every Democratic member of the Senate Finance Committee called on Robert F. Kennedy Jr to step down as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services following a major shakeup at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Eleven of the 12 Democratic Senators on the committee issued a statement Thursday demanding his resignation shortly before Kennedy was scheduled to testify before the committee about recent federal vaccine policy changes as well as the firing and resignations of several top CDC officials. (O’Connell-Domenech, 9/4)

NBC News: GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy Pits RFK Jr. Against Trump On Vaccines
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., grilled Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy on his skepticism of vaccines Thursday, arguing that his actions fly in the face of one of President Donald Trump's biggest achievements. (Kapur, Leach and Khoriaty, 9/4)

Politico: Trump Backs RFK Jr. Following Tense Senate Hearing
President Donald Trump said Thursday that he did not watch Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at-times tense testimony in Congress, but is confident he “means very well.” The secretary faced withering criticism from Democrats and mild rebuke from a handful of Republicans who worried that his stance on vaccines threatens Americans’ safety. (Johansen, 9/4)

More from the hearing —

MedPage Today: RFK Jr. Botches Basic Facts At Senate Hearing
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. repeatedly cited inaccurate numbers and gave evasive responses to simple queries from lawmakers during a Senate hearing on Thursday, with one frustrated senator casting the cabinet head as "ignorant." Responding to Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), who raised concerns about the overprescription of stimulants and their side effects in kids, Kennedy stated that one in every five children in the U.S. takes these medications. (Firth, 9/4)

AP: A Look At False Claims Made By RFK Jr. During A Senate Hearing On MAHA
U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made myriad false and misleading claims on Thursday as he fielded questions examining his seven-month tenure leading the nation’s health agencies at a contentious three-hour hearing. Kennedy ignored government data, twisted legislation and pointed to unsubstantiated treatments while addressing topics such as COVID-19 vaccines, rural hospitals and school shootings. (Goldin, 9/4)

Becker's Hospital Review: Rural Hospitals Painted As Bright Spot In Tense RFK Jr. Senate Hearing: 3 Takeaways
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appeared before the Senate Finance Committee on Sept. 4 to explain his ‘Make America Healthy Again’ agenda and defend sweeping changes to the CDC, vaccine policy and other federal health programs. Here are three of the central takeaways from the nearly three-hour hearing. 1. Mr. Kennedy’s testimony drew bipartisan criticism for his position on vaccines. Sen. Bill Cassidy, MD, R-La., had secured a commitment from Kennedy during his February confirmation that he would not limit Americans’ access to vaccines — a commitment the senator says Mr. Kennedy has broken. (Gamble and Condon, 9/4)

KFF Health News: RFK Jr. Faces Senate Finance Committee: A Live Discussion
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s testimony before the Senate Finance Committee follows the ouster last week of the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Susan Monarez. At least four other senior CDC officials resigned in protest. (9/4)

On autism and MAHA —

The Hill: CNN Host, Senator Debate Vaccine-Autism Claims
CNN host Kasie Hunt and Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) got into a heated debate over Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s stances on vaccines, autism and several other issues that the Health and Human Services secretary defended during a congressional hearing Thursday. (Mastrangelo, 9/4)

CNN: Kennedy Said There Will Be Autism Answers This Month. With Public Health Agencies In Upheaval, Autism Advocates Are Alarmed 
US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pledged in April that there would be answers on the causes of autism this month. Since then, he has ousted public health officials, publicly rebuked studies showing no link between vaccines and autism, and said “interventions” are “almost certainly” responsible for causing rising autism rates. (Owermohle, 9/4)

Vox: Scoop: RFK Jr. And Trump Silenced A Groundbreaking Report On Cancer And Alcohol
Scientists provided the Trump administration with evidence of alcohol’s harms. Here’s why you still haven’t seen this new study. (Scott, 9/4)

The Boston Globe: Massachusetts Insurers Will Cover Costs Of State-Recommended Vaccines, Governor Says
Massachusetts became the first state in the country Thursday to require insurers to cover the cost of COVID shots and other inoculations recommended by state health officials, in another move to counter the Trump administration’s efforts to undo the long national consensus on vaccines. The rift was prompted by new federal limitations on who should receive COVID vaccines under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that have created confusion among consumers, pharmacies, and physicians and made it difficult for even those with demonstrated need to get booster shots. (Laughlin and Schmeiszer, 9/4)

The New York Times: Hochul To Sign Order To Get Around U.S. Limits On Covid Vaccine 
In an effort to ensure more New Yorkers can get the latest Covid vaccines, Gov. Kathy Hochul is planning to sign an executive order that would authorize pharmacists to provide the shot to almost anyone who wants it, the governor’s office said Thursday. The executive order is intended to undo limits that the federal government has imposed. Last week, the Food and Drug Administration approved updated versions of the Covid vaccine, but authorized them only for people 65 and older or for younger people who have an underlying medical condition that makes Covid-19 more dangerous. Children remain eligible if a medical provider is consulted. (Goldstein, 9/4)

The Hill: Hawaii Joining West Coast Vaccine Alliance
Hawaii is joining a coalition of West Coast, Democratic-led states forming a new public health alliance in opposition to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. California, Oregon and Washington state announced the alliance Wednesday, which officials say will provide “evidence-based immunization guidance” rooted in “safety, efficacy, and transparency” to ensure residents receive “credible information free from political interference,” according to a statement from California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D). (O’Connell-Domenech, 9/4)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia Halts Giving COVID-19 Booster Vaccines Amid HHS Uncertainty
Big pharmacies and public health clinics in Georgia are not yet giving this year’s COVID-19 booster shots, or are putting new restrictions in place, amid vaccine uncertainty under Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy. Doctors hope the confusion will be resolved in a couple of weeks, when a federal committee appointed by Kennedy is scheduled to decide on whether to recommend the shot. It is not certain how the committee will vote. (Hart, 9/4)

The Texas Tribune: Texas Vaccine Exemption Form Is Now Downloadable 
Texas parents will no longer have to wait weeks for a vaccine exemption form to be mailed to them if they want their children opted out of state-required immunizations to attend school. This week, the state health agency quietly unveiled the new downloadable vaccine exemption form, the result of state Rep. Lacey Hull’s House Bill 1586 which went into effect on Monday. Along with the form, the Texas Department of State Health Services also published a document listing the benefits and risks of immunization. (Langford, 9/4)

The 19th: Florida Officials Want To Eliminate School Vaccine Mandates. It's Not That Simple. 
Republican officials in Florida announced this week that they want to eliminate all vaccine mandates for schools. It’s not that simple: It will require action from state lawmakers. But the announcement raises several questions about the future spread of infectious diseases and the disproportionate impact on infants, children, the elderly and immunocompromised people in the state and country. (Rodriguez and Nittle, 9/4)

The Hill: 'Florida's Going To Become A Hotbed Of Transmission': Former Biden COVID Adviser
Michael Osterholm, a former Biden administration adviser on COVID-19, said Wednesday that “Florida’s going to become a hotbed of transmission” after Sunshine State officials announced they will seek to make the state the first in the U.S. to officially remove school vaccine mandates. “I would have to tell you, as a parent or a grandparent, I wouldn’t want my kids to go into Florida in the years ahead, to go to Walt Disney World, or any place like that, because Florida’s going to become a hotbed of transmission by eliminating this particular mandate, and I think — unfortunately timely for that to be true,” Osterholm told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on his show. (Suter, 9/4)

In other vaccine developments —

The New York Times: Health Dept. Plans Vaccine Poll Run By Trump Ally’s Firm 
The Department of Health and Human Services is preparing to issue a no-bid contract for a firm run by an ally of President Trump to poll Americans on their “perspectives around vaccines.” The move follows a wide-reaching effort by the health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to dismantle parts of the nation’s health infrastructure that develop and make recommendations for the use of vaccines. A day before the contract proposal was posted last week, Mr. Kennedy moved to fire the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention because of disagreements over his vaccine policies. The polling firm, HarrisX, is part of Stagwell, a marketing company led by Mark Penn, a former political adviser to Bill and Hillary Clinton who has now become a vocal supporter of Mr. Trump. (Cameron, 9/4)

Stat: NIH Whistleblower On Vaccines Says 'The Story Needed To Be Told' 
Whistleblower complaints by two former top National Institutes of Health officials offer their inside accounts of the Trump administration’s targeting of vaccine science at the world’s largest funder of biomedical research and the reach of Matthew Memoli, the agency’s deputy director, in enacting those policies. (Oza and Molteni, 9/4)

Fierce Healthcare: Trump Administration Expands Access To ACA Catastrophic Plans
The Trump administration unveiled plans to expand access to catastrophic plans on the Affordable Care Act's (ACA's) exchanges as the expiry of enhanced premium tax credits looms. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said Thursday that consumers who do not qualify for the advanced subsidies or cost-sharing reductions can apply for a hardship exemption beginning Nov. 1, the first day of open enrollment for the marketplaces. (Minemyer, 9/4)

Modern Healthcare: ACA Enrollment Appeal Forces Insurers To Retool Prices For 2026
A federal court ruling could drive many exchange insurers to scrap their plans for 2026 — again. Perhaps ironically, the latest complication facing health insurance exchange carriers is connected to a legal victory against a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services regulation that likely would suppress exchange membership. (Tepper, 9/4)

The New York Times: Health Care Costs For Workers Begin To Climb
Employees of large and small companies are likely to face higher health care costs, with increases in premiums, bigger deductibles or co-pays, and will possibly lose some benefits next year, according to a large survey of companies nationwide that was released on Thursday. The survey of 1,700 companies, conducted by Mercer, a benefits consultant, indicated that employers are anticipating the sharpest increases in medical costs in about 15 years. Higher drug costs, rising hospital prices and greater demand for care are all contributing factors, experts said. (Abelson, 9/4)

On Medicaid cuts and the uninsured —

Politico: Plans For Second GOP Megabill Face Growing Skepticism 
Republican hopes of pursuing a second major domestic policy package this year are running into major roadblocks as they confront a lack of consensus and a grand, unifying goal — like the extension of sweeping tax cuts that held the last megabill together. The bearish view — already prevalent inside the Senate GOP — is now taking hold among some members of Speaker Mike Johnson’s leadership circle, after he was touting the possibility of a fresh party-line bill as he worked to push the first package across the line in July. (Hill and Carney, 9/5)

AP: New Mexico Governor Urges Lawmakers To Protect Safety Net Programs
New Mexico’s governor is calling on state lawmakers to shore up safety net programs in response to federal spending cuts enacted by President Donald Trump, in an announcement Thursday that highlighted reduced federal support for Medicaid and food assistance programs. More than 40% of New Mexico residents are enrolled in Medicaid health care for people living in poverty or on the cusp — among the highest rates in the nation. (Lee, 9/5)

North Carolina Health News: Medicaid Cuts Threaten Care For NC Residents With Severe Disabilities 
Jennifer Shigley can’t speak or walk without assistance. The 49-year-old also cannot feed or bathe herself. Her father, a retired child psychologist, described her as having the mental capacity of a toddler. “She requires total care,” Hal Shigley said. “Thank goodness she is in a facility where she’s taken good care of.” (Baxley, 9/5)

KFF Health News: Trump Administration Investigates Medicaid Spending On Immigrants In Blue States
The Trump administration is taking its immigration crackdown to the health care safety net, launching Medicaid spending probes in at least six Democratic-led states that provide comprehensive health coverage to poor and disabled immigrants living in the U.S. without permanent legal status. (Hart and Shastri, 9/5)

KFF Health News: He Built Michigan's Medicaid Work Requirement System. Now He's Warning Other States
It was March 2020, and Robert Gordon was about to kick some 80,000 people off health insurance. As the Michigan state health director, he had spent the past year, and some $30 million in state tax dollars, trying to avoid that very thing. Gordon was a Democrat, a veteran of the Obama administration, and he did not want people to lose the Medicaid coverage they had recently gained through the Affordable Care Act. (Wells, 9/5)

The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer: MetroHealth Considers Cutting Charity Care For Some Uninsured Patients 
In an effort to rein in spiraling spending on charity care, MetroHealth System is considering reducing free or discounted bills for some uninsured patients. The proposed reductions would hit, as an example, individuals making $39,000 to $63,000 annually, or a four-person family making $80,000 to $128,000 annually. (Washington, 9/5)

On Medicare Advantage —

Modern Healthcare: UCare To Exit Medicare Advantage In 2026
UCare will exit the Medicare Advantage market in 2026, the company announced Thursday, citing financial challenges in the business. As of Aug. 1, the nonprofit carrier had 186,700 Medicare Advantage members across Minnesota and Wisconsin, up 31.3% from the same period last year, according to data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Overall, the company is one of Minnesota’s largest health insurers, with 600,000 total enrollees. It is the state’s second-largest Medicare Advantage carrier, trailing Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, which has 242,500 members. (Tepper, 9/4)

Modern Healthcare: Elevance Health Cuts Some Medicare Advantage Plans For 2026
Elevance Health will cut some Medicare Advantage plans and fully exit the Medicare Part D standalone prescription drug market next year. The for-profit Blue Cross and Blue Shield licensee will eliminate unprofitable Medicare Advantage plans covering approximately 150,000 individual and group members in total, Chief Financial Officer Mark Kaye said Thursday during the 2025 Wells Fargo Healthcare Conference. The company has prioritized HMO and Dual Special Needs Plan coverage for 2026, he said. (Tepper, 9/4)

Stat: Trump Administration Confirms Plan For PEPFAR To Distribute Gilead's New HIV Prevention Drug 
After months of uncertainty, the Trump administration confirmed that it will work with Gilead Sciences and The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to provide a groundbreaking HIV prevention drug to up to 2 million people in low- and middle-income countries. (Silverman and Mast, 9/4)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: CDC Workers Rehired, Then Told To Shut Down HIV Division
When the nation’s top public health agency in June reinstated more than 460 laid-off workers at the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, not everyone walked back into the job they had abruptly exited just a few months before. Instead, many — particularly in the Division of HIV Prevention — were tasked with the unexpected mission of dismantling their own departments, according to Yolanda Jacobs, a 20-year veteran of the CDC who serves as president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 2883. (Tong, 9/4)

More on federal funding and health research cuts —

The Washington Post: Northwestern President Resigns Amid Funding Cuts, White House Negotiations
The president of Northwestern University announced his resignation Thursday, departing as the school contends with the Trump administration’s cuts to federal research funding and demands to address allegations of antisemitism. (McDaniel, 9/4)

The New York Times: Harvard Won Its Money Back, But Will It Actually Get It? 
A judge ruled that the Trump administration broke the law in canceling billions in federal funds for Harvard. Whether the money is returned matters for the rest of higher education. (Blinder, 9/4)

The New York Times: PBS To Cut 15% Of Its Staff
The cuts include 34 immediate layoffs, the closing of dozens of open positions and reductions made this summer in response to the elimination of federal funding for education programming. (Mullin, 9/4)

Central Florida Public Media: CDC Staffing Cuts Put Future Of Sickle Cell Data Program — And Patients — In Jeopardy
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has eliminated its Division of Blood Disorders and Public Health Genomics, putting the future of a critical federal program for Floridians with sickle cell in jeopardy. The Sickle Cell Data Collection (SCDC) program, active in 16 states including Florida, is the nation's only federally funded initiative tracking long-term data on people living with the disease. Florida has one of the highest numbers of sickle cell diagnoses in the country. (9/4)

On noncompete agreements —

Modern Healthcare: FTC Revisits Noncompete Ban By Reopening Public Comments
The Federal Trade Commission asked the public to weigh in on noncompete contract provisions, even though district courts have blocked the commission’s nationwide ban on most of those agreements. The agency issued a request for information Thursday, seeking detail about employers who unfairly restrict employees from working for a rival organization through noncompetes. These agreements can stunt wage growth, limit competition, reduce innovation and inflate prices, the FTC said. (Kacik, 9/4)

The Washington Post: Migrant Detainees May Remain At Alligator Alcatraz, Appeals Court Rules
A federal appeals court on Thursday put on hold a Miami judge’s order to dismantle the immigrant detention center in the Everglades, even as Florida officials said operations were winding down. Environmentalists and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians sued the state and federal governments for failing to conduct what they say is a required environmental study before commandeering the 39-acre site under the National Environmental Policy Act, known as NEPA. The Florida Division of Emergency Management led the project to erect tents for detainees in chain-link cages, and also to bring in portable air conditioners, lighting, and housing for 1,000 staff. The site has no electricity or plumbing, so drinking and bathing water must be trucked in daily, and waste and sewage trucked out. (Rozsa, 9/4)

KTAR: Detained Woman With Cancer Should Be Free, U.S. Rep. Ansari Says
U.S. Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.) is demanding immediate medical care for an Arizona woman with cancer who was detained at the Eloy Detention Center. The Democrat held a press conference at the U.S. Capitol to advocate on behalf of Arbella “Yari” Rodríguez Márquez, who has leukemia, on Thursday. “Yari was diagnosed with cancer over 10 years ago and has not been able to see a specialist since she was detained in February,” Ansari said during the event. (O'Sullivan, 9/4)

New York Focus: New York Immigrants Weigh Health and Hunger Against Deportation Risk
For years, Susanna Saul has been reassuring some of her clients that it’s safe to apply for public benefits, even if they’re not citizens. Now, she isn’t sure what to say. Saul directs legal programs at Her Justice, a Manhattan-based nonprofit that provides free legal assistance to impoverished women and their children. Its clients include victims of trafficking and domestic violence who, unlike most undocumented people, are eligible for Medicaid under decades-old federal exceptions. (Zou, 9/3)

How Supreme Court justices feel about recent rulings —

Politico: Amy Coney Barrett: Reports Of A Constitutional Crisis Have Been Greatly Exaggerated 
Is the country in a constitutional crisis? Not according to Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett. “Look, I think the Constitution is alive and well,” Barrett said Thursday at an event to promote her new book, Listening to the Law. She cast aside concerns by legal scholars over the ongoing clash between the Trump administration and the courts. “I don’t know what a constitutional crisis would look like,” Barrett, who was appointed by Trump in 2020, added. “I think that our country remains committed to the rule of law. I think we have functioning courts. I think a constitutional crisis — we would clearly be in one if the rule of law crumbles. But that is not the place where we are.” (Oorden, 9/4)

The New York Times: Kavanaugh Acknowledges ‘Difficult Job’ Of His Lower-Court Colleagues
Speaking at a judicial conference in Memphis, Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh expressed sympathy for the district-court judges whose rulings the Supreme Court has repeatedly paused. He called trial-court judges “the front lines of American justice” and thanked them for helping to “preserve and protect the Constitution and the rule of law of the United States.” (Schwartz, 9/4)

The Washington Post: DOJ Discusses A Potential Ban On Transgender People Owning Firearms 
Senior Justice Department officials have held multiple meetings since last week’s deadly Minneapolis Catholic school shooting to consider banning transgender people from owning firearms, according to two people familiar with the discussions. The talks — described as in the early stages by the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations — began after a 23-year-old transgender person allegedly carried out the Aug. 27 shooting that killed two children and injured 17 others during a Mass at Annunciation Catholic School. (Stein and Allison, 9/4)

AP: Shooter Who Killed Schoolchildren In Minneapolis Seen On Video At Gun Shop
The shooter who killed two schoolchildren and injured 21 other people at a Catholic church in Minneapolis visited a suburban gun shop the weekend before the attack, but the owner of the store said Thursday that his staff saw no warning signs in their interactions. (Vancleave and Karnowski, 9/4)

Minnesota Public Radio: Annunciation Mass Shooting Surgeons Share What It Took To Save Victims 
Eight days after the mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis, two children are still in the hospital. Ten-year-old Weston Halsne is recovering well after surgery on Wednesday to remove a bullet fragment from his neck. A funeral for one of the two children killed, 8-year-old Fletcher Merkel, is planned for Sunday. Together, Children’s Minnesota and Hennepin Healthcare — both Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Centers — treated 17 patients immediately after the shooting. When a mass casualty or crisis happens, there’s a careful choreography that starts even before ambulances reach the emergency room. (Wurzer and Stockton, 9/4)

In other mental health news —

AP: LSD Shows Promise For Reducing Anxiety In Drugmaker's Midstage Study
LSD reduced symptoms of anxiety in a midstage study published Thursday, paving the way for additional testing and possible medical approval of a psychedelic drug that has been banned in the U.S. for more than a half century. The results from drugmaker Mindmed tested several doses of LSD in patients with moderate-to-severe generalized anxiety disorder, with the benefits lasting as long as three months. The company plans to conduct follow-up studies to confirm the results and then apply for Food and Drug Administration approval. (Perrone, 9/4)

The New York Times: A Pill to Heal the Brain Could Revolutionize Neuroscience
Neurologists are exploring medications that would help the brain recover after a stroke or traumatic injury. (Gross, 9/4)

The Guardian: Ultrasound ‘Helmet’ Could Treat Parkinson’s Non-Invasively, Study Shows
An ultrasound “helmet” offers potential new ways for treating neurological conditions without surgery or other invasive procedures, a study has shown. The device can target brain regions 1,000 times smaller than ultrasound can, and could replace existing approaches such as deep brain stimulation (DBS) in treating Parkinson’s disease. It also holds potential for conditions such as depression, Tourette syndrome, chronic pain, Alzheimer’s and addiction. (Drobnjak O'Brien, 9/5)

Minnesota Public Radio: Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Challenging Minnesota's Abortion Protections 
A federal judge in Minnesota has dismissed a lawsuit that sought to limit abortion access in the state. Plaintiffs included crisis pregnancy centers and anti-abortion organizations representing several women who said they had abortions that weren’t voluntary. They filed the suit against state officials and abortion providers, claiming that Minnesota’s abortion laws are too permissive. (Timar-Wilcox, 9/5)

More reproductive health news from across the U.S. —

HR Dive: Judge Expands Pregnancy Law Exceptions For Catholic Bishop Group
A federal judge on Wednesday blocked the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission from enforcing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act against the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops “in a way that would require them to make accommodations for abortions, contraception, sterilization, artificial reproductive technologies, or surrogacy” in violation of their religious beliefs. (Shumway, 9/4)

Becker's Hospital Review: Inside UNC Health's 1st-Of-A Kind Rural Women's Health Fellowship
UNC Health is aiming to build a new pipeline of OB-GYNs equipped not only to practice in rural communities, but to take on leadership roles where they can address longstanding disparities in maternal care access and outcomes. The Chapel Hill, N.C.-based system recently created a first-of-a-kind obstetrics and gynecology fellowship training program dedicated to rural women’s health. The two-year program will train physicians out of UNC Health Rockingham in Eden and UNC Health Lenoir in Kinston, which both serve rural counties. (Cerutti, 9/4)

Modern Healthcare: Siemens, GE Healthcare Bring Comfort To Mammograms, Ultrasounds
Walking through the doors of Grace Breast Imaging & Medical Spa feels like entering a living room, complete with comfortable seating and a miniature refrigerator stocked with refreshments. The calming atmosphere extends beyond the reception area. Newer mammography systems, like the one at the clinic in Clive, Iowa, are designed to make a patient more comfortable during a diagnostic test that many have historically avoided due to pain or discomfort. (Dubinsky, 9/4)

On measles, rabies, and whooping cough —

CIDRAP: New Measles Cases Reported In Virginia, New Jersey
Health officials in New Jersey and Virginia yesterday reported new measles cases. The New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH) alerted residents to a new measles case in a resident of Bergen County that's not linked to any previously reported cases in the state. It’s the tenth measles case recorded in the state this year. In Virginia, the Virginia Department of Health confirmed the state's fourth measles case this year is in a school-age student in the eastern region of the state who had recently traveled internationally. (Dall, 9/4)

KHOL/Jackson Hole Community Radio: Guest Tracing Complete After Mass Rabies Scare At Jackson Lake Lodge 
The Wyoming Department of Health is done notifying local health departments for the more than 200 guests from 38 states and seven countries potentially exposed to rabies while staying at the Jackson Lake Lodge in Grand Teton National Park. (McMurtry, 9/4)

New Hampshire Public Radio: Whooping Cough Cases Up In New Hampshire This Year 
The number of cases of whooping cough in New Hampshire this year are already nearly as high as the total number of cases in 2024. According to the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, there were 69 cases of whooping cough in New Hampshire last year, and as of June 30, the state has already seen 63 cases of the disease, which is also known as pertussis. (Richardson, 9/4)

In other health and wellness news —

The Washington Post: Biden Undergoes Surgery To Remove Skin Cancer Lesions
Former president Joe Biden, 82, recently underwent surgery to remove skin cancer lesions on his head, his spokesperson said Thursday. Kelly Scully, a spokesperson for Biden, confirmed that the former president recently had Mohs surgery, a procedure that involves cutting away layers of skin until there are no longer signs of cancer. (Vazquez, 9/4)

The Washington Post: The New Faces Of Cancer: Young, Outspoken And Online
The experiences of cancer patients have long been told through a narrow, often sanitized lens — framed as battles to be fought and wrapped in neatly packaged survival stories. But today, a new generation of patients is rewriting that script. As cancer rates rise among adolescents and adults under 50 — even as overall rates decline — many are making sure their experiences are seen, heard and understood in all their complicated, unfiltered realities. (Cornejo, Sitz, Monroe and Conrad, 8/31)

The New York Times: ‘Who Am I Without Birth Control?’
As social media and wellness podcasters bombard young women with messages about the pill, many are questioning what they’ve long been told. (Goldberg, 9/2)

The Washington Post: The Pregnancy Risk Almost No One Knows About
When Marya Zlatnik meets with women in the early stages of pregnancy, she gives them the standard advice: take prenatal vitamins; avoid alcohol, smoking and eating raw fish. But for certain patients, the maternal fetal medicine specialist at the University of California at San Francisco, who specializes in high-risk pregnancies, adds another warning: Avoid plastic. (Osaka, Hulley-Jones and Ducroquet, 9/4)

The New York Times: ‘I Could Literally Be Left Behind To Die’: How A Student With A Disability Changed The Law
Every time her middle school classmates streamed outside for monthly fire drills, Kira Tiller had to stay behind, worrying about what would happen to her in a real emergency. Flashing bright lights can trigger seizures for Ms. Tiller, who has epilepsy. So her teachers in Gainesville, Va., would send her to a windowless office during drills to avoid the alarm strobes. When her family requested a real emergency plan, administrators just said they would figure it out. She remembers thinking, “I could literally be left behind to die.” (Rao, 8/25)

Bloomberg: Scientists Are Challenging Everything We Know About Deadly Heat Waves 
Earlier this summer, Glen Kenny spent three days confined to a special chamber inside his University of Ottawa lab where the daytime temperature was set at 104 degrees Fahrenheit. The purpose was to see how the researcher’s 61-year-old body held up in brutal indoor temperatures observed during a 2021 heat wave that killed hundreds of Canadians. (Hirji and Clark, 8/29)

AP: Land Mines And Tuberculosis Are No Match For Tanzanian Rats Sniffing Out Danger And Disease
The nonprofit APOPO has worked in Morogoro, Tanzania, for more than two decades to train African giant pouched rats for lifesaving missions. (Denton, 9/4)

Bloomberg: Florida Made A Vaccine Mistake. Now, It's Everyone's Problem. 
Vaccine policy in the US is rapidly dividing into two opposing camps: state leaders who are prioritizing access to shots, and those who are taking increasingly aggressive steps to undermine confidence in them. (Lisa Jarvis, 9/4)

The Wall Street Journal: Susan Monarez: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., The CDC And Me 
I served for 29 days as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Senate confirmed me to ensure that unbiased evidence serves our nation’s health, and for doing that, I lost my job. America’s children could lose far more. (Former CDC Director Susan Monarez, 9/4)

The Washington Post: Covid Backlash Gave Anti-Vaxxers A Foothold. They're Taking It Too Far.
States are often called the laboratories of democracy, but Florida is on the path to becoming a petri dish. See the Sunshine State’s move this week to end vaccine mandates in public schools. (9/4)

CNN: Hawaii Governor: Kennedy Should Step Aside So We Can Save Lives And Rebuild Our Health Care System 
As a father, a physician and a governor, it is my responsibility to protect every community in my state – especially the most vulnerable – from threats to their health and safety, and to advocate for the public health of the entire country. That is why I am making an appeal to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to resign as secretary of Health and Human Services. Mr. Kennedy’s actions as our country’s chief public health officer are not just irresponsible and misguided; they are dangerous. (Dr. Josh Green, 9/4)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: RFK (Again) Lies To Senators' Faces. Both Parties Should Demand His Removal.
How many times is Robert F. Kennedy Jr. going to be allowed to lie right to U.S. senators’ faces about his deliberate dismantling of America’s vaccine shields before they finally insist that President Donald Trump remove this dangerous anti-science zealot from the nation’s top medical post? (9/4)

Stat: FDA ‘Expert’ Panels Are A Threat To U.S. Health Care 
Americans trust the Food and Drug Administration to make life-and-death decisions in the open. Yet in recent months, the agency has increasingly convened ad-hoc “expert panels” that meet without Federal Register notice, formal transcripts, standard conflict of interest reviews, or recorded votes. These expert panels have been tapped to help reshape policy on talc safety, infant formula, hormone replacement, and antidepressant therapy — without the guardrails that have long protected patients, markets, and the FDA’s reputation. (G. Caleb Alexander, 9/5)