The Week in Brief: May 30, 2025
Silence on E. Coli Outbreak Highlights How Trump Team’s Changes Undermine Food Safety
By Stephanie Armour
Food safety inspections are being scaled back and the public was not notified after an investigation into E. coli contamination.
A Medicaid Patient Had a Heart Attack While Traveling. He Owed Almost $78,000.
By Arielle Zionts
Federal law says Medicaid must cover out-of-state emergency care. But a Florida man got a five-figure bill after a South Dakota hospital declined to charge his state’s Medicaid program.
A Ministroke Can Have Major Consequences
By Paula Span
What are known as transient ischemic attacks can eventually lead to cognitive declines as steep as those following a full-on stroke, new research finds.
Opioid Settlement Windfall: Where the Billions Are Going
By Aneri Pattani
Opioid manufacturers, distributors, and retailers have been paying billions of dollars to settle lawsuits over their role in the overdose epidemic. How to spend the money remains an open question.
American Doctors Are Moving to Canada To Escape the Trump Administration
By Brett Kelman and Oona Zenda
Canada has seen a surge of American doctors seeking to move north in the months since President Donald Trump returned to the White House.
Language Service Cutbacks Raise Fear of Medical Errors, Misdiagnoses, Deaths
By Vanessa G. Sánchez and Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez
Federal cuts are hurting community organizations in California that provide language assistance services to people who speak limited English. Despite President Trump’s executive order declaring English the national language, millions in the U.S. need help navigating the health system.
Feds Chop Enforcement Staff and Halt Rules Meant To Curb Black Lung in Coal Miners
By Taylor Sisk
The Trump administration has paused implementation of a rule limiting miners’ exposure to airborne silica dust days after a federal court agreed to put it on hold to hear an industry challenge. The protections are meant to head off a surge in cases of black lung disease. Meanwhile, any enforcement of new standards might be meager due to workforce cuts.
Federal Cuts Ripple Through a Bioscience Hub in Rural Montana
By Katheryn Houghton
The National Institutes of Health’s Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, Montana, is one of only a few dozen research facilities of its type. The threat of staffing and grant cuts has town leaders worried and has added to long-standing tension around the lab’s presence in this politically conservative region.
In Arizona County That Backed Trump, Conflicted Feelings About Cutting Medicaid
By Noam N. Levey
Medicaid plays a vital role in many rural communities that favored President Donald Trump in the 2024 election. But residents still seem open to Republican proposals to cut perceived waste in the program.
Journalists Talk Medicaid Cuts and New Limitations on Weight Loss Drugs and Covid Shots
KFF Health News journalists made the rounds on national and local media recently to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.