KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': American Health Gets a Pink Slip
April 3, 2025
Podcast
The Department of Health and Human Services underwent an unprecedented purge this week, as thousands of employees from the National Institutes of Health, the FDA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other agencies were fired, placed on administrative leave, or offered transfers to far-flung Indian Health Service facilities. Altogether, the layoffs mean the federal government, in a single day, shed hundreds if not thousands of combined years of health and science expertise. Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, Rachel Cohrs Zhang of Bloomberg News, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss this enormous breaking story and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Julie Appleby, who reported and wrote the latest “Bill of the Month” feature about a short-term health plan and a very expensive colonoscopy.
Supreme Court Sides With FDA Over Flavored Vape Application Denials
April 3, 2025
Morning Briefing
In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court dismissed the lower court’s ruling and concluded the FDA adhered to its standards when it assessed the applications. Also, the Supreme Court is allowing a truck driver to sue a CBD company after he tested positive for THC and was fired.
Research Roundup: The Latest Science, Discoveries, And Breakthroughs
April 3, 2025
Morning Briefing
Each week, KFF Health News compiles a selection of the latest health research and news.
CDC Tasked With Cutting $2.9B Of Its Spending On Contracts In Just Weeks
April 3, 2025
Morning Briefing
The Trump administration gave the agency until April 18 to reduce by 35% its spending on contracts. Also, more about the gutting of federal health agencies and how people are responding.
Scientists, ACLU Sue NIH Over ‘Ideological Purge’ Of Research Grants
April 3, 2025
Morning Briefing
Also: How the push against diversity, equity, and inclusion affects transgender people and those with disabilities; the impact of Trump administration cuts on cancer research; and more.
Senators Offer Up Budget Plan That Could Ease Some Health Care Cuts
April 3, 2025
Morning Briefing
Modern Healthcare reports that the Senate Budget Committee’s proposal includes the House’s recommendations that could lead to billions in health program cuts but also provides for greater flexibility. Plus: a proposal to offer nondairy milk options in school lunches.
Missed Deadline: Novavax’s Covid Shot Still Awaiting FDA’s Full Approval
April 3, 2025
Morning Briefing
The Food and Drug Administration had already indicated that it approved the vaccine, but new agency leaders are now requesting more data. Meanwhile, FDA staffers who oversaw expert panel meetings on vaccines have been dismissed. Other news is on measles and shingles.
Nashville School Shooter Manipulated Mental Health Providers, Report Says
April 3, 2025
Morning Briefing
Audrey Hale, who died in the 2023 attack, was able to convince providers and family members that her “homicidal and suicidal ideations were well in her past,” the investigative case summary concludes. Meanwhile, efforts are underway in Florida’s Miami-Dade County and in Ohio to ban fluoride from public drinking water. More news comes from Indiana, North Carolina, and California.
Mass General Brigham Staff Rocked By Layoffs Of Chaplains, Abuse Counselors
April 3, 2025
Morning Briefing
Chaplains help families navigate the decision to take loved ones off life support and also comfort employees struggling with traumatic situations. Among other jobs cut were a clinical social worker who led violence intervention and prevention programs and a tobacco treatment specialist.
Supreme Court Justices Differ On South Carolina’s Planned Parenthood Case
April 3, 2025
Morning Briefing
Planned Parenthood’s attorney, along with liberal justices, stated that “preventing the medical provider from suing over South Carolina’s actions could allow states to exclude providers from Medicaid for any reason at all,” Roll Call reported. Also, the CDC’s IVF unit was cut Tuesday; doctors take a deeper look at the cases of three patients who died because of abortion bans; and more.
Morning Briefing for Thursday, April 3, 2025
April 3, 2025
Morning Briefing
We’d like to speak with personnel from the Department of Health and Human Services or its component agencies about what’s happening within the federal health bureaucracy. Please message us on Signal at (415) 519-8778 or get in touch here.
FDA Layoffs Will Likely Force Cutbacks In Food And Drug Inspections
April 3, 2025
Morning Briefing
CBS reports that roughly 170 workers were laid off from the FDA’s Office of Inspections and Investigations. In related FDA news, the pharmaceutical industry is worried about the cuts; layoffs include senior veterinarians working on bird flu; and more. Also, President Donald Trump’s tariff exemptions for pharma.
First Edition: Thursday, April 3, 2025
April 3, 2025
Morning Briefing
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Trump’s DEI Undoing Undermines Hard-Won Accommodations for Disabled People
By Stephanie Armour
April 3, 2025
KFF Health News Original
From halting diversity programs that benefit disabled workers to making federal staffing cuts, the Trump administration has taken a slew of actions that harm people with disabilities.
What’s Lost: Trump Whacks Tiny Agency That Works To Make the Nation’s Health Care Safer
By Arthur Allen
April 3, 2025
KFF Health News Original
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has helped improve health care safety in a country where thousands die of medical errors each year. It was effectively dissolved Tuesday.
‘If They Cut Too Much, People Will Die’: Health Coalition Pushes GOP on Medicaid Funding
By Christine Mai-Duc
April 3, 2025
KFF Health News Original
As House Republicans mull a massive $880 billion cut from federal programs likely including Medicaid, constituents, disability advocates, and health care providers are joining forces to lobby GOP members in California — including those who represent rural, deeply conservative pockets that stand to lose the most.
Prosecutors To Seek Death Penalty For Mangione In UnitedHealthcare Slaying
April 2, 2025
Morning Briefing
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi accused Luigi Mangione, 26 — on trial in the shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson — of committing a “cold-blooded assassination.” President Donald Trump has restored the use of federal executions, which had been on hold since mid-2021 under the Biden administration.
LA County Forms New Homeless Agency Despite Mayor’s Disapproval
April 2, 2025
Morning Briefing
According to the Los Angeles Times, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors approved a plan Tuesday to move more than $300 million in funds from the existing homeless services agency. Other news is from Massachusetts, Georgia, Colorado, Illinois, and North Carolina.
Study: Exposure To Phthalates May Impact Brain Development In Infants
April 2, 2025
Morning Briefing
The study, published Wednesday in the journal Nature Communications, looked at moms’ phthalate exposure and newborns’ brain development. Other health news is on a promising new drug in the fight against ovarian cancer, the impact of “cold-water immersion” on your body’s cells, and more.
