FDA Archives - Page 3 of 24

Here Come the ACA Premium Hikes

Episode 407

July 24, 2025

Medicaid may have monopolized Washington’s attention lately, but big changes are coming to the Affordable Care Act as well. Meanwhile, Americans are learning more about what’s in Trump’s big budget law, and polls suggest many don’t like what they see. Julie Appleby of KFF Health News, Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews historian Jonathan Oberlander to mark Medicare’s 60th anniversary.

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What the Health? From KFF Health News

The Senate Saves PEPFAR Funding — For Now

Episode 406

July 17, 2025

The Senate narrowly approved the Trump administration’s request to claw back about $9 billion for foreign aid and public broadcasting but refused to cut funding for the international AIDS/HIV program PEPFAR. Meanwhile, a federal appeals court ruled that West Virginia can ban the abortion pill mifepristone, which could allow states to block other FDA-approved drugs. Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine, Shefali Luthra of The 19th, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.

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What RFK Jr. Isn’t Talking About: How To Make Vaccines Safer

Vaccines are under fire from the top of the Trump administration. Federal programs to monitor them and make them safer have always been underfunded.

By Arthur Allen

June 25, 2025

A teenage boy and his mother sit on a teal couch, side by side, smiling at one another. A dog is seated on each of their laps.

A Revolutionary Drug for Extreme Hunger Offers Clues to Obesity’s Complexity

A new drug is helping families who’ve spent years padlocking fridges, chaining garbage cans, and hiding food as their children with Prader-Willi syndrome deal with unrelenting hunger. But additional progress — and a broader understanding of obesity — is now under threat as the government dismantles the pipeline for promising new research.

By Claire Sibonney

June 16, 2025

Two bottles of clear medical fluid labeled fluorouracil, for IV use only.

Two Patients Faced Chemo. The One Who Survived Demanded a Test To See if It Was Safe.

Worried that President Donald Trump’s FDA might not act, a panel of cancer experts recommended that doctors consider testing before dosing patients with a commonly used but sometimes deadly cancer drug. It came too late for many patients.

By Arthur Allen

June 4, 2025

The Week in Brief

At Trump’s FDA, Anti-Regulatory Approach and Cost-Cutting Put Food Safety System at Risk

Get our weekly newsletter, The Week in Brief, featuring a roundup of our original coverage, Fridays at 2 p.m. ET.

By Stephanie Armour

May 30, 2025

Several hearts of romaine lettuce on white background.

Silence on E. Coli Outbreak Highlights How Trump Team’s Changes Undermine Food Safety

Food safety inspections are being scaled back and the public was not notified after an investigation into E. coli contamination.

By Stephanie Armour

May 28, 2025

What the Health? From KFF Health News

Bill With Billions in Health Program Cuts Passes House

Episode 398

May 23, 2025

The House narrowly passed a budget reconciliation bill, including billions of dollars in tax cuts for the wealthy along with billions of dollars in cuts to health program spending. But the Senate is expected to make major changes to the measure before it can go to President Donald Trump for his signature. This week’s panelists are Julie Rovner of KFF Health News, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico.

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A photo of an arm bandaged after receiving a vaccine.

Trump’s Team Cited Safety in Limiting Covid Shots. Patients, Health Advocates See More Risk.

The FDA will encourage new clinical trials on the widely used vaccines before approving them for children and healthy adults. The requirements could cost drugmakers tens of millions of dollars and are likely to leave boosters largely out of reach for hundreds of millions of Americans this fall.

By Stephanie Armour

May 23, 2025

A photo illustration of an ice cream cone plus two ice cream bars against a pink spiral background. Around them are two drawings of the emulsifier Polysorbate 80's structure diagram.

This News Might Ruin Your Appetite — And Summer

Fresh studies expose a gap in the FDA’s assessments of foods: Widely used additives could damage the mix of bacteria in your gut, causing health problems.

By David Hilzenrath

May 20, 2025

What the Health? From KFF Health News

GOP Tries To Cut Billions in Health Benefits

Episode 397

May 15, 2025

GOP-controlled House committees approved parts of President Donald Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill” this week, including more than $700 billion in cuts to health programs over the next decade — mostly from Medicaid, which covers people with low incomes or disabilities. Meanwhile, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testified before Congress for the first time since taking office and told lawmakers that Americans shouldn’t take medical advice from him. Julie Appleby of KFF Health News, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.

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What the Health? From KFF Health News

Cutting Medicaid Is Hard — Even for the GOP

Episode 396

May 8, 2025

Republicans on Capitol Hill are struggling to reach consensus on cutting the Medicaid program as they search for nearly a trillion dollars in savings over the next decade — as many observers predicted. Meanwhile, turmoil continues at the Department of Health and Human Services, with more controversial cuts and personnel moves, including the sudden nomination of Casey Means, an ally of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s, to become surgeon general. Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Maya Goldman of Axios, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Lauren Sausser, who co-reported the latest “Bill of the Month” feature, about an unexpected bill for what seemed like preventive care.

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A photo of Senator Ron Wyden speaking at the dais during a Senate hearing.

Sen. Ron Wyden Seeks Answers on RFK Jr.’s Purge of FOIA Staff

“Citizen oversight is a cornerstone of a functioning democracy,” Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden wrote to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., demanding answers to more than two dozen questions, including who was involved in decisions to fire staff who handled Freedom of Information Act requests.

By Rachana Pradhan

May 8, 2025

Watch: How the FDA Opens the Door to Risky Chemicals in America’s Food Supply

To a great extent, the FDA leaves it to food companies to determine whether their ingredients and additives are safe. Some chemicals and additives are tied to health risks while others are absent from product labels. Watch this video explainer to learn more.

By David Hilzenrath, Hannah Norman, and Oona Zenda

May 7, 2025

A photo of the insignia for the Food and Drug Administration.

In Reversal, FDA Rehires Staff Tasked With Releasing Public Records

At least some workers who process public records in response to Freedom of Information Act requests have been reinstated, agency employees say.

By Rachana Pradhan

May 2, 2025

What the Health? From KFF Health News

The Dismantling of HHS

Episode 392

April 10, 2025

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A photo of lawyer Aaron Siri gesturing while speaking at a lectern in a hearing room.

RFK Jr.’s Purge of FOIA Staff at FDA Spares People Working on Covid Vaccine Lawsuits

A purge of FDA staff spared some people tasked with responding to a judge’s orders to disclose government records on covid vaccines, according to agency employees. The FOIA litigation was brought by Aaron Siri, an ally of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s who represents anti-vaccine interests.

By Rachana Pradhan

April 10, 2025

A photo of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at his nomination hearing before the Senate Finance Committee.

Firings at Federal Health Agencies Decimate Offices That Release Public Records

The Department of Health and Human Services’ mass firings included people who fulfill Freedom of Information Act requests for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health, and FDA, which result in the release of records about government handling of infectious diseases, medical products, and safety problems in health facilities.

By Rachana Pradhan and Brett Kelman

April 7, 2025

What the Health? From KFF Health News

American Health Gets a Pink Slip

Episode 391

April 3, 2025

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.

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