Current, Former CDC Staff Warn Against Slashing Support to Local Public Health Departments

Public health and science researchers are concerned about the Trump administration’s cuts to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Reductions in staff and budgets could undermine the nation’s ability to respond to threats, they say.

Workers Prep To Meet ICE Officials at the Health Clinic Door

Recent arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in northern Virginia have put immigrant communities in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area on alert. Health clinics that serve those communities say they are working to continue to care for patients amid detention and arrest fears.

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Federal Health Work in Flux

It’s the Trump administration vs. the federal courts, as the Department of Government Efficiency continues to try to cancel federal contracts and programs and fire workers. But in the haste to cut things, jobs and programs are being eliminated even if they align with the new administration’s goal to “Make America Healthy Again.” Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.

Scientist Whose Work Led FDA To Ban Food Dye Says Agency Overstated Risk

Almost 40 years ago, Joseph Borzelleca published a study on red dye No. 3, a petroleum-based food coloring. The FDA cited his work to ban the additive in January. But Borzelleca says it’s safe.

Scientists Say NIH Officials Told Them To Scrub mRNA References on Grants

Two senior scientists say National Institutes of Health officials advised them to remove references to mRNA vaccines in grant applications, and they fear the Trump administration will abandon a promising field of medical research.

Hospital Gun-Violence Prevention Programs May Be Caught in US Funding Crossfire

Hospital-based violence intervention programs have operated in the U.S. since the mid-1990s. The public health approach to gun violence works, by many accounts. But recent moves by the White House are raising anxiety about the programs’ future.

Your Neighbor Has Backyard Chickens. Should You Be Worried?

The latest outbreak of bird flu has upended egg, poultry, and dairy operations, sickened dozens of farmworkers, and killed at least one person in the U.S. KFF Health News national public health correspondent Amy Maxmen explains why scientists are worried.

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': The State of Federal Health Agencies Is Uncertain

The Supreme Court opined for the first time that Trump administration officials may be exceeding their authority to reshape the federal government by refusing to honor completed contracts, even as lower-court judges started blocking efforts to fire workers, freeze funding, and cancel ongoing contracts. Meanwhile, public health officials are alarmed at the Department of Health and Human Services’ public handling of Texas’ widening measles outbreak, particularly the secretary’s less-than-full endorsement of vaccines. Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health and Politico Magazine, and Stephanie Armour of KFF Health News join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.