Kennedy Swaps Vaccine Rhetoric for Story Time but Can’t Quite Change the Subject
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Public Health
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In Search of a New FDA Commissioner
Episode 446As widely expected, Marty Makary stepped down as head of the FDA this week. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court weighs blocking telehealth prescriptions for the abortion pill mifepristone. Rachel Cohrs Zhang of Bloomberg News, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Lauren Weber of The Washington Post join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.).
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License To Deliver: Some Midwives Break the Law To Assist With Home Births
Some states bar professional midwives from attending home births if they don’t have a nursing license. Their advocates say laws to allow midwife licensing would make home birth safer and more accessible, plus help address a maternity care shortage.
By Lisa Rab -
Hantavirus News Roundup: From Céline Gounder of KFF Health News
Following a recent outbreak of the deadly hantavirus on the cruise ship MV Hondius, KFF Health News editor-at-large and infectious disease doctor Céline Gounder spoke to numerous media outlets about the risks from the disease.
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RFK Jr. Swaps Vaccine Talk for Healthy Foods and Reading to Tots in Push To Woo Voters
He tested robotic hands on a heart surgery patient and chewed on microgreens in Ohio, but Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. couldn’t dodge questions about the Trump administration’s more controversial policies.
By Amanda Seitz -
Trump’s Drug Strategy Aims To Bolster Addiction Services — Despite Gutting of Government Support
The White House’s strategy for tackling the drug and addiction crisis, released this week, sets lofty public health goals but highlights deep inconsistencies with the administration’s own funding cuts and other policies.
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States Eye Aid To Prop Up Distressed Hospitals Amid Federal Medicaid Cuts
Hundreds of hospitals nationwide are bracing for Medicaid cuts as a result of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Some state lawmakers are eyeing loans and other forms of financial aid to distressed hospitals in rural and urban areas, as healthcare providers warn of cuts to critical services and scramble for funding.
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She Survived 2 Shootings. Research Helps Explain Why Her Pain Persists Years Later.
Witnessing a shooting, hearing gunfire, losing someone, or living in a violent area can leave people with chronic pain and stress long afterward.
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Journalists Share Latest on Baby Formula Safety, Estrogen Patches, and Postcancer Costs
KFF Health News journalists made the rounds on national and local media recently to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
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Prevention Efforts Increasingly See Suicide Through a Broader Lens
Get our weekly newsletter, The Week in Brief, featuring a roundup of our original coverage, Fridays at 2 p.m. ET.
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When Natural Disasters Strike, Another Crisis Hits Those Recovering From Opioid Addiction
Using Hurricane Helene as a teachable moment, a group of doctors outlined concrete steps that lawmakers can take to reverse a crisis in getting substance use medications during natural disasters.
By Andrew Jones -
Saving Lives by Changing Lives: The Next Frontier in Suicide Prevention
Someone in America dies by suicide every 11 minutes. It’s a tragic and entrenched problem. A new approach to prevention shifts the focus from stopping harm in moments of crisis to upstream policies that give people reasons to live.
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Watch: Acknowledging Health Care’s Great Divide
As part of her "How Would You Fix It?" series, podcast host Julie Rovner chats with health policy expert David Blumenthal about how politics can gum up health policy progress.
By Hannah Norman and Julie Rovner RFK Jr. vs. Congress
Episode 443HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. completed his tour of House and Senate committees this week, ostensibly to promote President Donald Trump’s budget proposal for his department but also to answer for some of his more controversial positions, particularly on vaccines. Meanwhile, Trump signed an order to facilitate the use of hallucinogens to treat mental health conditions. Victoria Knight of Bloomberg Government, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Sheryl Gay Stolberg of The New York Times join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, as part of our “How Would You Fix It?” series, Rovner interviews Harvard public health professor David Blumenthal.
A New CDC Nominee, Again
Episode 442-
As US Birth Rate Falls, Feds’ Response May Make Pregnancy More Dangerous
A funding notice for Title X shifts the program’s emphasis from contraception to fertility, family formation, and addressing conditions that could cause infertility, including endometriosis. Experts say these priorities overlook key demographic trends, epidemiology, prevention of unwanted pregnancies, and the nation's high maternal mortality.
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New Orleans Takes Steps To Assess and Clean Lead in Playgrounds After Investigation
New Orleans’ mayor signed an executive order, and the city is requesting $5 million in federal funds to address lead in playgrounds.
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Pennsylvania Town Faces Fallout From Trump’s Environmental Rule Rollback
Even as the Trump administration publicly embraces the Make America Healthy Again movement and its ideals about reducing corporate harm to the environment, it has taken steps to stall environmental protections that MAHA followers hold dear.
By Stephanie Armour and Maia Rosenfeld -
Listen: What the Vaccine Schedule Whiplash Means for Your Kids
Big swings in federal vaccine policy are giving some parents and clinicians whiplash. KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner appeared on WAMU’s “Health Hub” to break down the latest developments and their relation to growing cases of vaccine-preventable illnesses in the Washington, D.C., region.
By Julie Rovner -
US Scientists Sequence 1,000 Genomes From Measles, a Disease Long Eliminated With Vaccines
This week, the CDC began to publish long-awaited data that will reveal the extent of measles’ comeback. While applauding the science, researchers say the Trump administration has done little to contain the virus. “That we’re even talking about this is nuts,” one virologist said.
By Amy Maxmen