Latest Morning Briefing Stories

HHS Eliminates CDC Staff Who Made Sure Birth Control Is Safe for Women at Risk

KFF Health News Original

The Trump administration eliminated the CDC team that developed national guidelines for prescribing contraception safely for millions of women with underlying medical conditions.

A Texas Boy Needed Protection From Measles. The Vaccine Cost $1,400.

KFF Health News Original

A family living in Galveston was surprised to be charged thousands of dollars for immunizations for their children. Their insurance plan didn’t cover the shots, and the cost of the measles vaccine in particular was more than five times what health officials say it goes for in the private sector.

Muchas personas mayores aceptan las vacunas con entusiasmo. La investigación les da la razón

KFF Health News Original

Para los adultos mayores que expresan mayor confianza en la seguridad de las vacunas que los grupos más jóvenes, los últimos meses han traído consigo investigaciones muy positivas.

With Property Seized and Federal Funding Uncertain, Montana Asbestos Clinic Fights for Its Life

KFF Health News Original

The Center for Asbestos Related Disease in Libby, Montana, closed in May after a court judgment allowing BNSF Railway to seize its assets. Now, the clinic’s federal funding is in jeopardy, too.

CDC Staffing Upheaval Disrupts HIV Projects and Wastes Money, Researchers Say

KFF Health News Original

Researchers laid off in April were putting the finishing touches on in-depth HIV surveys that guide treatment and prevention. Some staff have been reinstated, but data remains in limbo.

What the Health? From KFF Health News: RFK Jr. Upends Vaccine Policy, After Promising He Wouldn’t

Podcast

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. this week did something he had promised not to do: He fired every member of the scientific advisory committee that recommends which vaccines should be given to whom. And he replaced them, in some cases, with vaccine skeptics. Meanwhile, hundreds of employees of the National Institutes of Health sent an open letter to the agency’s director, accusing the Trump administration of policies that “undermine the NIH mission.” Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, 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.

Echoing 2020, Police Use Rubber Bullets Against Protesters in Los Angeles

KFF Health News Original

“Less lethal” weapons are once again being used in Los Angeles — against people protesting the Trump administration’s immigration raids. With terms like “foam,” “sponge,” and “bean bag,” the projectiles may sound harmless. They’re not.

‘We Dissent’: NIH Workers Protest Trump Policies That ‘Harm the Health of Americans’

KFF Health News Original

A letter signed by more than 300 National Institutes of Health workers — some still working, others who were fired this year — is an extraordinary public rebuke of actions taken under Director Jay Bhattacharya and health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

El riesgo de consumir marihuana aumentaría en los adultos mayores

KFF Health News Original

Treinta y nueve estados y el Distrito de Columbia permiten ahora el consumo de cannabis con fines médicos, y en 24 de esos estados, y en el distrito, el consumo recreativo también es legal.