HHS Secretary designate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. earned $326,000 from the anti-vaccine group Children's Health Defense and a $100,000 licensing fee for use of the Make America Healthy Again brand, according to financial disclosure forms posted by the Office of Government Ethics.
Why it matters: The forms offer a detailed picture into Kennedy's extensive financial holdings and how he'd resolve potential conflicts of interest if he's confirmed.
President Trump on Tuesday ordered key federal health agencies to pause all external communications, multipleoutlets reported and Axios confirmed.
Why it matters: The health agencies' website updates, advisories, and scientific reports provide the public with critical information on a variety of medical issues, including food recalls, infectious diseases and new drug approvals.
The spread of influenza A, COVID and RSV is "high" or "very high" across much of the U.S. at the same time norovirus cases are well above normal levels, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and wastewater surveillance data shows.
Why it matters: The result is a "quad-demic" of illness hitting simultaneously in what's shaping up to be a more active virus season than last year.
Vaccinating pregnant women against RSV reduced the risk of infection in their infants by 61% compared with newborns with unvaccinated mothers, new data from Epic Research shows.
Why it matters: RSV is most common cause of hospitalization of children under the age of 1 in the U.S. The Food and Drug Administration in 2023 approved Pfizer's Abrysvo for use from 32 to 36 weeks into a pregnancy.
Republicans from swing states and districts are ducking questions about their openness to cutting Medicaid in order to help pay for an extension of President Trump's tax cuts.
Why it matters: Republican leadership can lose only a handful of votes, making cuts to the safety net program a high-stakes loyalty test that could deliver an early legislative win but result in millions of people losing their health coverage.
President Trump's decision to start withdrawing the U.S. from the World Health Organization puts global health programs in a serious financial squeeze just as disease threats are multiplying.
Why it matters: Trump's reluctance to pay the freight for the global health partnership could come back to bite him if surveillance efforts break down and a regional outbreak turns into another pandemic.
Los Angeles residents dealing with wildfire aftermath have yet another obstacle in front of them: toxic ash.
Why it matters: The danger of breathing ash could "top anything that you were breathing in the moment when the fires were burning," says Michael Kleeman, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at UC Davis who's studied air quality in California for more than 30 years.
A study of more than 2 million Veterans Health Administration patient records found GLP-1 drugs lowered the likelihood of dozens of health conditions including Alzheimer's disease but also had some unexpected risks.
Why it matters: The review in Nature Medicineprovides some of the most compelling evidence yet that the blockbuster drugs for weight loss have widespread health benefits.
For most of the Biden administration, Chiquita Brooks-LaSure presided over Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP and the Affordable Care Act, which combined now insure more than 100 million people.
The big picture: As CMS administrator,Brooks-LaSure kept a relatively low profile but rolled out policies that brought the uninsured rate to historic lows and implemented the first government drug price negotiations. Many voters were unaware of the accomplishments.
Mehmet Oz is in line to succeed her, pending Senate confirmation.
The Trump administration inherited some big health policy headaches on Monday. And the nature of federal rules means it can't start from scratch on key questions about surprise billing, coverage of GLP-1s and prescribing controlled substances.
The big picture: All eyes will be on Trump health appointees as they sort through unfinished business from the Biden years.
President Trump took the first step toward rolling back protections for transgender people on Monday, signing an executive orderthat the federal government would only recognize two sexes, male and female.
Why it matters: Trump made attacks on transgender individuals a central focus of his 2024 campaign, and by issuing the executive order on his first day in office, signaled the importance of the issue in his second term.
The big picture: The U.S. is the WHO's top donor, contributing about $130 million per year to help cover its global health preparedness and response, along with efforts to address HIV, tuberculosis, and childhood vaccination, per Devex.
