Overdose deaths are falling, but America's illicit drug supply is re-engineering itself into lethal cocktails: fentanyl plus stimulants, sedatives, and novel synthetics that hide in party powders and pressed pills.
Why it matters: Those polydrug blends — nicknamed "pink cocaine,""rhino tranq,""benzo-dope" and others — are harder to detect, harder to reverse, harder to message against and can even result in the loss of limbs.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy's vaccine advisers have postponed their February meeting amid continued tensions within the Trump administration over removing COVID-19 shots from the market and other policy moves.
Why it matters: The panel, which advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has voted to endorse changes to vaccine standards, including dropping the recommendation that all infants receive a Hepatitis B shot.
A coalition backed by health insurers and employers is launching a new a new effort to showcase hospital pricing as a central driver of rising health care costs, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: Health care affordability is emerging as a key election-year issue, with the Trump administration and many in Congress increasingly questioning why drug prices and insurance premiums are as high as they are.
Big drug companies' pricing deals with the Trump administration barely came up during their most recent round of quarterly earnings calls, in yet another sign that the agreements were mutually beneficial for both parties.
Why it matters: The Trump administration wants to tout lower drug prices on the campaign trail, but it's still unclear how much patients will ultimately benefit.
