The Food and Drug Administration is easing restrictions on unauthorized vapes and scrapping a proposed ban on minors using tanning beds, reflecting a tumultuous shift in priorities during the MAHA era.
The big picture: The moves risk weakening federal efforts to protect teens from unhealthy habits and emboldening industries that market addictive or high-risk products, public health experts warn.
The drug industry struck out at the Supreme Court on Monday in its ongoing efforts to scuttle Medicare drug price negotiations.
Why it matters: It's the latest rebuff to industry arguments that the talks with the government violate free speech protections and due process rights, among other complaints.
The negotiated prices that took effect this year are expected to generate $1.5 billion in savings to patients and $6 billion to Medicare.
Hospitals are bracing for a sweeping rewrite of federal health privacy rules that could result in more penalties for cybersecurity breachesand add billions of dollars in costs.
Why it matters: Spurred by the massive Change Healthcare hack in 2024, the changes reflect a growing belief that at least some health care breaches are preventable and that hospitals should be required to meet baseline security standards.
In a polarized country, hope may be one of the few values Americans still share, and it's easier to find than most realize.
Why it matters: A new poll reveals that hope is less about optimism and more about what people do. That has real implications for how organizations and communities show up for one another.
Senate health committee chair Bill Cassidy's defeat in Louisiana's GOP primary on Saturday could complicate Trump administration's efforts to fill top positions at the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the surgeon general post.
In the long term, it opens the door for a new committee chair if Republicans hold the Senate in November, or a new ranking member if they don't.
The Trump administration is overhauling federal addiction policy and moving away from harm reduction strategies through steps like cutting federal funding for fentanyl test strips.
Why it matters: Many Republicans have long argued these strategies can promote addiction, butclinicians and treatment advocates worry the shifts underway could deter people from getting care.
