Category: CDC
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STAT+: With U.S. vaccine policy in flux, four members of CDC advisory panel receive termination notices
STAT+: With U.S. vaccine policy in flux, four members of CDC advisory panel receive termination notices Four members of the 19-person expert panel that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on vaccination policy have been informed that their status as special government employees has been terminated — a development that throws into question…
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STAT+: RFK Jr.’s chronic disease agency would eliminate or reduce funding for some prevention programs
STAT+: RFK Jr.’s chronic disease agency would eliminate or reduce funding for some prevention programs Budget documents released by the Trump administration Friday provide the first clear indication of the priorities of a proposed new agency focused on preventing chronic disease. The Administration for a Healthy America would absorb multiple federal agencies and existing programs,…
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Opinion: RFK Jr.’s stance on Covid vaccines for pregnant women is profoundly unethical
Opinion: RFK Jr.’s stance on Covid vaccines for pregnant women is profoundly unethical Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy’s proposal to end the government’s existing Covid vaccine recommendation for healthy pregnant women, if enacted, will be a major setback to decades’ worth of efforts to advance the health of pregnant people and their babies.…
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STAT+: RFK Jr.’s latest moves on vaccines
STAT+: RFK Jr.’s latest moves on vaccines You’re reading the web edition of D.C. Diagnosis, STAT’s twice-weekly newsletter about the politics and policy of health and medicine. Sign up here to receive it in your inbox on Tuesdays and Thursdays. NIH is terminating research grants left and right, impeding early career paths and leading some young scientists…
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RFK Jr. rolls back Covid vaccine recommendations for healthy children, pregnant people
RFK Jr. rolls back Covid vaccine recommendations for healthy children, pregnant people Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Tuesday that he has unilaterally struck the recommendation that healthy children and healthy pregnant people get Covid-19 booster shots — a move that experts say is unprecedented. Kennedy made the announcement on the social media site X,…
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STAT+: What’s already been lost from CDC layoffs
STAT+: What’s already been lost from CDC layoffs You’re reading the web edition of D.C. Diagnosis, STAT’s twice-weekly newsletter about the politics and policy of health and medicine. Sign up here to receive it in your inbox on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Summer holiday weekends are a challenge. Do I seek a “relaxing” long weekend sitting in traffic…
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STAT+: Reeling from Trump contract cuts, the National Academies prepares for ‘a fairly radical downsizing’
STAT+: Reeling from Trump contract cuts, the National Academies prepares for ‘a fairly radical downsizing’ The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine is headed for a major reorganization as it tries to reduce its overhead amid big losses in funding from the federal government. Facing a shortfall of roughly $40 million in terminated contracts,…
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Blunt Rochester presses RFK Jr. on CDC acting director
Blunt Rochester presses RFK Jr. on CDC acting director Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester has written a stinging letter to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. demanding that he clarify whether the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has an acting director. In her three-page missive, Blunt Rochester suggested that Matthew Buzzelli, the person Kennedy said…
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Does the CDC have an acting director?
Does the CDC have an acting director? Earlier this week, Lisa Blunt Rochester asked a seemingly simple question of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. during his testimony to the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee: “Who is the acting CDC director?” Kennedy, the secretary of Health and Human Services, offered the name “Matt Buzzelli,” who…
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HHS to stop recommending routine Covid shots for children, pregnant people, RFK Jr. ally says
HHS to stop recommending routine Covid shots for children, pregnant people, RFK Jr. ally says Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is set to announce that the Department of Health and Human Services will stop recommending Covid vaccines for children and pregnant people, a close Kennedy ally said Thursday. The news arrived between panels at…
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CDC reports 216 child deaths this flu season, the most in 15 years
CDC reports 216 child deaths this flu season, the most in 15 years NEW YORK — More U.S. children have died this flu season than at any time since the swine flu pandemic 15 years ago, according to a federal report released Friday. The 216 pediatric deaths reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention eclipse…
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STAT+: Trump proposes billions in cuts to federal health agencies from NIH to CDC
STAT+: Trump proposes billions in cuts to federal health agencies from NIH to CDC WASHINGTON — President Trump on Friday proposed massive cuts to the federal government’s health agencies in his 2026 budget request, arguing that Congress should reduce spending by tens of billions from current levels. The request would be a 26% cut to…
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Assessing the impact of Trump’s first 100 days on science and health policy
Assessing the impact of Trump’s first 100 days on science and health policy On this week’s episode of the Readout LOUD, we review President Trump’s first 100 days, the return of biotech M&A, strong drug launches, and Eli Lilly’s PBM problem. The first 100 days of the Trump administration have had a profound impact on…
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Day by day, how Trump is roiling science and health
Day by day, how Trump is roiling science and health It’s hard to remember all the earthshaking decisions and events that have transpired with unprecedented speed in the first few months of the Trump administration. We’re tracking, day by day, what’s happened in the worlds of science and health. Key Legal action Covid DEI and…
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STAT+: Leaked budget document outlines how Kennedy may cut up HHS to build new AHA
STAT+: Leaked budget document outlines how Kennedy may cut up HHS to build new AHA An internal budget document leaked to the press on Wednesday gives the clearest vision yet of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s planned chronic disease-fighting agency, the Administration for a Healthy America. The Office of Management and Budget document, which STAT obtained,…
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Vaccine advisory panel recommends expanded RSV use, and two new vaccines
Vaccine advisory panel recommends expanded RSV use, and two new vaccines A committee of independent vaccine experts voted Wednesday to recommend lowering the age at which adults can get a vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus, potentially opening up access to these vaccines for adults in their 50s who are at high risk of severe illness…
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RFK Jr. plans changes to vaccine injury reporting system
RFK Jr. plans changes to vaccine injury reporting system WASHINGTON — Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Tuesday that he plans to roll out changes to the vaccine injury monitoring system that would automate and increase data collection as well as look for negative impacts of the shots. Reforming the current Vaccine Adverse Event…
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CDC officials plan for the agency’s splintering, but questions remain
CDC officials plan for the agency’s splintering, but questions remain NEW YORK — A top Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official told staff this week to start planning for the agency’s splintering. Several parts of CDC — mostly those devoted to health threats that aren’t infectious — are being spun off into the soon-to-be-created Administration for…
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RFK Jr. says he plans to tell CDC to stop recommending fluoride in drinking water
RFK Jr. says he plans to tell CDC to stop recommending fluoride in drinking water SALT LAKE CITY — U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday said he plans to tell the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention soon to stop recommending fluoridation in communities nationwide. Kennedy also said he’s assembling a task…
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Second child with measles dies in Texas, prompting RFK Jr. visit
Second child with measles dies in Texas, prompting RFK Jr. visit A second unvaccinated school-aged child in West Texas died from a measles -related illness, a hospital spokesman confirmed Sunday, prompting Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to travel to the area for the child’s funeral. Kennedy, an anti-vaccine advocate before ascending to the role of nation’s top…
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CDC’s top laboratory on sexually transmitted diseases is shut by Trump administration
CDC’s top laboratory on sexually transmitted diseases is shut by Trump administration At a time when the world is down to a single drug that can reliably cure gonorrhea, the U.S. government has shuttered the country’s premier sexually transmitted diseases laboratory, leaving experts aghast and fearful about what lies ahead. The STD lab at the…
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New York City’s health department just lost $100 million in federal funds. That has consequences
New York City’s health department just lost $100 million in federal funds. That has consequences If a child in New York City showed up with a fever and a rash that might be measles, it should be simple to have a blood test quickly confirm one way or the other. But $100 million in federal…
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Opinion: Decimation of HHS comms, FOIA offices will leave Americans in the dark about urgent health matters
Opinion: Decimation of HHS comms, FOIA offices will leave Americans in the dark about urgent health matters The DOGE cuts to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday will make America less safe. Unless something is done soon to change course, they will also make it easier to hide corrupt behavior by…
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50 canceled vaccination clinics, and other local impact from HHS cuts
50 canceled vaccination clinics, and other local impact from HHS cuts Just last week, the leader of public health in Dallas had to cancel 50 vaccination clinics, including events specifically targeting schools with low immunization rates, all while the West Texas measles outbreak continues to flare. Then on Tuesday came the layoffs of thousands of…
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STAT+: HHS emergency response unit given two days to figure out its fate
STAT+: HHS emergency response unit given two days to figure out its fate WASHINGTON — Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s plan to reshape the federal health department has left its roughly 1,000 emergency response workers in limbo, and with a daunting order: Sort out how you break up — this weekend. The George W. Bush-founded Administration for…
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STAT+: HHS layoffs rile Democrats, but Republicans say they trust RFK Jr.’s cuts will not hamper core operations
STAT+: HHS layoffs rile Democrats, but Republicans say they trust RFK Jr.’s cuts will not hamper core operations WASHINGTON — News of massive layoffs at the Health and Human Services Department was met with anger and predictions of lawsuits by Democratic lawmakers, and with a shrug by Republicans. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced…
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Opinion: Former HHS Secretary Donna Shalala on the agency’s ‘silly new bureaucracy’
Opinion: Former HHS Secretary Donna Shalala on the agency’s ‘silly new bureaucracy’ When I was secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services under President Bill Clinton, an agency head came to me with a dramatic reorganization plan. I advised him that unless it was data- and outcome-driven, he was wasting his time. Just…