Category: Health Fitness

Kennedy’s first week at HHS included dismissing the workforce, vaccine advisers and some longtime health priorities.

Del Bigtree, now a leader of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s grassroots movement, said he should seek proof of an autism link.

The former CDC director calls for more vaccine research, and also warns that a bird flu pandemic “is coming” and could be worse than Covid.

The health secretary is planning to remove members of a panel that recommends vaccines if he sees conflicts of interest.

His first remarks to the department since being confirmed comes as Washington reels from mass firings and funding cuts.

The Maine Republican, the Senate’s top appropriator, said she has HHS nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s commitment to “re-examine” the cuts.

Policymakers are scrambling to find ways to reduce costs — or even dropping coverage.

The Trump administration exempted lifesaving assistance from its foreign aid freeze, but providers say it’s still not getting through.

“This is a matter of life and death.”

The administration’s Friday night message comes as a sharp departure from the approach that Trump and DOGE have taken to cuts in other federal departments […]

The department will still “stock and provide vaccines,” according to a department memo.

“If the Order stands, transgender children will die,” the AGs warned in their lawsuit.

The ruling was handed down on the same day New York Gov. Kathy Hochul rejected a request from Louisiana to extradite the same doctor.

The nationwide restraining order seeks to restore access to health services for transgender patients 19 years and younger that had been disrupted by a Trump […]

Chris Clem could help Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who will have a role in immigration policy as health secretary, manage deportations.

The groups said the freeze violates Congress’ wishes and is endangering lives in developing countries.

The Trump political appointees are leading the agency’s “collaboration” with Elon Musk’s team.

Robert F. Kennedy’s Jr. advisers are sparring over how far he should go on vaccines as health secretary.

The president’s domestic policy victories could hinge on whether the new chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee can rally members behind hard decisions about […]

The Louisiana Republican said he hoped Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would be “a partner” in promoting good health.

The Senate Finance Committee will hear from Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Donald Trump’s nominee for health secretary, on Wednesday.

Kennedy’s approval by the committee is far from certain.

The letter was meant to lend credibility to Kennedy’s nomination.

The outage came after the Trump administration on Monday ordered a sweeping pause on federal spending. States and lawmakers early Tuesday began reporting that portals […]

Several states are trying to curtail abortion medication by claiming mifepristone could contaminate drinking water.

Mary Holland, head of Kennedy-founded Children’s Health Defense, spoke to POLITICO after attending his confirmation hearing.

“You won’t go to work for a drug company after you leave HHS, but you and I both know there’s another way to make money,” […]

The executive order instructs agencies to ensure hospitals and other institutions receiving federal money stop offering gender-affirming care for minors.

Karoline Leavitt confirmed Tuesday afternoon the downed portals after multiple reports from lawmakers that their states could not get access to Medicaid dollars.

Trump’s health secretary nominee met with Hill staffers ahead of his hearing this week.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. backed abortion rights, but the nation’s leading anti-abortion groups aren’t lobbying senators to reject him.

Anti-abortion leaders wanted more concrete action from the new administration.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a directive Friday to rejoin a global anti-abortion pact.

The dismissal comes as the Trump administration in its first week has already issued executive orders rolling back transgender rights.

Those impacted include overseas health organizations that distribute contraception and help combat HIV.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is telling senators considering his nomination to lead the government’s health agencies he merely wants transparency about vaccines.

Foreign Affairs Relations Chair Jim Risch said money from the AIDS relief program paid for abortions.

The transition team hired trusted conservatives to key HHS positions.

The court will decide the fate of the insurance mandate later this year.

Vivek Murthy says alcohol causes cancer, but the industry still has many friends on Capitol Hill.

A combination of viral respiratory infections, malaria and malnutrition has killed nearly 50 people in the African country.

Experts warn of inadequate testing by the CDC, which maintains the risk to humans “remains low.”

Republican lawmakers are looking past Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s views as they consider his nomination to lead HHS.

Public health officials see promise in some of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s plans to prevent chronic disease but despair at his vaccine conspiracy theories.

Trump’s pick to lead HHS heads to the Hill this week.

The president-elect’s advisers haven’t yet begun meeting with federal agencies, despite signing an agreement late last month allowing them to do so.

Police are still searching for the shooter, a police department spokesperson said.

The agency denied Triton Distribution’s application to sell flavored e-liquids.

If his nomination is approved, the longtime associate of Peter Thiel will work alongside Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The Stanford University physician and economist, known for opposing Covid-19 lockdowns, has been tapped to lead the $47 billion biomedical research agency.

At least three informal advisers connected to the anti-vaccine movement are assisting Kennedy in filling out his staff as he prepares to lead HHS.

Makary emerged during the Covid pandemic as a critic of the FDA.

As CMS administrator, Oz would have latitude over health coverage for the more than 160 million Americans in Medicare, Medicaid and other health programs

“Science Guy” takes nominee to head HHS to task over fluoride in drinking water.

Many of the candidates are allies of RFK Jr. and have maligned the agencies they would oversee.

Abortion-rights activists say it’s imperative they figure out what went wrong in the wake of their worst setback since the fall of Roe two years […]

“What I’m hoping is he brings his transparency for all Americans and we really start to tackle these issues one-by-one-by-one,” she said.

They’re holding their fire and hoping Senate allies will block his confirmation as HHS secretary.

The president of the anti-abortion group SBA Pro-Life America, said “there’s no question that we need a pro-life HHS secretary, and of course, we have […]

Food additives, pesticides and vaccines are on his “Make America Healthy Again” hit list.

Health agency veterans are alarmed.

Anti-abortion groups scored big victories Tuesday.

The former Democrat-turned-Trump-ally gave more details on the role the president-elect envisions for him.

The issue failed to stop Donald Trump, who on Tuesday overcame a large gender gap — and Democrats’ relentless focus on women’s reproductive health — […]

A party faction that includes several GOP governors says government shouldn’t get involved.

Traffickers are to blame, the candidates say. Virtually no one’s talking about treatment.

Arizona is one of several states where right-leaning groups are backing conservative judges as they prepare to challenge newly passed ballot measures protecting abortion.

The move to protect some older Americans from higher costs would come just ahead of the election.

Missteps by the World Health Organization, a vaccine manufacturer and an African country led to another health emergency, experts say.

The result is a $6 billion savings across 10 drugs when new prices take effect in 2026, according to the White House.

Advocates of government health care are giving Harris leeway to decide how best to beat Donald Trump.

Democrats have made restoring abortion access a cornerstone of their campaign for the White House and Congress, but there are divisions over what, exactly, that […]

Democrats this week spotlighted stories of unwanted pregnancies and men who feared they’d lose their wives because they couldn’t obtain emergency abortions.

The state Supreme Court ruled in favor of Attorney General Tim Griffin, who had accused the initiative’s backers of failing to submit the proper paperwork.

The former top U.S. infectious disease expert is expected to make a full recovery.

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump want to provide relief, though they disagree on the details.

A plan to expand access to the drug treatment is hung up on fears of a black market, despite bipartisan support.

As Trump pitches himself as a “leader on IVF,” GOP senators dismiss the legislation as a Democratic stunt.

Some see the politicking as a moral obligation, but others see a threat to the doctor-patient relationship.

Stanley Goldfarb and his group, Do No Harm, say Republicans need new advisers because major medical groups have embraced progressive ideology.

Heading into the final day of the Republican Party’s first national gathering since the Supreme Court’s landmark decision, the issue has barely received a passing […]

The Federal Trade Commission investigation of DaVita and Fresenius Medical Care follows years of consolidation in the dialysis industry.

The 21-year-old President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief is credited with saving 25 million lives, but its budget is strained.

The shakeup, which has not been previously reported, comes as anti-abortion groups petition Trump, his campaign advisers and members of the RNC not to make […]

The cases moving through federal courts could further roll back abortion access, even if Biden wins in November.

A federal plan to promote treatment and distribute overdose reversal drugs showed promise. Communities are trying to keep it going.

Here are three takeaways from POLITICO’s discussion of these topics on Thursday.

The move may signal the beginning of a broad turn on the right against IVF, an issue that many social conservatives see as the “pro-life” […]

His new anti-vaccine persona could have far-reaching consequences if he’s elected to a second stint as president with far-reaching administrative powers.

The Biden administration is in court defending a federal law it argues protects emergency abortions. In practice, the statute has offered only limited help.

Lawmakers and the VA hope ecstasy can help treat veterans with PTSD, but there’s reason for doubt.

The “Project 2025” blueprint includes proposals to remove requirements that insurance cover male condoms and emergency contraception.

The White House has told the National Institutes of Health to safeguard its work from political interference.

Opponents of the measure included many physicians who said the drugs have other critical reproductive health care uses.

It now heads to the desk of GOP Gov. Jeff Landry, who has not publicly weighed in on the legislation but is expected to sign […]

Public health experts say the virus’ move from birds into mammals is worrisome due to the risk that the virus evolves to be capable of […]

The social media post came after Trump said in a TV interview that he plans to share a policy on contraception “very shortly,” without providing […]

Health systems are trying to move more of the work they do to your house.

Gary Ruskin, founder of U.S. Right to Know, says the government is covering it up.

The delay comes after the proposed ban drew fire from tobacco companies and other groups that argued an end to menthol cigarette sales could create […]

Half of voters in a new POLITICO-Morning Consult poll support states making their own laws about abortion access, compared with just 35 percent who oppose […]

The challenge concerning Idaho hospitals’ obligation to provide abortions during medical emergencies would have national ripple effects.

What happened in North Carolina is playing out across the U.S. as large employers try to limit the costs of the expensive new generation of […]

The move highlights the deepening divide between the more socially conservative wing of the party, which opposes abortion on moral grounds, and the more populist, […]

The three liberal justices dissented as the high court dramatically narrowed a district court judge’s sweeping ruling barring enforcement of the state’s attempt to block […]

The state’s high court said it wouldn’t interfere with the legislature’s authority to craft abortion policy.

Desperate to help record numbers of children suffering anxiety and depression, state and local governments are testing new interventions to get to the root of […]

The gulf between what Trump said and what anti-abortion groups want underscores divisions that have dogged conservatives for two years.

Mental health workers shared their perspectives on the causes of — and solutions to — the crisis.

Trump’s Monday announcement that abortion should be left to the states was supposed to neutralize an issue that has dogged Republican candidates. But by Tuesday […]

Trump in a video posted Monday to Truth Social did not address what executive actions he would take to curb abortion access as president.

Sixteen states already ban abortion. In May, Florida will join them.

Donald Trump didn’t rule out signing a national abortion ban, though it is unlikely Congress would be able to pass one.

Should Trump appear vague or duck the issue, some of his supporters fear it will allow the Biden campaign to tie him to the more […]

The USDA has confirmed avian flu outbreaks in 15 herds across six states.

Genetic sequencing appears to suggest that wild birds in the Texas panhandle region infected cows, a USDA official said on the call.

Potential cow-to-cow avian flu transmission in Idaho is worrying pandemic experts.

The groups are not advocating banning IVF but want new restrictions that would significantly curtail access to the procedure.

The parties’ scramble in the battleground state eight months ahead of the election is a model for how the issue is shaping competitive races nationwide.