Category: Public Health

CDC Staffing Upheaval Disrupts HIV Projects and Wastes Money, Researchers Say

Researchers laid off in April were putting the finishing touches on in-depth HIV surveys that guide treatment and prevention. Some staff have been reinstated, but data remains in limbo.

Kennedy’s HHS Sent Congress ‘Junk Science’ To Defend Vaccine Changes, Experts Say

A look inside the Department of Health and Human Services document citing vaccine misinformation that could influence congressional perceptions.

KFF Health News’ ‘What the Health?’: RFK Jr. Upends Vaccine Policy, After Promising He Wouldn’t

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. this week did something he had promised not to do: He fired every member of the scientific advisory committee that recommends which vaccines should be given to whom. And he replaced them, in some cases, with vaccine skeptics. Meanwhile, hundreds of employees of the National Institutes of Health sent an open letter to the agency’s director, accusing the Trump administration of policies that “undermine the NIH mission.” Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.

Readers Endorse Doctor Migration and Shun ‘Elderspeak’

KFF Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.

Watch: RFK Jr. Dismisses All 17 Members of Vaccine Advisory Committee

KFF Health News’ Céline Gounder joined CBS Evening News to discuss the unprecedented move by the Health and Human Services secretary.

Echoing 2020, Police Use Rubber Bullets Against Protesters in Los Angeles

“Less lethal” weapons are once again being used in Los Angeles — against people protesting the Trump administration’s immigration raids. With terms like “foam,” “sponge,” and “bean bag,” the projectiles may sound harmless. They’re not.

As Federal Health Grants Shrink, Memory Cafes Help Dementia Patients and Their Caregivers

Memory cafes are small social gatherings for individuals with memory loss and their caregivers. The events are cheap to run and can offer measurable benefits. Memory loss experts say they may become an even more important tool in the face of federal cuts to health programs.

‘We Dissent’: NIH Workers Protest Trump Policies That ‘Harm the Health of Americans’

A letter signed by more than 300 National Institutes of Health workers — some still working, others who were fired this year — is an extraordinary public rebuke of actions taken under Director Jay Bhattacharya and health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

As Cannabis Users Age, Health Risks Appear To Grow

More older people are using cannabis products regularly, but research suggests their cannabis-related health problems are also on the rise.

In Axing mRNA Contract, Trump Delivers Another Blow to US Biosecurity, Former Officials Say

The Trump administration is eroding national pandemic flu defenses as it guts health agencies, cuts research and health budgets, and withdraws funding for bird flu vaccines, health security experts said.