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An ongoing 吃瓜不打烊 series examining the Trump administration鈥檚 overhaul of federal health care agencies.
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The tiny federal agency that tracks consumer product safety is pressuring hospitals to turn over patient records from emergency room visits, including about injuries that have nothing to do with consumer products.
The Office of Personnel Management said it will 鈥減seudonymize鈥 medical records it collects on more than 8 million people 鈥 federal workers and retirees, and their family members. Democrats and employee unions say the agency鈥檚 move is an overreach.
From screwworm to flesh-eating bacteria, mounting public health risks are emerging in the wake of deep cuts to federal health agencies and programs.
Four years after the Volunteer State enacted the nation鈥檚 first law allowing drugstores to sell ivermectin without patient-specific prescriptions, dozens of pharmacies dispense the drug in highly concentrated pills 鈥 many with the help of one anti-vaccine physician.
The Trump administration finalized a rule that embraces new types of Obamacare coverage, including 30% higher out-of-pocket costs for some plans, and a more novel approach that allows insurers to offer coverage without set networks of doctors and hospitals.
As predicted, the expiration of enhanced tax subsidies for Affordable Care Act health plans is causing many people to lose coverage for failing to make premium payments. Meanwhile, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. responded angrily to a New York Times article suggesting he鈥檚 not actively engaged in the work of his sprawling department. Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, Lizzy Lawrence of Stat, and Sandhya Raman of Bloomberg Law join 吃瓜不打烊鈥 Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF鈥檚 Tricia Neuman, who is retiring this month as a senior vice president and the executive director of the Program on Medicare Policy.
The Trump administration has pursued an extensive pro-tobacco agenda as the president and his political movement have been buoyed by a flood of tobacco industry money, federal records show.
Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.鈥檚 new autism panel is championing a controversial communication method popular among parents of severely autistic people. Critics warn of abuse 鈥 and fake 鈥渢elepathy.鈥
Adult Medicaid enrollees with serious health conditions may not be automatically exempt from new work rules, according to a new regulation from the Trump administration. Meanwhile, the administration is also proposing to give political appointees even more power over who gets health and science grant funding. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Liz Essley Whyte of The Wall Street Journal join 吃瓜不打烊鈥 Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews 吃瓜不打烊鈥 Lauren Sausser, who wrote the latest 鈥淏ill of the Month.鈥
Immigrant detainees have told courts across the nation that detention officials have failed to treat or stabilize their conditions, from pregnancy to prostate cancer, suggesting that systemic lapses in care extend well beyond record deaths in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.
Infectious disease specialists say the viruses are unlikely to become pandemics, but some are still raising concerns about the federal health response and what it portends should a pandemic similar to or worse than covid occur.
The data behind alcohol-related traffic deaths is well studied. Less understood is the toll of vehicle deaths involving drugs or a combination of drugs and alcohol. Attempts to fix that have been stymied by federal budget and staffing cuts.
A third of patients in a clinical trial had tumors shrink while taking a genetically engineered treatment known as RP1.
As widely expected, Marty Makary stepped down as head of the FDA this week. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court weighs blocking telehealth prescriptions for the abortion pill mifepristone. Rachel Cohrs Zhang of Bloomberg News, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Lauren Weber of The Washington Post join 吃瓜不打烊鈥 Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.).
For years, the Department of Health and Human Services built standards to make sure electronic health records were user-friendly and offered transparent advice to doctors. Now they鈥檙e relaxing those standards, and doctors and critics in the hospital industry are worried.
The Trump administration is seeking unprecedented access to medical records of federal workers and retirees, and their families. The data could be used to implement cost-saving measures, but it would also give the administration access to reams of personal information. Legal experts and insurers say the pursuit is overbroad.
The White House鈥檚 strategy for tackling the drug and addiction crisis, released this week, sets lofty public health goals but highlights deep inconsistencies with the administration鈥檚 own funding cuts and other policies.
The backlash was immediate after the Trump administration served notice that hospitals and nursing homes should limit sugary drinks and dietary supplements in favor of what the Department of Health and Human Services terms 鈥渞eal food.鈥
A federal agency has dramatically slowed its review of visa waiver applications that allow international physicians completing U.S. training programs to stay in the country to work in underserved areas. The delay may send hundreds of doctors back to their home countries.
Someone in America dies by suicide every 11 minutes. It鈥檚 a tragic and entrenched problem. A new approach to prevention shifts the focus from stopping harm in moments of crisis to upstream policies that give people reasons to live.
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