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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) meets again this Thursday and Friday. These meetings are normally technical, evidence-based, and grounded in predictable procedures. But in recent months, in a shift fueled by health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s growing influence over the committee and the CDC’s public-facing materials, ACIP has drifted toward something more concerning: inflating speculative risks while downplaying well-established vaccine benefits. (Demetre Daskalakis, Daniel Jernigan and Debra Houry, 12/3)

An internal memo written by the Food and Drug Administration’s top vaccine regulator offers a concerning glimpse into the future of vaccine regulation in the US — and could have profound implications for both access to and the development of vaccines. (Lisa Jarvis, 12/3)

In Chicago, as overall violent crimes are decreasing, in domestic cases, the number of killings of women and their children has continued to rise, year after year. (Silvana Tabares, 12/2)

In an era of government shutdown threats, political brinkmanship and chaos in Washington, veterans are forced to wonder whether the benefits they earned — through sacrifice, service and, too often, injury — will be there when they need them. (Nick Stewart and Michael P. Eagle, 12/1)

Thousands of firefighters across the country, including many in Missouri, may never get justice for being exposed to toxic chemicals found in firefighting foam, simply because they didn’t know they could file a claim. For decades, these men and women relied on aqueous film-forming foam or AFFF designed to save lives, not realizing they were laced with PFAS, the so-called “forever chemicals” now linked to cancers, thyroid disease, and immune disorders. The chemicals don’t break down in the body or the environment, meaning that exposure years ago can still cause devastating illness today. (Jordan Cade, 12/1)