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During a contentious meeting dominated by racial innuendo and anti-vaccine talking points, advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today voted to delay a decision on whether to recommend scaling back infant vaccinations for hepatitis B, a virus that kills 1.1 million people around the world each year. Several members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) asked for the postponement after complaining that they hadn't been given sufficient time to consider the wording of the proposal. (Szabo, Van Beusekom and Dall, 12/4)

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) on Thursday called a federal vaccine advisory committee “totally discredited” ahead of a vote on whether to change hepatitis B vaccine guidelines, an issue very close to the Louisiana physician. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is scheduled to vote on a recommendation to no longer advise birth doses of the hepatitis B vaccine for mothers who are negative for the virus or don’t know their status, instead recommending an “individual-based decision-making” approach. (Choi, 12/4)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC’s) vaccine advisory committee, which helps determine the agency's official immunization recommendations, was once admired around the world for its evidence-based, deliberative review of medical science. But public health experts yesterday warned people not to trust the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). (Szabo, 12/4)

The CDC’s vaccine advisory panel’s decision to invite an anti-vaccine lawyer and ally of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to brief the panel on Friday is drawing blowback from Kennedy’s top Republican critic on Capitol Hill. Aaron Siri, a vaccine injury lawyer who’s advised and represented Kennedy, is scheduled to present on the childhood immunization schedule at the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices meeting in Atlanta. (Gardner, 12/4)

Also —

Americans are more likely to accept guidance on vaccines from the American Medical Association (AMA) than from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), though trust isn’t particular high for either organization, according to an Annenberg Public Policy Center poll released yesterday. (Soucheray, 12/4)

Although this year's flu season could be challenging, fewer adults have been vaccinated against influenza, a new study shows. Much less than half of US adults have been immunized against any respiratory virus, according to a survey of 1,015 adults released this week by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID). Just 34% of adults have gotten a flu shot; 25% have had a COVID-19 shot; 8% have received a vaccine to prevent pneumococcal disease; and 6% have been vaccinated against respiratory syncytial (RSV). (Szabo, 12/5)

�������ýҕ�l Health News: While Scientists Race To Study Spread Of Measles In US, Kennedy Unravels Hard-Won Gains
The United States is poised to lose its measles-free status next year. If that happens, the country will enter an era in which outbreaks are common again. More children would be hospitalized because of this preventable disease. Some would lose their hearing. Some would die. Measles is also expensive. A new study — not yet published in a scientific journal — estimates that the public health response to outbreaks with only a couple of cases costs about $244,000. (Maxmen, 12/5)

On covid vaccines —

The Biden administration withheld data from the public on the risks of myocarditis from the Covid vaccine, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary claimed Thursday — a bold accusation that clashes with years of public statements from federal health officials. (Lovelace Jr. and Thompson, 12/4)

Young and middle-age adults who had at least one dose of a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine were less likely to die of any cause in the following 4 years compared with those who weren't vaccinated, a nationwide French cohort study found. (Rudd, 12/4)

The Trump administration has signed the first in what are expected to be dozens of “America First” global health funding agreements that will prioritize combating infectious diseases in countries deemed to be aligned with the president’s broader foreign policy goals and positions. (Lee and Imray, 12/5)

More news about federal funding —

A federal appeals court on Thursday rejected the Trump administration’s bid to halt an order requiring it to release millions of dollars in grants meant to address the shortage of mental health workers in schools. The mental health program, which was funded by Congress after the 2022 school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, included grants meant to help schools hire more counselors, psychologists and social workers, with a focus on rural and underserved areas of the country. (12/5)

Trump’s budget includes nearly $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid, which funds a wide swath of services to disabled children, including speech, occupational and physical therapy, wheelchairs, in-home aides and medical care. All children with physical, developmental or cognitive disabilities – in California, nearly 1 million – receive at least some services through Medicaid. Meanwhile, at the U.S. Department of Education, Trump has gutted the Office of Civil Rights, which is among the agencies that enforce the 50-year-old law granting students with disabilities the right to attend school and receive an education appropriate to their needs. (Jones, 12/4)

The offices at John Quackenbush’s lab at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health were once full of postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, and interns. Young scientists here worked on some of the most cutting-edge computational biology research in the world, driving new discoveries and the creation of widely used big data tools, including one the National Cancer Institute named among the most important advances of 2024. Today, the offices are rows of empty computer pods. Monitor brackets at each station hang in the air as bare as bleached corals. (Chen, 12/5)

On artificial intelligence —

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday outlined a strategy to expand its use of artificial intelligence, building on the Trump administration’s enthusiastic embrace of the rapidly advancing technology while raising questions about how health information would be protected. HHS billed the plan as a “first step” focused largely on making its work more efficient and coordinating AI adoption across divisions. But the 20-page document also teased some grander plans to promote AI innovation, including in the analysis of patient health data and in drug development. (Swenson, 12/4)

On the immigration crisis —

A 6-year-old boy from Queens was separated from his father and placed in federal custody in New York City as President Trump’s deportation crackdown has swept up increasing numbers of migrant families and children. The boy, Yuanxin Zheng, is among the youngest migrants to be taken from a parent by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials during a routine check-in in New York City. (Ley and Aleaziz, 12/4)

The federal deployments that have swept through major cities as part of President Trump’s immigration crackdown have led to thousands of arrests. But they have been less effective at apprehending immigrants with a criminal record than more routine operations elsewhere, new data shows. In high-profile Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Los Angeles; Chicago; Washington, D.C.; and across Massachusetts, more than half of those arrested had no criminal record, compared with a third of immigrants arrested nationwide. (Sun, 12/4)

On the gun violence epidemic —

More than a year before the Trump administration granted asylum to the Afghan immigrant, the volunteer’s emails raised concerns that he was unraveling. (Wong, Streeter, Padshah, Abed, Gibbons-Neff and Healy, 12/4)

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) announced Thursday that Democrats will force Republican senators to vote next week on a three-year extension of enhanced health insurance premium subsidies that are due to expire in January. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) controls the Senate floor schedule but promised to let Democrats have a vote on a proposal to extend the health insurance subsidies as part of a deal with centrist Democrats to reopen the federal government after a 43-day shutdown. (Bolton, 12/4)

�������ýҕ�l Health News: �������ýҕ�l Health News’ ‘What The Health?’: The GOP Still Can’t Agree on a Health Plan
The Senate is scheduled to vote in the coming days on a Democrat-led plan to extend the temporary additional subsidies that have lowered out-of-pocket costs for Affordable Care Act health plans. But even with the vote approaching, Republicans in the House and Senate are divided over what, if any, alternative plan they should offer. Meanwhile, anti-vaccine forces at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration have both agencies in disarray. (Rovner, 12/4)

More about ACA subsidies —

As Congress mulls whether to extend enhanced health insurance subsidies, desperation is growing for Michigan enrollees. The marketplace call center for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, the state’s largest public health exchange insurer, has experienced a 20% spike in calls from members and potential members over exorbitant price increases set to take effect in 2026. (Walsh, 12/4)

A majority of Americans want Congress to extend subsidies on ObamaCare set to expire at the end of the year, according to a survey from the health nonprofit KFF released Thursday. Of those enrolled in ObamaCare marketplace plans, KFF found that 84 percent want Congress to extend the credits. These subsidies allow Affordable Care Act (ACA) enrollees to pay less than the full price of their health insurance premiums, which would balloon if the tax credits expire. (Mancini, 12/4)

One in four Americans covered by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) are considering going without health insurance if their monthly premiums double next year, a new KFF poll published Thursday finds. Open enrollment for the ACA began last month, and many Americans experienced sticker shock upon receiving their annual notices and discovering their 2026 premiums would be increasing. (Kekatos, 12/4)

�������ýҕ�l Health News: Health Savings Accounts, Backed By GOP, Cover Fancy Saunas But Not Insurance Premiums
With the tax-free money in a health savings account, a person can pay for eyeglasses or medical exams, as well as a $1,700 baby bassinet or a $300 online parenting workshop. Those same dollars can’t be used, though, to pay for most baby formulas, toothbrushes — or insurance premiums. (Seitz, 12/5)

In other news from Capitol Hill —

It’s mostly been a bad year on Capitol Hill for the healthcare sector. But it’s been a good year for healthcare lobbyists. Healthcare lobbying expenditures spiked 16% to $653 million during the first three quarters of 2025 compared with the same period a year before, according to a Modern Healthcare analysis of data compiled by OpenSecrets, which tracks campaign finance and lobbying spending. (McAuliff, 12/4)

The American Cancer Society has endorsed self-collected vaginal samples for cervical cancer screening — a change medical experts say will help expand access and improve detection. The updated ACS recommendations, released Thursday, reflect advancements in disease detection and access to screening options in the United States. (Chiu, 12/4)

In other news about reproductive health care —

Residents of Texas can now sue people who they suspect of making, distributing or mailing abortion pills in or out of the state, in a first-of-its-kind law that aims to dam the flood of abortion pills into states that ban the procedure. Under the new law, which went into effect on Thursday, abortion providers could face penalties of at least $100,000 if they mail pills into Texas. Manufacturers of abortion pills are also eligible to be sued, although women who take abortion pills are not. (Sherman, 12/4)

It’s a Texas-to-California abortion case with a Bay Area doctor in the middle and a Gordian knot of a legal question: What happens when states with opposing laws collide in federal court? Jerry Rodriguez, 57, of Galveston County, Texas, alleges that Dr. Remy Coeytaux, 61, of Sonoma County prescribed Rodriguez’s girlfriend abortion medication in violation of Texas’ anti-abortion laws and a 19th century anti-obscenity statute, leading to two self-administered abortions in September 2024 and January of this year. (Hosseini, 12/4)

An appeals court on Thursday struck down Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins’ language for an upcoming ballot measure that would ban nearly all abortions in the state. The ruling from the Missouri Court of Appeals Western District found that the question Hoskins, a Republican, wrote failed to accurately inform voters that the measure would strike down last November’s historic vote that legalized access to the procedure. (Bayless, 12/4)

Capitalizing on medical distrust, some influencers are selling guides to "freebirths" -- medically unassisted births -- and "wild pregnancies" -- pregnancies without prenatal care. ... Ob/gyns told MedPage Today that groups like Free Birth Society prey on patients who want the best for their baby but have concerns about the medical establishment. (Robertson, 12/4)

Kara Ayers is a mother of four and uses a wheelchair. She relies heavily on her car because there are not many public transportation options where she lives in Cincinnati. She is concerned about a bill moving through the state legislature that would allow pregnant people to use disability placards. (Luterman, 12/3)

The tampons were stacked and bound together with a rubber band. The incarcerated people at the Patrick O’Daniel Unit — a women’s prison in Central Texas — referred to these bundles as “dynamite sticks.” Behind bars, these household items could be a liability. (Norwood, 12/4)

Mark Cuban's Cost Plus Drugs and Humana are exploring a potential partnership to help lower the cost of prescription drugs for employers. Cuban, an entrepreneur, businessman and TV personality who co-founded Cost Plus Drugs, said the company is in discussions with Humana to work with its CenterWell healthcare services business to provide a better pharmacy experience for consumers and a direct-to-employer model for prescription drugs. (Landi, 12/4)

As a kid, Laura Rohe seemed to be continually ill: pneumonia, sinus infections, skin lesions. “I was the sick child” resting on the couch while her siblings played, she recalls. ... Then she began monthly immunoglobulin infusions prescribed by her doctors, and “it was like a light switch,” says Rohe, 51, a nurse at an immunology clinic in Omaha, Nebraska, who’s also worked with a pharmaceutical industry lobbying group. “I was just a normal kid after that.” (Tullis, 12/4)

CMS will reimburse healthcare organizations for patients’ wearable and app use if it improves their health conditions, Politico reported Dec. 4. The agency revealed its ACCESS program Dec. 1 to encourage technology-supported care to better manage chronic illness among Medicare patients. Organizations can apply in January to join the 10-year pilot program, which kicks off July 1. (Bruce, 12/4)

Amid a rise in the use of cosmetic fillers -- commonly injected in the face for anti-aging effects -- Doppler high-frequency ultrasound (HFUS) picked up "highly variable" findings in filler-related vascular adverse events (VAEs), researchers reported. (Henderson, 12/4)

In other health care industry updates —

Aya Healthcare has terminated its deal to acquire Cross Country Healthcare for an estimated $615 million, citing regulatory approval challenges. The two staffing technology companies entered a definitive agreement last December. The deal was slated to close in the first half of 2025, but delays in the approval process, including the 43-day government shutdown, meant it was still pending as of this week. (DeSilva, 12/4)

Rush University System for Health plans to dramatically expand its clinical trials for patients with cancer thanks to a major donation from the family foundation of late business leader Harold B. Smith, the system announced Thursday. (Schencker, 12/4)

A year ago, the fatal shooting of a health insurance executive on a Manhattan sidewalk unleashed many Americans’ pent-up frustration with insurers’ delays and denials of care. (Luhby, 12/4)

Anne Marie Hukriede has three times appealed her insurance company’s decision not to cover her daughter’s scoliosis surgery. The answer each time was the same: Aetna considers the procedure that doctors recommend for her 12-year-old daughter, Vivian, to be experimental, citing a lack of evidence about long-term safety and efficacy. (Bendix, Martin and Snow, 12/4)

North Star Health Alliance, a regional health system in Ogdensburg, N.Y., is facing a financial challenge that could result in program cuts, job losses and facility closures, without funding support from the state. “As the New York State Department of Health, the New York State Division of the Budget and members of your team have heard over the past few months, we are on the precipice of closing programs, eliminating services, cutting jobs and, quite possibly, facing imminent closure,” Richard Duvall, CEO of North Star Health Alliance, said in a Dec. 3 letter to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, North Country Now reported Dec. 4. “In short, our facilities will not be able to make payroll next week.” (Ashley, 12/4)

“I call them sometimes guard dogs,” said Kenneth Hoagland, principal of Kellenberg Memorial High School on Long Island. “They guard against fear, depression and anxiety.” (Melnick, 12/4)

Other health news from California, Florida, and Missouri —

Oscar-winning actor Halle Berry slammed California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) for vetoing bipartisan legislation to increase menopause-related care and coverage within the state for the second year in a row — an action she said should disqualify him from being the next president. “Back in my great state of California, my very own governor, Gavin Newsom, has vetoed our menopause bill, not one but two years in a row,” Berry said Wednesday at The New York Times’s DealBook Summit. “But that’s OK, because he’s not going to be governor forever.” (Venkat, 12/4)

When Evan Carver shuffled into the chapel of Salvation Army’s Harbor Light rehab center in early April, looking frail and steadying himself with a walker, he wasn’t sure he could quit fentanyl for good. But after a 10-year opioid addiction and five years homeless on the streets of San Francisco, he knew he wanted to “stop hurting.” It wasn’t just the throbbing pain of swollen legs with open sores. It was also the guilt and shame that shadowed his addiction. (Angst and Lurie, 12/4)

The confirmed cases grew by 13 in the final week of November in Orange County, totaling 25 for the month. At least 14 of the confirmed cases were due to "gym exposure." (Pedersen, 12/5)

he U.S. Department of Justice announced on Tuesday that three warehouses in the Kansas City metro had thousands of illegal products containing 7-hydroxymitragine (7-OH) seized as part of a government operation. According to a news release, the Justice Department, alongside the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), seized roughly 73,000 “units” of illegal products containing 7-OH at several warehouses run by two companies in the Kansas City area. (Johnson, 12/4)

Mesfin Yana Dollar came to the U.S. for surgery. Now he works at the Mayo Clinic, assisting with some of the world’s most complex open-heart surgeries. (Penman, 12/3)

ER doctor Anne Flower, 36, started running as a way of coping with the demands of medical school when studying at Ohio University and became so good that, in 2020, she qualified for the U.S. Olympic marathon trials. Then the distances got further and she began breaking ultra-marathon records. (O'Neill, 12/4)

“Masking” is part of life, especially for those with autism or A.D.H.D. But hiding your true self comes with a cost. (Carson, 12/3)

The Trump administration’s cuts to biomedical funding could have big repercussions for people focused on a cure. (Fitzgerald, 12/1)

Recent data suggests the injury is rare — about two cases for every 100,000 people who checked into US emergency departments between 2001 and 2020, according to an August study — but podiatrists and orthopedists said they’ve seen a significant uptick in the number of cases in the last few years, especially among people 40 and older. (Villano, 12/3)

As vultures vanished, dogs multiplied, and rabies spread. Humans are living with the consequences. (Johnson and Khandelwal, 11/29)

On Tuesday, Okava Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company based in San Francisco, is set to announce that it has officially begun a pilot study of a GLP-1 drug for cats with obesity. The company is testing a novel approach: Instead of receiving weekly injections of the drugs, as has been common in human patients, the cats will get small, injectable implants, slightly larger than a microchip, that will slowly release the drug for as long as six months. (Anthes, 12/2)

Every day, I think about the patients waiting for medicines that could change, or even save, their lives. For them, access is not a statistic. It is hope, health, and a chance for a better future. (Claire D'Abreu-Hayling, 12/5)

Nearly 120 million adults in the United States have hypertension, yet despite effective and accessible treatments, only a quarter have their blood pressure under control. This carries significant consequences: The condition, one of the leading causes of preventable death, is associated with heart attack, stroke, kidney disease and dementia. (Leana S. Wen, 12/4)

In California, a significant number of incarcerated people struggle with substance use and/or mental health conditions. Studies estimate that 60% of individuals in our state prisons have a substance use disorder and over half of those in county jails have mental health needs. While incarcerated people receive a range of behavioral health and medical services such as intake screening, psychiatric assessment, crisis intervention, medication management and therapy, the period immediately after release can be perilous. (Shira Shavit and Anna Steiner 12/4)

Why now? I had three children without ever seeing a doctor. Why go looking for problems? That’s what Fatima, a 38-year-old Somali mother, said when I encouraged her to attend a prenatal appointment. She wasn’t being dismissive. But she had delivered her first three children in a refugee camp. Now, pregnant with her fourth in the United States, she saw no reason to enter a system she neither trusted nor understood. (Fartun Weli, 10/5)

Ibogaine — derived from the iboga shrub indigenous to west-central Africa — may be added to Colorado’s Natural Medicine program. While federally illegal, medically supported access is only available overseas. (Kevin Franciotti, 12/4)