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In a tense exchange with Senator Bill Cassidy, Republican of Louisiana, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. displayed a surprising lack of familiarity with Medicare and Medicaid, the government programs responsible for covering more than 150 million Americans. At times, Mr. Kennedy seemed to confuse the two programs. Medicare is a federal program that provides coverage to older and disabled Americans, while Medicaid is a state-federal program that covers low-income people. (Kliff and Abelson, 1/29)

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. suggested he is open to significantly limiting access to mifepristone if confirmed to head the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), citing “safety issues” to a drug that is used in most abortions and that research has shown is very safe and effective. (Luthra and Rodriguez, 1/29)

Facing mounting criticism from public health officials, doctors’ groups and Democrats (along with some skepticism from some Republicans), Kennedy attempted a delicate balancing act: defending and denying his controversial past as a prominent anti-vaccine lawyer while pledging to be a responsible steward for an agency with 80,000 employees, a $1.8 trillion budget and the nation’s health at stake. (Zadrozny, 1/29)

Lawmakers quizzed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Wednesday during a Senate Finance hearing about his decision to keep a financial stake in litigation against a major vaccine maker. Ethics records released in advance of the hearing said that Mr. Kennedy planned to receive fees on cases with the personal injury law firm Wisner Baum. ... Mr. Kennedy said in his ethics filings that he would end his referral agreement with the law firm but would collect fees related to cases in the continuing cases. (Jewett, 1/29)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nominee for the nation’s top health post, applied in recent months to trademark his signature slogan, “Make America Healthy Again,” to potentially market supplements, vitamins, essential oils and cryptocurrency, according to documents filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Kennedy in December transferred ownership of the trademark application for the slogan and its abbreviation — MAHA — to an LLC managed by Del Bigtree, who, like Kennedy, has disparaged vaccines. The documents list an assortment of items the trademark could be used for — including vaccines. (Weber, 1/29)

In his first confirmation hearing before senators as President Trump’s health secretary nominee, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday tried to distance himself from his past statements on abortion and vaccines, but offered no concrete details on how he would tackle the nation’s chronic disease epidemic. (Cueto, 1/29)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s halting, gruff speaking voice, which at times can make him hard to understand, has been front and center during his confirmation hearing Wednesday as President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the US Department of Health and Human Services. Kennedy’s vocal rasp is not caused by an infection or respiratory condition. Instead, he has spasmodic dysphonia, a rare neurological condition in which the muscles that open and close his vocal cords spasm involuntarily, creating a strained or strangled quality to his speech. (LaMotte, 1/29)

As President Donald Trump's picks to lead federal health agencies await confirmation hearings, there are now acting directors in place at HHS and its key sub-agencies. Here is what is known about who is currently running the show at these sprawling and influential entities. (Henderson, 1/29)

President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the government’s health agencies, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., appeared to pass his first test for confirmation yesterday in the Senate Finance Committee. But today’s hearing before the panel in charge of health policy will likely reveal more about his chances of leading the Department of Health and Human Services. Finance decides whether to recommend Kennedy’s confirmation to the Senate, but the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee features three Republicans critical to his fate: Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and the panel’s chair, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana. (Payne, Gardner and Cirruzzo, 1/30)

The hearing before the Senate HELP Committee, which begins at 10 a.m. ET, promises more questioning on his vaccine views, abortion stance, and plans to tackle chronic illnesses. Follow STAT’s live updates below for key moments and analysis. (Owermohle, Wilkerson, Cueto and Cohrs, 1/30)

Like all nominees, Mr. Kennedy can afford to lose no more than three Republican votes if all Democrats are united in their opposition to him. It is also not clear whether Democrats will unanimously oppose him. Senator John Fetterman, Democrat of Pennsylvania, met with Mr. Kennedy and has said that he is not reflexively opposed to his nomination. Some Republicans have said they have questions or harbor reservations about Mr. Kennedy’s position on abortion and his opposition to vaccines. But the confirmation of Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, underscored that at the dawn of the Trump era, questions and reservations from G.O.P. senators sometimes give way to a “yes” vote in the end. (Karni, 1/29)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faced a grilling from Democrats over his past as an anti-vaccine activist and his waffling stance on abortion, but Republicans went easy on President Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services during his confirmation hearing Wednesday, foreshadowing a path to confirmation on the Senate floor. Over more than three hours of contentious questioning from Democrats and mostly softballs from Republicans, Kennedy stumbled over basic health care questions, and at times displayed limited knowledge of the complexities of the nearly $2 trillion agency he was nominated to run. (Meyn, 1/29)

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), who was thought to be open to voting for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to head the Department of Health and Human Services, now says the nominee is in serious trouble after his rocky confirmation hearing. “I don’t think it went well for him today. I don’t think that was a good one,” he said after Kennedy sparred with Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee over his past statements and stance on vaccines. Fetterman said after the bruising hearing that he thinks Kennedy’s nomination may be “moot.” (Bolton, 1/29)

Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) on Wednesday reintroduced a bill that would permanently repeal a policy that restricts sending federal foreign aid to groups providing abortion services after President Trump reinstated it last week. The lawmakers’ move comes just days after Trump issued an executive order reinstating the policy, known as the Mexico City Policy or as the “global gag rule” by opponents. (Zehra, 1/29)

Almost 136,000 babies are expected to be born with HIV in the next three months, mostly in Africa, because of the Trump administration’s “stop work order” on foreign assistance, according to a top research foundation. The Andelson Office of Public Policy said children in South Africa, Mozambique and Uganda will be the most affected, and it could lead to a rise in new infections of a disease that already kills more than half a million people a year. (Kew, 1/29)

�������ýҕ�l Health News: Trump Administration’s Halt Of CDC’s Weekly Scientific Report Stalls Bird Flu Studies 

The Trump administration has intervened in the release of important studies on the bird flu, as an outbreak escalates across the United States. One of the studies would reveal whether veterinarians who treat cattle have been unknowingly infected by the bird flu virus. Another report documents cases in which people carrying the virus might have infected their pet cats. The studies were slated to appear in the official journal of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The distinguished journal has been published without interruption since 1952. (Maxmen, 1/30)

President Trump's firing of HHS Inspector General Christi Grimm late last week was not the first time that Grimm had come under the president's critical eye. Back in 2020, Trump sought to replace Grimm -- who was running the inspector general's office -- after her office issued a report detailing shortages of personal protective equipment, ventilators, and other supplies in hospitals nationwide during the beginning of the COVID pandemic. (Frieden, 1/29)

Standing behind heaping piles of drugs stacked in clear plastic bags and storage boxes, Toronto’s police chief last week announced the force’s largest-ever cocaine seizure, intercepted at the border in a truck entering from the United States. A few hours later, President Trump also addressed cross-border drug trafficking — but in his case to lay blame on Canada, at least in part, for a deadly fentanyl scourge. “The fentanyl coming through Canada is massive,” Mr. Trump told reporters the day after his inauguration. “The fentanyl coming through Mexico is massive. And people are getting killed and families are being destroyed.” (Isai, 1/30)

The American Lung Association — the country’s leading authority on lung health — on Wednesday criticized Biden for the missed opportunity. “We’re really disappointed in former President Biden and him bowing to tobacco industry pressure,” said Thomas Carr, the association’s director of national policy. In its annual “State of Tobacco Control” report, published Wednesday, the American Lung Association said Biden’s inaction will result in continued death and disease from smoking, which kills more than 490,000 people each year in the U.S. (Bendix, 1/29)

Cigna Group plans to limit patients’ out-of-pocket expenses for medications as the insurer faces pressure from Washington over its role in prescription costs. The changes aim to ensure that patients don’t pay the drug company’s list price for medications and don’t pay more out-of-pocket for their medications than the amount that their employer contributes, a top executive said in an interview with Bloomberg News. (Tozzi, 1/29)

Pharmacy benefit management giant Express Scripts unveiled several steps it's taking to boost transparency and mitigate high costs members may face. The PBM said in an announcement that about 80% of its members pay less than $100 per year on their medications, but the remaining 20% are at times exposed to higher costs, a trend that's particularly true for people who may be in high-deductible plans. (Minemyer, 1/30)

A big-business coalition is using hospital, insurer and employer healthcare cost information to help companies negotiate the price of services and coverage for employees. The Purchaser Business Group on Health will combine healthcare price transparency data and other information from providers and insurers with claims data from five large employers to analyze the cost and quality of care across 10 markets, the group said in a Wednesday news release. (Tepper, 1/29)

SEIU healthcare employees at UPMC Washington Hospital say a strike is looming. With just two days left to negotiate a new contract for 300 hospital employees, workers remain hopeful an agreement can be reached, but they say they're prepared to strike for better wages. "If that's what it comes to, then that's where we're headed," said SEIU union chapter president and EKG technician Melissa Duran. (Bortz, 1/29)

Amazon One Medical is planning to open primary care offices with Montefiore Health System in New York in 2026. The primary care offices will offer same- and next-day appointments, onsite lab services and virtual care support, according to a Wednesday news release. Amazon One Medical and Montefiore plan to open multiple locations over the next several years and will work together to pick them, a One Medical spokesperson said. (Hudson, 1/29)

Advocate Health is shuttering 55 clinics inside Walgreens stores in Illinois and Wisconsin, effective Feb. 6. Advocate owns and operates 47 in-store clinics in Illinois and eight in Wisconsin. An Advocate spokesperson said Wednesday the health system is working with Walgreens to navigate the transition and will try to find other roles for affected employees. Each clinic employs one or two medical office assistants and other clinicians who support virtual care services. (Hudson, 1/29)

Baptist Health unveiled plans Tuesday for a new $190 million, four-story, 123,000-square-foot emergency center in Jacksonville. The facility design shows an expanded capacity to care for chest pain, stroke, behavioral health crises, complex illnesses or injuries, pediatric trauma and more. (Scanlan, 1/29)

Lee Health broke ground Monday on a new hospital that will add to the medical services available to care for Southwest Florida's growing population. The state-of-the-art health care facility will go up on a 53-acre site at Colonial and Challenger boulevards in the eastern part of Lee County. (1/29)

Samsung Medison launched an artificial intelligence-powered ultrasound scanner Wednesday for advanced obstetrics and gynecology applications. The Samsung Z20 scanner, which has received 510(k) clearance from the Food and Drug Administration, includes a deep learning tool called Live ViewAssist that can automatically identify 39 views, label up to 47 anatomic structures and perform 46 types of measurements. (Dubinsky, 1/29)

�������ýҕ�l Health News: Telehealth Companies Boost Ad Spending While Taking On More Complex Medicine

Shannon Sharpe was having one of those 15-minutes-of-internet-infamy moments. Social media blew up in September after the retired Denver Broncos tight end — accidentally, he later said — broadcast some of his intimate activities online. One of his sponsors took advantage of the moment: the telehealth company Ro, which sells a variety of prescription medicines for erectile dysfunction and hair and weight loss. The company revved up a social media campaign on the social platform X for an ad in which Sharpe boasted about his experience with the company’s erectile dysfunction medications, a company spokesperson confirmed. (Tahir, 1/30)

For nearly a year and a half, a woman has been languishing in Greene County jail, waiting to be transferred to a state mental health facility. The woman was charged with a misdemeanor, found incompetent to stand trial and ordered by the court into state-run psychiatric treatment, Greene County Sheriff Jim Arnott told The Independent. She’s been waiting there for a Missouri Department of Mental Health bed to open up for almost 450 days, Arnott said. (Bates, 1/29)

In July 2022, 988 launched as the number anyone across the country could dial in a mental health crisis. It’s one entryway to a sprawling system of mental health care options, but new research shows that since then, critical crisis services have not become more available — a key objective of the nationwide rollout, designed to strengthen an underfunded, patchwork system that left many people alone in times of crisis. (Gaffney, 1/29) 

Mayor Daniel Lurie’s proposal to speed up San Francisco’s response to the fentanyl crisis was broadly embraced Wednesday at City Hall and appears likely to pass next week. Lurie’s ordinance, his first major legislative effort since he took office three weeks ago, was advanced unanimously by a Board of Supervisors committee. A majority of the entire 11-member board has indicated support for the measure, which would cut red tape in an effort to more quickly address public drug use and homelessness. (Morris, 1/29)

Anthony James is the first to admit that for most of his adult life, he lived under the illusion that he was invincible. He was just 14 and attending South Boston High School when he was attacked by a mob of white students during the city’s busing crisis. A few years later, he took his first euphoric hit of cocaine, which sent him down a decades-long spiral of addiction that frequently put him in harm’s way. Seared into his memory is the metallic click-click of a drug dealer’s gun pointed at his head. (Serres and Jung, 1/30)

Promising signs for "public option" health plans sold on state health insurance exchanges spell bad news for providers, who say they're squeezed by low reimbursements. Colorado and Washington are the only states that have government-sponsored — but privately administered — public options on their marketplaces. Nevada is set to join them soon and other states may follow. Public option enrollment climbed on Connect for Health Colorado and Washington Healthplanfinder during the open enrollment period that ended Jan. 15, the states reported. (Tepper, 1/29)

The number of pregnant and postpartum Texans enrolled in Medicaid has almost doubled since before the pandemic, to more than 265,000. But many patients are unaware that they are still covered for an additional 10 months, according to a survey from Texans Care for Children, a health advocacy group. New moms report being unable to access the physical and mental health services covered by Medicaid, and doctors say changes are needed to ensure the workforce, reimbursement rates and coverage can keep up with a full year of need. (Klibanoff, 1/30)

The fresh food initiative battling food insecurity will expand by 40 percent in 2025, according to Highmark Wholecare. The initiative delivered 84,000 pounds of food to about 3,500 families in need last year. The campaign connected food banks, local farmers and community organizations with schools. "There is a growing recognition of food as medicine and its vital role in preventative health care," said Michael Callaghan, Supervisor of the Mobile Connection Center for Title I Schools for Highmark Wholecare. (Cates, 1/29)

A surge in flu cases is causing several North Texas school districts to shut down their campuses. Comanche ISD in Comanche County shut down all of its schools Tuesday and Wednesday because of spreading sickness. The district plans to reopen tomorrow. Morgan ISD, in Bosque County southeast of Glen Rose, has decided to shut down for the rest of the week and will reopen on Monday, Feb. 3. (Vandergriff, 1/29)

Prolonged rapid eye movement (REM) sleep latency was linked with Alzheimer's disease biomarkers, cross-sectional data showed. (George, 1/28)

Year-to-year fluctuations in total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels were tied to higher risks of cognitive decline and dementia, a study of nearly 10,000 older adults showed. Participants with the highest variability in total cholesterol had a 60% higher risk of incident dementia and a 23% higher risk of cognitive decline without dementia. (George, 1/29)

The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report today calling for the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to finalize food-safety standards for the bacteria Salmonella, Campylobacter, and Listeria in meat and poultry. The report is an update of previous GAO reports on USDA actions to reduce foodborne pathogens and the challenges it faced in doing so. The authors interviewed agency officials and food-safety and industry organizations and visited a Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) lab. (Van Beusekom, 1/23)

Rose Acre Farms, the nation's second largest egg producer, said yesterday that tests have confirmed avian flu at its facility in Seymour, Indiana, which could further stretch the supply of eggs as commercial farms in several states continue to battle the spread of the H5N1 virus. In other developments, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported more H5N1 detections in mammals, poultry, dairy cows, and wild birds, and European health groups issued a guide for assessing avian flu mutations that may pose a risk to humans. (Schnirring, 1/29)

The cost of what was once one of the most affordable options for childcare soared in 2024, putting it out of reach of many working families, according to a new survey. Fees at childcare centers based in people’s homes — long embraced by some parents as a more affordable option than formal daycare centers – soared by almost 50% last year to $344 a week, the survey by Care.com found. Now prices of the two options are nearly identical. (Butler, 1/29)

�������ýҕ�l Health News: �������ýҕ�l Health News’ ‘Letters To The Editor’: Readers Offer Their Takes On The Opioid Crisis, Family Doctor Shortage, And Vaccine Policies

�������ýҕ�l Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories. (1/30)

Obesity was associated with improved overall survival (OS) after curative resection in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), particularly those who did not have low skeletal muscle mass (LSMM) or myosteatosis, according to a retrospective study from Korea. Among over 7,000 patients, those who were categorized as having obesity (body mass index [BMI] ≥25) had a 21% reduced risk of death compared with patients without obesity ... reported Juhee Cho, MA, PhD, of Sungkyunkwan University and Samsung Medical Center in Seoul, and colleagues. (Bassett, 1/29)

The FDA expanded the approval of trastuzumab deruxtecan (T-DXd, Enhertu) to include treatment of unresectable/metastatic hormone receptor (HR)-positive, HER2-low/ultralow breast cancer. Approval stipulates use in patients with disease that has progressed on or proven unresponsive to at least one prior endocrine therapy in the metastatic setting, according to a statement from drugmakers AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo. (Bankhead, 1/28)

Merck & Co. is facing its first jury trial over claims the company wrongfully marketed its lucrative Gardasil cancer vaccine as safe, the latest high-stakes litigation for the pharmaceutical giant. (Blumberg, 1/27)

A new study based on German long-COVID patients shows 68% experience the same symptoms in year 2 as in year 1 of the chronic condition. The study, published yesterday in PLoS Medicine, adds to the current understanding of the long-term prognosis of post-COVID-19 syndrome (PCS). (Soucheray, 1/24)

Leukocyte count, a widely available and inexpensive clinical marker of inflammation, may help predict the severity of long COVID symptoms in postmenopausal women, researchers reported. (Monaco, 1/29)

The gap in average life expectancy between Black and white Americans shrank significantly in the decades before the COVID-19 pandemic, though there was wide variation between states, new findings from the Urban Institute show. It's one more data point that suggests who you are and where you live in the United States is a major determinant of health — and how long one can expect to live. (Goldman, 1/28)

Doctors take an oath to “do no harm.” That sadly doesn’t apply to the Trump administration officials who have thrown America’s medical research into chaos by freezing funds, halting grants and banning travel. (David Ignatius, 1/29)

In the immediate aftermath of the shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, “nothing justifies violence but …” became the first four words in nearly every social media takedown of America’s private health insurance system. But the public’s anger with our balkanized and profit-centric health care system didn’t start with alleged shooter Luigi Mangione or when Medicare or Obamacare were under threat. It’s haunted me for decades. (Daniel Zingale, 1/30)

It was the case that, thanks in part to disparate vaccination rates, counties that voted more heavily for Donald Trump in 2020 were also counties with higher covid-19 death tolls relative to their populations. (Philip Bump, 1/29)

Pharmacy deserts are a growing phenomenon, an analysis published last year in U.S. Pharmacist shows. A pharmacy desert is “described as a low-access community where the residents have to travel farther to get to the nearest pharmacy to fill their prescriptions.” (Laura Washington, 1/29)

For decades, Maryland has been a trailblazing state, with Baltimore at its heart. We’ve taken pride in using science to inform policies; yet in the fight for healthy, scientifically sound school start times, Baltimore and other counties in Maryland are falling behind. The detrimental effects of early school start times are widespread and well-known. Up to 70% of adolescents are sleep deprived, the effects of which are tied to myriad damaging health effects from chronic health issues to impaired school performance. (Aysheh Abuarqub, 1/29)