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The Drug Enforcement Administration on Wednesday took steps to temporarily ban supplements containing a synthetic version of kratom, a plan that had been sought by makers of a rival product with strong ties to the Trump administration. The agency said it plans to classify an addictive psychoactive compound called 7-hydroxymitragynine, or 7-OH, in the same category as heroin and LSD — drugs that are illegal to buy or sell. (Jewett and Vogel, 7/1)

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission plans to scrap guidance on radiation exposure for power plant workers that’s been in place since the mid-1970s. The NRC has proposed replacing the “as low as reasonably achievable” standard, abbreviated as Alara, with regulations the agency considers more cost effective and less complex. The new policy would be based on existing federally regulated dose limits. The commission also proposed a range of reforms to licensing practices in an effort to streamline nuclear power plant development. (Mackler and Wade, 7/1)

The Trump administration launched the return of the Presidential Physical Fitness Test this week with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. participating in fitness activities with a youth organization. It comes after President Donald Trump signed an executive order last year reestablishing the President's Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition. "We must address the threat to the vitality and longevity of our country that is posed by America's declining health and physical fitness," the executive order reads. (Kekatos, 7/2)

Internal modeling shows the July 4th fireworks display will cause hazardous pollution around the Mall and “very unhealthy conditions across central D.C.” (Spring, 7/1)

The family of Geraldo Lunas Campos is suing detention center operators and guards over his death. Records show he repeatedly requested treatment for his mental illness. (MacMillan and Schaffer, 7/2)

In the wake of a Supreme Court decision this week upholding the constitutional right to birthright citizenship, the Trump administration and fellow Republican immigration hardliners are exploring alternative routes to limit citizenship rights for children born within the United States to foreign tourists. (Becker, 7/1)

An influential conservative think tank is issuing a new call for policy changes that would lower the federal government's health care spending, including several that would be guaranteed to generate political blowback. (Owens, 7/1)

Tax-exempt hospitals would have to reveal extensive financial data under a bill that cleared a key House committee Wednesday. The Tax-Exempt Hospital Transparency Act of 2026 passed the Ways and Means Committee on a voice vote, with some Democrats indicating opposition. Hospitals have increasingly been in the crosshairs on Capitol Hill, with Republicans going as far as floating an end to their tax exemption last year. Progressives such as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) are also critical of nonprofit hospitals, contending they do not provide enough charity care to justify not paying federal taxes. (McAuliff, 7/1)

When Rep. Tom Kean Jr. revealed Tuesday his extended absence from the House was due to inpatient treatment for depression, he ended months of speculation but also fueled a delicate conversation: Just how much privacy are elected officials entitled to? The New Jersey Republican offered only scant details about his condition during the four months he went missing. And while colleagues of both parties expressed sympathy for his mental health challenges and gratitude that he has now returned, many hedged their comments by saying Kean could and perhaps should have said something earlier. (McCarthy and Levien, 7/1)

The cause of death for an Air Force trainee who died last month at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio was influenza, according to Rep. Joaquin Castro, a Texas Democrat. Keon Talik McDaniel, 25, died June 16, according to his obituary. Influenza swept the air force base in June, one month after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made the flu shots voluntary, rather than mandatory, for American troops. Nearly 300 troops have been sickened by influenza, Castro said in a press release. (Szabo, 7/1)

A record number of West Nile virus cases have been recorded for this time of year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned on Wednesday ahead of the upcoming holiday weekend. At least 48 cases of West Nile have been reported so far this year compared to an average of 10 typically by the end of June. This is the highest number of infections reported at this point in year since 2004, according to the federal health agency. Additionally, at least 23 states are reporting West Nile activity, which is the highest number recorded over the last 10 years, CDC data shows. (Benadjaoud, 7/1)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is working to find the source of a parasitic illness that’s spreading across the country. At least 145 cases of cyclosporiasis have been reported across 17 states. About 20 people have been hospitalized after suffering severe symptoms. Public health teams are investigating several clusters of cases reported in New York, Illinois and Texas. (Sitz, 7/1)

�������ýҕ�l Health News: New Disease Threats Follow Trump Administration’s Health Program Cuts

As beachgoers flock to water during the busy July Fourth weekend, danger could be lurking in some areas. Researchers this spring discovered flesh-eating bacteria in water in several coastal locations across New York’s Long Island, and town officials in the Hamptons vacation destination posted an alert about the findings. Eight people in Florida have been infected this year, and Mississippi health officials in June urged people to take precautions. (Armour, 7/2)

Casualties of the Ebola Bundibugyo virus outbreak in Africa continue to mount, with a total of at least 1,354 infections and 401 deaths in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda, as investigators track potential spread to new DRC provinces and Uganda confirms a Marburg infection in a child who died of the virus. Like Ebola, the closely related Marburg virus causes a hemorrhagic fever. (Van Beusekom, 7/1)

The World Health Organization (WHO) has released a new “blueprint” to help countries respond to the growing threat of fungal infections and antifungal resistance. Released yesterday, the document provides a framework to strengthen national and regional responses to fungal diseases, which affect more than 300 million people each year yet remain widely under-recognized, underdiagnosed, and poorly managed. (Dall, 7/1)

An 11-year-old Canadian boy has died from rabies after waking up with a bat on his nose and mouth. The episode occurred during a visit to a cottage in northern Ontario in 2024, according to a report published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal on Monday. (Orie, 7/1)

A comprehensive review of the billions of COVID-19 vaccine doses made with mRNA technology shows that these vaccines are safe and effective. (Boden, 7/1)

Getting the flu vaccine and COVID shot on the same day doesn't increase the risk of adverse reactions, according to a review of the medication records of 2.5 million adults who receive medical care across the Veterans Affairs (VA) health system. (Boden, 6/30)

Vaccine myths are not new. They have circulated for decades, surviving retracted studies and countless public health campaigns. Now, a new poll suggests that, while relatively few Americans fully believe those falsehoods, many remain uncertain about them—a finding that suggests opportunities to counter vaccine misinformation.  (Bergeson, 6/30)

If the next coronavirus pandemic were to begin today, the wait for a vaccine could be much shorter because of artificial intelligence (AI), said Lbachir BenMohamed, PhD, an immunologist at the University of California, Irvine, and vice president of research at California-based TechImmune. (Boden, 6/30)

Iowans seeking a medication abortion will now have to see a provider in person, according to a new law that went into effect on July 1. The law requires that the abortion medications misoprostol and mifepristone be prescribed in person and dispensed at a medical center. It marks the latest restriction state lawmakers have placed on abortion. (Krebs, 7/1)

Erica Champ has a serious toothache. One tooth has erupted through her gum. Another throbs below the surface. Sometimes she suffers severe pain and facial swelling. She has to rinse her mouth frequently with mouthwash or peroxide to keep the gums from getting infected. (McCoppin, 7/1)

New Jersey is launching a new fee on companies whose workers have Medicaid health coverage instead of being covered by their employers. Other states are considering it, too. Democratic lawmakers and governors see it as a way to help pay for the joint federal and state insurance program that covers low-income residents as federal policy changes are expected to make the program more expensive for states and may lead to a reduction in the number of people with coverage. Proponents also say it’s about fairness because employers benefit from having some lower-income workers with taxpayer-funded health coverage. (Mulvihill, 7/2)

Lourens Nel, a contract farm laborer from South Africa, was working in the grain bins of a Grant County farm about 80 miles southeast of Fargo last August when he was injured in a terrible accident. “Foot slipped and, yeah, got caught in the auger, I suppose,” Nel said. “It cut it clean off.” (Work, 7/1)

North Carolina could soon have new child motor vehicle passenger safety rules that put more emphasis on the height of a child than on their weight. Legislation that has been making its way through the state legislature over the past two years could mean that some children have to return to booster seats. (Lopez, 7/2)

For generations, air conditioning in Vermont has been treated less as a necessity and more like a luxury. That might be changing. “They don’t even look at the forecast,” Tony Rowell, owner of Premier Heating and AC in Barre, said of new customers seeking air conditioning. “They just feel it, and then all of a sudden the phone starts ringing.” (Petenko, 7/1)

Federal agents on Wednesday raided a section of Los Angeles that has become one of the country’s most notorious child sex-trafficking corridors, arresting nine people on charges related to selling girls as young as 14 for sex. The operation took place near a 3.5-mile stretch of Figueroa Street known as “the Blade,” where girls go from car to car in stilettos, soliciting customers for sex to reach their traffickers’ nightly quotas. The girls can be seen wearing hair bows and dangling condoms from Hello Kitty lingerie, their faces tattooed with their traffickers’ monikers. (Baumgaertner Nunn, 7/1)

New mortality data from the federal government suggests that life expectancy probably hit another record high in 2025, as death rates have continued to fall since the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. There were about 689 deaths for every 100,000 people in the US in 2025, according to a new report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — the lowest rate recorded in more than a century of tracking. The age-adjusted rate has fallen 22% since 2021, landing about 4% lower than it was just before the pandemic in 2019. (McPhillips, 7/2)

Legendary actor Danny Glover revealed in a TODAY exclusive interview that he has been living with Alzheimer’s disease for multiple years. Glover, 79, and his family spoke with former NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt in an interview aired July 1. They gave a glimpse into what life is like now for the four-time Emmy winner and why he decided to publicly share his diagnosis now. “I’m sure as it advances, things are going to be different and changing,” Glover said. (Stump, 7/1)

Dementia will cost the U.S. $818 billion this year, according to a new study. Research shows that bill will be mostly footed by unpaid caregivers, not the government. About 5.7 million Americans are living with dementia, including 5.1 million who are 65 or older — another 5.2 million people are caring for them without pay. The research, published last week by the Alzheimer’s Association, found individuals and families are shouldering more than three times the cost that falls on health systems and government programs. (Fischels, 6/30)

New research led by Mass General Brigham investigators suggests that the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine—which is delivered through the skin to prevent tuberculosis—may remodel the human brain's immune environment, offering a potential biological explanation for previously observed associations between BCG vaccination and lower Alzheimer's disease risk. Findings are published in Communications Medicine. (Baum, 7/2)

Head injuries among cheerleaders declined after a 2012 rule change that banned the "double down" twisting dismount in stunts performed in high school and lower-level grades, a study showed. (Henderson, 7/1)

Doctors and researchers have long known that exercise is good for your health. For years, federal health agencies and medical associations told Americans to aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise each week, and that physical activity as short as 10 minutes at a time counts toward that total. But more recently, research began focusing on shorter bouts of activity, often called “exercise snacks,” which can be a few minutes or less — like a quick round of jumping jacks, wall sits or a jog up the stairs on the way to work. (Ho, 6/28)

Your daily cup of coffee may lower your risk for liver disease or liver cancer, a large new study has found — even if you drink five or more cups a day. (Rogers, 7/1)

The bulk of adults who use social media reported engaging with health information via these platforms, despite not always finding it trustworthy, according to survey data. Out of over 7,000 adults, 87.8% reported using social media, and among those, engagement with health-related content was common, with 84.8% sharing personal or general health information, and 70.2% participating in online communities, reported Rohan Khera, MD, MS, of Yale School of Medicine, in New Haven, Connecticut, and colleagues. (Henderson, 6/30)

�������ýҕ�l Health News: A Mom Said Infant Formula Killed Her Baby. The Manufacturer Closed The File. 

In September 2016, a distraught mother sent infant formula maker Mead Johnson a message: “REMOVE ME FROM YOUR LIST!!!! DO NOT EMAIL OR MAIL ME ANY MORE! It is because of your animal based pre-term artificial baby food crap that you peddle to hospital NICU’s that my son is dead from NEC.” The mother was referring to neonatal intensive care units and necrotizing enterocolitis, an often fatal condition in which intestinal tissue can die and allow infection to spread through the body of an infant born prematurely. (Hilzenrath and Hacker, 7/2)

�������ýҕ�l Health News: Listen To The Latest ‘�������ýҕ�l Health News Minute’

Jackie Fortiér reads the week’s news: More Americans than ever are surviving cancer and face lingering mental health issues. Plus, tips to get your health insurance company to pay for a GLP-1 drug. (7/2)

Researchers have created what they say may count as the first synthetic cell, and have started a public benefit corporation to share the technology with other scientists.  It’s a piece of science that generates as many questions as answers. They are unlike cells in nature, but have cell-like properties that are spurring a debate about whether they might even be considered alive. (Herper, 7/1)

The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved a personalized T-cell therapy from Orca Bio, a private biotech company, that reduces the risk of a debilitating immune reaction in patients with blood cancers undergoing stem cell transplants. (Feuerstein, 7/1)

People with obesity have worse cardiovascular health than people with normal weight, especially as they get older, right? Not necessarily. People over 40 with obesity appear to have both their blood pressure and cholesterol under control at levels rivaling their peers with normal body mass index, research published Wednesday in the Lancet has found. (Cooney, 7/1)

Vitamin A might help children who are struggling with asthma, a new study says. Higher levels of vitamin A in the bloodstream are linked to better lung function in both kids and adults with asthma, researchers reported June 30 in the journal Thorax. The study also looked into vitamin D, but found that the nutrient only benefits adults with asthma. (Thompson, 7/1)

Home health providers would receive a 2.4% pay bump in 2027 under a proposed rule the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services published Wednesday. The draft regulation also would accelerate the process for excluding any type of provider or supplier from Medicare when fraud is detected. CMS placed a moratorium on new home health and hospice provider enrollment into Medicare last month as it conducts fraud investigations. (Early, 7/1)

�������ýҕ�l Health News: 'What The Health? From �������ýҕ�l Health News': Supreme Court Makes Health Policy

The Supreme Court wrapped up its 2025-26 session this week with a spate of decisions, including several affecting health policy. The most significant: an immigration case that could exacerbate a shortage of workers in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities. Meanwhile, two separate investigations paint in vivid detail how some doctors and hospitals are pocketing huge profits as a result of a federal law intended to shield patients from surprise medical bills. (Rovner, 7/1)

�������ýҕ�l Health News: HealthQ Special: Caregiving In The Sandwich Generation

If you are taking care of a child and you have a parent over 65, you’re among millions across the U.S. in the same life stage. Nearly a quarter of all American adults — and half of all adults in their 40s — fall into this “sandwich generation” category, according to Pew research. And being in the middle of that sandwich can feel … intense. (Anthony, Farmer, Ruppelt and Siner, 7/2)

The transgender patients and their families who are suing Children’s Hospital Colorado are seeking to hold the hospital in contempt for failing to resume gender-affirming care as ordered by the courts. (Ingold, 7/2)

Allegheny Health Network closed its acquisition of Heritage Valley Health despite pushback from the Pennsylvania attorney general. The deal adds Heritage’s two hospitals, dozens of clinics and 500 employed and affiliated physicians to the 16-hospital provider division of Highmark Health. A final order Friday from a federal court paved the way for the transaction’s close, with conditions. (Kacik, 7/1)

Dartmouth Health is rewriting the script for how to start a hospital-at-home program — and potentially help rural patients — with a $10 million gift from a New Hampshire philanthropist. Most health systems are standing up the programs with internal funds. Dartmouth Health is benefiting from the largesse of one of its professors, and the gift could signal another way for health systems to secure the funding needed to get the programs off the ground in more communities. (Eastabrook, 7/1)

Northwestern Medicine plans to use a whopping $225 million donation to help build a new medical office building for cancer care in Orland Park. (Schencker, 7/1)

Carilion Clinic is expanding cancer research in Roanoke by bringing in new clinical trials as part of the development of the Carilion Taubman Cancer Center. (Schabacker, 7/2)

The Clearwater-based health system, in a partnership with Zipline, will be able to move meds, lab samples and critical supplies within minutes after the aircraft begin flying in Pinellas County in 2027. (Mayer, 7/1)

Michigan State University researchers have identified how ovarian cancer cells become resistant to chemotherapy and discovered a protein that, when blocked, can restore the drug's effectiveness. The findings, published in Cell Reports, center on cisplatin, a widely used chemotherapy drug first discovered at MSU in 1965 and still considered among the gold standards for treating ovarian and other cancers. (Clark, 6/28)

Abbreviated treatment with neoadjuvant paclitaxel, trastuzumab, and pertuzumab (Perjeta) was tied to "excellent" long-term outcomes in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer, a secondary analysis of the phase II DAPHNe trial showed. (Bassett, 6/25)

Off-label rituximab was noninferior to ocrelizumab (Ocrevus) in people with newly diagnosed relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS) and recent disease activity, the phase III OVERLORD-MS trial showed. (George, 7/1)

Type 1 diabetes is widely understood as an autoimmune disease, with the immune system attacking the insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas. But two new studies suggest those cells may be more than passive victims. Together, the findings indicate that beta cells' own stress responses and internal defense systems may help shape how the disease begins and progresses. (Ricks, 6/30)

Over a third of infants born following pregnancies with anhydramnios due to fetal kidney failure were able to avoid death from underdeveloped lungs with serial amnioinfusions during pregnancy, the nonrandomized RAFT study showed. (Monaco, 7/1)

Treatment with a once-daily FGFR1-3 tyrosine kinase inhibitor led to significant increases in growth among children with achondroplasia, the phase III PROPEL 3 study showed. (Monaco, 6/28)

Eri Petherbridge, a psychology student in Boone, N.C., was going to therapy three times a week when her therapist suggested she start using an artificial-intelligence chatbot for support between sessions. (Janin and Petersen, 6/29)

In most of the country, executions are a thing of the past. But one state has been carrying them out at a record pace. (Colloff, 6/30)

Five years after Anthony Broadwater was belatedly cleared for the sexual assault of Alice Sebold, the questions of how he came to be wrongly convicted and how one or more serial rapists operated for years with little consequence have only deepened. (Sapien, 6/30)

Stirred in pea-size portions into warm water or milk, shilajit has been used for thousands of years in Tibetan and Ayurvedic Indian medicine to treat everything from broken bones to impotence. Joe Rogan swears by the stuff as a sort of natural steroid. Studies suggest that shilajit holds real health benefits, but the supply comes with a mountain of worrisome questions. (Popescu, 6/29)

These diseases usually cause mild symptoms (or none at all), but they can have more serious complications in certain people. (Felton, 6/23)

Musk insists that his demolition of humanitarian aid didn’t cost lives. So I propose he take a trip with me. (Nicholas Kristof, 7/1)

The federal criteria require at least five of 10 IgG bands before the result counts as positive, because the proteins are not all unique to Lyme. Some closely resemble proteins on ordinary, harmless bacteria, including ones that live in the mouth and gut, so a person who never encountered Lyme can still light up a band or two. The most common of them, a flagellin protein, turns up in nearly half of healthy people in one study, many with little or no chance of exposure. A report that reads "two bands present" can look, to a frightened patient, like partial proof. It is closer to background noise, and standard testing calls it negative for exactly that reason. (Jake Scott, MD, 7/1)

By a 6–3 margin, the justices upheld state laws that define men’s and women’s sports by biological sex instead of gender identity. In other words, states cannot be forced to allow genetically male athletes who identify as women to compete in female sports; legislators have a legitimate interest in preserving fair opportunities for female athletes. (Helen Lewis, 7/1)

Wheelchair users rely on the technology to live and work, and shouldn’t have to tolerate long waits for repairs. (7/1)

A new study found that physical and cognitive gains in later life are surprisingly common. (Leana S. Wen, 6/30)