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What the Health? From ��ýҕ�l Health News

New Flu Vax? FDA Says No Thanks

Episode 433

Feb. 12, 2026

It’s been a busy week at the FDA, with a political appointee overruling agency scientists to reject an application for a new flu vaccine. Meanwhile, anti-abortion Republicans on Capitol Hill complain the agency is dragging its feet on reviewing the abortion pill mifepristone. Jackie Fortiér of ��ýҕ�l Health News, Lizzy Lawrence of Stat, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join ��ýҕ�l Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.

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A view of a bridge crossing a muddy river with another bridge in the background

Louisville Found PFAS in Drinking Water. The Trump Administration Wouldn’t Require Any Action.

After detecting a sudden spike in PFAS in its drinking water, the city traced it upstream along the Ohio River to a factory in West Virginia. But the EPA has relaxed Biden-era plans to regulate PFAS levels. So what happens next?

By Morgan Watkins, Louisville Public Media

Feb. 12, 2026

A box of ivermectin tablets is shown in a pharmacy.

US Cancer Institute Studying Ivermectin’s ‘Ability To Kill Cancer Cells’

At a January event organized by allies of health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., National Cancer Institute Director Anthony Letai said results may be released “in a few months.” Ivermectin, used to deworm horses and other animals, has become a symbol of resistance against the medical establishment among supporters of Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda and many conservatives.

By Rachana Pradhan

Feb. 10, 2026

Four uniformed U.S. Public Health officers look out of frame.

Public Health Workers Are Quitting Over Assignments to Guantánamo

U.S. Public Health Service doctors and nurses are being deployed to Guantánamo and other detention centers as President Donald Trump escalates mass arrests in his campaign to curb immigration. Some have resigned in protest. Others offer a rare look into bleak conditions.

By Amy Maxmen

Feb. 9, 2026

An aerial view of the wreckage at Unicoi County Hospital after it flooded.

This Ballad Hospital, Flooded by Hurricane Helene, Will Be Rebuilt for $44M in a Flood Plain

Ballad Health, the nation’s largest state-sanctioned hospital monopoly, plans to rebuild Unicoi County Hospital on land that two climate modeling companies say is at risk of flooding.

By Brett Kelman

Feb. 9, 2026

��ýҕ�l Health News On Air

Journalists Describe Drivers of High Health Costs and Spell Out the Science of Protein

��ýҕ�l Health News journalists made the rounds on national and local media recently to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.

Feb. 7, 2026

Effective but Underprescribed: HIV Prevention Meds Aren’t Reaching Enough People

PrEP has been available for more than a decade, but billing mistakes, lack of awareness, and lingering stigma keep many people from getting the lifesaving HIV prevention medication.

By Zach Dyer

Feb. 6, 2026

What the Health? From ��ýҕ�l Health News

HHS Gets Funding, But How Will Trump Spend It?

Episode 432

Feb. 5, 2026

Congress has passed — and President Trump has signed — the annual spending bill for the Department of Health and Human Services. But it’s unclear whether the administration will spend the money as Congress directed. Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call join ��ýҕ�l Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss that story and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews ��ýҕ�l Health News’ Renuka Rayasam about a new reporting project, “Priced Out.”

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A young child with two braids and a light blue dress with frilly skirt swings on a swing set with barefeet. The rest of the playground and park in the background have a motion blur while the child is in focus.

Poison at Play: Unsafe Levels of Lead Found in Half of New Orleans Playgrounds

Verite News’ reporters tested soil in more than 80 playgrounds for lead contamination. Even in trace amounts, lead exposure in children can result in lower IQs, learning challenges, and behavioral issues.

By Tristan Baurick, Verite News and Halle Parker, Verite News

Feb. 5, 2026

A photo of a Black man in winter clothes outside in D.C.

Listen: Many Tents Are Gone, but Washington’s Homeless — And Their Health Problems — Aren’t

Sweeps of encampments scatter homeless people, as medications are tossed and street medicine providers scramble to reconnect with their patients. ��ýҕ�l Health News senior correspondent Angela Hart discusses the aftermath on the Jan. 28 edition of WAMU’s “Health Hub.”

By Angela Hart

Feb. 4, 2026

A researcher sits at her desk indoors. A laptop is in front of her.

NIH Grant Disruptions Slow Down Breast Cancer Research

The Trump administration has made the future of federal funding for cancer research uncertain. At one groundbreaking breast cancer research lab, work that could save lives has slowed significantly.

By Martha Bebinger, WBUR

Feb. 3, 2026

The Week in Brief

Trump’s Covid Views Don’t Track With Reality That Recent Studies Suggest

Get our weekly newsletter, The Week in Brief, featuring a roundup of our original coverage, Fridays at 2 p.m. ET.

By Stephanie Armour

Jan. 30, 2026

A man wearing a white t-shirt and red pants sits on a couch next to a woman wearing glasses and a denim jacket

This Teen Never Got His Day in Vaccine Court. His Former Lawyer Now Advises RFK on Its Overhaul.

The federal government’s Vaccine Injury Compensation Program was supposed to help patients with their medical bills while protecting vaccine supply. But allies of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are routinely transferring cases from that program to launch lawsuits against drugmakers.

By Maia Rosenfeld

Jan. 29, 2026

Two gloved hands hold a sample tray in a lab.

Trump Policies at Odds With Emerging Understanding of Covid’s Long-Term Harm

Studies increasingly offer insights into the health risks and burdens faced by people who have had covid infections. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has narrowed covid vaccine recommendations and cut research.

By Stephanie Armour

Jan. 27, 2026

What the Health? From ��ýҕ�l Health News

Health Spending Is Moving in Congress

Episode 430

Jan. 22, 2026

Lawmakers appear on the brink of passing a spending bill for the Department of Health and Human Services and a bipartisan health policy bill delayed for over a year. But the outlook is bleaker for the health care outline released by President Trump last week. Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, Sheryl Gay Stolberg of The New York Times, and Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post join ��ýҕ�l Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss those stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews oncologist and bioethicist Ezekiel Emanuel to discuss his new book, “Eat Your Ice Cream.”

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As US Is Poised To Lose Measles-Free Status, RFK Jr.’s New CDC Deputy Downplays Its Significance

Measles is at a 30-year high in the U.S., but technicalities may stave off the loss of the nation’s measles elimination status.

By Amy Maxmen

Jan. 21, 2026

A woman wearing a yellow headband and a brown sweatshirt stands in front of a garage door, posing for a portrait.

Medicaid Tries New Approach With Sickle Cell: Companies Get Paid Only if Costly Gene Therapies Work

The government is using sickle cell treatments to test a new strategy: paying only if the therapies benefit patients. With more expensive treatments on the horizon, the program — created by the Biden administration and continued under President Trump — could help Medicaid save money and treat more patients.

By Phil Galewitz

Jan. 21, 2026

��ýҕ�l Health News On Air

Physician-Journalist Shines Light on Measles Upsurge and New GLP-1 Study

��ýҕ�l Health News' editor-at-large for public health recently took to the airwaves to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of her appearances.

Jan. 17, 2026

How Is Your County Spending Opioid Settlement Cash? Our New Tool Follows the Money.

Lifesaving or wasteful? Opinion is divided on the ways local communities are using opioid settlement funds. Survivors of the overdose crisis and families who’ve lost loved ones to it are raising alarms about what some perceive as wasteful spending.

By Aneri Pattani

Jan. 16, 2026

A photo of Martha Santana-Chin smiling in front of a wall painted blue. The wall appears decorated for Thanksgiving: a string of pennants spells out "Give Thanks." Images of employees' heads are superimposed on turkeys.

GOP Cuts Will Cripple Medicaid Enrollment, Warns CEO of Largest Public Health Plan

Martha Santana-Chin, a daughter of Mexican immigrants, last year took the helm of L.A. Care, the nation’s largest publicly operated health plan. She warns that looming federal cuts will push up to 650,000 people off L.A. Care’s Medicaid rolls by the end of 2028.

By Bernard J. Wolfson

Jan. 15, 2026

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