Health and Human Services

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HHS Plans No-Bid Contract on Tying Autism to Vaccines

Kennedy announced definitive research effort though scientists have never found evidence of a connection

(Newser) - Federal health officials intend to award a contract to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to investigate whether there is a link between vaccinations and autism, according to a government procurement notice. The Troy, New York, engineering school was selected for the no-bid contract because of its "unique ability" to link data...

HHS Report to Tie Tylenol, Low Folate to Autism: WSJ

RFK Jr.-driven report will also highlight folate drug leucovorin as possible autism treatment

(Newser) - A forthcoming report from the Department of Health and Human Services, led by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is expected to suggest a possible link between pregnant women's use of Tylenol, whose active ingredient is acetaminophen, and autism, as well as a connection to low folate levels. The...

Ousted CDC Chief Accuses Kennedy of Vaccine 'Sabotage'

Susan Monarez says she was fired for trying to counter attempts to 'compromise science'

(Newser) - Susan Monarez lasted only 29 days in her job as head of the CDC before being fired last week . In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Monarez writes that she lost her job because she refused to go along with health secretary Robert F. Kennedy's plan to "compromise science....

Bernie Sanders: RFK Jr. Must Resign
Bernie Sanders:
Kennedy Has to Go
OPINION
Aug 31, 2025 7:41 AM CDT

Bernie Sanders: Kennedy Has to Go

Health secretary is endangering American lives, the senator writes

(Newser) - Bernie Sanders has written a scathing op-ed about Robert F. Kennedy Jr. demanding that the health secretary resign because he is "endangering American lives." In his New York Times piece, the Vermont senator focuses on vaccines. "It is absurd to have to say this in 2025, but...

RFK Jr. Pulls $500M in Vaccine Development Funding

HHS announces funding cuts related to mRNA vaccine research

(Newser) - The Department of Health and Human Services will cancel contracts and pull funding for some vaccines that are being developed to fight respiratory viruses like COVID-19 and the flu, the AP reports. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced in a statement Tuesday that 22 projects, totaling $500 million, to develop vaccines...

Feds Crack Down on Organ Removal After 'Horrifying' Finds

Move follows reports of organs taken from people before death was confirmed

(Newser) - The US government is tightening oversight of its organ transplant system after troubling reports that organs were being removed from patients who were not definitively dead . Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Monday that a nonprofit organ procurement organization (OPO) serving Kentucky and parts of...

HHS Moves to Block Head Start for Illegal Immigrants

Trump administration reclassifies preschool program as a federal public benefit

(Newser) - The Trump administration will restrict immigrants in the country illegally from enrolling in Head Start, a federally funded preschool program, the Department of Health and Human Services announced Thursday. The move is part of a broad effort to limit access to federal benefits for immigrants who lack legal status, reports...

A Drink or Two a Day? Feds Are Dropping That Advice

New guidelines coming from HHS reportedly 'so vague as to be unhelpful'

(Newser) - Uncle Sam has long advised Americans to stick to one (for women) or two (men) drinks a day. But as sources tell Reuters , the Department of Health and Human Services looks poised to chuck that advice in what would be a huge coup for the alcohol industry courtesy of Secretary...

Kennedy's Vaccine Panel Picks Include Vaccine Skeptics

Health secretary names 8 new members to panel he just recently stripped

(Newser) - All those reassuring promises Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made before he was confirmed as President Trump's health secretary appear to have gone up in a puff of smoke, with Kennedy choosing an anti-vaccine activist and other well-known vaccine skeptics to join the CDC's independent vaccine advisory committee, which...

Vaccine Official Quits After RFK Jr. 'Blindsides' CDC

He bypassed normal procedure on COVID vaccine recommendations

(Newser) - A top official at the CDC resigned this week after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. bypassed normal procedures with an order on the agency's COVID-19 vaccine guidance. Dr. Lakshmi Panagiotakopoulos, who helped oversee CDC vaccine recommendations, announced her resignation to the COVID-19 vaccine work group early Tuesday, according to...

Kennedy's MAHA Report Has Some Big Gaffes
Kennedy's Health Report
Has Some Serious Gaffes
the rundown
May 30, 2025 7:40 AM CDT

Kennedy's Health Report Has Some Serious Gaffes

Footnotes cite nonexistent studies, apparently the work of artificial intelligence

(Newser) - The Make America Healthy Again commission led by health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. issued an exhaustive report last month prescribing changes for Americans' health. It was crammed with more than 500 footnotes citing studies to buttress its findings—but multiple outlets have found that many of those studies don'...

Feds Pull Plug on Moderna's Bird Flu Vaccine

HHS says it's for safety reasons, but experts warn move could hinder US pandemic flu preparedness

(Newser) - The federal government is canceling a $766 million contract with Moderna to develop an mRNA-based vaccine for pandemic flu, including the H5N1 bird flu. The Department of Health and Human Services cited concerns about the safety of mRNA technology as the main reason for the decision, saying the technology...

MAHA Commission Releases Long-Anticipated Report

It targets over-processed foods, chemicals in the environment, and, unsurprisingly, vaccines

(Newser) - During his election night party, President Trump promised to let Robert F. Kennedy Jr. do whatever he wants to "make America healthy again." With Kennedy as America's top health official, that process is now well underway. The Make America Healthy Again Commission that Trump established after taking...

'I Don't Think People Should Take Health Advice From Me'

But giving advice is part of his job, critics say after RFK Jr.'s remarks at House hearing

(Newser) - "I don't think people should be taking medical advice from me," Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said during a testy House hearing on Wednesday. He was responding to a question about vaccines from Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan about whether he would choose to...

Trump: New Executive Order Will Save 'Trillions' in Drug Costs

Plan would link Medicare drug prices to lowest rates abroad

(Newser) - President Trump says he'll sign an executive order aimed at lowering the cost of some prescription medications, reviving a policy effort from his first term. The order, which Trump says will be signed Monday, would instruct the Department of Health and Human Services to tie certain Medicare drug...

Trump Calls for $163B in Cuts Next Year

President also wants to increase defense spending

(Newser) - President Trump unveiled a 2026 budget plan on Friday that calls for sweeping cuts to federal programs and an increase in defense spending. Some key highlights follow, though the Wall Street Journal offers a reminder that any presidential blueprint is largely a "symbolic wish list" meant to lay out...

FDA Is No Longer Testing Milk
FDA Suspends Milk Testing
Apr 23, 2025 11:45 AM CDT

FDA Suspends Milk Testing

Agency temporarily halts proficiency testing of dairy products, citing job cuts

(Newser) - Got milk? The FDA's quality control team currently doesn't. Citing job cuts, the Food and Drug Administration on Monday stopped proficiency testing of fluid milk and other dairy products, reports Reuters , according to an internal email. The move comes after the overarching Department of Health and Human Services...

Kennedy Wants Food Dyes Out of Thousands of Items

Petroleum-based additives would be eliminated by end of next year

(Newser) - Robert F. Kennedy Jr. plans to announce a ban on certain food dyes that are now used in thousands of items, fulfilling a long-held goal of the Health and Human Services secretary as well as many health advocates. A statement issued Monday said food manufacturers will be prohibited from using...

FDA Halts Food Safety Inspections After Jobs Purge

Some worry about the 'reckless disregard' with which the Trump administration is carrying out cuts

(Newser) - With as many as 20,000 staffers let go at the Department of Health and Human Services in the DOGE purge, and with President Trump aiming to slash $40 billion from the agency, services are shuttering at every turn. The latest victim: a Food and Drug Administration quality control program...

Kennedy Gives FDA Staff Earful
Kennedy Gives FDA Staff Earful
Apr 12, 2025 1:00 PM CDT

Kennedy Gives FDA Staff Earful

First visit to agency includes pronouncement that the 'deep state' is real

(Newser) - Addressing an FDA staff whose morale already has plunged because of thousands of layoffs, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told employees that they're a "sock puppet" of the industries they regulate, the "deep state" is real, and they should turn in their bosses...

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