It's sexual assault awareness month and HHS just gutted its rape prevention unit
From National Public Radio
Mass layoffs of federal health workers begin
From the New York Times
"The layoffs of 10,000 health workers began Tuesday (April 1), with some workers finding out that they had lost their jobs when their security badges did not work."
Millions of women will lose access to contraception as a result of aid cuts
From the New York Times
"The United States was a key supplier of contraceptives in many developing countries. The Trump administration has ended that support."
Researchers fear grants for studies on health disparities including rural white Americans may be cut in anti-DEI push
From National Public Radio
Lifesaving mRNA Vaccine Technology Appears Targeted under Trump and RFK, Jr.
From Scientific American
RFK Jr. and Trump’s new commission targets mental health medication
From the Seattle Times
"The order has sparked a swirl of concern over youth access to medications that treat depression, anxiety and ADHD. Part of it is angled at examining prescribing practices for SSRIs, antipsychotics and stimulants — drugs that can have side effects but are also critical for many who have struggled to curb debilitating anxiety and thoughts of suicide or harming themselves."
From National Public Radio
Inside RFK Jr.'s nonprofit's legal battles over vaccines and public health
From National Public Radio
"Kennedy joined Children's Health Defense in 2015 when it was called the World Mercury Project. It changed its name three years later, and has emerged as a leading force on the anti-vaccination movement.
Today, CHD is a prolific content creator and a leading source of false and misleading claims about vaccines — including the long-debunked false claim that vaccines cause autism. It operates a daily newsletter, a streaming video channel, and a movie division."
Trump turns to critic of COVID mandates to run National Institutes of Health
From National Public Radio
"If Jay [Bhattacharya] becomes the NIH director, the hardest part will be to insulate NIH against some very bad ideas that RFK Jr. has been espousing," Jha says. "He'll have to deal with a boss who holds deeply unscientific views. That will be a challenge for Jay Bhattacharya but I suspect that will be a challenge for anybody who becomes the head of NIH."
What to know about Trump's picks for CDC, FDA, and the Surgeon General
From National Public Radio
“Together the picks would help the incoming president shift the priorities of agencies that are linchpins in public health. But the choices also come with controversy.”
Trump picks Dr. Oz to lead Medicare and Medicaid
From National Public Radio
"Oz has promoted questionable health advice to national television audiences. In 2014, he testified before the Senate after being accused of false advertising for supplements he promoted on his show. In 2015, ten doctors wrote a letter urging Columbia University's medical school to fire him, arguing that much of the advice on his TV show has been found to be unsupported by scientific evidence, and in some cases, contradicted by it."
Trump’s White House Return Poised To Tangle Health Care Safety Net
From the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF)
An excerpt:
“Former President Donald Trump’s election victory and looming return to the White House will likely bring changes that scale back the nation’s public health insurance programs — increasing the uninsured rate, while imposing new barriers to abortion and other reproductive care.
The reverberations will be felt far beyond Washington, D.C., and could include an erosion of the Affordable Care Act’s consumer protections, the imposition of work requirements in Medicaid and funding cuts to the safety net insurance, and challenges to federal agencies that safeguard public health. Abortion restrictions may tighten nationwide with a possible effort to restrict the mailing of abortion medications.
And with the elevation of vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to Trump’s inner circle of advisers, public health interventions with rigorous scientific backing — whether fluoridating public water supplies or inoculating children — could come under fire.”
How will a Trump presidency reshape US public health? A look at his plans
From USA Today
Some excerpts:
Republicans said they do not plan to eliminate the Affordable Care Act and would only change it if they could improve it to lower costs and improve coverage.
“There are a lot of parts of the Affordable Care Act that the American public is quite positive about,” said Carri Chan, a professor and faculty director of the health care and pharmaceutical management program at Columbia Business School.
In the days leading up to the election, the Trump team put out a series of ads attacking Harris for her support of the transgender community.
“Kamala supports taxpayer-funded sex changes for prisoners,” one of the ads stated. “Kamala is for they/them. President Trump is for you.’”
The official 2024 Republican Party Platform promised to stop “taxpayer-funded schools from promoting gender transition,” under a section entitled “Republicans will end left-wing gender insanity.”