Tag Archives: Food and Drug Administration

Efforts Grow to Thwart mRNA Therapies as RFK Jr. Pushes Vaccine Wariness

Efforts Grow to Thwart mRNA Therapies as RFK Jr. Pushes Vaccine Wariness

Utah and Tennessee passed laws requiring foods containing vaccines to be classified as drugs, even though no such foods are on the market. Legislators pointed to a University of California study that is investigating whether it is possible to put vaccines in lettuce. “You eat a bunch of this lettuce, take a bunch of these mRNA vaccines, and you go …

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Kennedy Advises New Parents to ‘Do Your Own Research’ on Vaccines

Kennedy Advises New Parents to ‘Do Your Own Research’ on Vaccines

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. advised parents of newborns to “do your own research” before vaccinating their infants during a televised interview in which he also suggested the measles shot was unsafe and repeatedly made false statements that cast doubt on the benefits of vaccination and the independence of the Food and Drug Administration. Mr. Kennedy made the remarks …

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Lab Animals Face Being Euthanized as Trump Cuts Research

Lab Animals Face Being Euthanized as Trump Cuts Research

On April 1, the Trump administration’s effort to slash government funding arrived in Morgantown, W.Va., where federal scientists spent their days studying health and safety threats to American workers. That morning, hundreds of employees at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health were notified that they were being terminated and would lose access to the building. Left behind were …

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F.D.A. Scientists Are Reinstated at Agency Food Safety Labs

F.D.A. Scientists Are Reinstated at Agency Food Safety Labs

Federal health officials have reversed the decision to fire a few dozen scientists at the Food and Drug Administration’s food-safety labs, and say they are conducting a review to determine if other critical posts were cut. A spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed the rehirings and said that several employees would also be restored to the …

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RFK Jr. Announces Ban on Food Dyes and Says ‘Sugar Is Poison’

RFK Jr. Announces Ban on Food Dyes and Says ‘Sugar Is Poison’

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. escalated his war against the food industry on Tuesday, declaring that “sugar is poison.” Mr. Kennedy’s comment came during a highly publicized news conference where he also asserted that he has “an understanding” with major food manufacturers to remove petroleum-based food colorings from their products by 2026. No one from the food industry attended …

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Trump Seeks to Lower Drug Prices Through Medicare and Some Imports

Trump Seeks to Lower Drug Prices Through Medicare and Some Imports

President Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday outlining a series of actions intended to lower drug prices, including helping states import drugs from Canada. The policies were more modest than proposals to reduce drug prices that Mr. Trump offered in his first term. And one of his new directives could increase drug prices. It calls for the Trump administration …

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RFK Jr. Accuses FDA of Drug Industry Influence That Barred Alternative Remedies

RFK Jr. Accuses FDA of Drug Industry Influence That Barred Alternative Remedies

In a speech broadcast to the Food and Drug Administration’s Maryland campus on Friday morning, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. introduced himself as the nation’s health secretary with a meandering speech touching on everything from birds of prey to pollution in Lake Erie to the C.I.A. Mr. Kennedy told the agency staff members, in the throes of losing 20 percent of …

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Trump’s Next Tariffs Target Could be Foreign-Made Pharmaceuticals

Trump’s Next Tariffs Target Could be Foreign-Made Pharmaceuticals

Newer and more expensive medications are more likely to be made in the United States or Europe. Ireland, in particular, has become a hub because it is a tax haven. Many of the industry’s biggest blockbusters are manufactured at least partly in Ireland. Among them are: Keytruda, Merck’s cancer drug; Zepbound, Eli Lilly’s weight-loss drug; and Stelara, Johnson & Johnson’s …

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FDA Layoffs Could Raise Drug Costs and Erode Food Safety

FDA Layoffs Could Raise Drug Costs and Erode Food Safety

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced wide-ranging cutbacks at federal health agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration, that would eliminate duplicative services and paper pushers. But in interviews with more than a dozen current and former F.D.A. staff members, a different picture emerged of the far-reaching effects of the layoffs that would ultimately reduce the agency work force …

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Supreme Court Rules Against Makers of Flavored Vapes Popular With Teens

Supreme Court Rules Against Makers of Flavored Vapes Popular With Teens

The Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that the Food and Drug Administration had acted lawfully in rejecting applications from two manufacturers of flavored liquids used in e-cigarettes with names like Jimmy the Juice Man Peachy Strawberry, Signature Series Mom’s Pistachio and Suicide Bunny Mother’s Milk and Cookies. In a unanimous decision written by Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., the justices …

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