Tag Archives: Health and Human Services Department

H.H.S. Scraps Studies of Vaccines and Treatments for Future Pandemics

H.H.S. Scraps Studies of Vaccines and Treatments for Future Pandemics

The Trump administration has canceled funding for dozens of studies seeking new vaccines and treatments for Covid-19 and other pathogens that may cause future pandemics. The government’s rationale is that the Covid pandemic has ended, which “provides cause to terminate Covid-related grant funds,” according to an internal N.I.H. document viewed by The New York Times. But the research was not …

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Trump Administration Abruptly Cuts Billions From State Health Services

Trump Administration Abruptly Cuts Billions From State Health Services

The Department of Health and Human Services has abruptly canceled more than $12 billion in federal grants to states that were being used for tracking infectious diseases, mental health services, addiction treatment and other urgent health issues. The cuts are likely to further hamstring state health departments, which are already underfunded and struggling with competing demands from chronic diseases, resurgent …

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Senate Confirms Bhattacharya to Lead N.I.H.

Senate Confirms Bhattacharya to Lead N.I.H.

The Senate on Tuesday confirmed Dr. Jay Bhattacharya as director of the National Institutes of Health, installing a contrarian who has pledged to reform scientific funding practices as the leader of the world’s premier medical research agency. Dr. Bhattacharya’s confirmation — by a party-line vote of 53 to 47 — comes as the N.I.H., with a $48 billion budget, has …

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Kennedy Instructs Anti-Vaccine Group to Remove Fake C.D.C. Page

Kennedy Instructs Anti-Vaccine Group to Remove Fake C.D.C. Page

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nation’s health secretary, on Saturday instructed leaders of the nonprofit he founded to take down a web page that mimicked the design of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s site but laid out a case that vaccines cause autism. The page had been published on a site apparently registered to the nonprofit, the anti-vaccine …

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RFK Jr.’s Prescription for Bird Flu on Farms: Let It Spread

RFK Jr.’s Prescription for Bird Flu on Farms: Let It Spread

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nation’s top health official, has an unorthodox idea for tackling the bird flu bedeviling U.S. poultry farms. Let the virus rip. Instead of culling birds when the infection is discovered, farmers “should consider maybe the possibility of letting it run through the flock so that we can identify the birds, and preserve the birds, that …

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Senators Grill Dr. Oz on Medicaid Cuts and Medicare Changes

Senators Grill Dr. Oz on Medicaid Cuts and Medicare Changes

In a hearing on Friday, senators pressed Dr. Mehmet Oz, the TV celebrity nominated to head Medicare and Medicaid, on Republican-led proposals that would significantly affect the health care coverage for nearly half of all Americans. At his confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee, Dr. Oz bantered with senators in a friendly atmosphere, joking about basketball and allegiances to …

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Dr. Oz Faces Senators at Confirmation Hearing to Oversee Medicare and Medicaid

Dr. Oz Faces Senators at Confirmation Hearing to Oversee Medicare and Medicaid

Dr. Mehmet Oz, the TV celebrity doctor, is expected to face a tense confirmation hearing on Friday, with Democratic senators planning to question how he would oversee Medicare and Medicaid now that Republicans and the Trump administration are weighing significant changes affecting millions of Americans. Among the possible plans being considered by Republican lawmakers and President Trump are severe reductions …

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Senators Are Set to Question Weldon, Trump’s Pick to Head the C.D.C.

Senators Are Set to Question Weldon, Trump’s Pick to Head the C.D.C.

Dr. Dave Weldon, a former Republican representative and President Trump’s pick to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will appear before the Senate health committee on Thursday, the first time an agency director has been subject to the confirmation process. Dr. Weldon, 71, is perhaps the least known of the men nominated to lead major agencies at the …

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Federal Agency Dedicated to Mental Illness and Addiction Faces Huge Cuts

Federal Agency Dedicated to Mental Illness and Addiction Faces Huge Cuts

Every day, Dora Dantzler-Wright and her colleagues distribute overdose reversal drugs on the streets of Chicago. They hold training sessions on using them and help people in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction return to their jobs and families. They work closely with the federal government through an agency that monitors their productivity, connects them with other like-minded groups and …

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RFK Jr. Rattles Food Companies With Vow to Rid Food of Artificial Dyes

RFK Jr. Rattles Food Companies With Vow to Rid Food of Artificial Dyes

In his first meeting with top executives from PepsiCo, W.K. Kellogg, General Mills and other large companies, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary, bluntly told them that a top priority would be eliminating artificial dyes from the nation’s food supply. At the Monday meeting, Mr. Kennedy emphasized that it was a “strong desire and urgent priority” of the new …

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