At Trump鈥檚 FDA, Anti-Regulatory Approach and Cost-Cutting Put Food Safety System at Risk
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Get our weekly newsletter, The Week in Brief, featuring a roundup of our original coverage, Fridays at 2 p.m. ET.
Food safety inspections are being scaled back and the public was not notified after an investigation into E. coli contamination.
The House narrowly passed a budget reconciliation bill, including billions of dollars in tax cuts for the wealthy along with billions of dollars in cuts to health program spending. But the Senate is expected to make major changes to the measure before it can go to President Donald Trump for his signature. This week鈥檚 panelists are Julie Rovner of 吃瓜不打烊, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico.
The FDA will encourage new clinical trials on the widely used vaccines before approving them for children and healthy adults. The requirements could cost drugmakers tens of millions of dollars and are likely to leave boosters largely out of reach for hundreds of millions of Americans this fall.
Fresh studies expose a gap in the FDA鈥檚 assessments of foods: Widely used additives could damage the mix of bacteria in your gut, causing health problems.
GOP-controlled House committees approved parts of President Donald Trump鈥檚 鈥渙ne big, beautiful bill鈥 this week, including more than $700 billion in cuts to health programs over the next decade 鈥 mostly from Medicaid, which covers people with low incomes or disabilities. Meanwhile, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testified before Congress for the first time since taking office and told lawmakers that Americans shouldn鈥檛 take medical advice from him. Julie Appleby of 吃瓜不打烊, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico Magazine join 吃瓜不打烊鈥 Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.
Republicans on Capitol Hill are struggling to reach consensus on cutting the Medicaid program as they search for nearly a trillion dollars in savings over the next decade 鈥 as many observers predicted. Meanwhile, turmoil continues at the Department of Health and Human Services, with more controversial cuts and personnel moves, including the sudden nomination of Casey Means, an ally of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.鈥檚, to become surgeon general. Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Maya Goldman of Axios, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call join 吃瓜不打烊鈥 Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews 吃瓜不打烊鈥 Lauren Sausser, who co-reported the latest 鈥淏ill of the Month鈥 feature, about an unexpected bill for what seemed like preventive care.
鈥淐itizen oversight is a cornerstone of a functioning democracy,鈥 Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden wrote to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., demanding answers to more than two dozen questions, including who was involved in decisions to fire staff who handled Freedom of Information Act requests.
To a great extent, the FDA leaves it to food companies to determine whether their ingredients and additives are safe. Some chemicals and additives are tied to health risks while others are absent from product labels. Watch this video explainer to learn more.
At least some workers who process public records in response to Freedom of Information Act requests have been reinstated, agency employees say.
A purge of FDA staff spared some people tasked with responding to a judge鈥檚 orders to disclose government records on covid vaccines, according to agency employees. The FOIA litigation was brought by Aaron Siri, an ally of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s who represents anti-vaccine interests.
The Department of Health and Human Services鈥 mass firings included people who fulfill Freedom of Information Act requests for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health, and FDA, which result in the release of records about government handling of infectious diseases, medical products, and safety problems in health facilities.
The Department of Health and Human Services underwent an unprecedented purge this week, as thousands of employees from the National Institutes of Health, the FDA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other agencies were fired, placed on administrative leave, or offered transfers to far-flung Indian Health Service facilities. Altogether, the layoffs mean the federal government, in a single day, shed hundreds if not thousands of combined years of health and science expertise. Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, Rachel Cohrs Zhang of Bloomberg News, and Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet join 吃瓜不打烊鈥 Julie Rovner to discuss this enormous breaking story and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews 吃瓜不打烊鈥 Julie Appleby, who reported and wrote the latest 鈥淏ill of the Month鈥 feature about a short-term health plan and a very expensive colonoscopy.
吃瓜不打烊 gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
With the first licenses for providing psychedelic mushrooms issued, excitement and questions build about the fungi鈥檚 potential, affordability, and safety in the Centennial State.
It鈥檚 the Trump administration vs. the federal courts, as the Department of Government Efficiency continues to try to cancel federal contracts and programs and fire workers. But in the haste to cut things, jobs and programs are being eliminated even if they align with the new administration鈥檚 goal to 鈥淢ake America Healthy Again.鈥 Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Rachel Roubein of The Washington Post join 吃瓜不打烊鈥 Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.
A bill proposed by kratom industry advocates is prompting consideration 鈥 and some concern 鈥 in the Montana Legislature.
Almost 40 years ago, Joseph Borzelleca published a study on red dye No. 3, a petroleum-based food coloring. The FDA cited his work to ban the additive in January. But Borzelleca says it鈥檚 safe.
吃瓜不打烊 journalists made the rounds on national and local media recently to discuss topical stories. Here鈥檚 a collection of their appearances.
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