A California producer of raw milk and cheese products is recalling some of its products under pressure from federal officials. Raw Farm said Thursday it is voluntarily recalling more than a half-dozen varieties of its cheddar cheese made from raw milk. Previously the company had refused repeated requests from the Food and Drug Administration to issue a recall. The FDA is conducting an inspection of the company's facilities after identifying multiple cases of E. coli food poisoning tied to the firm's products. Raw Farm said in a statement that FDA has not detected the bacteria in its products. The company said it issued the recall "under protest."

Dietary supplement companies are pushing to expand the types of ingredients they can use in their products. The Food and Drug Administration is holding a meeting Friday to discuss the issue. The changes sought by the industry could open the door to more supplements containing peptides, probiotics and other trendy wellness ingredients. Companies want the FDA to broaden its definition of a dietary ingredient to substances that aren't found in foods. The meeting follows vows from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to "end the war at FDA" on dietary supplements and other popular wellness products.

The Food and Drug Administation is approving a generic drug for a very rare genetic disorder, but not for autism. On Tuesday, the U.S. agency said the drug helps children and adults who cannot get enough folate into the brain. That's a major turnaround from announcements made at a White House news conference in September. At that event, President Donald Trump and the FDA commissioner said the drug was under review for approval in patients with autism. FDA officials say they narrowed the review to the strongest evidence. They say that evidence supports use only in patients with a specific genetic mutation.

The Food and Drug Administration is proposing a system for approving customized drugs and medical treatments for patients with rare or hard-to-treat diseases. The pathway laid out Monday is aimed to approving one-of-a-kind therapies, including those using emerging gene-editing technology. It's a shift long sought by patients, advocates and researchers focused on rare diseases, which often do not fit within the pharmaceutical industry's business model. For many rare diseases, drug companies have had little financial incentive to develop new treatments. The FDA proposal, if finalized, would codify a path for drugmakers and researchers to study and commercialize treatments without conducting large, expensive clinical trials.

New options for testing and treating some of the most common sexually transmitted diseases are becoming available. In the past year, U.S. health officials approved new home-based tests that can detect common infections like gonorrhea, chlamydia and HPV. The Food and Drug Administration also approved two new drugs for gonorrhea, the first new options in decades. Experts hope the trend toward access and convenience will keep downward pressure on infection rates. Cases of sexually transmitted diseases have been falling for several years after spiking during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Federal health officials have approved another generic version of the abortion pill, prompting outrage from abortion opponents. Anti-abortion groups quickly criticized the move on Thursday, calling it a "stain" on the Trump administration. The groups have been pushing for a safety review of mifepristone. The FDA first approved the drug as safe and effective in 2000. The new version of the pill is from drugmaker Evita Solutions. It's not the first generic version, which the FDA approved in 2019.

For many Americans, it's not clear how easy getting a COVID-19 vaccination will be. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently said the shots are no longer recommended for healthy children and pregnant women, usurping a decision normally made by scientific experts. Days later, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said healthy children "may" get COVID-19 vaccinations, removing stronger language that they "should" get them — and CDC's website now has no advice for pregnant women. The biggest questions are whether people can get a vaccine even if it's not recommended for them — and if insurance will pay.

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says COVID-19 vaccines are no longer recommended for healthy children and pregnant women. In a 58-second video posted on the social media site X, Kennedy said he removed COVID-19 shots from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recommendations for those groups. No one from the CDC was in the video. U.S. health officials, following recommendations by infectious disease experts, have been urging annual COVID-19 boosters for all Americans ages 6 months and older. A CDC scientific advisory panel is set to meets in June and will consider recommending vaccination for high-risk groups but still giving lower-risk people the choice in getting a shot. But Kennedy decided not to wait.

U.S. health officials are announcing an effort to phase out ingestible fluoride supplements used to strengthen children's teeth, citing possible health risks. The announcement Tuesday is the latest action by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. against a substance that has been a mainstay of dental care for decades. The Food and Drug Administration said it will conduct a scientific review of the products by late October with the aim of removing them from the market. Formally withdrawing medical products requires a lengthy rulemaking process that can take years. Instead, the FDA will ask manufacturers to voluntary pull their products.