The Trump administration has restored almost all of the 500 National Institutes of Health grants it suspended at UCLA in July in response to a federal judge's order last week. In response to a similar court order in August, the National Science Foundation restored 300 grants it had suspended in July. The restorations are a remarkable turnaround for UCLA, which lost access to more than $500 million in research grants in July after the Trump administration froze 800 science grants at the university. Federal agencies said the university tolerated antisemitism as part of the justification for freezing the grant funding. The grants pay for research into life-saving drugs, dementia, heart disease and other research.
The Trump administration is urging public health agencies to prioritize investigations of vaccine injuries, prescription drug use and autism's causes. The call is part of a new "Make America Healthy Again" report released Tuesday. Overseen by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the report aims to end childhood diseases in the U.S. by refocusing public health on his so-called "MAHA" movement's priorities. The report suggests using personal medical records and health insurance data to investigate diseases and disorders, including autism. It also addresses issues like ultraprocessed food consumption and water quality. And it calls for increased oversight of prescription drug ads, especially those by social media influencers.
A Democratic senator says she's worried about the fallout from a major overhaul and layoffs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington says it doesn't take a genius to understand "pushing out 20,000 workers at our preeminent health agencies won't make Americans healthier." Murray says there will be fewer health services, more opportunities for disease to spread and longer waits for treatments. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Thursday the department he oversees is inefficient. Republican Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota says the ramifications of Kennedy's plans for HHS are unclear and if something gets broken "we'll go back and try to fix" it.
A National Institutes of Health study aims to find out whether ultraprocessed foods lead people to eat more. And, if so, why? Teasing out the answers could shed light on the controversial fare that makes up more than 70% of the U.S. food supply. Ultraprocessed foods are linked to ailments including obesity and diabetes, but it's not clear exactly how. Addressing chronic disease is a key goal of the "Make America Healthy Again" agenda embraced by President Donald Trump and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Scientists say such research is difficult, time-consuming — and expensive.
By MIKE STOBBE and CARLA K. JOHNSON Associated Press
Department of Health and Human Services officials expect most of the agency's roughly 5,200 probationary employees to be fired. That's according to a recording of a staff meeting shared with The Associated Press. Included in that tally are nearly 1,300 employees at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The moves are part of the Trump administration's bid to get rid of nearly all probationary employees.
Dr. Anthony Fauci faced heated questioning from Republican lawmakers about the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. The top U.S. infectious disease expert until 2022, Fauci was grilled by the House panel behind closed doors in January. On Monday, they questioned him again, in public and on camera. The Republican-led subcommittee has spent over a year probing the nation's response to the pandemic and whether U.S.-funded research in China may have played any role in how it started. Democrats opened the hearing saying the investigation so far has found no evidence that Fauci did anything wrong.
