Latest news with #First100Days:HealthCare
Politico
19-02-2025
- Health
- Politico
Firing 600 at NIH was a ‘lowball' threat
The First 100 Days: Health Care Sen. Tammy Baldwin had some choice words for HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about mass firings at the National Institutes of Health over the weekend. 'One of the things he had said prior to being confirmed was that on day one he would get rid of about 600 scientists at NIH,' the Wisconsin Democrat said during POLITICO's First 100 Days: Health Care event Wednesday. 'That was lowballing it, apparently, according to what we've seen in the first weekend that he was actually serving as Secretary of Health and Human Services.' There were reports of an estimated 1,100 NIH employees fired over the weekend, Baldwin added, although that number seems to be a moving target as workers appeal their terminations. The NIH cuts were part of a wave of firings affecting roughly 3,600 probationary employees at HHS, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Baldwin called the decision to fire researchers working to find cures and treatments for diseases like cancer, diabetes, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's 'extremely concerning.' She was disappointed in some of her Republican colleagues, she added, who she believes had doubts about Kennedy, but who 'for some reason, put those on the shelf rather than have that guide their vote.' Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who chairs the Senate health committee and who voted to confirm Kennedy, had secured a pledge from Kennedy to consult the senator on key issues at the health agencies. 'I'll be very interested to ask Dr. Cassidy whether there was consultation this weekend prior to those mass firings and layoffs that we saw throughout the Department of Health and Human Services that will have a devastating impact on the research enterprise,' Baldwin said. WELCOME TO FUTURE PULSE This is where we explore the ideas and innovators shaping health care. Congress is once again considering legislation to make the internet safer for kids, after failing to do so last year. During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday, lawmakers threatened to overhaul a decades-old law providing tech platforms with broad immunity. But they'll have to overcome tech giants' cozy relationship with the Trump administration. Share any thoughts, news, tips and feedback with Carmen Paun at cpaun@ Daniel Payne at dpayne@ Ruth Reader at rreader@ or Erin Schumaker at eschumaker@ Send tips securely through SecureDrop, Signal, Telegram or WhatsApp. WASHINGTON WATCH Lobbyist Chris Collins has a tough job in today's Washington: convincing President Donald Trump and Republicans who control Congress to continue spending billions of dollars to fight infectious diseases. As president and CEO of the Friends of the Global Fight, an international global health organization that lobbies on behalf of the Geneva-based Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Collins is trying to convince Republicans to give the Global Fund $2 billion over three years. That funding would drive progress against the three infectious diseases that still plague many developing countries. By the numbers: The Global Fund seeks to raise $18 billion to pay for its health initiatives from 2027 to 2029, which it says will save 23 million lives. But the Trump administration has frozen most foreign aid, including funding for most types of HIV prevention, and waivers the administration has issued for lifesaving HIV treatment have been slow to make a difference on the ground. The future of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, better known as PEPFAR, which works with the Global Fund, is in question as it approaches its reauthorization deadline next month amid the turmoil. But Collins, who's long worked in HIV advocacy and was once an appropriations aide to former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, is still making his pitch. How so? If the U.S. could take advantage of new drugs 'and get the best technology that we can get to people on the ground, we're looking at the United States having led the effort to end the three biggest epidemics in the world,' Collins told Carmen. 'That's an incredible legacy for President Trump,' he said. Collins would like to see the president call for an end to AIDS globally, in the same way he called for an end to AIDS domestically in his first term. 'It's doable. We have the tools in hand now,' he said. Collins also contends that funding for the Global Fund would fulfill the administration's priorities for foreign aid to make America safer, stronger and more prosperous. Safer: A third of the Global Fund investment is relevant to pandemic preparedness, Collins said. Stronger: The Global Fund can operate in fragile environments and help prevent them from becoming more fragile, which could make America more secure, he added. More prosperous: The Global Fund invests millions of dollars in U.S. corporations that sell the drugs, tests and other technologies to prevent and treat HIV, tuberculosis and malaria, Collins said.
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Redfield backs Kennedy's efforts on vaccines
Robert Redfield, who headed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during the first Trump administration, supports Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s efforts on vaccines. Kennedy's nomination and eventual confirmation as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services was complicated by his decades-old vaccine skepticism. And he has alienated many public health officials who fear he could discourage the public from getting routine vaccinations long proven safe. But Redfield is fully supporting Kennedy — even after Kennedy refused to say vaccines do not cause autism during his confirmation hearing — and is now calling for more vaccine research, too. 'I'm in clinical practice two half days a week right now, and largely doing Covid and long Covid, and I have a number of patients that have very serious long term consequences from the mRNA vaccines,' Redfield said during POLITICO's First 100 Days: Health Care event Wednesday. 'Let's get that systematically reviewed by the experts.' Redfield supported Kennedy throughout his nomination and confirmation process, agreeing with Kennedy's points on a renewed effort to study and treat chronic disease and the impact of processed foods. At the same time, Redfield spoke about his long-time commitment to promoting vaccine uptake, arguing that Kennedy's approach will eventually encourage vaccine confidence once HHS lets the public 'see the information.' A wide variety of data on vaccine safety is already publicly available. — Avian flu: Redfield also spoke in dire terms about the possibility of an avian flu pandemic. 'The Covid pandemic was a real challenge. There's no question about that. But to me, it was a minor epidemic compared to the epidemic that's coming — which is a bird flu pandemic,' Redfield said. 'So this is not a time to cut our ability to have a rapid public health response agency.' But he doesn't think vaccines will be the solution, he said, because of the low efficacy of some flu vaccines. Instead, he said that the focus should instead be on developing effective antiviral drugs. — CDC terminations: Redfield demurred when asked about the Trump administration's move last week to terminate thousands of HHS employees. Instead, he emphasized that the CDC needs to be reformed. 'I don't know what the ultimate consequences are going to be — whether it's going to be good or not good — but I do think, though, that we could all try to focus this time to transform our health system and our health agencies so that they're focused on health,' Redfield said, arguing that CDC has moved away from its 'primary mission' as a 'public health response agency,' and become too much like an academic institution.
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
RFK Jr. should handpick vaccine scientists, former adviser says
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. should recruit scientists who want to seek proof that vaccines cause autism, one of his past advisers said at a POLITICO event Wednesday. Del Bigtree, who was Kennedy's communications director during his presidential campaign and now leads a group promoting Kennedy's 'Make America Healthy Again' movement, dismissed widely replicated studies finding no link to autism because he alleged that they were conducted by scientists who wanted to find that result. 'Get scientists who say, 'I think I can prove vaccines do cause autism,'' he added. 'If they can't pull that off, now you have a true safety profile.' Bigtree's comments were part of a full-throated assault on regulatory agencies he painted as servants of 'Big Ag, Big Food and Big Pharma.' During POLITICO's First 100 Days: Health Care event, Bigtree said the regulatory system Kennedy now leads as secretary of Health and Human Services has long approved 'poisons' produced by industry for public consumption. He urged Kennedy to root out corporate influence at HHS. That would defy long-standing Republican deference to private business. Bigtree said federal agencies should not be funded by industries, suggesting Kennedy's advisers are pushing for major reforms to the current user fee system at the HHS agency that oversees food and drugs, the FDA. 'Finally we have someone at the head of HHS not owned by these corporations,' Bigtree said of Kennedy. 'I think he's looking for the right type of people.' During Kennedy's confirmation hearings, he refused to disavow his past statements drawing the autism link, telling senators he would not take away anyone's vaccines, but would pursue research and 'radical transparency' on vaccine science. Bigtree said Kennedy should review HHS employees' histories to see whether they worked for industry and also vet their views about the causes of chronic disease. Kennedy has said he believes unhealthy food and chemicals in the environment are responsible for increases in such conditions. 'Robert Kennedy Jr. has to sit down with the team and bring people and say, 'What have you done over the last four years,'' he said. 'If they're not producing real results and good science, maybe there's a better job for them somewhere else.' Hiring scientists more skeptical of industry and of existing vaccine science would help restore the public's flagging trust in the government's health care bureaucracy, Bigtree said, adding that he thought Kennedy could safely downsize HHS' 80,000-person staff. The Trump administration, at the behest of Elon Musk and his government efficiency campaign, fired thousands of HHS workers last week. Bigtree said he didn't think Kennedy had provided input into those decisions but suggested there was still more to do. Bigtree, who founded a group that criticizes vaccines, the Informed Consent Action Network, endorsed Kennedy's comments Tuesday to HHS staff that nothing was off limits for review. Though Bigtree isn't part of the administration, he serves as a powerful leader of the MAHA movement. Its broad grassroots base put pressure on senators to confirm Kennedy, jamming Senate phone lines and filling confirmation hearings.
Politico
19-02-2025
- Health
- Politico
Redfield backs Kennedy's efforts on vaccines
Robert Redfield, who headed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during the first Trump administration, supports Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s efforts on vaccines. Kennedy's nomination and eventual confirmation as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services was complicated by his decades-old vaccine skepticism. And he has alienated many public health officials who fear he could discourage the public from getting routine vaccinations long proven safe. But Redfield is fully supporting Kennedy — even after Kennedy refused to say vaccines do not cause autism during his confirmation hearing — and is now calling for more vaccine research, too. 'I'm in clinical practice two half days a week right now, and largely doing Covid and long Covid, and I have a number of patients that have very serious long term consequences from the mRNA vaccines,' Redfield said during POLITICO's First 100 Days: Health Care event Wednesday. 'Let's get that systematically reviewed by the experts.' Redfield supported Kennedy throughout his nomination and confirmation process, agreeing with Kennedy's points on a renewed effort to study and treat chronic disease and the impact of processed foods. At the same time, Redfield spoke about his long-time commitment to promoting vaccine uptake, arguing that Kennedy's approach will eventually encourage vaccine confidence once HHS lets the public 'see the information.' A wide variety of data on vaccine safety is already publicly available. — Avian flu: Redfield also spoke in dire terms about the possibility of an avian flu pandemic. 'The Covid pandemic was a real challenge. There's no question about that. But to me, it was a minor epidemic compared to the epidemic that's coming — which is a bird flu pandemic,' Redfield said. 'So this is not a time to cut our ability to have a rapid public health response agency.' But he doesn't think vaccines will be the solution, he said, because of the low efficacy of some flu vaccines. Instead, he said that the focus should instead be on developing effective antiviral drugs. — CDC terminations: Redfield demurred when asked about the Trump administration's move last week to terminate thousands of HHS employees. Instead, he emphasized that the CDC needs to be reformed. 'I don't know what the ultimate consequences are going to be — whether it's going to be good or not good — but I do think, though, that we could all try to focus this time to transform our health system and our health agencies so that they're focused on health,' Redfield said, arguing that CDC has moved away from its 'primary mission' as a 'public health response agency,' and become too much like an academic institution.
Politico
19-02-2025
- Health
- Politico
RFK Jr. should handpick vaccine scientists, former adviser says
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. should recruit scientists who want to seek proof that vaccines cause autism, one of his past advisers said at a POLITICO event Wednesday. Del Bigtree, who was Kennedy's communications director during his presidential campaign and now leads a group promoting Kennedy's 'Make America Healthy Again' movement, dismissed widely replicated studies finding no link to autism because he alleged that they were conducted by scientists who wanted to find that result. 'Get scientists who say, 'I think I can prove vaccines do cause autism,'' he added. 'If they can't pull that off, now you have a true safety profile.' Bigtree's comments were part of a full-throated assault on regulatory agencies he painted as servants of 'Big Ag, Big Food and Big Pharma.' During POLITICO's First 100 Days: Health Care event, Bigtree said the regulatory system Kennedy now leads as secretary of Health and Human Services has long approved 'poisons' produced by industry for public consumption. He urged Kennedy to root out corporate influence at HHS. That would defy longstanding Republican deference to private business. Bigtree said federal agencies should not be funded by industries, suggesting Kennedy's advisers are pushing for major reforms to the current user fee system at the HHS agency that oversees food and drugs, the FDA. 'Finally we have someone at the head of HHS not owned by these corporations,' Bigtree said of Kennedy. 'I think he's looking for the right type of people.' During Kennedy's confirmation hearings, he refused to disavow his past statements drawing the autism link, telling senators he would not take away anyone's vaccines, but would pursue research and 'radical transparency' on vaccine science. Bigtree said Kennedy should review HHS employees' histories to see whether they worked for industry and also vet their views about the causes of chronic disease. Kennedy has said he believes unhealthy food and chemicals in the environment are responsible for increases in such conditions. 'Robert Kennedy Jr. has to sit down with the team and bring people and say, 'What have you done over the last four years,'' he said. 'If they're not producing real results and good science, maybe there's a better job for them somewhere else.' Hiring scientists more skeptical of industry and of existing vaccine science would help restore the public's flagging trust in the government's health care bureaucracy, Bigtree said, adding that he thought Kennedy could safely downsize HHS' 80,000-person staff. The Trump administration, at the behest of Elon Musk and his government efficiency campaign, fired thousands of HHS workers last week. Bigtree said he didn't think Kennedy had provided input into those decisions but suggested there was still more to do. Bigtree, who founded a group that criticizes vaccines, the Informed Consent Action Network, endorsed Kennedy's comments Tuesday to HHS staff that nothing was off limits for review. Though Bigtree isn't part of the administration, he serves as a powerful leader of the MAHA movement. Its broad grassroots base put pressure on senators to confirm Kennedy, jamming Senate phone lines and filling confirmation hearings.
