Author: Gabrielle M. Etzel
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Fauci ignored reports of COVID vaccine side effects, new documents show
Dr. Anthony Fauci was made aware of possible COVID-19 vaccine complications by other senior-level public health officials in early 2021, according to new emails and text messages released by Senate Republicans on Sunday. Documents released by Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Ron Johnson (R-WI) show Fauci, the 85-year-old former Director of the National Institute of…
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Hospital transparency and insulin price cap bills advance to Senate floor
Hospital price transparency, insulin price caps, food regulations, and a slew of other healthcare bills advanced out of the Senate health committee on Wednesday ahead of the August congressional recess. Both Republicans and Democrats voted to support 13 bills meant to lower healthcare costs, revise pharmaceutical regulations, and implement food reforms. Healthcare costs have become…
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Senate Democrats file election meddling complaint against RFK Jr.
Leading Senate Democrats are accusing Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of illegally interfering in the midterm elections, saying that he is using his office to protect a GOP majority in the House. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, filed a Hatch Act election integrity complaint…
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Independence Day is one of the most dangerous holidays: How to stay safe
Foodborne illness, fireworks injuries, and heat exhaustion are just some public health safety concerns likely to arise during Independence Day celebrations across the country this weekend. According to the Pew Research Center, roughly 91,000 people visit emergency rooms on July 4 and 5 each year, making Independence Day one of the most dangerous holidays of the year.…
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Supreme Court upholds Obamacare preventive care mandates
The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the current structure and appointment of the body within the Department of Health and Human Services that determines what preventive care measures must be covered by insurance under Obamacare. In a 6-3 vote, the majority found in the case Kennedy v. Braidwood Management that the members of the U.S.…
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Democrats aim to unite behind opposition to Medicaid cuts
The Democratic Party is coalescing around a strategy of attacking Republicans for planning to cut Medicaid spending, a move that could unite the fractured party and pay dividends in the 2026 midterm elections. Democrats are engaging in a “Day of Action” across the country on Tuesday, led by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), to…
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Alcohol stocks plummet after surgeon general warning on cancer links
Stock prices for alcohol makers and distributors fell sharply early Friday morning after Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued a new advisory report calling for Congress to enact legislation to add a cancer risk warning label on all alcohol products. According to the new report, alcohol is the third leading preventable cause of cancer in the…
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Supreme Court uses preferred honorific for first-ever transgender lawyer in arguments
Supreme Court justices on Wednesday used the preferred honorific of the first openly transgender-identifying person to argue before the high court during oral arguments in a landmark case on the ability of states to regulate hormone-based therapies for minors with gender dysphoria. Chase Strangio, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union’s LGBT & HIV Rights…
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Georgia dismisses maternal health panel members after abortion deaths leaked to press
Georgia officials dismissed all members of a state maternal health panel after information about the deaths of two women with abortion pill complications was leaked to the press earlier this fall. The dismissal comes two months after the deaths of Amber Nicole Thurman and Candi Miller, two Georgia women who suffered from severe complications after…
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NIH debates mission and structure as Trump shake-up looms
Leaders at the National Institutes of Health launched a yearlong project Tuesday to rework the organization’s mission and structure, an exercise carried out under the shadow of the impending sweeping changes to federal public health infrastructure of the incoming Trump administration. NIH Director Monica Bertagnolli, appointed by President Joe Biden to rebrand the agency following the COVID-19 pandemic, told a…