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As had been rumored for weeks, Marty Makary is out as commissioner of the FDA after a chaotic 13 months presiding over drama in each nook of the company. That leaves Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Department of Health and Human Services with three senior vacancies: FDA commissioner, surgeon normal, and director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. All should go by way of the Senate committee chaired by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who has had a troubled relationship with Kennedy and President Donald Trump.
Meanwhile, opponents of abortion stay sad with the Trump administration, demanding a extra sturdy federal crackdown on abortion generally and the abortion capsule specifically. The administration, in the meantime, has been pushing insurance policies to encourage households to have extra youngsters.
This week’s panelists are Julie Rovner of KFF Health News, Rachel Cohrs Zhang of Bloomberg News, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Lauren Weber of The Washington Post.
Among the takeaways from this week’s episode:
Makary is leaving his function as FDA commissioner after a troubled tenure. While tensions over granting approval for fruit-flavored vapes seem to have been the final straw, Makary led an company in near-constant turmoil that solid a shadow over its workers and the industries it oversees. Kyle Diamantas, who will function appearing director, isn’t a health care provider however slightly a lawyer with ties to the Trump household.
The destiny of telehealth entry to the abortion capsule mifepristone hung within the stability this week after the Supreme Court prolonged its keep on a lower-court order halting that entry. Should the court docket affirm that lower-court ruling, it might be the most important change to abortion entry nationwide because it overturned the constitutional proper to an abortion in 2022.
And the hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship continues to transfix the globe, with many American passengers in quarantine. The scenario highlights the shortage of U.S. engagement in world public well being, in addition to the slashing of federal assets on the CDC underneath the Trump administration.
Also this week, Rovner interviews Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), a senior member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee and the Senate Appropriations Committee.
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Plus, for “extra credit” the panelists recommend well being coverage tales they learn this week that they assume you must learn, too:
Julie Rovner: ProfessionalPublica’s “A Unique Oregon Law Allows It To Block Healthcare Deals. In Five Years, the State Hasn’t Done So Once,” by Rob Davis.
Rachel Cohrs Zhang: The Wall Street Journal’s “Inside Marty Makary’s Downfall at the FDA,” by Liz Essley Whyte and Josh Dawsey.
Alice Miranda Ollstein: Politico’s “Lawmakers’ Prescription Data at Risk After Data Breach,” by Katherine Tully-McManus.
Lauren Weber: Stat’s “Alcohol Is Wreaking Havoc on U.S. Public Health. American Society Looks the Other Way,” by Lev Facher and Isabella Cueto.
Also talked about on this week’s podcast:
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