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HHS Seeks Input on Kids Vaccination Changes Called for by Trump
The Department of Health and Human Services on Friday outlined potential changes to the childhood vaccine schedule, suggesting kids shots should be spread farther apart in contrast to recommendations from pediatric groups.
The request for information fulfills directives outlined in President Donald Trump’s executive order from Aug. 10 that seeks to stagger vaccine doses in childhood and asks whether new vaccine categories are warranted, such as “recommended, but not in infancy.”
It also asks for input on whether shared clinical decision-making, in which people consult with health care providers before getting a vaccine, should be applied more broadly. It questions whether that’s confusing to people and may be leading to lower vaccine uptake. The document suggests, however, that shared clinical decision-making could be the default category for all vaccines, while different terms may be employed for other situations.
HHS Launches First National Alert System for Missing Autistic People
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Friday announced the development of the first-ever National Autism Missing Person Alert initiative to improve how emergency responders locate autistic children and adults who go missing.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the initiative, developed in partnership with the Department of Homeland Security, will strengthen coordination among emergency management agencies, law enforcement, first responders and community partners nationwide. It will also establish a national framework of best practices to address the leading causes of preventable injury and death among autistic individuals, including accidental drowning linked to wandering and elopement.
“When an autistic child or adult goes missing, every minute matters,” Kennedy said in a statement. “President Trump has made improving the lives of Americans with autism and their families a priority. We are bringing federal, state and local partners together to improve prevention, speed the response, and help bring autistic children and adults home safely.”
Physicians Sue U.S. Government Over New Dietary Guidelines
A physician group filed a lawsuit against HHS and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), alleging that the government botched the most recent dietary guidelines. The suit was brought by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit founded in 1985 that advocates for plant-based diets and alternatives to animal-based research.
The group has a long history of using legal pressure to further their goals. In their legal complaint, PCRM argues that HHS and USDA assembled a “secret panel” that was “rife with conflicts of interest” and did not follow the long-established process for updating the guidelines.
Ultimately, the group is asking that the court withdraw the current guidelines and issue new ones that follow a process that is compliant with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA).
Senate Health Panel Chairman Voices Strong Reservations About F.D.A. Nominee
The chairman of the Senate health committee on Wednesday expressed “strong concerns” about President Trump’s nominee to lead the Food and Drug Administration, criticizing her support of what he called a “nonsensical vaccine executive order” issued last week.
“That alone is almost disqualifying,” the chairman, Senator Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican, wrote on social media. The senator made his comments hours after Mr. Trump announced he had nominated Dr. Heidi Overton, a White House domestic policy official, to fill the vacancy left by Dr. Marty Makary, who resigned from the F.D.A. in May.
Mr. Cassidy’s post was an immediate signal that Dr. Overton could face trouble getting confirmed. Dr. Overton must win approval from the health committee for her nomination to advance to a full Senate vote. To do that, she will most likely need the support of every Republican on the panel.
Top Fauci Adviser’s Plea Deal Provides Possible Roadmap for Further Conspiracy Prosecutions
The plea deal agreed to by former top Dr. Anthony Fauci adviser David Morens, filed in federal court this week, provides a roadmap for further conspiracy charges in the scheme to conceal communications about coronavirus research grants from Freedom of Information Act requests, a review of the court documents shows.
Morens, who served as a senior adviser to Fauci at the National Institutes for Allergy and Infectious Diseases for 16 years, pleaded guilty earlier this week to the conspiracy, admitting to working with two co-conspirators to conceal agency records from public view. The records dealt with a National Institutes of Health grant to “Company #1,” an entity that sponsored coronavirus research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology laboratory in China.
Just months after the COVID-19 pandemic spread to the United States, the NIH canceled the bat coronavirus grant to the company as it reviewed allegations that the laboratory may have been the source of the virus in a lab leak after President Donald Trump publicly acknowledged his awareness of the grant in late April 2020.
Attorney General Ken Paxton Investigates Avocado Oil Products for Deceptive Marketing and Potential Use of Undisclosed Seed Oils
The Attorney General of Texas reported:
Attorney General Ken Paxton launched an industry-wide investigation into companies that market and sell products that are labeled as “made with avocado oil.” This follows reports that these products may contain undisclosed seed oils or other ingredients that are not identified on their ingredient labels.
A 2026 UC Davis study tested various products that were labeled as using avocado oil as the sole oil ingredient. The study overwhelmingly found that 93% of chip samples, 71% of mayonnaise samples, and 100% of dressing samples tested contained seed oils despite failure to disclose them in the products’ ingredient lists or elsewhere on the packaging.
Avocado oil has become increasingly popular in kitchens and food products nationwide as consumers seek healthier options and alternatives to seed oils. Companies often market products such as chips, condiments, and dressings as being “made with avocado oil,” leading consumers to pay a premium with the expectation that they are purchasing products made with the ingredients advertised on the label.
Recent findings, however, raise concerns that some products may contain undisclosed oils that consumers specifically sought to avoid.
New CDC Director Names 3 Key Priorities
The new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told staffers this week that she has three initial priorities, the CDC stated on Aug. 20. Those priorities are “earning trust through transparency and scientific rigor, strengthening CDC’s ability to detect and respond to health threats, and deepening partnerships with states and communities,” the CDC stated.
CDC Director Dr. Erica Schwartz said the CDC must listen to all Americans to understand their needs and build public trust and that she supports the CDC’s workforce and wants to make sure the agency is ready to protect Americans from health threats, according to the agency.
“Together, we can protect what is strongest about CDC, improve what must be improved, and prepare this extraordinary institution for whatever comes our way,” Schwartz said. “That is a mission worthy of our very best.”
Trump Says Any Governor or Mayor Should Want to Welcome an AI Data Center
President Donald Trump said earlier this week that any governor or local government official should want to welcome the construction of AI data centers.
“The construction jobs are enormous. We’re building the biggest plants anywhere in the world. And I can say, if I were the mayor of a town or the governor of a state, and I had a chance to get a big plant in an AI plant or a data center, I would absolutely want it because the jobs are enormous, and the money paid, the taxes paid are just enormous,” Trump said at the White House on Wednesday.
“And if you don’t take it, you’re going to be left behind because there are plenty of places that want it,” he added during a meeting with technology and cryptocurrency industry leaders in the Roosevelt Room. “But if I were a governor or mayor, I would want that plant in my community. And many of them are designed in a very beautiful way. It’s really very positive.”
