The NIH and FDA Nominees Are Surprisingly Strong
Watching last week’s confirmation hearings for Jayanta Bhattacharya and Marty Makary, President Donald Trump’s nominees to lead the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, respectively, I was struck by how normal the candidates were.
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Yes, I said normal — and qualified. Unlike their future boss, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — who in his own hearings struggled with basic questions about Medicaid and Medicare and refused to disavow anti-vaccine conspiracy theories — these candidates grounded their answers in facts and science. They were well-versed in what their agencies did and had intriguing ideas for how improve them.
Democrats shouldn’t reflexively oppose these candidates. Bhattacharya and Makary can be allies to limit harm from Trump and Kennedy, and they might even reform biomedical innovation for the better.
CDC Launches ‘Conflicts of Interest’ Page About Vaccine Advisory Panel
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published a webpage Friday listing the conflicts of interest reported by members of a key vaccine advisory committee.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. hailed it as another step toward “radical transparency,” while one former member of the panel called it a “distraction.”
The CDC’s new web tool lists all the declared conflicts of interest for the outside expert members of the agency’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) since 2000. Across the nearly 40 current and former voting members of the ACIP, roughly 200 items are listed, though not all are necessarily conflicts of interest.
NIH Cuts Funding for Studies on Vaccine Hesitancy and Acceptance
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is cutting or canceling more than 40 grants focused on vaccine hesitancy and ways to increase vaccine acceptance, according to an email obtained by The Washington Post.
The message — sent Monday by Michelle Bulls, director of the Office of Policy for Extramural Research Administration — directed staff to terminate funding immediately. It said the research no longer aligns with agency priorities, according to The Post.
The email spelled out specific language to be used in the termination notice: “It is the policy of NIH not to prioritize research activities that focuses gaining scientific knowledge on why individuals are hesitant to be vaccinated and/or explore ways to improve vaccine interest and commitment. … Therefore, the award is terminated.”
USDA Makes Rare Move to Reschedule an Important Organic Standards Meeting
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) posted on its website that the spring meeting of the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), originally planned for April 29–May 1 in Tempe, Arizona — is being rescheduled.
Since the USDA began regulating organic certification, NOSB meetings have been the primary public forum for organic farmers, processors, and other industry players to engage with the board, which is responsible for evaluating and voting on updates to the regulations. The meetings happen twice a year. Since 2010, only one meeting, in 2013, was cancelled.
In response to questions as to why the meeting was cancelled or when it might happen, a USDA spokesperson said it is being rescheduled “for a time frame that will provide the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) with sufficient time to brief Secretary Rollins about the role of the NOSB and other AMS federal advisory committees.”
Most Still Trust CDC, NIH Five Years After COVID Pandemic Declaration: Survey
Most Americans still trust information from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and National Institute of Health (NIH) five years after the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a Tuesday study from Axios and Ipsos.
Fifty-seven percent of Americans say they have a fair amount or a great deal of trust in information from the NIH, while 40% do not trust the institute. Sixty-two percent of people trust findings from the CDC, a 26% from before the onset of the pandemic in 2020, while 36% of survey takers do not trust their information.
The CDC and NIH have made headlines in recent weeks as the Trump administration has sought to slash spending and reduce the size and scope of the federal government, including firings and funding freezes at the two departments. It also comes as national concerns persist about bird flu as well as a growing measles outbreak in several states.
WA House Pushes Through Controversial Public Health Bill After Heated Late-Night Debate
In a late-night debate lasting 2.5 hours, the Washington State House of Representatives passed House Bill 1531, which aims to strengthen public health responses to communicable diseases.
The bill is a response to the legacy left behind by former Gov. Jay Inslee and the public health directives he issued, including mask and vaccination mandates that divided the state. The bill passed along party lines, with Democrats in the majority, 58-35, and five excused absences.
The debate began late on a Saturday night at 10:30 p.m., with lawmakers discussing the bill’s impact on public health, individual freedoms, and the role of state and local governments in handling disease outbreaks.
