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RFK Jr. Extends MAHA Push to Hospital Food
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Monday that more than 250 hospitals have signed a pledge to serve healthier meals to patients, advancing his “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) agenda’s focus on treating food as medicine.
Speaking at a press conference hosted at the Corewell Health Lifestyle and Culinary Medicine Practice in Grand Rapids, Mich., Kennedy said he expects improvements in patient satisfaction, citing hospitals that have already launched similar changes.
“We expect that we’ve already seen good results on that from the changes in the hospital food at Tampa General, which was one of the first hospitals to actually change its menu,” Kennedy said Monday.
“They are looking — that hospital is looking on its own at measuring actual health outcomes. We’re confident that that’s going to happen.” The HHS secretary also announced that hospitals that sign the “Make Hospital Food Healthier” pledge will receive a badge they can display on their websites.
Iowa’s Cancer Problem Is Scrambling the Midterms
As the debate season kicked off in Iowa’s heated gubernatorial race, one question seemed to animate and, in some ways, unify the candidates. “What are the immediate and specific steps that you would take to combat Iowa’s cancer crisis?” the moderator asked the Democrat Rob Sand and Republican Zach Lahn, who both said it was a foundational issue for their campaigns — before each accusing the other of not doing enough.
Two weeks later, Iowa’s elevated cancer rates and their potential links to farm pollution came up again, at a debate in the competitive race for Senate. The subject would have been unimaginable just a few years ago in Iowa, the country’s biggest corn and hog-producing state. But the role of “Big Ag” has become a political lightning rod amid what is being described as a public health crisis.
Iowa suffers from the second-highest cancer rate in the US and is one of only three states where the rate is rising. For the first time, tackling the environmental causes of cancer has been included in Iowa campaign platforms for both parties. Republicans and Democrats up and down the ticket have staked out positions vowing to take on the issue.
EPA Has Failed to Tackle Cancer-Linked Pesticide Pollution, Lawsuit Alleges
A new lawsuit asks a federal judge to order the Trump administration to address widespread pollution from the hormone-disrupting pesticide atrazine — which has regularly been found at levels that threaten wildlife and human health.
The cancer-linked chemical is now contaminating nearly 25%, or about 860,000 miles, of all continental US rivers, according to a recent review of federal records. The waterways cover more than 20% of surface drinking water intakes across the country, and more than 675,000 private and commercial wells.
The suit alleges that the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has for decades failed under the Clean Water Act to address the surface-water pollution. It asks a federal court to order the EPA to develop quality standards for the chemicals.
CDC’s Deputy Director to Leave Trump Administration After Brief Stint
Jennifer Shuford, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s deputy director and chief medical officer, is leaving the administration after a short tenure, she confirmed to The Washington Post late Monday night.
“I am leaving to spend more time with my family,” Shuford said in a statement. “I am so thankful to President Trump and Secretary Kennedy for giving me the opportunity to help lead CDC. It has been an amazing experience, and I will be forever grateful for it.”
Shuford had also disagreed with the administration’s approach to vaccine policy and it was a factor in her decision to leave, according to two people familiar with her departure.
EPA Announces New Strategy for ‘Forever Chemicals,’ as Stricter Federal Regulations Inch Closer
The Environmental Protection Agency launched a new strategy on Monday to speed up technologies that treat or eliminate PFAS, a class of pesky, dangerous chemicals that can cause serious health impacts.
PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are human-made chemicals used in everything from firefighting foam and waterproof coatings to microwave popcorn bags. They are hard to break down and often persist for decades in the environment or the human body, earning the moniker “forever chemicals.”
The EPA’s strategy, announced at the Klein Water Treatment Facility in Commerce City, is called PFAS Technology Evaluation, Coordinate and Harmonization (PFAS TECH). The aim, according to administrator Lee Zeldin, is to work with private groups and other government agencies to improve technology that can filter out or dispose of the chemicals.
