Login
Trump Administration Eyes White House Aide for Top FDA Post
White House policy aide Heidi Overton is among the final candidates the Trump administration is considering to lead the Food and Drug Administration, according to people familiar with the matter.
No final decision has been made, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private. It’s unclear whether Overton has the support of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., some of the people said.
“Unless officially announced by the White House, any reporting about personnel nominations should be considered baseless hearsay,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said.
Overton is a deputy assistant to the president for domestic policy at the White House working on health issues. She previously worked at the think tank America First Policy Institute. Overton is a medical doctor and has a doctorate in clinical investigation from Johns Hopkins University. She also was a White House fellow in the first Trump administration.
Chemours to Pay $450 Million in First Federal Settlement Over PFAS ‘Forever Chemicals’
Chemours will pay $450 million to settle federal and state charges over its production of “forever chemicals,” harmful substances found in a range of products. The settlement is the first to resolve federal enforcement claims against a company that manufactures polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) chemicals. Wilmington, Delaware-based Chemours, a spinoff of DuPont, makes PFAS for industrial and military applications.
“This first comprehensive federal settlement against a major PFAS manufacturer delivers on the Trump Administration’s promise to make polluters pay and stop PFAS contamination at the source,” Jeffrey A. Hall, assistant administrator for the EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, said in a statement.
“By appropriately employing the full suite of existing legal authorities, we can greatly reduce PFAS contamination of water, land and air and even begin to mitigate past harm.”
Trump EEOC Claims More Religious Discrimination on Vaccine Mandates
In another instance of the Trump administration punishing companies for past demands that workers get vaccinated against COVID-19, Kaiser Permanente has agreed to pay $358,000 to resolve a dozen claims.
Under the second presidency of Donald Trump, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has sided with employees who lost their jobs or faced other consequences for not getting vaccinated in 2021 as the pandemic swept the world. Many of these complaints stem from employees who were denied religious exemptions from vaccine mandates.
Kaiser Permanente, a health care provider, did not admit liability but agreed to a conciliation agreement that includes holding religious accommodation trainings for employees and initiating a process through which it can address “reasonable religious accommodations” requested by workers.
CDC Ends U.S. Hantavirus Response
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officially ended its Hantavirus response Wednesday, more than a month after the first Americans were evacuated following an outbreak aboard a cruise ship in the North Atlantic.
The wind-down comes after the final 42-day quarantine period for the Americans who were exposed to the virus ended earlier this week. More than a dozen Americans were housed at a quarantine facility in Nebraska.
While officials initially said the passengers would be monitored for 21 days, the Trump administration instead required them to stay unless their home states agreed to round-the-clock monitoring to ensure compliance with quarantine requirements.
FDA Cites Amazon and Others for Selling Unapproved Drugs, Drugmakers for CGMP Violations
Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society reported:
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cited several online companies, including retail giant Amazon, for selling products that have not been evaluated for safety and efficacy by regulators. It also warned a two drugmakers for failing to meet its current good manufacturing practices (CGMP) requirements, including falsifying laboratory testing data.
On 23 June, FDA published a slew of warning letters citing online retailers for marketing unapproved products intended to treat conditions such as cancer, phimosis, balanitis, prostate inflammation, and erectile dysfunction. Most notably among the companies that were issued a warning letter was Seattle-based Amazon, which was cited for selling three products to treat phimosis and balantis.
“Violations were identified and documented during review of the product labeling of products purchased on your website www.amazon.com in May 2026,” said FDA investigators. “FDA purchased ‘Vajraang Phimosis Mini Combo,’ ‘Penile Heal Cream,’ and ‘Beilloso Balanitis Relief Cream,’ through your website and these products were introduced or delivered for introduction into interstate commerce by Amazon via your Fulfillment by Amazon service.
CDC Nominee Schwartz to Resign Posts, Sell Holdings if Confirmed
In a June 16 ethics letter to HHS, Erica Schwartz detailed plans to resign from UnitedHealth Group, Butterfly Network, and Aveanna Healthcare Holdings if confirmed as CDC director. She will receive severance and bonus payments from UnitedHealth, have certain unvested equity cashed out, and divest vested holdings within 90 days. She also pledged not to acquire financial interests in industries regulated by HHS and to recuse herself from related matters for two years unless granted a waiver.
The commitments aim to address potential conflicts of interest as Schwartz prepares to lead an agency central to national health policy. Given her prior corporate and board roles in healthcare, the divestments and recusals are intended to bolster credibility and maintain public trust in CDC decisions.
Such measures echo past high-profile health leadership confirmations where ethics compliance was key to Senate approval.
