Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Different Takes: People With Autism Are Not Damaged; Vaccine Panel Puts Ideology Over Evidence
In a widely anticipated news conference on Monday, President Trump declared that there was “nothing more important” in his presidency than reducing the prevalence of autism. He claimed that his administration would virtually eliminate the condition, which he called a “horrible crisis” and which a top federal health official suggested might be “entirely preventable.” (Roy Richard Grinker, 9/24)
During last week’s ACIP meeting, the committee spent one of the two days discussing Covid-19 vaccines. Unvetted and unfounded data were presented, and the biases of ACIP committee members were apparent in their questions and comments. (Charlotte A. Moser, 9/24)
In April 2023, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced his presidential bid in Boston, promising to “Make America Healthy Again.” Since becoming President Donald Trump’s secretary of health and human services, Kennedy has made a mockery of this promise, undermining decades of public health consensus. (Mackenzie France, 9/23)
The White House pointed to a recent systematic review of 46 studies, in which authors urged caution in using the medication, recommending only “judicious acetaminophen use” following “medical consultation.” At the same time, many experts are stating the opposite. For example, a statement from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists emphasized that pregnant patients “should not be frightened away from the many benefits of acetaminophen.” (Alyssa Bilinski and Katherine McDaniel, 9/23)
When I was commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration during President Donald Trump’s first term, I sat down with the head of China’s drug regulatory authority in my Maryland office. For years, the FDA had regarded clinical trials conducted in China with suspicion; the studies were often sloppy and, at times, even fraudulent. But regulators at China’s National Medical Products Administration insisted that they had reformed their system, and that we should give them a second chance. We decided to probe these claims for ourselves. (Scott Gottlieb, 9/22)
