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Morning Briefing

Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations

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Tuesday, Feb 25 2025

Full Issue

Many Laid-Off FDA Workers Brought Back, While VA Fires 1,400 More

The FDA has reportedly reinstated dozens of staffers who were let go and are involved with food and medical device safety. The VA has let go of 2,400 employees this month. Also in the news: FDA's "healthy" label rule, NIH grant funding, and more.

The Food and Drug Administration has reinstated dozens of specialized employees involved in food safety, review of medical devices and other areas who were laid off last week, according to more than a dozen workers who got called back. The total number of employees recalled was not immediately clear. But a person familiar with the conversations said nearly all of the roughly 180 medical division employees who had been let go would get their jobs back. (Jewett, 2/24)

The Department of Veterans Affairs on Monday fired another 1,400 employees amid outcry over a lack of transparency from the agency after 1,000 workers were axed earlier this month. The VA said the individuals dismissed were “non-mission critical” probationary employees who have served less than two years, according to a department statement. (Mitchell, 2/24)

The US Food and Drug Administration’s new standards for foods before they can be labeled as “healthy” on their packaging will go into effect about two months later than planned, according to a government document scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on Tuesday. (Howard, 2/24)

After weeks of being blocked by the Trump administration, one crucial step in the National Institutes of Health process for funding biomedical research is being largely restored, but it seems that won’t immediately allow new grants to be approved and resume the flow of millions of dollars to universities and medical schools. (Molteni and McFarling, 2/24)

Also —

Two U.S. government agencies that are key players in the World Health Organization-led process to select the flu viruses for next winter’s influenza vaccines are participating in a meeting to discuss the issue, despite the Trump administration’s plans to withdraw from the global health agency, sources told STAT. (Branswell, 2/24)

As hundreds of researchers, patient advocates and policymakers gather in Washington, D.C., this week for an advocacy fly-in on rare diseases, a notable gap has appeared on their schedule: an annual gathering hosted by the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health. (Reed, 2/25)

ϳԹ News: With RFK Jr. In Charge, Supplement Makers See Chance To Cash In

Last fall, before being named the senior U.S. health official, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the Trump administration would liberate Americans from the FDA’s “aggressive suppression” of vitamins, dietary supplements, and other substances — ending the federal agency’s “war on public health,” as he put it. In fact, the FDA can’t even require that supplements be effective before they are sold. (Allen, 2/25)

This is part of the Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.
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