Welcome to Public Health Watch, a weekly newsletter from Protect Our Care tracking catastrophic activity as part of Donald Trump’s sweeping assault on health care.
Amid spiraling public approval ratings, tonight Donald Trump is set to give a “prime-time address” to spin his administration’s agenda as a success despite 5-alarm fires on nearly every front, including rising costs, outbreaks of preventable diseases, dwindling job opportunities, and the looming disaster of millions of Americans losing their health care if ACA subsidies are allowed to expire in January.
It would be surprising if the president remarked on the condition of America’s public health with so little to celebrate. As RFK Jr’s HHS continues to spread baseless anti-vax misinformation and obstruct scientific research, there have been over 1,910 confirmed measles cases reported this year— the highest in more than 30 years. After indiscriminate mass firings and resignations at the HHS, public-health data systems and workforce capacity are deteriorating, making it harder to track and respond to infectious disease threats. Hospitals are shuttering across the county while Influenza infections surge to alarming levels. And yet, the Trump–RFK Jr. HHS would rather focus on restricting access to childhood vaccines and gutting the nation’s health department.
In yet another counterproductive week for HHS, Trump officials neglected major public health priorities to instead focus on their harmful anti-vax and anti-health equity agenda. Measles cases continue to soar in South Carolina – the 47th such outbreak this year — and public health officials are warning about escalating risks from bird flu and whooping cough. Yet RFK Jr. hasn’t said a public word about these active and looming health crises and instead pushed for a December 29th meeting targeting the nation’s vaccine safety and compensation system. Meanwhile, the Trump NIH is busy rooting out any grant that uses the words “health equity” and “structural racism” despite mountains of data from the CDC and other health institutions proving major deep disparities in the U.S. health system that leave communities of color and LGBTQ Americans behind. Adding insult to injury, Secretary Kennedy installed the FDA’s fifth director in less than a year, who FDA insiders say struggles to set aside her own anti-vax biases before jumping to conclusions.
With Donald Trump’s support, the state of America’s public health is indeed in rapid decline on RFK Jr.s watch.
In The News
Chaos at HHS:
- Mother Jones: The New CDC Leader’s Whooping Cough Scandal
- Stat: FDA staff fear Tracy Beth Høeg will bring bias and instability to embattled drug center
- Stat: Acting head of beleaguered mental health agency to depart this week
- Wired: New Head of Trump’s Cancer Panel Speculated About Links Between Vaccines and Cancer
- Stat: RFK Jr., unconstrained by Congress, presses ahead to reshape health care
- Reuters: US NIH races to fill nearly half its top roles after wave of departures
The GOP War on Vaccines Will Have Deadly Consequences:
- Washington Post: CDC approves major child vaccine change, rejects controversial one
- CNN: FDA intends to put its most serious warning on Covid vaccines, sources say
- Axios: Calls to pull COVID vaccines get louder
- Bloomberg: Childhood Vaccine Injuries Group to Meet Under Kennedy Pressure
- US News & World Report: WHO Rebuts CDC: No Link Between Vaccines and Autism
- NBC: CDC study says Covid shots continue to protect healthy kids from severe illness
- The Hill: Trump lets RFK Jr. ‘go wild’ on childhood vaccine policy
- Reuters: US senators push USDA for urgent action on bird flu vaccine
- Politico: This vaccine adviser to RFK Jr. has some choice words for his critics
- New York Post (Editorial): RFK Jr.’s lunatic war on vaccines puts kids at risk
Measles Outbreaks:
- The Hill: US set to lose measles elimination status: The ‘house is on fire’
- CBS: Measles outbreaks worsen in South Carolina, Arizona and Utah
- NBC: South Carolina measles outbreak is ‘accelerating,’ driving hundreds into quarantine
- CNN: US facing second measles surge this year as outbreak accelerates in South Carolina
- Popular Information: As measles ravages South Carolina, RFK Jr. undermines the vaccine
- Texas Tribune: Blamed for the nation’s historic measles outbreak, West Texas Mennonites have hardened their views on vaccines
Public Health Cuts:
- Time: 2025 Has Been a Year of Unraveling Progress in Health
- Stat: NIH specifies how grant reviewers should ensure alignment with Trump priorities
Health Equity:
- NOTUS: NIH Pauses New Funding for Grants That Include ‘Health Equity,’ ‘Structural Racism,’ Pending Review
- Wired: RFK Jr.’s Health Department Is Pondering a National Men’s Health Initiative
More Key Headlines:
- KFF News: FDA Panelists Questioned Antidepressants in Pregnancy. But Doctors Call Them a Lifeline.
- E&E News: Defense bill directs GAO to probe tick conspiracy promoted by RFK Jr.
- Tampa Bay Times: Florida moves toward eliminating four vaccine mandates, expanding exemption
- Bloomberg: Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Found in Wisconsin Dairy Herd
- ProPublica: Trump Officials Celebrated With Cake After Slashing Aid. Then People Died of Cholera.
- Politico: New anti-abortion campaign takes aim at EPA drinking water
- New York Times: California Hires Former C.D.C. Officials Who Criticized
- Washington Post: A Trump-touted drug for autism is now in demand, but doctors see a dilemma
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