CDC, FDA, Nih Cuts, United Suspect, Alcohol

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Good morning. What a day yesterday. Don’t miss all the great coverage that my colleagues have produced and keep an eye on today. I told you that we are not messing around on April Fools’ Day – nor on another day, in that regard.

HHS deducts started yesterday. It was not a joke from April Fools’ Day.

It was early yesterday morning – like 5 o’clock early – when the chaos started. Federal health staff started to receive dismissals (also known as RIFS, for ‘reduction of strength’) after last week’s announcement that no fewer than 10,000 employees would be cut. Stat reporters woke up with texts and calls from employees at the affected agencies. “It started,” a message said clearly.

The reach of the cutbacks reflects the width of all the work that HHS does: scientists who focus on tobacco control, injury prevention, infectious diseases, birth defects, reproductive health, substance abuse, veterinary medicine, antimicrobial resistance and chemical contamination lost their job; People in Human Resources, policy and communication departments did that too. The cutbacks include rank-and-file staff ownership and high-level leaders-including a song that had the opportunity to switch to the Indian Health Service.

While employees related to confusion and concern about the cutbacks, HHS posted some photos of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on social media. With Jay Bhattacharya, the new director of the NIH, and Marty Makary, the new FDA commissioner. “We look forward to restoring trust, transparency and excellence in public health,” De Post said.

It was an all-hand-on-cover day here at Stat to cover the news. Here is the overview of our stories that constantly update, with more:

• The need-to-know rundown of how it all went out: “Terminations touch … On April Fools’ Day. So cruel,” said an HHS employee who did not lose their job, to Stat. Some employees had not seen the e -mail and came to the office, only then waiting in a row out so that they could come in to clean up their offices.
• How the CDC went for it: the Trump government has argued that the mission of the CDC has become too broad and that the agency must concentrate on worries about infectious diseases. The majority of the termination found units aimed at other health problems, but there have been reports that divisions are aimed at HIV prevention and the inclusion of tuberculosis saw cuts. Experts both inside and outside the CDC told Stat that they were worried that the capacity of the country to respond to any form of threat of public health is dangerously eroded.
• The FDA: The day the dismissal started was also the first official day of Makary as FDA Commissioner. His first e -mail to the staff summarized his CV: “Dr. Makary is particularly qualified to lead the FDA at this important moment in the health of our nation,” is the e -mail. It was a shaky start when cutbacks in the field of Bureau came for media affairs, minority health and administrative support staff. Regulatory leaders lost jobs without input from the leadership of the FDA Center, says sources.
• And the NIH: it was also Bhattacharya’s first day yesterday when directors of five NIH institutions and at least two other members of Senior Leadership were placed administrative leave or new assignments were offered. The more measured message from Bhattacharya noted that the dismissals “will have a profound impact on important NIH administrative functions, including communication, legislative matters, purchasing and human resources.” But the cutbacks go beyond administrative staff, and important scientists who supervise projects on sickle cell disease, neurological disorders, pandemic readiness and more.
• Why do some people get jobs at IHS? “I will just say it, I think it’s a way to try to stop people,” said Phil Huang, director of Dallas Health and Human Services, in a media briefing. Although it is true that the IHS needs more staff, the openings are largely for jobs such as doctors and nurses, not research scientists, analysts and managers.
• What about “radical transparency”? The dismissals include important cuts on teams in the agencies that deal with communication, media relationships and Freedom or Information Act requests. While Kennedy previously promised to promote ‘radical transparency’, employees say that the dismissals will seriously obstruct the ability of HHS to pass on critical health information to the public. “He only got half of that right – this is radical,” said Kevin Griffis, the former communication director at the CDC who left a few days ago.

• The local effects: local figures for public health, including Huang from Dallas, expressed a deep dismay of yesterday’s federal cuts. The loss of federal expertise is likely to increase challenges at the local level, especially in smaller places, said Lori Tremmel Freeman, CEO of the National Association of County and City Health officials. Losing only one multi-talented employee can destroy a rural health department.
• And how the cutbacks can affect vulnerable Americans with a disability: while the Trump administration has already proposed cuts or cutbacks on services such as Medicaid who are crucial for people with disabilities, cuts on Tuesday – including the dismantling of the administration for the life of the community, who acts as a federal hub for disagreement on the diskeeper – in the disagreement for disagreement in the diskewl in the diskewl in the diskindness – in the pure -segment for disagreement in the diskeeper for disagreement in the disagreement for disagreement for disagreement for disagreement for disagreement for disagreement for the disagreement for disagreement for the disagreement for disagreement for disagreement for disagreement for the disagreement for disagreement. Handicap community, said experts.

Black men suffered the most in the past decade of the overdosis crisis

Between 2010 and 2020, black men died of unintended overdoses drugs at a speed of 23.25 per 100,000, according to a study published yesterday in Jama Network Open. That is more than white men, who died at a speed of around 22.5 per 100,000, and much more than black women (9), white women (almost 12). When calculating for years, the potential life lost, the researchers discovered that black men and women had worsened the results over time compared to white men, while white women saw improvements.

It was 2016 when black men started to die more from overdoses than white men in the US, and 2019 when the death rate for black women surpassed that of their white counterparts. The findings emphasize the importance of studying intersectional groups when it comes to overdoses, the authors write. And although the study did not investigate structural factors such as poverty or racism, the authors also note that other research has shown that they play a role in the drug activity of people.

The Trump government should not yet promote meaningful reforms of the drug policy. But a coalition of interest groups has just sent a request to Trump’s most important officials: use the American Doge service to make Methadon more available. Lev Facher van Stat reports today about the letter, which states that the current regulations ‘create an unnecessarily difficult bureaucracy that Americans harms’. Read more.

Americans can get smarter about alcohol and cancer

At the beginning of the year, the then surgeon-general Vivek Murthy published a report on alcohol and cancer risks, in which they were called for warning labels about the drinks. A survey was only published a month later that 56% of people say that the regular consumption of alcohol increases the chances of developing cancer. That is an increase of 40% according to a survey from September 2024. Both studies were led by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania.

The most recent survey, which was carried out for more than a week at the beginning of February, included more than 1,700 adults. The percentage of people who (inaccurately) believed that drinking has no effect on your chances to get cancer, decreased from 20% to 16% at the same time.

Let us take these insights with a grain of salt, of course, because they come from small surveys. But almost half of the respondents said they had read or heard about reports about alcohol, and we recently had a great report on the subject on the subject, especially from my colleague Isabella Cueto. Visit her story again from last summer, breaking through the alcohol-related health problems of America due to the figures, or her more recent reporting on how alcohol fits into the Maha movement.

US AG recommends the death penalty for killing United CEO

The American Attorney General Pam Bondi has instructed federal prosecutors to pursue the death penalty against Luigi Mangione, accused of killing the CEO of the UnitedHealthCare, Brian Thompson in New York. Mangione is confronted with both federal and national charges for the murder, but the charges have a maximum life penalty in prison.

“After a careful consideration, I instructed federal prosecutors to look for the death penalty in this case while we perform President Trump’s agenda to stop violent crime and make America safe again,” Bondi said in a statement. Read more of the AP about what happens next.

What we read

• What the mayor of Houston was called Texas prisons like ‘Living Hell’, Chron

• Mass -General Brigham loses millions of medical research fairs under Trump cuts, Boston Globe

• Trump administration has sued a decision due to a decision to repeat billions in health financing, AP
• Millions of women will lose access to contraception as a result of Trump Aid cuts, New York Times
• Every doctor is a writer: at the end of writing notes and giving meaning in medicine, Stat