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As gun violence persists, CDC research is hamstrung
About a month ago, a gunman sprayed more than 500 bullets across the CDC campus in Atlanta, killing one person. Days later, the Trump administration fired more than 150 of the agency’s violence and injury prevention specialists. “These are researchers and practitioners with unique expertise in violence prevention that does not exist elsewhere in the federal government,” said Tom Simon, who retired from the CDC’s Division of Violence Prevention in April.
The continued need for such research has never been clearer. The U.S. has seen 47 school shootings so far in 2025, according to a CNN tracker. The most recent occurred last week, when three high school students were killed in Colorado on the same day that right-wing activist Charlie Kirk was shot dead while speaking at a university in Utah. STAT’s Liz Cooney has more on what the research landscape looks like without the CDC staffers who have been working to stem violence around the country.
Cholera deaths continue to increase worldwide
While leaders of federal health agencies in the U.S. revive decades-settled questions about vaccination, the WHO recently reported that in 2024, cholera deaths increased worldwide for the second year in a row. Reported cases rose by 5% compared to 2023, and deaths rose by 50%.
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The global health agency cited conflict and displacement, climate change, and long-term problems with water, sanitation, and hygiene infrastructure as contributing factors. Almost all cases (98%) occurred in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, according to the WHO. There was also a shortage of cholera vaccines last year, as STAT reported. “Cholera is a neglected disease,” Abdou Salam Gueye of the WHO Africa Region told Annalisa Merelli last fall. “And it is neglected for neglected populations that are poor and do not make a good market.”
HHS announces contract for autism-vaccine studies
The CDC announced last week its intent to fund among the first Trump administration-solicited research on a debunked link between vaccines and autism. The contract — which supports research to “investigate the association between vaccination and autism prevalence” — will be awarded to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, should the contract be finalized.
The new research comes at the behest of health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has a long history of arguing against vaccine use and linking them — contrary to mainstream evidence — to autism. Read more from STAT’s Daniel Payne.
How hospitals are bracing for Medicaid cuts
In response to the historic Medicaid cuts enacted by Republicans earlier this year, hospitals have set up war rooms to plan their next financial moves and brainstorm innovative solutions, while bracing for slipping revenue. The law — which will go into effect in 2027 — will ultimately cut nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid spending over the next decade, adding new work requirements and creating limits on large federal funding streams states use to support their programs. “We’re in a little bit of an existential crisis here,” Matthew Cook of the Children’s Hospital Association told Daniel Payne.
But there’s a difference here between the hospital haves and have-nots, according to nearly a dozen hospital leaders and advisers who spoke with Daniel. While some institutions are considering what services could be cut or consolidated, others see a unique opportunity to expand into new technologies or care models. Read more from Daniel on the war room discussions.
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From the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood
“Well, guess what — we are not going anywhere.”
That’s what Alexis McGill Johnson of Planned Parenthood Federation had to say in a press call on Friday, the morning after an appeals court reversed a federal judge’s decision, allowing the Trump administration to block Medicaid funds to the network of clinics while legal challenges continue. “Trump and his rubber stamps in Congress should know that we are not backing down,” McGill Johnson continued. The AP has more on the decision.
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