| While the Trump administration has largely avoided publicly discussing its vaccine agenda in recent months, a small group of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s allies has continued working behind the scenes to reshape the federal machinery that governs vaccine policy, report The Post’s Rachel Roubein and Lena H. Sun. In this scoopy story, my colleagues break down how Kennedy’s allies are embedding his agenda in institutions that decide what gets studied, who performs vaccine research and how these findings are translated into policy. - ACIP: Federal health officials are exploring recreating an influential vaccine advisory panel, known as the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, that was blocked by a federal judge in March.
Some of the discussions include adding new members, and Kennedy has approved a new charter for the panel that aims to address some of the judge’s concerns. The updated charter no longer explicitly states that all members should have expertise in specific vaccine-related fields. - A new Office of Science?: Stuart Burns, a senior adviser with responsibilities for vaccine policy, is pushing to create a new Office of Science at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to be located inside the CDC’s chief of staff office, my colleagues have learned.
The confounding factor? There’s already a science office at the CDC. However, former officials told The Post that it appears to be an effort to give Kennedy allies greater influence over ACIP, which shapes vaccine recommendations. - New studies: Earlier this month, the National Institutes of Health urged scientists to take part in research about vaccine injuries, and encouraged new studies into vaccine schedules, vaccines’ long-term health effects and other issues that Kennedy has long wanted reexamined.
- Key staff: Senior health officials have worked behind the scenes, searching for offices that could oversee the work and installing allies in key positions, Rachel and Lena have learned.
One of the most important Kennedy hires is Martin Kulldorff, a biostatistician serving as the department’s chief science officer — and who, as recently as last week, was making the case for abandoning the methodology the CDC has long used to evaluate an immunization’s effectiveness. → To Kennedy’s supporters, the moves are long overdue, but critics argue that the confusion around whether vaccines are recommended — or safe — could lead people to avoid them, potentially causing an uptick in preventable diseases. Why it matters: The overall effort suggests that political warnings and legal challenges from medical groups have shifted Kennedy’s vaccine agenda out of public view rather than halting it. This could keep the Trump administration’s questioning of vaccines’ safety alive for years to come. A spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement that Kennedy is carrying out Trump’s commitment to strengthen public health through “gold-standard vaccine research.” She said the effort will help guide “vaccine recommendations, address critical gaps identified by scientific and medical organizations, including the Institute of Medicine, and strengthen public trust in public health.” Kennedy has said he will accept the results of the vaccine studies regardless of what they show, one person familiar with the effort told my colleagues. Key context: Kennedy is the founder of a prominent anti-vaccine group, and has long argued that immunizations have not been properly studied. He’s charged medical groups and experts, who overwhelmingly say that commonly administered shots are safe and effective, with being beholden to pharmaceutical companies that produce the shots. As the nation’s top health official, Kennedy views launching new vaccine studies as one of his mandates, with one person familiar with the effort telling my colleagues that it’s “one of his top priorities.” Read the full story: “Inside the push to keep RFK Jr.’s vaccine agenda alive.” The Federal Trade Commission is suing a trade group that represents gender-affirming care providers, alleging that the organization uses misleading and unsubstantiated information to parents seeking care for their children to make a profit. - In its lawsuit against the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), the FTC — joined by Republican-led states Alaska, Iowa, Nebraska and Texas — said the group has misrepresented the benefits of gender-affirming care and not adequately communicated the risks or long-term health impacts.
- FTC officials told reporters Wednesday that the agency, which has been investigating claims made by gender-affirming care providers more broadly, has found “substantial evidence” of harm to consumers. The lawsuit, they said, is part of the agency’s effort to “protect children from harm and [ensure] parents receive truthful information when making high-stakes medical decisions.”
- Kennedy and other top Trump administration health officials cheered the FTC action. “When medical organizations prioritize advocacy over scientific rigor, they deserve to be held accountable,” Brian Christine, the assistant health secretary, said in a statement.
The lawsuit is the latest move by the Trump administration to stop providers from being able to offer the services — including therapy, puberty blockers and hormones — to transgender youth. In a statement, WPATH called the lawsuit “baseless,” arguing that the Trump administration is using the heft of the federal government to “interfere with Americans’ rights to seek and obtain the health care that should be decided between a patient and their physician.” “For more than 50 years, WPATH has been committed to developing guidelines informed by established scientific standards, expert consensus and patient-centered values,” the group said. “WPATH supports individualized patient care, not a ‘one size fits all’ approach.” - Last month, a federal judge blocked the FTC’s subpoenas into WPATH and another organization, ruling that the demand for documents was likely driven by “hostility toward WPATH’s viewpoint and advocacy regarding transgender care.”
WPATH said it anticipates “the same result” when it fights back against this lawsuit. → There have been multiple studies showing that providing gender-affirming care for young transgender people improves mental health outcomes. An estimated 3.3 percent of youth ages 13 to 17 — or 724,000 — identify as transgender, according to the Williams Institute, a think tank at the UCLA School of Law. Rick Jackson, the billionaire health care staffing firm executive who spent more than $100 million — mostly out of his own pocket — on his campaign, won the Georgia gubernatorial GOP primary. In his victory speech Tuesday night, Jackson said he wants to lower health care costs and ensure Georgians have access to “quality care they can actually afford.” “We can lower costs by using better technology and cutting out a lot of the middlemen who add layers and drive up costs,” he said. “I’m the only candidate in this race who actually understands health care; I’ve spent my life in it,” Jackson said during the speech. “I know where the costs are, I know where the waste [is]. I know how the system works, and I know how it fails families. Too many Georgians are paying more and getting less.” - Key context: Roughly 12 percent of Georgia’s population doesn’t have any form of health insurance, the second-highest percentage in the nation. The figure is expected to rise even more following Congress’s failure to extend enhanced subsidies that helped people with Affordable Care Act plans afford their insurance, and the cuts to Medicaid that are anticipated to stem from Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill.
- Jackson’s campaign platform doesn’t have a heavy focus on health policy, but Jackson has emphasized tying public assistance programs to work or job training. His background could also give him more insight into workforce shortages that have plagued hospitals and other providers.
→ The emphasis on work requirements aligns with the Trump administration’s broader push to tie Medicaid eligibility to employment, job training or volunteer work. Georgia opted against expanding Medicaid under Obamacare, but has instead implemented a limited alternative program called Georgia Pathways to Coverage, which has its own work requirements. However, studies show it has struggled to secure coverage for much of Georgia’s low-income population and did not increase employment in the state — while costing taxpayers more than $100 million in its first two years. President Donald Trump had endorsed Jackson’s Republican primary challenger, Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, but said on social media Wednesday that Jackson “ran a great TRUMP Campaign. Very smart!” - Jackson positioned himself as an outsider during the race, saying in his victory speech that he’s “the only candidate who doesn’t owe a thing to the political establishment.”
- “I don’t care what special interests want, how much they beg, how much they give me,” Jackson said. “I can’t be bought, and I won’t back down.”
What’s next: Jackson will face off against Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms in November in a race that the Cook Political Report has declared a toss-up. As part of her health care platform, Bottoms has said she would end the Georgia Pathways to Coverage program and replace it with “real coverage that actually works for families.” Express Scripts by Evernorth, Cigna’s pharmacy benefits services arm, filed a lawsuit challenging a new Tennessee law that aims to crack down on industry consolidation. → The law prohibits insurance companies and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) from owning pharmacies in the state, which almost immediately drew a legal rebuke from CVS Health, as I reported last month. CVS has warned that the law would prompt the closure of more than 130 pharmacies across Tennessee. “If this misguided law takes effect, hundreds of thousands of patients could be left scrambling to navigate pharmacy closures and find new ways to access their medications and essential clinical support,” said Susan Peppers, vice president of pharmacy practice at Evernorth Health Services. PBMs negotiate discounts with drugmakers and choose which medicines an insurance plan will cover. Just three companies — including Express Scripts and CVS Caremark — control about 85 percent of the market, which has drawn criticism from state and federal lawmakers who argue they have too much power. The companies have denied allegations that they steer patients to their pharmacies. The Tennessee attorney general’s office didn’t immediately have a response to the lawsuit. “Trump reviews slowed screwworm response, former officials say,” reports Politico’s Marcia Brown. “Tennessee Pharmacies Sell Potent Ivermectin, Led by Anti-Vaccine Doctor Who’s Taken ‘Bucketloads,’” Brett Kelman and Rachana Pradhan report at KFF Health News. “Big pharma taps UK playbook to pressure European capitals on drug prices,” Maggie Fick and Bhanvi Satija write at Reuters. “OhioHealth settles antitrust suit with the DOJ,” Rebecca Pifer Parduhn writes at Healthcare Dive. “Centene offers buyouts ahead of large expected layoffs,” reports Allison Bell at BenefitsPro. | 
