policy

Trump admin drops court fight over indirect costs

NIH

More than a year after the Trump administration first announced a controversial policy to drastically reduce the rate of reimbursement for “indirect costs” on federal grants, the government appears to be standing down. Monday was the deadline for the Department of Justice to petition the Supreme Court to review a lower court decision halting the plan, STAT’s Megan Molteni reports. No such petition was made.

The (lack of a) move is a sign the administration has given up on this particular approach to reducing indirect costs. But it may still try to alter the policy through other avenues. Read more from Megan.

reproductive health

C-section rate in 2025 highest in a decade 

The rate of pregnant people who had a cesarean delivery rose to 32.5% last year, making it the highest annual rate in the U.S. since 2013, according to new data from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics. The rate of C-sections has been incrementally climbing since 2020, per the report. The rate specifically for low-risk C-sections also rose to 26.9%, the highest since 2012.

As former STATian Megan Thielking wrote in the earliest days of publication: high C-section rates do not necessarily translate to better birth outcomes. More than a decade later, that story is still a good overview of how we got here.

More data from the CDC: Overall, there were more than 3.6 million births in the U.S. last year. It sounds like a lot, but overall, the number decreased 1% from 2024. For teenagers age 15 to 19, the birth rate was down 7% last year.

first opinion

How public health survives in war

Among the many Iranian sites hit by U.S. and Israeli strikes: the Pasteur Institute of Iran in central Tehran. It’s a leading medical research center in the country, with more than 1,300 employees working on vaccine development, biopharmaceutical production, and diagnostic kit manufacturing. No staff member was harmed, and it appears no pathogens escaped from the facility. But damage to the buildings was extensive and, per WHO, the Institute cannot continue delivering health services.

In a new First Opinion essay, two researchers explain the importance of laboratories like this one, as well as the economic and moral imperatives to protect them. “For more than a century, Pasteur Institutes around the world have navigated war, decolonization, economic upheaval, and pandemic shocks,” the authors write. “They have endured because microbes do not respect political cycles, and societies ultimately recognize that public health is foundational to prosperity.” Read more.