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davidlim.bsky.social
Health reporter @POLITICO covering Covid-19 and the FDA. Prescription Pulse co-author.
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NEW: HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is preparing to remove members of key outside committees that advise the government on vaccine approvals and recommendations. w/ @adamcancryn.bsky.social + @gardnerlm19.bsky.social: www.politico.com/news/2025/02...

If you're impacted by the firings at HHS and would like to talk to a reporter, my Signal information is below. Can talk on the record, off the record or on background - and I can explain what each of those mean.

Top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee weighs in on HHS firings:

The Trump administration fired several employees in a key office handling the nation’s response to bird flu. Their loss will make testing and tracking of the virus slower, I’m told. My latest: www.politico.com/news/2025/02...

Firings at FDA include cuts to inspectors and medical product reviewers. Deep concern about impacts to the medical device center. Overall, nearly 700 probationary employees appear impacted at the agency. w/ @adamcancryn.bsky.social + @meganmesserly.bsky.social + more:

SCOOP: Cats that became infected with bird flu might have spread the virus to humans in the same household and vice versa, according to data that briefly appeared online in a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention but then abruptly vanished. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/06/h...

Amid everything, a new study finds that microplastics are accumulating in human brains. “Every time we scratch the surface, it uncovers a whole host of, ‘Oh, is this worse than we thought?’” lead author Matthew Campen told me last fall. A short thread: 1/ www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

From @davidlim.bsky.social and @adamfeuerstein.bsky.social at Politico Pro: Career official Sara Brenner expected to be tapped as acting FDA commissioner subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2025...

SCOOP: John Brooks is leading President-elect Donald Trump's HHS landing team. w/ @adamcancryn.bsky.social subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2024...

Reprising this from my AEI colleague Ben Ippolito on the cost of Medicare coverage for GLP-1s. CMS appears to see writing on wall here: As additional indications are approved, most Medicare recipients will get coverage for other co-morbidities. Also, Semaglutide subject to IRA price controls in 2027

News: Jim O'Neill is being weighed by Trump for HHS deputy secretary per 3 people familiar with the talks. He has advocated for people to be able to take drugs once safety, but not effectiveness, is reviewed by the FDA. w/ @adamcancryn.bsky.social + Lauren Gardner: www.politico.com/news/2024/11...

News: Senior Trump officials rejected an effort to install Project 2025 author ROGER SEVERINO as RFK Jr’s deputy health secretary. The push failed over concerns Severino’s strident anti-abortion views would prove too controversial. www.politico.com/news/2024/11...

President-elect Donald Trump is considering giving Russell Vought, his previous Office of Management and Budget director, his old job back. www.politico.com/live-updates...

The Trump transition is closing in on a number of names for top health posts across HHS. w/ @adamcancryn.bsky.social www.politico.com/news/2024/11...