Department of Health and Human Services

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HHS to Hospitals: Stop Pelvic Exams Without Patient Consent

Agency letter warns hospitals could lose Medicare funding if they don't comply

(Newser) - The Department of Health and Human Services has come out firing against a practice it says violates the privacy and dignity of patients in health care settings across America. The New York Times reports that on Monday, the federal agency sent out a letter to the nation's med schools...

Health Dept. on Marijuana: It Shouldn't Be a Schedule I Drug

Recommendation has been passed to the Drug Enforcement Administration

(Newser) - The US Department of Health and Human Services has delivered a recommendation to the Drug Enforcement Administration on marijuana policy, and Senate leaders hailed it Wednesday as a first step toward easing federal restrictions on the drug. HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said Wednesday on X that the agency has responded...

12 Secretive Warehouses Comprise a Vital US Stockpile

NBC gets a look inside Strategic National Stockpile, and explores pandemic shortfalls

(Newser) - The Strategic National Stockpile was formed in 1999 as a repository for vaccines, antibiotics, and other medical supplies to be tapped by states during public health emergencies. It’s composed of 12 cavernous, highly secretive facilities across the US, according to NBC News, which got rare inside access. The warehouse...

Biden Rolls Back Trump's Transgender Health Care Rules

'Everyone ... should be able to access health care, free from discrimination or interference, period'

(Newser) - The US will protect gay and transgender people against sex discrimination in health care, the Biden administration announced Monday, reversing a Trump-era policy that sought to narrow the scope of legal rights in sensitive situations involving medical care. The action by the Department of Health and Human Services affirms that...

Biden Gets His Health Chief, by Single Vote

Senate confirms Xavier Becerra 50-49 to run Health and Human Services

(Newser) - The Senate on Thursday confirmed California Attorney General Xavier Becerra as President Biden's health secretary by a single vote. The 50-49 largely party-line vote makes the 63-year-old Becerra the first Latino to head the Department of Health and Human Services, per the AP . Becerra has been California's attorney...

Biden's Pick for Big HHS Role a Historic First

Rachel Levine may be first openly transgender federal official to get confirmed by Senate

(Newser) - Xavier Becerra has a new No. 2 at Health and Human Services. The AP reports that President-elect Joe Biden has picked Dr. Rachel Levine, Pennsylvania's current health secretary, to serve as his assistant health secretary under Becerra, who has been nominated by Biden to be the nation's top...

HHS Secretary Notes Capitol Riot in Resignation Letter

A not-unusual stepping down as new administration enters, but his letter had some harsh words

(Newser) - As the US presidency changes hands on Wednesday, one of the Trump administration's remaining Cabinet members will officially remove his own name from the payroll. CNN reports that on Tuesday, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar submitted his letter of resignation to President Trump, and while he listed...

New Dietary Guidelines Skip 2 Controversial Suggestions
New Dietary
Guidelines Skip
2 Controversial
Suggestions
in case you missed
Jan 2, 2021 11:12 AM CST

New Dietary Guidelines Skip 2 Controversial Suggestions

USDA rejects idea to further cut alcohol and sugar intake, weighs in on breastfeeding

(Newser) - The official new dietary guidelines for Americans have been updated for the first time in five years, and they might be more notable for what they don't include. As the Wall Street Journal reports, the federal guidelines don't call for cuts in alcohol and sugar intake. Over the...

Biden Makes Surprise Pick for HHS
Biden's HHS Pick
Is a Surprise
Dec 7, 2020 3:30 AM CST

Biden's HHS Pick Is a Surprise

And not necessarily a pleasant one for some public health experts

(Newser) - Joe Biden's pick for Health and Human Services secretary was a bit of a surprise: The president-elect is reportedly going with Xavier Becerra, currently California's attorney general. The New York Times notes Becerra was long seen as a contender for the same job at the federal level, but...

Michael Caputo, Who Blamed Rant on Health, Has Cancer

HHS spokesman undergoes surgery and urges Americans to not ignore health during pandemic

(Newser) - A Trump administration spokesman who blamed an online outburst —in which he advised Americans to buy ammunition to prepare for the aftermath of the November election—on stress and health problems is battling cancer. A spokesman said Michael Caputo had surgery at the National Cancer Institute, Politico reports, and...

Top HHS Aide Takes Leave After Facebook Rant

Caputo 'has decided to take a leave of absence to focus on his health'

(Newser) - A top Department of Health and Human Services aide who aired numerous conspiracy theories in a Facebook Live rant will be on leave for the next 60 days, the department says. Michael Caputo, a former Trump campaign official appointed as chief HHS spokesperson in April, "has decided to take...

Caputo Blames Facebook Rant on Stress, Health

He has hinted at stepping down, sources say

(Newser) - Department of Health and Human Services spokesman Michael Caputo has apologized to staff for his bizarre Facebook Live rant on Sunday and has hinted that he might step down, sources tell Politico . The insiders say Caputo—who claimed Sunday that a "resistance unit" of government scientists was plotting against...

Ousted Vaccine Chief Will Warn of 'Darkest Winter'

Rick Bright is set to testify before Congress on Thursday

(Newser) - Rick Bright, ousted chief of a government agency fighting the pandemic, is set to deliver sobering warnings when he testifies before Congress on Thursday. The virologist will warn that without a coordinated, science-based national response, "the pandemic will get far worse and be prolonged, causing unprecedented illness and fatalities,...

Top Pandemic Official: Here's Why I Just Got Ousted

Rick Bright says he was demoted for his take on drug promoted by President Trump

(Newser) - The head of a government agency combating the coronavirus pandemic alleged Wednesday that he was ousted for opposing politically connected efforts to promote a malaria drug that President Trump touted without proof as a remedy for COVID-19, the AP reports. Rick Bright, former director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and...

HHS Found a Supply Shortage. 'It's Wrong,' Trump Says

Problems build on each other at hospitals, inspector general reports

(Newser) - The nonpartisan inspector general's office in the Department of Health and Human Services called 323 hospitals to see if they have enough supplies to care for their COVID-19 patients. They don't, says the report, which lists severe shortages. Asked about the report in his press briefing Monday, President...

White House Makes Its Move Against Flores Agreement

Will issue new rule that would end 20-day limit on detaining migrant kids

(Newser) - The Flores agreement was put into place during the Clinton administration; the Trump administration is now formally trying to replace it. The federal consent decree has since 1997 put parameters around the detention of migrant children and teens. The new rule the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of...

Youth Ranch Raided After Complaint About Nail Gun

Children allegedly 'hit, kicked ... spit on' at Montana's Ranch for Kids

(Newser) - Montana has removed 27 children from a home for troubled youth after reports of abuse, including one mentioning a nail gun shot at a child, per NBC News . "No child should have to experience what multiple sources have alleged has happened at the Ranch for Kids" in Rexford, near...

Migrant Children Removed From 'Appalling' Texas Facility

Some kids have been moved to a tent camp

(Newser) - Federal authorities have confirmed that hundreds of children have been removed from a Texas facility where they had been kept in vile conditions that shocked visiting attorneys . Department of Homeland Security officials tell NBC News that around 300 children have been moved from the Border Patrol facility in Clint, some...

New Roadblocks on Abortion Put Out by Trump Administration

Taxpayer-funded family planning clinics now barred from making abortion referrals

(Newser) - The Trump administration on Friday set up new obstacles for women seeking abortions, barring taxpayer-funded family planning clinics from making abortion referrals. The new policy is certain to be challenged in court. The final rule released Friday by the Health and Human Services Department also would prohibit federally funded family...

Record-Breaking Drug OD Deaths in US Last Year

200 people died per day in US in 2017, per the DEA

(Newser) - Drug overdose deaths hit the highest level ever recorded in the US last year, with an estimated 200 people dying per day, according to a report by the DEA. Most of that was the result of a record number of opioid-related deaths. Preliminary figures show more than 72,000 people...

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