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Dr. Mehmet Oz, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, on Sunday countered President Donald Trump’s recent claims that the measles, mumps and rubella — or MMR — vaccine could be lethal. In an interview with CBS’ “Face the Nation,” host Margaret Brennan repeatedly asked Oz to clarify the president’s remarks before he finally stated, “The MMR vaccine is not a lethal vaccine.” (Daniels, 8/23)

The rapidly rising US measles outbreak grew to 2,777 cases today as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed 211 new infections in its weekly update. The increase is more than double that seen last week, when the agency added 101 cases to the total, after adding 94 the week before. Most of this week’s cases are in Pennsylvania and Ohio. (Wappes, 8/21)

Half a million dollars. That’s about how much it cost several public health agencies to contain one small measles outbreak in the Denver area this year. Though it was a relatively modest cluster — a total of 10 cases involving nine children and one adult — it nevertheless consumed 6,785 hours of labor by state and local workers to track and snuff out the outbreak after exposed individuals traveled through grocery stores, schools, fast-food restaurants and more. (Ahmed, Sun and Steckelberg, 8/24)

Federal public health officials on Friday cautioned against eating or serving alfalfa sprouts from a Minnesota-based company after dozens were sickened across the United States. The Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are investigating an outbreak of E. coli and salmonella tied to alfalfa sprouts. Investigators linked the cases to Everything Sprouts, and the company issued a voluntary recall of some products. The contaminated products were sold under the Everything Sprouts and Calco brands. The cases involve multiple strains of E. coli and a single kind of salmonella, according to the F.D.A. and the C.D.C. At least 55 people in 15 states have been sickened, and four people were hospitalized, the F.D.A. said. (Desai, 8/21)

Outbreaks of foodborne illness keep stacking up: In just the last month, consumers have been warned about E. coli in blueberries, cyclospora in iceberg lettuce, salmonella in jalapeño peppers and, as of Friday, contaminated alfalfa sprouts. (Bendix, 8/22)

An eight-year-old Louisiana girl has died after contracting a rare, typically fatal brain-eating amoeba after a swim in Lake Claiborne. Lillian Smart, of Ruston, died on Saturday, one day after celebrating her birthday, her family announced in a public Facebook post on the “Love for Lillian” page. (Dunbar, 8/24)

At daybreak, rancher Martín Alfonso Ibarra takes advantage of the cooler hours in northern Mexico’s desert to oversee the milking of his cows and tend to 16 prized calves. Soon, he hopes, they will be headed north to the United States as a yearlong ban on Mexican cattle imports comes to an end. The ban, imposed over concerns about a flesh-eating parasite known as the New World screwworm fly, dealt a blow to cattle and beef industries on both sides of the border, exacerbating a livestock shortage in the U.S. and hurting a Mexican ranching sector already weakened by drought and a cattle export business that generated $1.2 billion for Mexico last year. (Sánchez, 8/22)

Although mpox cases related to the 2022 global outbreak were diagnosed in people who had traveled aboard, the virus now is spreading continuously in the United States. Persistent, low levels of mpox “suggest a likely transition toward endemic circulation,” according to a report in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) flagship publication, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The paper also quantifies the risk of hospitalization in unvaccinated mpox patients. (Szabo, 8/21)

Congo has received more than 16,000 doses of the Ervebo vaccine as the country grapples with the fastest Ebola outbreak in history, the country’s health minister said. The 16,250 doses arrived at the N’djili International Airport in the capital, Kinshasa, late Friday, as part of 70,000 doses expected from the World Health Organization and partners that were announced on Thursday. More doses are expected early next week. (8/22)

�������ýҕ�l Health News: Ebola Is Still Killing In Central Africa. These Groups Are Working To Save Lives

Misinformation and distrust are among the challenges facing public health workers in the Democratic Republic of Congo as they confront the second-deadliest Ebola outbreak on record. Even though the virus has faded from U.S. headlines, key organizations are still at work providing medical care and training to counter the spread of the disease. Since the World Health Organization’s May 17 declaration of a public health emergency, over 5,200 cases of the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus have been confirmed and more than 2,500 people have died in Congo, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Spears, 8/24)

Nearly 40,000 bottles of eye drops are being recalled across the country over concerns related to potential contamination, federal safety regulators said. Prestige Brand Holdings, of Tarrytown, N.Y., issued the voluntarily recall of 39,060 bottles of Clear Eyes Maximum Itchy Eye Relief eye drops because of a “lack of assurance of sterility,” according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (Diaz, 8/23)

Health systems are warning patients of a phishing scam involving Epic’s patient health information platform MyChart. The electronic health record giant announced at the end of last month it had seen an uptick of scammers posing as MyChart, asking for login and payment information in exchange for insurance-related “gifts” like Medicare rewards or senior health packages. (DeSilva, 8/21)

Midway through her graduate nursing program, Yesenia Raithel Vargas made a desperate plea to a Facebook group for other moms in Chicago: Does anyone know a licensed therapist willing to let her sit in on sessions and work with their clients under their supervision? It was a strange ask in the therapy world, which is one reason Raithel Vargas had resorted to Facebook. (Connolly, 8/24)

Policyholders with no claims are proving increasingly costly for health insurance exchanges carriers. Oscar Health expects to return up to $1.1 billion to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and disenroll up to 10% of its marketplace membership because of federal anti-fraud initiatives. Molina Healthcare has said the push is driving up costs. Market share leader Centene anticipates more members than usual will lose coverage through the rest of the year, in part because of the program integrity work. (Tepper, 8/21)

Since Oracle acquired electronic health record vendor Cerner in 2022, the technology giant’s goal has been to rebuild its legacy electronic health record platform. Seema Verma, executive vice president and general manager of Oracle Health and Life Sciences, said the company doesn’t want to delay new AI capabilities for its customers. This week, it rolled out new coding, dictation and chart review features for Oracle Health Clinical AI Agent. (Famakinwa, 8/21)

For generations, a stethoscope has been one of the most essential tools for diagnosing pneumonia. But a new study suggests that what doctors hear through it may depend on who is listening. (Bergeson, 8/21)

A next-generation Eli Lilly weight-loss drug that hasn't even been submitted for Food and Drug Administration review is already spawning a rash of cheap knockoffs that are being heavily touted on social media. The experience with the drug, called retatrutide, shows how demand for GLP-1s and other peptides is outpacing the regulatory system. (Reed, 8/24)

Hims & Hers Health Inc. was put on notice by Visa Inc. for excessive customer complaints in its weight-loss subscription business, internal documents show, adding to mounting scrutiny of its billing and cancellation policies. The telehealth company was enrolled in Visa’s Acquirer Monitoring Program after a surge of customer credit card disputes in July, according to the documents seen by Bloomberg. Each dispute will carry an $8 surcharge, resulting in a nearly $75,000 bill that will hit in September, the documents said. (Muller, 8/21)

For people living with diabetes, managing blood sugar can mean constantly watching the clock, keeping meals and medications on schedule and staying alert to changes in glucose levels. While little can be done about timed meals, researchers have developed a biological system that detects rising blood sugar levels and automatically responds by releasing medication to bring glucose back down. (Mondal, 8/23)

Al Carr took small steps from his Lexington home’s back door, swaying a walking cane back and forth in front of him. The Meta Ray-Ban AI glasses he wore were doing a lot of work for him. A camera built into the frame transmitted his forward view to a remote volunteer, who assumed Carr’s view via monitor and told him which direction to step next. (Dickens, 8/24)

Precise activation of tens of thousands of genes is critical for healthy development and growth. Specialized segments of our DNA are responsible for carefully orchestrating genetic sequences that result in the production of enzymes, hormones, proteins and other crucial components underlying cell structure and function. But if these genes are not correctly activated, cells can stop functioning or result in various disorders, including cancer. (Aguilera, 8/22)

The wife of former Purdue Pharma LP board member David Sackler was sentenced to home confinement for destroying WhatsApp messages with a Colombian pharmacist who was supplying her with illegal opioids to feed her addiction to painkillers. Joss Sackler, 42, pleaded guilty in May to obstructing a federal grand jury investigation into a shipment of prescription drugs seized by US border agents in 2024. Sackler claimed her addiction was the result of medical and mental health conditions in addition to undergoing four surgeries in the previous two years. (Van Voris, 8/21)

Senior citizens are at a record high for getting high. For Fiorella Terenzi, it’s been…not cool, man. The 64-year-old astrophysicist started to notice wafts of marijuana coming into her home from a nearby unit in her Miami-area high rise. Her neighbors, a married couple in their 70s, told her it was medical marijuana used in small amounts. (Gamerman, 8/23)

The condition known to cause “scromiting” among some marijuana users has become more prevalent in the U.S., a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows, though the trend among a specific age group may contradict previous understandings of the syndrome. Cannabis (or cannabinoid) hyperemesis syndrome (CHS) is as serious as it sounds. The condition, which can cause excessive vomiting with recurring bouts of severe stomach pain and nausea, was first detected in Australia two decades ago. (Bink, 8/22)

At an off-site leadership meeting held by Moderna in March 2023 — after mid-stage results of the biotech company’s cancer vaccine showed promise — CEO Stéphane Bancel had the floor. He asked if any of the 100 or so executives present had expected the experimental treatment to succeed. If they did, he said, please stand up. Stephen Hoge, Moderna’s president, was standing on stage. He sat down. Then, Hoge recalled in an interview with STAT, Bancel sat down, too. (Herper, Mast and Chen, 8/24)

After Mark Orwig had a melanoma tumor removed from his cheek in 2023, he began to worry about the future. The smallest remnants of the deadly skin cancer can linger in the body after a successful surgery, eventually causing the disease to recur. Orwig, like most melanoma patients, must watch for the cancer for the rest of his life. He worried about affording scans and treatments that could help keep it at bay. He thought about his odds. Then a doctor told him about a clinical trial being run nearby at the University of California at San Francisco. (Wu, 8/23)

Moderna has always been a stock driven by narrative extremes. During the pandemic, it traded as if mRNA would transform medicine overnight, with its market capitalization peaking near $200 billion. Then came the hangover: Vaccine sales cratered, and investors questioned the company’s pipeline. (Wainer, 8/23)

�������ýҕ�l Health News: �������ýҕ�l Health News’ ‘On Air’: Journalists Highlight Innovations In Vaccines And Safeguarding Maternal Health

Céline Gounder, �������ýҕ�l Health News’ editor-at-large for public health, discussed the potential of Moderna’s melanoma vaccine breakthrough on CBS News 24/7’s The Daily Report on Aug. 19, drawing on her experience as a former melanoma patient. (8/22)

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on Friday a new federal initiative to improve preparedness and response efforts when individuals with autism are reported missing. The agency will partner with the Department of Justice and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to strengthen coordination among emergency management agencies, law enforcement, first responders and community partners nationwide. (Weixel, 8/21)

At Chain of Lakes Elementary School in Winter Haven, Florida, Josette Smith's 9-year-old son, Ethan, gets to do what he loves most: crafts, math, and science. That is, when he isn't being pulled out of class. Ethan has autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. He was diagnosed with autism in kindergarten after displaying behavior that concerned his relatives: He paced, flapped his arms, and became consumed with highly specific interests, such as Martin Luther King Jr. and dachshunds. (Sibonney, 8/24)

President Donald Trump has faced scrutiny for bruising on his hands, swelling in his ankles and apparent drowsiness, among other questions about his health. Some doctors say they’re worried about another risk: the 23 pounds that Trump may have gained since his last campaign for president. (Diamond, 8/23)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s August isn’t your typical summer break from Washington: In the last week, he’s podcasted with The Incredible Hulk and fished for bream with the GOP candidate for governor in Iowa. He’s touted fitness with one embattled House Republican in a Des Moines suburb and he praised Nebraskans’ response to a hantavirus outbreak in a competitive Omaha district. (Haslett and Paun, 8/21)

The Food and Drug Administration says it is developing a plan for how to regulate medical devices that use generative artificial intelligence. The FDA will eventually release documents spelling out agency policies regarding the technology, Rick Abramson, director of the agency’s Digital Health Center of Excellence, told STAT. (Aguilar, 8/24)

President Donald Trump’s pledge to make new but pricey weight-loss drugs widely available for low-income Americans isn’t panning out as planned. Trump promised last year that obese Americans on Medicaid would soon gain access to drugs known as GLP-1s, like Wegovy and Zepbound, if the states where they live signed on with his administration to negotiate prices directly with manufacturers. (Hooper, 8/22)

The Trump administration plans to use a new approach to deny Medicaid coverage of drugs for gender-affirming care. The precedent it sets could be used to avoid paying for other drugs, too, upending an expectation that Medicaid covers the vast majority of prescription medication. (Wilkerson, 8/24)

New restrictions on the use of food benefits to purchase soda and candy have been one of the biggest changes enacted by the Make America Healthy Again movement. But a key question has been how profoundly the bans would affect public health, with some economists arguing that people would just use other funds to buy Coke and other sugary drinks instead. (Todd, 8/24)

A 1-year-old baby appeared in immigration court without legal representation this week in Arizona and received an instruction: File an asylum application before the next hearing or face deportation. An attorney from the U.S. Committee for Refugees, one of the groups with a new contract to represent migrant children, was silent as it happened, according to filings Thursday in the legal dispute between a network of nonprofits and the Trump administration. (Llanos, 8/21)

When Luis Manuel Aviles was arrested by immigration authorities, his son was entering his ninth month on the USS Abraham Lincoln with the Navy — a vessel that set a U.S. military record for uninterrupted time at sea, stirring concerns about supply shortages and deteriorating mental health among soldiers. Luis Manuel Aviles, 48, was arrested after leaving his house to take his car to the mechanic, according to his wife, Argelia Aviles. She said her husband, a handyman in Key West, Florida, has a permit to work in the United States. Originally from Nicaragua, he has lived in the U.S. for 19 years. (Riddle, Taxin and Brook, 8/24)

Nancy Kassebaum, a pioneering three-term female senator from Kansas who was one of the architects of bipartisan health care reform in the 1990s, has died. Kassebaum, also known in her later years as Nancy Kassebaum Baker because of her marriage to former Sen. Howard Baker (R-Tenn.), was 94. The New York Times reported that her son, William Kassebaum, confirmed her death Friday at a hospice care facility in Manhattan, Kansas. (Cohen, 8/23)

When Dr. Craig Towers moved to Knoxville, Tennessee, in 2010, the high-risk obstetrician encountered a crisis unlike anything he’d seen. Towers, who had practiced for 25 years in California and Wisconsin, found himself caring for an unusual number of pregnant women addicted to painkillers — and delivering newborns who were suffering withdrawal symptoms. Those babies, born shaking and inconsolable and who required weeks of specialized care, were becoming tragic symbols of the region’s raging opioid epidemic. “We were inundated,” Towers later told the Knoxville News Sentinel. (Yurkanin, 8/24)

Adrienne Griffen had just given birth to her second child in 2001. The “baby blues” that had quickly subsided after her first pregnancy did not seem to be going away after her second – and they were much more intense. When she talked to her doctor, they abruptly informed her of their duty to call Child Protective Services if she hurt her children. “I am here to get help, so I don’t hurt my children,” she replied. (Mascarenhas, 8/23)

The defense rested its case Friday in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial after eliciting several days of testimony about her mental state before and after she strangled her three young children. Prosecutors then began calling rebuttal witnesses in the trial, which is likely entering its final days. Closing arguments are expected next week. Clancy, 36, has pleaded not guilty to murder charges in the deaths of her children Callan, Dawson and Cora Clancy, who ranged from 8 months to 5 years old. (Willingham and Casey, 8/21)

About two weeks after giving birth, Bridget María Chesterton was curled up on the bathroom floor, saying things that made little sense. Later, in the emergency room, she kept repeating, “What’s going on?” She’d lost touch with reality. The family eventually learned that Chesterton had postpartum psychosis, a severe mental health disorder thrust into the spotlight by the case of Lindsay Clancy, a Massachusetts woman on trial for strangling her three children. A key question is whether postpartum psychosis drove Clancy to do it. (Ungar, 8/23)

In the summer of 2024, Emilie and Justin Solomon found themselves on a top-secret mission in Greece. Their family and friends thought the adventure-loving couple was on another jet-setting vacation, but they were keeping something else under wraps: They had turned off their phone locations to hide visits to a Greek clinic where they were seeking help to get pregnant. (Dawson, 8/22)

The pharmaceutical industry is warning that estrogen patches continue to be in shortage in the U.S. as manufacturers struggle to keep up with increased demand linked to federal policy changes issued earlier this year, even as regulators have yet to recognize a lack in supply. Manufacturers first reported issues with supplying demand earlier this year after the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in November lifted the black box warning on estrogen patches containing estradiol that had suggested the medications could accelerate preexisting breast cancers. (Choi, 8/21)

In the months since Pam Edwards started volunteering at Meals on Wheels of Northwest Indiana, she grew fond of John Ruiz, 85, a “chatty” client on her Friday Merrillville route. After the Aug. 11 storms, luckily, she was told he was ok. (Colias-Pete, 8/23)

It was Day 11 without power in Gary, Ind., and Pierre Ervin was beyond fed up. He could not eat breakfast in his dark, storm-damaged home because he had thrown out all the food rotting in his refrigerator. So he headed to work hungry on Saturday, threading his way past the snapped trees and downed power lines littering the industrial city as frustration grew with the agonizingly slow process of restoring power. “It’s been terrible,” Mr. Ervin, 46, said. About 30,000 customers across northern Indiana were still without electricity on Saturday evening, nearly two weeks after thunderstorms flooded neighborhoods and pummeled the region with hurricane-force winds. (Chiarito, Healy and Graff, 8/22)

Fire and medical officials have issued warnings about a supplement offered to Western wildland firefighters who have been exposed to toxic chemicals while battling some of the country’s biggest blazes. The supplement glutathione, given through an IV or an inhaler-like machine called a nebulizer, has not been proven to be safe or effective and could expose firefighters to illness if there is contamination while it’s produced, experts say. (Bellisle, 8/23)

Royal Cothrun was riding his bike near his home in Gilbert, Arizona, when he noticed a woman struggling to walk. It was over 100 degrees outside, and her face was bright red. Royal, 14, pulled over. “I knew it was a serious situation,” he said. He asked the woman — who was carrying a large shopping bag — where she was headed. She said she was trying to get home to her apartment but wasn’t sure where it was. Royal checked his phone, and the closest apartment was about three miles away. He walked with her into the shade. As they talked, her words became harder to follow. (Page, 8/23)

State prosecutors declined to file criminal charges against Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs over allegations that she took part in a pay-to-play scheme with a group home company that received a rate increase from the state after contributing $100,000 to her inaugural celebration, Attorney General Kris Mayes announced Friday. The Democratic governor has been accused of giving preferential treatment to Sunshine Residential Homes after the Arizona Republic revealed the private company contributed to the inaugural fund and Arizona Democratic Party and later received a 30% payment increase. Only Sunshine and one other company were given increases during the 2022-2023 contracting period. (Billeaud, 8/21)

Oregon’s spending on low-income housing has exploded in the past five years. The state has given developers an unprecedented $1.4 billion, and the cost of developing each apartment has nearly doubled, to $540,000. Dozens of projects are lined up for an additional $850 million in future state funding. Federal tax credits, which the state oversees, will bring even more money to bear. Yet one thing has remained constant: The public isn’t allowed to see the details of how all these dollars are being spent. (Davis, 8/21)

Alexis Rodriguez claims technicians at the New York City medical examiner’s office fabricated DNA evidence, leading to his wrongful conviction in 2014 for attempted rape. (Nerkar, 8/23)

The head of the state prison system plans to overhaul part of the minimum security Waiawa Correctional Facility in Central Oʻahu to create a new space for prisoners with mental illness who are now being held in the state’s largest prison. The men who would qualify to transfer from Hālawa Correctional Facility to Waiawa would be minimum-security prisoners who are stabilized on their medications and are approaching their parole or release dates, according to Tommy Johnson, director of the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. (Dayton, 8/21)

Maryland health officials are launching a controversial program to help those with severe mental health challenges adhere to their treatment by using a court order to mandate that some patients comply with their medical plans. (Brown, 8/23)

A Maryland school district has updated its gender identity policy that a lawsuit and the Trump administration claimed improperly prevented parents from accessing information about their child. The policy from Anne Arundel County Public Schools classified a student’s gender identity as confidential medical information, which the Trump administration said violated a federal law over student education records and threatened legal action if it were not changed. (Staton, 8/22)

The U.S. is experiencing one of the steepest and most widespread crime declines in modern history. Researchers aren't exactly sure why — but they have theories. Early research points to a mix of factors — declining alcohol and drug use since the COVID pandemic, AI-fueled policing technology that's making it easier for cops to catch suspects, an aging population, tougher prosecutions, and more. (Contreras, 8/24)

It is in showers, behind walls, and deep in linen closets. It is black and slimy, white and fuzzy, or green and spongy. It is making homeowners struggle to breathe and costing them millions in repairs and healthcare bills, they say. Mold is driving Americans crazy, and they want their home builders to pay. (Miller, 8/24)

Indian pharmaceutical firms have spent decades supplying American patients with affordable medicines. That dominance will be difficult to challenge, despite President Donald Trump’s threat to impose steep tariffs on imported generic drugs. (Juliana Liu, 8/23)

Is it OK to raise this issue? I don’t want to be a bother. (Allison Sweet Grant, 8/22)

During a recent shift in the emergency department, I helped care for a woman facing a suspected oncologic emergency. She had come to the hospital expecting a routine evaluation, but suddenly found herself confronting conversations about diagnoses that could fundamentally change her life. (Zain Khawaja, 8/24)

Scientists are on the cusp of fulfilling a decades-long quest: to use vaccines to teach the immune system to spot and destroy cancer cells. (Lisa Jarvis, 8/21)

After nearly 40 years in clinical medicine, I retired in 2022. While I expected to feel a sense of freedom, quitting medicine brought me an unexpected sense of loss over the thought of decades of accumulated knowledge, experience, and judgment suddenly going to waste. (Benjamin I. Lee, 8/24)