In fact, the Vaccine and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee recommended that all three viral strains be changed in this fall's doses. FDA Commissioner Martin Makary must sign off on the change. Meanwhile, as measles cases wane in South Carolina, other states report upticks. [KFF Health News]

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CIDRAP: FDA Vaccine Advisers Recommend Adding Subclade K To Fall Shots
Although the United States officially left the World Health Organization (WHO) in January, US scientists have continued to collaborate with international researchers to track the evolution of influenza viruses. [On Thursday,] the Vaccine and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) unanimously endorsed the WHO's recommendation for viral strains to include in flu shots starting this fall. The final decision will be made by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Martin Makary, MD, MPH. (Szabo, 3/12)

MedPage Today: CDC Studies Suggest Slumping Flu Shot Protection
This season's influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE) rates against outpatient visits and hospitalizations may be lower than last season's, pushed in part by a viral mismatch between the vaccine virus and circulating strains, according to an interim CDC analysis. Based on U.S. surveillance network data from September 2025 to February 2026, estimated VE rates against influenza A- and B-related outpatient visits for adults ranged from 22% to 34%, and 30% to 41% for those ages 65 and older specifically, while rates against hospitalizations reached 30% and 31%, respectively, reported Patrick Maloney, PhD, of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, and colleagues. (Rudd, 3/12)

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An edited transcript of the conversation follows. 
What has been the greatest contributor to high healthcare costs in the U.S.?
Weissman: The thing that raises healthcare costs in the United States above competitor nations more than anything is the massive administrative waste that's due to a multi-payer private system. There's also a huge amount of profit-taking by the insurance companies, by drug companies, and by for-profit hospitals and private equity. The thing that's driving the growth is increasing use of technology and increasing profit extraction in particular sectors of the healthcare economy. [MEDPAGE TODAY]

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It's all kinds of things from too many tests, too many monitors, and of course, increasingly expensive pharmaceutical products that may not be any more expensive to manufacture, to do R&D [research and development] on, but where the drug companies are charging 10 times what they would have charged not too many years ago.

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today launched a new unified platform for analyzing adverse event reports. This platform — called the FDA Adverse Event Monitoring System (AEMS) — represents a major achievement in the agency's mission to modernize and provide radical transparency into the safety of regulated products.  

"The FDA's previous adverse event reporting systems were outdated and fragmented and made important data difficult to access. These clunky systems also wasted millions of taxpayer dollars and created blind spots in our post market surveillance of products ranging from drugs and vaccines to cosmetics," said FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, M.D., M.P.H. "We're fixing the problem through a major modernization initiative. Starting today, the FDA will have a single, intuitive adverse event platform that will better serve agency scientists, researchers, and the public."

With the new system, adverse event reports submitted to the FDA for drugs, biologics, vaccines, cosmetics, and animal food can be displayed in a single streamlined dashboard. In the months ahead, all remaining product centers will begin processing adverse event reports in AEMS. The agency will also migrate historical adverse event data to AEMS, decommission certain legacy systems, and roll out enhanced application program interfaces (APIs) and data analytics tools. By the end of May 2026, AEMS will contain real-time adverse event reports for all FDA-regulated products, consistent with meeting agency obligations not to release individually identifiable patient or consumer information.

In the past, the agency processed approximately 6 million adverse event reports per year across a patchwork of seven databases, which were expensive and had a poor user interface, making searches difficult. These platforms collectively cost the agency approximately $37 million per year to operate. Given the efficiencies of AEMS, the agency expects to save approximately $120 million over the next five years. The agency also expects the new searchable system to significantly reduce agency FOIA requests for unreleased adverse event reports, given that AEMS will publish reports in real time, rather than quarterly. 

Transparency around adverse event reports submitted by patients, consumers, clinicians and manufacturers is a critical component of the FDA's postmarket surveillance capability. Although these reports have limitations, they can help identify potential safety signals, such as patterns or clusters of adverse events that might indicate previously unknown risks. However, the utility of these reports has often been undermined by the agency's inefficient infrastructure. 

"Consolidating the FDA's adverse event systems and converting to real-time publication was challenging, but made possible by a highly aggressive schedule," said Chief AI Officer Jeremy Walsh. "The team executed with perfection and delivered the biggest technical transformation in agency history. This is the new FDA." 

Legacy systems to be replaced by AEMS now include: 

• FAERS (FDA Adverse Event Reporting System) — containing reports for drugs, biologics, cosmetic products, and color additives. 
• VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System) — containing reports for vaccines. Note: The FDA will display VAERS data in AEMS. VAERS is co-managed by the FDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 
• AERS (Adverse Event Reporting System) — two databases containing reports for animal drugs and animal foods. 

Legacy systems to be replaced by AEMS in May include:

• MAUDE (Manufacturer and User Facility Device Experience) — containing reports for medical devices.
• HFCS (Human Foods Complaint System) — containing reports for human foods and dietary supplements. 
• CTPAE (Center for Tobacco Products Adverse Event Reporting System) — containing reports for Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) and other tobacco products.

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The U.S. is experiencing its worst resurgence of measles in more than three decades, and is at risk of losing its measles elimination status.

The U.S. reported 144 new measles cases in the past week, according to the Yale School of Public Health.

A team at the Yale School of Public Health has been closely tracking cases in the Americas since early 2025, issuing weekly reports of new cases via its virtual medical operation centers (VMOC) special report. [MEDPAGE TODAY]

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in 2026, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) will assess the situation in the U.S., and if their analyses show that measles has spread continuously for a year, the country will likely lose its measles-free status. PAHO revoked Canada's measles elimination status in 2025.

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In May 2025, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that drug overdose deaths had fallen 27%, from roughly 110,000 in 2023 to about 80,000 in 2024. Provisional data through late 2025 projects a further drop to around 72,000. [KFF Health News] 

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As an addiction researcher at Stanford, and someone in long-term recovery, I felt the relief of that news personally. I also watched as my colleagues exhaled for the first time in years.

After two decades of relentless escalation, the overdose curve had finally bent downward. Policymakers are celebrating and calling it “unprecedented progress.” The CDC is framing it as saving “more than 81 lives every day.”

They are both right. More than 81 lives a day — that is real, and it matters. But it should give us reason to pause.

Here’s what we’re celebrating: a death toll that exceeds total American combat fatalities in Vietnam, every single year. In 2015, when overdose deaths first topped 50,000, the shameful milestone was treated as a national wake-up call. A decade later, 50,000 deaths is now an aspirational target. That shift in expectations is a warning sign: The crisis isn’t getting better — we’re just getting more used to it.

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The U.S. maternal mortality rate fell to 17.9 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2024, statistically similar to the 2023 rate of 18.6 per 100,000, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC reported that the maternal mortality rate for Black women in 2024 was 44.8 deaths per 100,000 live births, significantly higher than rates for white (14.2), Hispanic (12.1) and Asian (18.1) women. [ AHA & CDC]

The AHA is committed to safeguarding mothers and babies by eliminating maternal mortality and reducing maternal morbidity. For more on members’ efforts, including case studies, podcasts, webinars and other resources, visit the AHA’s Better Health for Mothers and Babies Initiative webpage. 

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WASHINGTON -- A group of 53 medical schools pledged to increase the amount of time spent on medical students' nutrition education starting this fall, HHS announced Thursday. [MEDPAGE TODAY]

"I'm pleased to announce a transformative breakthrough in medical education," HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said at a press conference at the department's headquarters. "It will reshape the way that we train doctors in our country and deliver on President Trump's promise to end the chronic disease epidemic in America."

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Under the initiative, the 53 medical schools across 31 states will require 40 hours of comprehensive nutrition education or competency equivalent before graduation, he said. "More than 30,000 physicians each year will now graduate equipped with nutrition education to help prevent, treat, and reverse chronic disease."

... David Skorton, MD, president and CEO of the Association of American Medical Colleges, praised the collaboration between the schools and HHS. "This is a great example of an area where alignment between government and academic medicine can drive real impact for patients," he said.

Bobby Mukkamala, MD, president of the American Medical Association, also praised the initiative. "For too long, nutrition has been treated as an elective in medical education -- a few hours here and there," he said. But "considering how important what we eat is for our health, it should be a basic foundational training, because it impacts every one of our patients."

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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has released a toolkit to help states strengthen access to behavioral health services for children enrolled in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. [Becker's Behavioral Health & CMS] 

Medicaid and CHIP cover behavioral health conditions for about 38 million children, making the programs the largest single source of funding for children’s behavioral health services, according to a February report. 

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The toolkit outlines strategies for improving early screening and intervention, care coordination, crisis services, telehealth and workforce capacity. 

The guidance also emphasizes ensuring utilization management and reimbursement policies support early and periodic screening, diagnostic and treatment requirements. 

It is structured around four focus areas: developing and supporting a behavioral healthcare delivery system that can meet a range of children’s needs; promoting early intervention; improving access through service coordination and integration; and increasing workforce capacity.

Among the recommended practices, CMS said states should ensure Medicaid managed care plans have payment structures sufficient to maintain network adequacy and provide access to medically necessary care required under the early and periodic screening, diagnostic and treatment.

Read the full toolkit here. 

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today issued a Request for Information (RFI) seeking public comment on potential new standards for in-home opioid disposal products. This effort is part of the agency's broader work to combat the opioid crisis. [FDA- US Food & Drug Administration]  Canva image  Companies selling opioid analgesics are currently required to make available prepaid mail-back envelopes to outpatient pharmacies and other dispensers. Now, the agency is considering whether to require that opioid sponsors, through dispensers, make available in-home disposal systems. "Having unused opioids laying around at home can be a significant risk to those struggling with opioids and can be a gateway for opioid-naïve family members," said FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, M.D., M.P.H. "We need to develop creative ways to address opioid misuse and abuse." At present, FDA recommends dropping off unused opioids at a drug take-back location or mailing them back using a pre-paid envelope provided by a pharmacy. Alternatively, the FDA recommends flushing unused opioids down the toilet (something the agency only recommends for certain high-risk medications). A 2017 study in the Science of Total Environment concluded that flushing unused opioids presents a "negligible eco-toxicological risk." Today's RFI seeks input from industry, health care providers, and advocates on appropriate criteria for in-home disposal kits. This aligns with the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act of 2025, which mandates the FDA to issue guidance to facilitate in-home safe disposal, as well as President Trump's Great American Recovery initiative.   Responses to the RFI are due by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on April 6, 2026. All interested parties are invited to submit comments to the docket. ###

Cook County leaders said Tuesday they will continue to support their program that helps pay off medical debt for residents. [Health News Illinois] 

The program launched in 2022 through the use of $7 million from federal relief funding coming out of the pandemic.

As that funding is set to expire at the end of the year, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said they will use county funds to keep the program going.

“This work has proven that targeted public investment can produce immediate, life-changing results, and we're not walking away from that success,” she said.

The program is separate from a state-based medical debt relief program launched in fall 2024. Combined, officials said the programs have erased about $1.5 billion in debt across Cook County, the most medical debt forgiven at the county-level anywhere in the United States.

Over 770,000 Cook County residents have received debt forgiveness between the two programs, representing about 15 percent of the total population.

Gov. JB Pritzker joined officials at the event, noting his budget proposal unveiled last month would continue to support the state program.

“Countless people across the state are living proof that this program is more than clearing numbers on a ledger,” he said. “It is about giving people the freedom and the opportunity to build and live their lives.”

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