From Washington, DC,

• The FEHBlog noticed today that the Speaker of the House of Representatives has declared this week to be a District work week for members of the House. As a result, the previously scheduled House Committee meetings have been cancelled or postponed.

• Fierce Healthcare reports,
  • “Congress has made permanent a pandemic-era telehealth provision for millions of Americans with high-deductible health plans.
  • “In its massive tax package signed into law on July 4, Congress included a last-minute provision to allow employer-sponsored health plans to offer covered telehealth services before employees meet their deductibles.
  • “Under high deductible health plans, patients typically have to pay out of pocket for healthcare services until they meet their deductible, with an exception for preventive care services. 
  • “Now, employers will be able to offer digital healthcare services to their employees for little to no out-of-pocket cost. The telehealth safe harbor policy also allows employers to waive copays for digital health. 
  • “Congress extended the tax provision multiple times throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to allow commercially insured patients the option to receive care from anywhere. The policy was allowed to lapse at the end of 2024 when it did not make it into the end-of-year healthcare package. 
  • “The telehealth safe harbor policy in reconciliation applies to all plan years beginning after December 31, 2024.”

• MedPage Today tells us,
  • With the CDC director’s chair still empty, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. endorsed recommendations made months ago by former members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) to expand access to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccination, as well as to add a new option for meningococcal vaccination. * * *
  • “A notice this [past] week appeared on the CDC’s website, which details the recommendations from the April ACIP meeting: “With no current CDC Director and pending confirmation of a new CDC Director this recommendation was adopted by the HHS Secretary on June 25, 2025, and is now an official recommendation of the CDC.”
  • The new RSV recommendation calls for a single dose of vaccine for adults age 50 to 59 years who are at increased risk of severe RSV disease. 
  • “The CDC also endorsed the previous ACIP members’ recommendation that GSK’s pentavalent Neisseria meningitidis (groups A, B, C, W, and Y) vaccine (Penmenvy) may be used when both the MenACWY and MenB vaccine are indicated at the same visit. That recommendation applies to healthy people ages 16 to 23 years “when shared clinical decision-making favors administration of MenB vaccine.” The recommendation also covers people age 10 years or older “who are at increased risk for meningococcal disease (e.g., because of persistent complement deficiencies, complement inhibitor use, or functional or anatomic asplenia).” Committee members also voted to include the shot in the Vaccines for Children program.”

• The Washington Post informs us,
  • “The Department of Veterans Affairs said Monday [July 7] that it will no longer be forced to conduct a large reduction in workforce, unlike several other federal agencies that were forced to make mass layoffs because of the Trump administration’s U.S. DOGE Service.
  • “In a news release, VA said that it was on pace to reduce its total staff by nearly 30,000 employees by the end of this fiscal year, a push that the department said eliminates the need for a “large-scale reduction-in-force.” The announcement marks a significant reversal for the Trump administration, which had planned for months to cut VA by roughly 83,000 employees, according to plans revealed in an internal memo circulated to agency staffers in March.” 

• MedTech Dive lets us know,
  • “The U.S. plans to charge up to 70% tariffs on imports from some countries starting Aug. 1 as President Donald Trump’s 90-day pause on his country-specific reciprocal duties nears its expiration date.
  • “Starting Monday at noon EST, the U.S. will send letters detailing tariff rates for specific trading partners that have yet to reach a tariff deal with the Trump administration before the pause ends July 9, the president said Sunday. Trump told reporters Friday that the rates would range between 10% and 70%.
  • “The U.S. is specifically focused on “18 important trading relationships,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday. He also indicated that countries that do not reach deals in the next few days will return to the tariff rate Trump first outlined as part of the president’s global reciprocal tariff announcement April 2.
  • “President Trump’s going to be sending letters to some of our trading partners, saying that, if you don’t move things along, then, on August 1, you will boomerang back to your April 2 tariff level,” Bessent said.”
    
• The American Hospital Association (AHA) News relates,
  • The National Institutes of Health July 3 announced that all NIH-funded research published in scientific journals must be made publicly accessible immediately upon release, accelerating a policy originally set to begin in December. Previously, many NIH-funded studies in journals were password-protected and not widely available to nonsubscribers.

From the judicial front,

• Healthcare Dive reports,
  • “Six medical groups and a pregnant physician have sued Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his principal deputies over changes made to federal COVID-19 vaccine recommendations.
  • Filed Monday, the lawsuit argues that Kennedy’s directive, which removed guidelines recommending COVID vaccination for pregnant people and healthy children, is unlawful and “a pressing public health emergency that demands immediate legal action and correction.”
  • “The Directive is but one example of the Secretary’s agenda to dismantle the longstanding, Congressionally-authorized, science- and evidence-based vaccine infrastructure that has prevented the deaths of untold millions of Americans,” the suit states.
  • “Plaintiffs include the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Public Health Association, the Infectious Diseases Society of America and several other groups.”
  • The case is captioned American Academy of Pediatrics v. Kennedy, Case No. 1:25-cv-11916 (D. Mass.).

From the public health and medical research front,

• Last Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced, 
  • “Kraft Heinz Foods Company, a Newberry, S.C., establishment, is recalling approximately 367,812 pounds of fully cooked turkey bacon products that may be adulterated with Listeria monocytogenes (Lm). The turkey bacon was produced from April 24, 2025, through June 11, 2025. The following products are subject to recall [view labels]:
    • “12-oz. vacuum-packed packages of “Oscar Mayer Turkey BACON ORIGINAL” and universal product code (UPC) “071871548601” printed on the packaging under the barcode,”use by” dates ranging “18 JUL 2025” to “02 AUG 2025,” and lot code “RS40.”
    • “36-oz. packages containing three 12-oz. vacuum-packed packages of “Oscar Mayer Turkey BACON ORIGINAL” and universal product code (UPC) “071871548748” printed on the packaging under the barcode, “use by” dates ranging “23 JUL 2025” to “04 SEP 2025,” and lot codes “RS19,” “RS40,” or “RS42.”
    • “48-oz. packages containing four 12-oz. vacuum-packed packages of “Oscar Mayer Turkey BACON ORIGINAL” and UPC “071871548793” printed on the packaging under the barcode and “use by” dates ranging “18 JUL 2025” to “04 SEP 2025,” and lot codes “RS19,” “RS40,” or “RS42.”
  • “The products subject to recall bear the USDA mark of inspection on the front of the label. These items were shipped to retail locations nationwide and some were exported to the British Virgin Islands and Hong Kong.” * * *
  • “FSIS is concerned that some products may be in consumers’ refrigerators or freezers. Consumers who have purchased these products are urged not to consume them. These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase.”
    
• Per Axios.
  • “It’s not food, it’s not chewing tobacco and it’s not gum — though it might look like it when you see it — but it is becoming America’s new addictive obsession.
  • “Sales of Zyn nicotine pouches are soaring, prompting the tobacco company that makes them to scramble to boost U.S. production to meet demand.” * * *
  • “Threat level: The product is addictive because nicotine is addictive.
    • “But it does not cause cancer since it doesn’t contain tobacco, whose harmful chemicals are carcinogenic. As a result, advocates say nicotine pouches can serve as a safer alternative to smoking.
    • “Philip Morris International U.S. CEO Stacey Kennedy argued that nicotine is “misunderstood” and contains “cognitive benefits.”
    • “You have to be able to separate out the misconceptions of what causes harm — and nicotine is probably one of the most misunderstood compounds, because many people believe that nicotine is responsible for smoking-related disease, and it’s not,” Kennedy said in an interview.
  • Yes, but: Tobacco industry watchdogs say products that contain nicotine, such as pouches and e-cigarettes, can serve as a gateway to smoking, especially for teens.

• Per MedPage Today,
  • “Parent nudges and clinician feedback/audits boosted HPV vaccination uptake and completion.
  • “Adolescents with the most economic disadvantage, rural kids, and Black children saw the least benefit.
  • “More research is needed to tailor interventions to improve HPV vaccine uptake and completion for these groups.”

• The American Medical Association lets us know what doctors wish their patients knew about hyperthyroidism.

• Consumer Reports, writing in the Washington Post, points out “What to eat to protect your aging muscles. The foods you choose are as important as exercise for getting and staying strong.”

• BioPharma Dive informs us,
  • After a delay due to “resource constraints,” the Food and Drug Administration on Monday [July 7] approved Kalvista Pharmaceuticals’ pill Ekterly to treat swelling attacks in people with the rare disorder hereditary angioedema.
  • Ekterly is the first oral drug to treat hereditary angioedema, or HAE, attacks, competing with shots like Firazyr from Takeda and Ruconest from Pharming. Analysts have estimated Ekterly, Kalvista’s first marketed drug, could bring in $600 million a year in U.S. sales at its peak.
  • The FDA delayed the decision beyond its June 17 deadline, Kalvista said, because of a “heavy workload and limited resources.” While Kalvista awaited its decision, the FDA granted approval to another HAE drug, CSL’s Andembry, a preventive shot that won’t compete directly with Ekterly.

• STAT News reports,
  • “Apogee Therapeutics said Monday [July 7] that its experimental antibody treatment alleviated the signs and symptoms of atopic dermatitis, a common inflammatory skin condition, far more than a placebo — achieving the efficacy goals of a mid-stage clinical trial.
  • “In a side-by-side comparison, the Apogee drug, called APG777, showed similar skin-clearance rates compared to two antibody treatments already on the market: Sanofi and Regeneron’s Dupixent and Ebglyss from Eli Lilly. 
  • “APG777 was designed to be injected quarterly or twice-yearly, which, if proven in later clinical trials, would make it more convenient than the twice-monthly and monthly injections required for its competitors.” 
• and
  • “Cogent Biosciences said Monday that its experimental drug reduced the symptoms of a chronic immune disorder called indolent systemic mastocytosis. The results mean the drug achieved the goals of a Phase 3 study, but a comparison to a rival treatment from Blueprint Medicines remains muddled. 
  • “In its study, Cogent’s drug, called bezuclastinib, showed a 24-point improvement in a patient-reported symptoms score, compared to a 15-point improvement for participants given a placebo. The nine-point difference was statistically significant. 
  • “Indolent systemic mastocytosis is the most common form of an immune system disorder that causes allergic-like skin reactions, gastrointestinal and neurological symptoms, fatigue, and generalized pain.” 

From the U.S. healthcare business front,

• The Wall Street Journal reports,
  • “Molina Healthcare warned higher medical costs will hit earnings this year, adding to Wall Street worries.
  • “New legislation will shrink the number of insured, especially Medicaid, creating uncertainty for insurers.
  • “Insurers are seeing that rising mental-healthcare use and costly drugs, like weight-loss medications, increase spending.”

• Per MedPage Today, “Obesity Drug Prices Are Dropping, but Getting a Steady Supply Remains a Challenge — Insurance coverage remains inconsistent.”

• Beckers Hospital Review lets us know,
  • “A new study suggests that the introduction of a real-time prescription benefit tool did not lead to meaningful changes in prescription spending or medication use among Medicare Advantage beneficiaries during its first year of implementation. 
  • “The analysis, published in JAMA Network Open, examined more than 2.8 million beneficiaries and compared patients treated with access to the tool to those without it. The tool, integrated into EHRs in 2019, helps provide clinicians with real-time cost and coverage information at the point of prescribing. 
  • “Despite hopes that the tool would lower out-of-pocket costs and increase prescription adherence by guiding prescribers toward lower cost alternatives, the study found no significant difference in total prescription spending, out-of-pocket costs or number of prescription fills between the two groups.”