Hot topics on the Hill

Three of the most contentious topics in health care are likely to be discussed in Congress this week: vaccines, the Food and Drug Administration, and DEI initiatives.

Senate health committee chair Bill Cassidy (R-La.) will lead a hearing on Wednesday on the nomination of Erica Schwartz to head the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Sean Kaufman to be Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response.

Vaccines are likely to be brought up for both nominees.

Kaufman has a history of questioning some shots and raising the debunked link between vaccines and autism, Chelsea Cirruzzo scooped on Friday. And Schwartz is set to replace Susan Monarez, the previous director, who was ousted over her resistance to enacting the administration’s vaccine agenda.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s health subcommittee will hold a hearing, also Wednesday, on the FDA’s role in U.S. drug development, where industry leaders and academics will weigh in.

The FDA has become a top concern for some industry leaders, who fear that the regulators they rely on to make predictable, evidence-based decisions have become unreliable.

The House Education and Workforce Committee will hold a hearing today on diversity, equity, and inclusion policies in medical schools. The deans of three medical schools and the president of the National Medical Association are slated to attend.

And one other notable hearing scheduled for Wednesday: The Senate Armed Services Committee’s personnel subcommittee will hear from the president of Express Scripts and Evernorth Care Management, Adam Kautzner, in a hearing about the Tricare Pharmacy Program.

FDA

What’s in Zyn?

That’s the question a former FDA staffer alleges the agency didn’t fully answer before authorizing the increasingly popular nicotine pouch, Matthew Chapman and Kathryn Kranhold report for The Examination.

The health and environmental impacts of the pouch materials, including potential microplastic exposure, weren’t examined carefully enough, the former FDA toxicologist, Christy Leppanen, said.

“Fundamentally, we did not do a proper assessment,” she said. “People believe the FDA is doing more than it is.”

An agency spokesperson said no new problems were found with the pouches before they were authorized — but declined to answer questions about what the pouches are made of.

The deadliest drug

A dozen ways to curb the deadliest drug

STAT’s Isabella Cueto and Lev Facher have been reporting on one of the most persistent — and impactful — public health issues: alcohol.

But in their reporting, they’ve also surfaced a slate of ways to address the substance abuse epidemic.

The ideas for improving the situation span from public communication efforts to doctor’s-office screenings and bureaucratic cleanup to reimbursement reform.

One of the most important steps, though, is creating a shift in how Americans think about the nation’s drinking habits, they report — admitting there is a problem.

See the larger impacts on drinking in the U.S. in this roundup of 10 charts from the series.

And read more to see all 12 ideas for tackling the U.S. alcohol epidemic.

medicaid

‘Left scrambling’

Family caregivers in some states are seeing the collapse of systems they’ve come to depend on to support their loved ones, O. Rose Broderick writes.

The caregivers are paid through Medicaid self-direction models, in which states allow families to manage their own care and get paid for the care they provide.

But several states, including Idaho, Indiana, Maryland, Missouri, and Colorado, have proposed significant cuts to the programs — seemingly as a way of addressing shortfalls created by slashes to federal Medicaid spending from last year’s GOP tax bill.

The cuts to the self-direction models have left some people who care for loved ones and get state support for their work “left scrambling.”

mental health

SSRIs, deprescribed

The Trump administration is moving ahead in its efforts to make it easier to get off psychiatric drugs, Chelsea and Lizzy Lawrence report.

Earlier this month, dozens of mental health professionals met with administration officials to discuss the issue. Participants discussed guidance around the drugs from European nations, nonmedication-based therapies for mental health (such as therapy), and research gaps in deprescribing SSRIs.

The move is part of health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s agenda of curbing what he believes to be the overmedicalization of many Americans, especially through drugs used to treat anxiety and depression.

What we’re reading

Court revives lawsuits tying Tylenol use in pregnancy to autism and ADHD, the New York Times
Unverified GLP-1-related claims flood food, supplement markets, Bloomberg Law
U.S. citizen working for humanitarian organization tests positive for Ebola in DR Congo, NBC News
Cyclosporiasis cases in Michigan surpass 2,600, health officials say, ABC News