politics Weekend updates on federal health agencies

politics Weekend updates on federal health agencies Here’s what’s been happening at HHS and NIH over the last few days: https://www.statnews.com/2025/02/07/nih-slashes-indirect-costs-on-all-grants-to-15-percent-trump/?utm_campaign=morning_rounds&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9L376_fFFOFtp6yD-AQr087XXT-uFI_XXXZyBjNQ2ex1gcsQVuZKIEdD5qXYZe3QbeQCaWjAfvnBUz98Oh4hdoQhtKjQ&_hsmi=349761000&utm_content=349761000&utm_source=hs_email On Saturday, renowned geneticist and former longtime NIH director Francis Collins announced that he has retired, leaving an agency being upended by budget cuts and layoffs. He stepped down from the director role in 2021 to return to his research laboratory, but on Saturday gave no reason for his abrupt departure from the NIH. Read more. https://www.statnews.com/2025/03/01/nih-former-director-francis-collins-retires/?utm_campaign=morning_rounds&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--CvlVw8iDQvvLA41Zi4ijZzCUalwCzODw6o_AFOwWgufQKVI75siiKuStMy0WPoM1Bf7i1cwvNtyuEK0QY59iiXSg_-w&_hsmi=349761000&utm_content=349761000&utm_source=hs_email On Friday, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. posted a document in the Federal Register proposing that the agency rescind its longtime practice of giving members of the public a chance to comment on the agency’s plans. The move stands in contrast to Kennedy’s repeated promises to make HHS an agency with processes and data so accessible that public records requests would not even be necessary. Read more from the eagle-eyed Isabella Cueto, who was the first reporter to spot the statement. https://www.statnews.com/2025/02/28/rfk-jr-eliminating-public-comment-hhs-decisions-richardson-waiver/?utm_campaign=morning_rounds&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_zGQ58aAiC-jDaBZRLj9JXQyLY0uYLy5S_FPDaiGB6r3KURKPMBuYpIt-U4VEIYpCRAs-1ld_G6Mw3WCZ3IbOTVXi0fA&_hsmi=349761000&utm_content=349761000&utm_source=hs_email