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First Edition

Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.

KFF HEALTH NEWS ORIGINAL STORIES

KFF Health News: HHS’ Healthy Food Agenda Puts Hospitals On Notice About Patients’ Meals Complaints about hospital food are certainly not new, and Jell-O and fruit juice are often the butt of related jokes. But the Trump administration has recently upped the ante. It is urging the public to report hospitals and nursing homes that serve sugary drinks, nutrition shakes, or meals that it says don’t meet dietary guidelines established last year by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, with officials vowing to withhold millions of dollars in federal funding if violations occur. (Armour, 5/4)

KFF Health News: She Survived 2 Shootings. Research Helps Explain Why Her Pain Persists Years Later In 2019, Mia Tretta, then a high school freshman at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, California, was struck in the stomach by a round from a .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun fired by a schoolmate. Two students were killed during the attack, including her best friend, and two others were injured. When she graduated from high school, she enrolled at Brown University, the scene of another shooting in December 2025, while she was studying for finals in her dorm room. (Beauvais, 5/4)

KFF Health News: Journalists Share Latest On Baby Formula Safety, Estrogen Patches, And Postcancer Costs Céline Gounder, KFF Health News’ editor-at-large for public health, discussed the results of the FDA’s largest baby formula safety test on CBS News 24/7’s The Daily Report on April 29. She also discussed how women seeking treatment for menopause symptoms are facing a shortage of estrogen patches on CBS News’ CBS Mornings on April 27. (5/2)

ABORTION

Politico: Drugmakers File Emergency Appeal To Restore Abortion Pill Access Two companies that make the abortion drug mifepristone asked the Supreme Court on Saturday to hit pause on Friday’s lower court ruling that cut off telemedicine access to the pills nationwide, including in states where abortion is legal. The emergency appeals ask the high court to temporarily restore a federal policy that allows the pills to be prescribed online and delivered by mail, arguing that failing to do so would cause “immediate chaos” and leave patients around the country in limbo. (Ollstein, 5/2)

AP: What To Know About The Ruling Blocking The Mailing Of Abortion Pill Mifepristone Friday's ruling affects all states, even those without abortion restrictions. "This is a huge access issue for patients that haven't got providers close by, or providers close by who are willing to prescribe," said Josh Thorburn, owner of Eddie's Pharmacy in Los Angeles. (Schoenbaum and Mulvihill, 5/2)

Missouri Independent: Hawley Puts Missouri At Center Of National Fight Over Abortion Pill U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley has opened a new front in the fight about medication abortion, pushing legislation to revoke federal approval of mifepristone, urging the Justice Department to investigate its manufacturer and helping launch a national political group aimed at reshaping abortion debates after a string of losses on the ballot. The push has made Missouri a central arena in the national fight over mifepristone. (Spoerre, 5/4)

MEDICAID AND SNAP

NBC News: Nebraska Rolls Out Medicaid Work Requirements, Putting Thousands At Risk Of Losing Coverage Nebraska on Friday became the first state to implement Medicaid work requirements, eight months ahead of the federal deadline mandated in President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.” The move is expected to strip coverage from around 25,000 residents who qualified for the program under the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion, according to the Urban Institute, a nonpartisan research group. An estimated 72,000 Nebraskans will be subject to the policy, which applies to “able-bodied” adults ages 19 to 64. (Lovelace Jr., 5/1)

Politico: Some Red States Expanded Medicaid Against Their Will. Now They're Trying To Shrink It With Work Rules Voters in seven states bucked their conservative leaders to expand Medicaid at the ballot box. Now officials in six of them are deploying tactics to make the upcoming implementation of work requirements especially strict, which could dramatically reduce the number of people covered. (Ollstein, 5/3)

AP: Why 4.3 Million People No Longer Receive Food Stamps Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins this week attributed a multimillion-person drop in the number of participants receiving food stamps through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to the tamping down of fraud and an improved economy. But experts discount those factors, saying the primary driver of the decrease was more likely new legislation that changed how the program runs. (Goldin, 5/1)

IMMIGRATION CRISIS

The New York Times: Doctors From Countries Under Travel Ban Now Allowed to Stay in U.S. Foreign doctors will be able to receive visas allowing them to practice in the United States, after the Trump administration quietly changed a policy to exempt them from a travel ban. A Department of Homeland Security policy stemming from a travel ban that was put in place in January had frozen decisions on visa extensions, work permits and green cards for citizens of 39 countries. As The New York Times reported last month, some physicians were subsequently placed on administrative leave by hospitals, and many others faced the imminent threat of being forced to stop working. (Jordan, 5/3)

The Washington Post: Internal ICE Records Reveal Widespread Use Of Force In Detention Centers The reports detail how guards have increasingly used chemical agents and physical tactics on detainees, including groups demanding adequate water, food and medical care. (MacMillan, Ba Tran, Cornejo and Melgar, 5/4)

Mississippi Today: The Population Of This Giant Mississippi ICE Facility Has Plummeted In 3 Weeks. ICE Says That’s Normal. The number of detainees at Mississippi’s Adams County Correctional Center appears to have nosedived in the past few weeks, leaving several housing units vacant. (Joshi, 5/1)

OUTBREAKS AND HEALTH THREATS

NPR: Hantavirus Outbreak Kills 3 On Cruise Ship In The Atlantic Ocean, WHO Says Three people have died in an outbreak of a dangerous respiratory virus on a cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean, according to the World Health Organization. At least six people are believed to have been infected with a hantavirus, including one whose infection has been confirmed by a laboratory, and five other suspected cases. Three people have died and one is currently in intensive care in South Africa, the WHO said. (Stein, 5/3)

The New York Times: What Is Hantavirus, Which Is Linked To The Deaths Of 3 People Aboard A Cruise Ship? Hantavirus, a rare disease often caused by contact with droppings from infected rodents, is suspected in the deaths of three people who were aboard a cruise ship sailing the Atlantic Ocean. Hantavirus is most commonly transmitted by breathing in particles of dried rodent droppings or urine.In rare cases, it may spread among people, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Hantaviruses found throughout the United States are not known to spread among people. (Albeck-Ripka, Sanders and Levenson, 5/3)

TRANSGENDER CARE

The 19th: Trump HUD Proposal Would Let Homeless Shelters Ban Trans People The Trump administration’s push to exclude transgender Americans is moving to the nation’s homeless shelters. On Tuesday, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) introduced a proposed rule that requires federally funded shelters to house prospective tenants based on their birth sex alone. (Sosin, 5/1)

MORE ON THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

Politico: The New Surgeon General Nominee Has A MAHA Problem Leaders in Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again movement are outraged over President Donald Trump’s surgeon general nominee switch. Since Trump announced on Thursday that Nicole Saphier, a radiologist and former Fox News medical contributor, would replace Casey Means, a close ally of the health secretary, as the president’s pick for the nation’s “top doctor,” they’ve rushed to social media to share why they believe Trump’s decision is short sighted. (Friedman, 5/2)

The New York Times: A Long, Strange Trip: How The G.O.P. Came To Embrace Psychedelic Drugs Mindbending may be just the word to describe the Oval Office ceremony on April 18, when President Trump ordered federal agencies to speed up research into the potential therapeutic uses of illegal psychedelic compounds like LSD, peyote and MDMA. Here was a law-and-order Republican and lifelong teetotaler championing the hallucinogenic substances that a previous Republican president, Richard Nixon, had condemned as “public enemy No. 1.” (Jacobs, 5/3)

MORE FROM CAPITOL HILL

Fierce Healthcare: Senators Move To Extend Cost-Based Payments For Rural Hospitals The bipartisan reauthorization would add five more years to the Rural Community Hospital Demonstration, a payment model for "tweener" rural hospitals. (Muoio, 5/1)

Military.com: Bipartisan Bill Targets Fraud Schemes Exploiting Veterans U.S. Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Ted Budd (R-NC) on Thursday introduced the Veterans Protection from Fraud Act of 2026, a bipartisan proposal aimed at increasing criminal penalties for individuals who deliberately target veterans in fraud schemes. The bill would impose a sentencing enhancement of up to 10 years in prison for defendants convicted of fraud offenses that intentionally target veterans. Lawmakers say the measure is designed to deter increasingly common scams that exploit veterans’ benefits, financial stability, and trust in government institutions. (Fuller, 5/1)

HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY

Modern Healthcare: Baptist Health To Cut Clinics, 150 Jobs At Fort Smith Hospital Baptist Health plans to eliminate multiple services and clinics at its Fort Smith hospital. The cuts will affect an estimated 150 employees, including 10 physicians, according to a statement from the Little Rock, Arkansas-based system. The layoffs will take place over the next 60 days. (DeSilva, 5/1)

Verite News: University Medical Center Nurses Begin Their Longest Strike Dozens of nurses and community members picketed outside of the University Medical Center of New Orleans on Friday (May 1) morning after accusing the hospital of bad faith bargaining in a federal labor complaint. “UMC, you’re no good, treat your patients like you should,” the protesters chanted during their march on the corner of Canal and S. Galvez streets. Friday marked the first day of the nurses’ five-day strike — their longest since they entered contract negotiations. (Parker, 5/1)

WFSU: Tallahassee NAACP Files Lawsuit To Block Hospital Sale To FSU The Tallahassee branch of the NAACP and a group of Tallahassee residents claim Tallahassee Memorial Hospital would be operating without a license due to it and Florida State University still negotiating a lease. (Wood, 5/2)

Portsmouth Herald: Exeter Hospital Patients Say Care Declined After Merger. CEO: 'We've Made Mistakes' Exeter Hospital patients say they are scrambling for answers about care after recent service cuts and are questioning the benefits of Exeter Health Resources merger with Beth Israel Lahey Health. (Sullivan, 5/4)

KUNC: First Responders In The Mountain West Start Blood Transfusions Before The Hospital In the back room of a fire station, Jill Ridenhour opens a package. Printed on the side, in all caps, it reads “Human Blood.” Ridenhour is a field supervisor for emergency medical services at Summit Fire and EMS in Colorado’s ski country. She pulls out a clear pouch filled with dark liquid and examines it. (Cohen, 5/1)

PHARMA AND TECH

ABC News: FDA Approves 1st Non-Antipsychotic Medication For Agitation In Alzheimer's Disease The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the drug Auvelity this week for the treatment of agitation in adults with Alzheimer's dementia. The extended-release tablet is the first FDA-approved medication for this condition that is not an anti-psychotic. Anti-psychotics carry serious risks including stroke, sedation and increased death in older adults, according to the FDA. Having a non-antipsychotic option may be safer for patients, experts say. (Miao and Joseph, 5/1)

NBC News: AI Finds Signs Of Pancreatic Cancer Before Tumors Develop By the time doctors detect pancreatic cancer, it’s often too late to treat effectively. But a new study suggests that artificial intelligence might be able to find signs of the disease before tumors are visible on a scan. An AI model developed at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, detected abnormalities on patients’ CT scans up to three years before they were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, according to research published this week in the journal Gut. (Bendix, 5/2)

CNBC: Weight Loss And Hair Loss: The Growing Market From GLP-1s A common side effect of many GLP-1 drugs is hair loss. It's creating a formerly untapped but growing market for hair treatment products. (Neelakandan, 5/2)

MedPage Today: Study Examines If Prenatal Exposure To Sedatives Is Linked To Psych Disorders Prenatal exposure to sedative drugs used for anxiety and insomnia was not associated with an increased risk of psychiatric or neurodevelopmental conditions in children when accounting for familial factors, a large population-based cohort study from South Korea indicated. (Monaco, 5/1)

The Washington Post: The Body’s Most Mysterious Organ May Play A Key Role In Longevity And Cancer A raft of research is recasting the thymus from a bit player to a potent regulator of aging and immune health. (Johnson, 5/3)

STATE WATCH

Fresh Take Florida: Florida Lawmakers Move To License An Alternative Medicine Abolished Decades Ago A bill awaiting Gov. Ron DeSantis' signature creates a state board of Naturopathic Medicine to assist the Department of Health in overseeing naturopathic doctors in the state. Opponents say naturopathy is not supported by science. (Maguire, 5/3)

North Carolina Health News: State, Local Officials, Lawmakers Press For Delay On WakeMed/ Atrium Deal State and local leaders are raising red flags over a proposed combination of WakeMed Health & Hospitals with Charlotte-based Atrium Health. They want more time to scrutinize the deal, citing concerns about costs and competition. (Crouch and Hoban, 5/4)

NC Newsline: Attempts To Lower The Rate Of Black Maternal Deaths In NC Face New Challenges The path leading to the track at a Durham middle school on Saturday was marked with signs bearing the names of Black women who died from pregnancy-related causes. (Bonner, 5/3)

Chicago Tribune: Gov. JB Pritzker, Democrats Holding Off On Abortion Rights Amendment Embarking on a second term about six months after the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority struck down the federal right to abortion, Gov. JB Pritzker declared in his January 2023 inaugural address that the new realities facing those seeking the procedure “demand that we establish a constitutional protection for reproductive rights in Illinois.” In the four legislative sessions since, however, Pritzker and the Democratic-controlled Illinois General Assembly have taken no visible steps toward realizing that goal. (Petrella, 5/3)

CNN: Death Cafes Take The Sting Out Of The Inevitable End After a potluck supper, a short guided meditation and a quick lesson in resistance singing, a couple dozen people made their way to a quiet room at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta. As a choir warmed up downstairs, they gathered – some strangers, some friends - to discuss a topic that’s normally off-limits: death. (Christensen, 5/1)

Orlando Sentinel: Law Student Gives Part Of Her Liver To 4-Year-Old In ‘Living Donor’ Operation Sophie Byroade was scrolling on Facebook last summer when she stumbled on an unusual post: It was from a mother looking for a liver donor for her sick three-year-old son. “Nolan needs a liver hero,” it read. The post described Nolan Smith as a “sweet, dinosaur-loving, music-dancing, water-splashing” child –– all things that reminded Byroade of her five-year-old sister. (Gomez, 5/3)

The Washington Post: During CPR Lesson, Teacher Has A Cardiac Arrest — And Students Save Him “The students actually do learn from me,” said Karl Arps, who has been an EMT instructor at Fox Valley Technical College for 19 years. (Page, 5/4)

SOCIAL MEDIA AND MENTAL HEALTH

AP: Trial Could Change Meta Apps And Algorithms As New Mexico Seeks Safeguards On Child Safety New Mexico state prosecutors are seeking fundamental changes to Meta’s social media apps and algorithms to safeguard children in the second phase of a landmark trial on allegations that platforms such as Instagram have created a public safety hazard. Opening statements are scheduled Monday in the three-week bench trial to decide whether the platforms of Meta, which also owns Facebook and WhatsApp, pose a public nuisance under state law. (Lee, 5/4)

The New York Times: School Cellphone Ban Study Finds Mixed Results Cellphone bans got devices out of students’ hands, according to the first large study. But behavior and academics have not improved, at least so far. (Goldstein, 5/4)

PUBLIC HEALTH

Bloomberg: A2 Milk Recalls Batches Of US Baby Formula After Toxin Found New Zealand infant formula maker a2 Milk Co. is recalling batches of product sold in the US after detecting a toxin linked to vomiting and diarrhea, marking its first brush with a contamination scare that has rattled the global industry. Three batches of a2 Platinum USA-label formula have been recalled after manufacturer Synlait Milk Ltd. identified cereulide, a2 said. The recall, which began on May 1, impacts just the US and not the company’s most lucrative market in China. No confirmed incidents of infant illness or harm have been reported, it said. (Withers, 5/3)

CIDRAP: Probe Into Multistate E Coli Outbreak Involving Raw Milk Is Over: CDC A federal investigation into a multistate outbreak of a foodborne bacterium that hospitalized three people is over, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In total, the CDC identified nine people across three states who were sickened with Escherichia coli after eating cheddar cheese or drinking milk from Raw Farm, LLC, a dairy in California's Central Valley that sells unpasteurized products. (Boden, 5/1)

Newsweek: FDA Issues Nut Allergy Warning Over Undeclared Cashews And Pistachios Second Nature Brands has issued a recall of its Keto Crunch Smart Mix on Friday after discovering the product may contain undeclared cashews, pistachios and cherries, posing a potential risk to consumers with allergies. The recall was announced on Saturday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which warned people with allergies or severe sensitivities to these ingredients could face serious or life-threatening reactions if they consume the affected product. (Marsden, 5/3)

San Francisco Chronicle: Invasive Mosquitoes Could Surge As Bay Area Season Starts Early The Bay Area could be in for an earlier and longer mosquito season this spring and summer — even as officials race to contain the potential explosion of a new invasive mosquito species that is already spreading in parts of the East and South Bay. A mild winter, warm stretches of weather in February and March, and a rainy spring this year have created an ideal habitat for mosquito breeding, which means more mosquito production and more chances for the transmission of mosquito-borne diseases like West Nile, the main disease of concern in California. (Ho, 5/3)

GLOBAL WATCH

The Washington Post: Poisonous Black Rain Falls In Russia As Ukraine Strikes Oil Facilities Ukraine is intensifying drone strikes on Russian oil facilities, hitting a key Black Sea refinery four times in two weeks and setting off a days-long carcinogenic blaze that environmentalists say represents one of the country’s worst ecological disasters since the fall of the Soviet Union. A plume of black acrid smoke once again rose over Russia’s Black Sea city of Tuapse on Friday after Ukraine struck the refinery and oil terminal there overnight, the fourth in a spate of attacks that have also caused oily droplets of “black rain” to fall on residents and contaminated more than 30 miles of coastline as an oil slick spread. (Abbakumova and Belton,

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KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF — the independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism.