290,000 Measles Deaths; Ultra-Potent Drug ‘Cookbook’; Cattle H5N1 Update

Stanford University researchers modeled what could happen over a quarter-century if Americans no longer took vaccines: 290,000 measles deaths; 23,000 cases of polio paralysis; 41,000 babies born with congenital rubella syndrome; and possibly more than a million deaths from diphtheria. (ProPublica)

In the 1970s, most illicit drugs came from farms; now, they’re made in unregulated labs around the world, as the internet has become a “cookbook” for the drug trade. In recent years, hundreds of ultra-potent drugs have emerged, and often they’re not identified until they’ve turned up in toxicology reports. (New York Times)

HHS is quietly laying the groundwork to bring back the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which was put on ice last month by a federal judge. A document posted to the Federal Register proposes changes that would allow HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to nominate members of his choice. (New York Times)

If CDC ever gets a new director, that person will have their work cut out for them. Among other daunting tasks, they will have to win over an angry, distrustful staff; figure out what course to chart on vaccination; and stop the hemorrhaging of talent. (STAT)

Although H5N1 avian influenza may be waning in dairy cattle — the last new detection of an infected herd occurred on Dec. 13, 2025 — it is still circulating on farms in California and Idaho, and scientists still don’t know exactly how it spreads between cows. (Science)

“It’s the prices, stupid.” The U.S. spends so much more on healthcare than peer nations simply because our prices are substantially higher — like $29,000 for a hip replacement, compared with $10,000 in peer nations, and $26,000 for a knee replacement versus $11,000 in peer nations. (Wall Street Journal via MSN)

Remote Area Medical pop-up clinics in the U.S. have been busy serving Americans who can’t afford healthcare or have limited coverage — and their work is only expected to be more in demand given recent cuts to Medicaid and Affordable Care Act subsidies. (CBS 60 Minutes)

UnitedHealth Group is growing its artificial intelligence (AI) operations, with teams that aim to reinvent how billions of medical claims are processed and audited. But those changes may “pose new risks to patients who don’t always know whose interests an AI agent is serving, or even when and how the technology is being used to make decisions about their care.” (STAT+)

Dysfunction at the FDA forced a small biotech to close its doors. Kezar Life Sciences was developing a drug for the rare disease autoimmune hepatitis. It was supposed to meet with the FDA last October, but the agency abruptly cancelled the meeting without explanation. The company couldn’t sustain itself and began winding down. The FDA finally agreed to a clinical trial design in February, but it was already too late; Kezar was sold to Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in late March. (STAT+)