“The White House and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have shaken up the top ranks at his department, a move meant to install more disciplined messengers and smoother operations ahead of the midterm elections,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Elizabeth Bruenig: “Within a few days, your son’s fever will spike as high as 105 degrees. The virus will break through his underdeveloped blood-brain barrier and begin attacking his brain matter directly, leading to primary measles encephalitis. The condition is rare among older children but more common in infants, who are also more likely to die from measles.”

“You will panic and call an ambulance when he slumps over unconscious on the floor, and another swarm of doctors and nurses will descend upon your child and whisk him away deep into the building while you trail behind as closely as you can. Like your daughter, your son will need supportive care, but he will also need close monitoring of the pressure inside his skull.”

“I’m not scared of a germ. I used to snort cocaine off of toilet seats.”

— Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, on a podcast.

“The FDA has refused to accept an application from Moderna to review its first mRNA seasonal flu vaccine, in another setback for the technology that’s been a target of some Trump administration health officials,” CNN reports.

Dr. Mehmet Oz responded to a recent surge in measles cases, urging Americans in a CNN interview to “take the vaccine, please.”

Said Oz: “We have a solution for a problem. Not all illnesses are equally dangerous and not all people are equally susceptible to those illnesses. But measles is one where you should get your vaccine.”

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. described his top Super Bowl snacks Sunday ahead of the big game, the New York Post reports.

Said Kennedy: “I am on a carnivore diet, so I just eat meat and ferments, and I’m very happy with that.”

He added: “I’m probably going to have yogurt.”

Dr. Mehmet Oz was interviewed on CNN by Dana Bash:

BASH: It’s the worst measles outbreak since measles was declared eradicated more than three decades ago. Is this a consequence of the administration undermining support for vaccines?

OZ: I don’t believe so… Secretary Kennedy has been at the very front of this.

BASH: Oh, come on… You talked about RFK Jr., the group Children’s Health Defense that he founded posted on X: “Despite the media’s scare tactics, there’s no reason to fear measles.” Should people fear measles?

OZ: Oh, for sure.

“Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. asserted that the keto diet could cure schizophrenia — an unfounded claim that experts say vastly overstates preliminary research into whether the high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet might help patients with the disorder,” the New York Times reports.

“President Donald Trump on Thursday is set to launch TrumpRx.gov, a government website aimed at helping Americans purchase medications at discounted prices, capping his nearly year-long pressure campaign to extract pricing concessions from pharmaceutical companies,” the Washington Post reports.

New York Times: “The government website, TrumpRx.gov, will not sell drugs. Instead, it is meant to be an entry point where consumers can search for their medicines and then navigate to websites offered by major manufacturers to buy medication directly. Patients still need a prescription.”

“The TrumpRx site is expected to feature dozens of medicines, including well-known and widely used products like Wegovy and Zepbound, for weight loss, and Humira, for conditions like arthritis.”

“Vulnerable Republicans have a big political problem on their hands,” Punchbowl News reports.

“The bipartisan Senate negotiations to revive enhanced Obamacare subsidies are all but dead, leaving health care costs skyrocketing for millions of Americans. At-risk GOP lawmakers must now wage a new fight, figuring out if — and how — they can force their party to take up legislation to help Americans dealing with rising costs before the midterm elections.”

Wall Street Journal: “Top Senate negotiators said an effort to renew expired healthcare subsidies had effectively collapsed, likely ending the hopes of 20 million Americans that the tax-credit expansion could be revived and lower their monthly insurance premiums.”

Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) told Semafor that bipartisan talks over reviving Affordable Care Act subsidies aren’t dead yet.

Jonathan Cohn: “As of this past Wednesday, the South Carolina Department of Public Health had logged more than eight hundred cases of the highly contagious disease, with many more unreported infections presumably out there because not all parents seek formal medical care for their kids.”

“The official tally is now growing by more than a hundred cases each week and has blown past the count from last year’s Texas outbreak, which killed three people, including the first two American children to die of measles in a decade.”

“Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has turned GOP policy orthodoxy on its head with his attacks on food and pharma,” Politico reports.

“He’s also turning Republicans into advocates of eating more vegetables, drinking raw milk and eschewing pharmaceuticals. Even in Washington, where Kennedy takes near-daily abuse from Democrats and public health experts for his moves to discourage vaccination, Republicans increasingly see him not just as a new ally in the MAGA political tent, but as a guru to guide their lives toward a healthier future.”

A new KFF poll finds the cost of health care, including paying for health insurance and out-of-pocket expenses, tops the list of the public’s economic anxieties, rising well above other necessities.

Two-thirds of the public say they worry about being able to afford health care for them and their family, ranking higher than utilities, food and groceries, housing, and gas.

“A meeting this month between the head of the American Medical Association and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has prompted infighting within the nation’s leading lobbying group for doctors,” Politico reports.

“Following the Jan. 7 meeting, a contingent of member doctors wrote to the AMA’s board chair because they view Kennedy as a threat to public health whom the group should shun.”

A new study projected that by 2035, nearly half of all American adults, about 126 million individuals, will be living with obesity, the Los Angeles Times reports.

“The South Carolina measles outbreak has surpassed the recorded case count in Texas’ 2025 outbreak, as health officials have logged almost 600 new cases in just over a month,” the AP reports.