“Coronavirus vaccines are still recommended for healthy children if their doctors approve, according to updated immunization schedules published late Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, contradicting Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s announcement earlier this week,” the Washington Post reports.

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) pushed back against constituents who shouted out at her recent town hall meeting that cuts to Medicaid would cause people to die, responding: “People are not ― well, we all are going to die. So, for heaven’s sakes, folks.”

Stat: “A new study tried to predict the consequences if the rest of the nation were to follow suit. In five years, the researchers estimated, 7.5% more U.S. children ages 0-19 would get cavities, affecting 25.4 million additional teeth and costing the country around $9.8 billion.”

“While these findings are worrisome, several experts said, they were unsure if the new data would move the needle on a debate that has become so heated and politicized.”

“A new Covid variant that’s gaining momentum globally has landed in the U.S.,” NBC News reports.

“The World Health Organization announced last week that it was monitoring the variant, NB.1.8.1, following a rise in cases in several parts of the world, including Europe, Southeast Asia and North and South America.”

“Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s surprise announcement Tuesday ending coronavirus vaccine recommendations for healthy children and pregnant women blindsided the agency that offers that advice,” the Washington Post reports.

“Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are scrambling to understand Kennedy’s decision, announced in a 58-second video on X on Tuesday morning, which took agency staff by surprise.”

“Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says his ‘Make America Healthy Again’ Commission report harnesses ‘gold-standard’ science, citing more than 500 studies and other sources to back up its claims. Those citations, though, are rife with errors, from broken links to misstated conclusions,” NOTUS reports.

“Seven of the cited sources don’t appear to exist at all.”

“The Department of Health and Human Services has notified Moderna that it is canceling a nearly $600 million contract with the company to develop, test, and license vaccines for flu strains that could trigger future pandemics, including the dangerous H5N1 bird flu virus,” Stat reports.

“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has stopped recommending routine Covid-19 vaccinations for pregnant women and healthy children,” Reuters reports.

“Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a video posted on social media platform X that the vaccines have been removed from the CDC’s immunization schedule for those groups.”

Politico: “Laced throughout the report from Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again Commission are accusations against doctors — for reportedly being influenced by the pharmaceutical industry to overprescribe certain medications and for failing to treat the root causes of disease.”

President Trump said that autism must not occur naturally, citing figures inflating the spike in autism and suggesting the administration’s Make America Healthy Again Commission could provide answers, The Hill reports.

Said Trump: “When you hear 10,000, it was 1 in 10,000, and now it’s 1 in 31 for autism, I think that’s just a terrible thing. It has to be something on the outside, has to be artificially induced, has to be.”

“The White House blamed exposure to environmental toxins, poor nutrition, and increased screen time for a decline in Americans’ life expectancy Thursday, in a major administration report that also casts doubt on the current vaccine schedule and medications deemed safe by most in mainstream medicine,” the Washington Post reports.

The report also declared that “today’s children are the sickest generation in American history in terms of chronic disease.”

“House Republicans’ attempt to curb Medicaid as part of President Trump’s ‘big, beautiful’ tax-and-spending bill has opened up a constellation of intraparty fights that are complicating the GOP-controlled Congress’s efforts to advance the sweeping legislation,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The fight over Medicaid—how deeply and quickly to trim the program that serves more than 70 million people—helped snarl progress Friday on getting the megabill to the House floor. Spending-hawk holdouts on the Budget Committee blocked the measure, setting the stage for further talks into the weekend. But even if the bill makes it through the House by leaders’ self-imposed Memorial Day deadline, more battles are expected in the Senate.”

Washington Post: “Operatives at the National Republican Congressional Committee and consultants working on House races think vulnerable Republican House members should simplify their message and argue they are rooting out fraud and abuse inside the health-care program to ensure it serves the Americans who need it the most, instead of just weathering attacks that the Republican-backed catchall bill working its way through Congress represents dramatic cuts to Medicaid.”

“Florida has become the second state to officially ban fluoride in public water,” NBC News reports.

Gov. Ron DeSantis called the fluoridation of water “forced medication,” saying it violates “informed consent.”

Tampa Bay Times: “The move to block fluoride has been decried by major health organizations, who warn that it would negatively affect residents’ health.”

“President Donald Trump’s new pick for surgeon general wrote in a recent book that people should consider using unproven psychedelic drugs as therapy and in a newsletter suggested her use of mushrooms helped her find a romantic partner,” the AP reports.

“Dr. Casey Means’ recommendation to consider guided psilocybin-assisted therapy is notable because psilocybin is illegal under federal law.”