(NEW YORK) -- 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.

"We've needed a drug like this for decades, because agitation related to Alzheimer's disease is one of the most challenging, disheartening symptoms that we manage," Dr. Richard Issacson, director of research at the Institute of Neurodegenerative Diseases in Florida, told ABC News. "This new drug would be used because their tolerability profile is better."

Auvelity was initially approved by the FDA in 2022 to treat major depressive disorder in adults. It carries a boxed warning for a higher risk of suicidal thoughts in teens and young adults taking antidepressants. 

However, two recent randomized clinical trials found that the drug improved agitation symptoms in patients with dementia and Alzheimer's disease based on caregiver reports and survey data, and helped delay relapse compared to a placebo.

Studies show the drug works by affecting brain chemicals such as glutamate and dopamine to help calm the overactive signals in the brain linked to agitation. Reported side effects include dizziness, nausea, headache, dry mouth, sweating and diarrhea.

The FDA cautions that Auvelity can worsen or reveal suicidal thoughts and behaviors, especially when starting the medication. It may also worsen irritability or mania in some patients. It's additionally been linked to an increased risk for seizures, especially at higher doses, and may increase blood pressure.

Clinicians should closely monitor patients when initiating this treatment and throughout the treatment course, experts advise.

As of 2026, about 7.4 million Americans aged 65 and older are living with Alzheimer's dementia, according to the Alzheimer's Association. This number is expected to grow to 13.8 million by 2060. 

Studies show the drug works by affecting brain chemicals such as glutamate and dopamine to help calm the overactive signals in the brain linked to agitation. Reported side effects include dizziness, nausea, headache, dry mouth, sweating and diarrhea.

The FDA cautions that Auvelity can worsen or reveal suicidal thoughts and behaviors, especially when starting the medication. It may also worsen irritability or mania in some patients. It's additionally been linked to an increased risk for seizures, especially at higher doses, and may increase blood pressure.

Clinicians should closely monitor patients when initiating this treatment and throughout the treatment course, experts advise.

As of 2026, about 7.4 million Americans aged 65 and older are living with Alzheimer's dementia, according to the Alzheimer's Association. This number is expected to grow to 13.8 million by 2060. 

Agitation is one of the most common and burdensome symptoms for those with Alzheimer's dementia. A JAMA Neurology study found that 50 to 60% of people with Alzheimer's experience agitation symptoms at some point. 

Agitation is associated with a higher risk for rapid decline in cognition and death, studies have shown. It is also a leading driver of earlier nursing home placement and hospitalization, and it is significantly linked with higher caregiver burden and depression.

Issacson said there needs to be more hope for Alzheimer's patients and their loved ones.

"We also know that it's not just about drugs. People can exercise, live a healthy lifestyle, eat a Mediterranean style diet, and manage risk factors like blood pressure, cholesterol, and diabetes," Issacson said. "People can really take control of their brain health, reduce their risk of Alzheimer's and have better treatment outcomes. There's hope and there's so much education and information now online. I think we're making a lot of progress."

Dr. Crystal Joseph, MD, MS is an anesthesiology resident at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School and a member of the ABC News Medical Unit. 

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(NEW YORK) -- A few months ago, a measles outbreak seemed poised to overwhelm the northern region of South Carolina.

More than 100 infections were being reported every week, with the total eventually surpassing that of last year’s record-setting outbreak in Texas.

However, after six months and nearly 1,000 cases, the outbreak took a dramatic turn in the right direction.

Over the weekend, the South Carolina Department of Public Health said no new cases had been confirmed for 42 days, leading to an announcement on Monday that the outbreak is officially over.

Public health experts told ABC News that the combination of a strong vaccination push, people following isolation and quarantine orders and an awareness campaign helped beat back the disease.

"Measles vaccinations [were] the most effective single containment tool," Dr. James Harber, an internal medicine physician with Spartanburg Regional Medical Center, told ABC News. "And then to identify the index cases and their exposures and enforcing quarantine, and there's that integrated public health and private sector collaboration. Those are the keys."

Vaccination push

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) currently recommends people receive two doses of the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine -- the first at ages 12 to 15 months and the second between 4 and 6 years old.

One dose is 93% effective, and two doses are 97% effective against measles, according to the CDC.

In Spartanburg County -- the epicenter of the outbreak in northwestern South Carolina -- 88.9% of students had the required immunizations needed to attend school, among the lowest in the state, according to state health department data.

This is lower than the 95% threshold needed to achieve herd immunity.

In the wider Upstate region of South Carolina, some pockets have much lower vaccination rates. State data shows that, for the 2025-2026 school year, one elementary and middle school only had 17% of students with the required immunizations.

Of the 997 cases during the outbreak, 932 were among unvaccinated individuals who were mostly under the age of 17, state data shows. Experts told ABC News that a vaccination campaign helped play a big role in reigning in cases.

"We believe vaccination is one of the primary reasons this outbreak came to an end," Dr. Brannon Traxler, deputy director of health promotion and services and chief medical officer at the state health department, told ABC News. "Thousands of people got vaccinated. An additional 3,788 doses of MMR were administered in Spartanburg County during the six months of the outbreak compared to the previous year."

Traxler said that 15,000 additional doses were administered in the Upstate counties over this period competed to the year prior.

She added that January and February were record months for MMR vaccination in the state.

The health department does not track vaccine exemptions at the individual level, but Spartanburg Regional Medical Center's Harber believes some vaccine-hesitant parents were encouraged to vaccinate their children -- even those with previous exemptions on file -- as the outbreak grew and their kids were exposed to the virus.

"I think the numbers ... speak to the idea that that definitely happened," he said. "Parents and/or young people who have historically requested and been granted exemptions and not been vaccinated saw what was happening within the community and then changed their minds."

People following isolation, quarantine orders

South Carolina health authorities first confirmed the outbreak on Oct. 2, 2025, after eight cases were recorded in the Upstate region.

Most cases were recorded in Spartanburg County, with some confirmed in neighboring Anderson, Cherokee, Greenville and Pickens counties.

Only two other counties that didn't border the epicenter saw measles cases: Lancaster County in the north central area and Sumter County in the central area.

Harber said that people generally followed health officials' orders about quarantine and isolation, which helped keep the outbreak under control

"I think that's probably the second most important part, the very aggressive quarantine and exposure control when index cases were identified," he said. "They were very quickly provided with information around isolation and what they needed to do -- staying away from others and to help prevent that spread."

Harber said more than 2,000 quarantine orders were issued and almost 900 students stayed home when they tested positive across 33 schools in the Upstate region.

"That rapid identification and isolation of the suspected cases .. once they were confirmed really helped to prevent that secondary spread that is such a big problem because of how contagious [measles] really is," he said. "So, we really had great compliance especially within families and that really helped shorten transmission window based on all the data we have."

Awareness campaigns

Traxler said the state health department conducted wide-range outreach in Spartanburg County and surrounding areas to "educate the public about the facts regarding measles and the outbreak as well as to encourage people to consider being vaccinated to get long-term protection against the virus."

She noted that the department communicated with schools, churches, community-based organizations, community leaders, local health care professionals and other organizations.

Traxler added that the health department offered vaccinations at mobile health units at libraries, churches and other locations, where workers also distributed educational materials.

Ukrainian and Russian-speaking communities in South Carolina were hard hit by measles during the outbreak, and so the health department translated measles fact sheets and vaccine information into Ukrainian and Russian, as well as Spanish, Traxler said.

However, just because the outbreak is over doesn't mean the work is done, she added.

Other states are continuing to see measles cases and the U.S. is currently at risk of losing its elimination status, which it earned in 2000. Measles would once again be considered endemic or constantly circulating.

"The outbreak is over, but our work to understand and prevent measles is not. Large outbreaks of measles, and other infectious diseases, can be prevented entirely when vaccine coverage in the population is very high," Traxler said.

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(NEW YORK) -- With a busy travel season approaching, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning that additional measles cases in the U.S. can be expected over the next few months.

The agency sent the alert to state and local health departments, reminding them to report measles cases to the CDC within 24 hours and to have measles cases reported in hospitals and to public health authorities.

The CDC has encouraged public health departments to conduct contact tracing for exposed individuals as well as perform outreach to under-vaccinated communities. 

"With continued measles transmission in areas across North America and expected increases in international and domestic travel and large events during spring and summer, additional measles cases are anticipated in the coming months,” the alert reads.

Parents should ensure they and their loved ones are protected against measles before traveling, the CDC says. This includes getting vaccinated against measles at least two weeks before leaving.

The measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is typically given in two doses, the first at 12 to 15 months old and the second between ages four and six. One dose is 93% effective and two doses are 97% effective against measles, according to the CDC.

Those traveling to or living in an outbreak area may be eligible for an earlier vaccine between 6 and 11 months old, the CDC says. This additional shot would be followed by the typical two doses for a total of three doses.

After returning home from travel from an area with measles, travelers should look out for measles symptoms for three weeks and contact their doctor if they experience symptoms or think they may have been exposed, the CDC advises.

The alert comes as cases continue to be recorded across the U.S. So far this year, there have been 1,782 cases nationwide, according to CDC data.

Cases have been reported in 36 states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.

About 92% of cases are among people who are unvaccinated or whose vaccination status is unknown, CDC data shows.

Meanwhile, 4% of cases are among those who have received just one dose of the MMR vaccine and 4% of cases are among those who received the recommended two doses, according to the CDC.

Last year, the U.S. recorded 2,288 measles cases, which is the highest number of national cases in 33 years, according to the CDC.

It also marked the first U.S. deaths recorded from measles in a decade, two among school-aged unvaccinated children in Texas and a third of an unvaccinated adult in New Mexico.

More than a year ago, health officials confirmed that cases of measles were cropping up in a small town in western Texas. It's unclear if those cases are linked to those reported in other states; if so, it would mean the U.S. has seen a year of continuous transmission.

If it's determined that the U.S. has experienced 12 months of continuous measles transmission, it could lead to a loss of the country's elimination status that was earned in 2000. Measles would once again be considered endemic or constantly circulating.

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(NEW YORK) -- As heart, kidney and metabolic problems progress to more advanced stages, a person's risk of developing several cancers also rises sharply, a new study finds.

Cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic (CKM) syndrome is a disorder that occurs when heart disease, kidney problems and metabolic issues including obesity and diabetes all happen together, according to the American Heart Association.

About one in three U.S. adults have at least three risk factors for CKM syndrome, the AHA says.

Researchers used a claims database in Japan that included individuals with available health check-up data and insurance claims between April 2014 and August 2023.

People diagnosed with stage 3 CKM syndrome at the start of the study were 25% more likely to be diagnosed with one of 16 different cancers four years later in comparison to those with early CKM syndrome, according to the study published Monday in the journal Circulation.

Those who were diagnosed with stage 4 CKM syndrome had a 30% increased likelihood of having a cancer diagnosis four years later. Those diagnosed with stage 1 or stage 2 of the condition had a less than 5% chance of cancer diagnosis in four years.

"The study findings suggest that it is important to consider not only cardiovascular disease risk, but also cancer risk in people with CKM syndrome," Dr. Hidehiro Kaneko, the study's lead author and associate professor in the department of cardiovascular medicine at the University of Tokyo in Japan, said in a press release.

The study results accounted for age, gender and lifestyle factors including smoking, alcohol use and weight.

Individual symptoms such as high blood pressure are often used to determine certain cancer risks, but this study used a more patient-centered classification such as CKM syndrome staging as a predictor for certain cancers, according to the authors.

"CKM syndrome represents a complex interplay among the cardiovascular, kidney and metabolic systems, where dysfunction in one area may trigger or exacerbate dysfunction in others," Kaneko said.

"Dysfunction in each of these systems is independently associated with cancer risk due to shared risk factors," he continued. "This study suggests that the accumulation of risk factors within the framework of CKM syndrome may contribute to the development of various types of cancer."

Because the study is a retrospective observational study, meaning it analyzes existing data, it can only speak to association between CKM syndrome and certain cancers, not causality.

Additionally, because the study was conducted in Japan, which has a very homogenous population, further research would be needed to replicate the results among the U.S. population, which is more diverse.

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(NEW YORK) -- The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on Friday It's issuing national priority vouchers to three companies to help fast-track the review of certain psychedelic medications.

The companies are studying psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression and major depressive disorder and methylone for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

These vouchers mean the FDA has 60 days to review the medications for approval. 

"These medications have the potential to address the nation's mental health crisis, including conditions like treatment-resistant depression, alcoholism and other serious mental health and substance abuse conditions," FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary said in a press release.

"As this field moves forward, it is critical that their development is grounded in sound science and rigorous clinical evidence," the statement continued. "We owe it to our nation's veterans and all Americans who are suffering from these conditions to evaluate these potential therapies with urgency."

The agency also announced it is allowing an early phase clinical study of noribogaine hydrochloride, the principal psychoactive substance of the drug ibogaine, to move forward following an Investigational New Drug submission.

This is the first time the FDA has allowed a clinical study in the U.S. of a derivative of ibogaine, which is derived from the African Tabernanthe iboga shrub, the press release said.

Noribogaine hydrochloride is being investigated as a potential treatment for alochol use disorder, according the FDA.

The FDA also said it intends "to release final guidance imminently to provide recommendations to sponsors developing these products" which will include recommendations for study design, data collection and patient monitoring.

"There is a growing recognition of the potential of psychedelic medications to address multiple different psychiatric conditions that are notoriously difficult to treat," said Dr. Tracy Beth Hoeg, acting director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. "At the FDA we are showing our support of investigating the safety and efficacy of this class of drugs through today's actions."

The announcement comes after President Donald Trump signed an executive order over the weekend directing the FDA to expedite its review of certain psychedelics.

The order aims to accelerate research and approval of psychedelic-based therapies to help treat mental health conditions including PTSD, depression and addiction.

Currently, there are no classic psychedelic drugs approved for routine psychiatric care in the U.S.

A multitude of studies have suggested that psychoactive drugs, including cannabis, ketamine, psilocybin and midomafetamine (MDMA), may help treat PTSD and other mental health disorders.

However, most of these drugs are classified as Schedule I, meaning they have "no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse," according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

A 24-person 2022 study from John Hopkins Medicine followed patients with moderate to severe major depressive disorder who received psilocybin-assisted treatment for up to a year. Psilocybin is the main psychoactive ingredient in magic mushrooms.

Researchers found antidepressant effects from psilocybin and supportive psychotherapy may last at least a year in some patients. Administration required close monitoring in a controlled setting with a trained provider. 

MDMA has shown some early promise in treating PTSD. However, in June 2024, a panel of independent advisers for the FDA voted against recommending approval of pharmaceutical version of MDMA -- along with therapy -- to treat the condition.

The Psychopharmacologic Drugs Advisory Committee appeared to have doubts about the safety and efficacy of the treatment, with the majority voting "no" on questions of data showing the drug is effective and that the benefits of MDMA outweigh the risks for the treatment of patients with PTSD.

Methylone is a synthetic stimulant related to MDMA that affects mood and energy but carries risks of addiction, heart strain, and other serious side effects.

ABC News' Liz Neporent contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) -- Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche signed an order on Thursday reclassifying state-licensed medical marijuana as a less dangerous drug.

The order moves marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III, putting state-licensed medical marijuana in the same category as some pain medications, ketamine and testosterone.

Schedule I drugs are defined as "drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse" while Schedule III drugs are defined as "drugs with a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence," according to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).

While this change aligns federal guidelines with many state laws, marijuana is still illegal at the federal level. It does not remove cannabis from the federal controlled substance list, legalize recreational use nationwide or allow unregulated sales similar to tobacco and alcohol.

However, the move could allow for expanded research and ease many of the tax and regulatory rules placed on the cannabis industry.

"These actions will enable more targeted, rigorous research into marijuana's safety and efficacy, expanding patients' access to treatments and empowering doctors to make better-informed healthcare decisions," Blanche wrote in a statement on X.

President Donald Trump announced late last year that his administration would seek to reclassify marijuana, but not legalize it for medical or recreational use under federal statutes. Over the weekend, the president appeared to express frustration that the administration was slow-walking the effort.

Blanche said the Justice Department and DEA will begin the process of potentially reclassifying all marijuana to Schedule III. The DEA is planning to hold a hearing in late June.

"The new hearing ... will provide a timely and legally compliant pathway to evaluate broader changes to marijuana's status under federal law," according to a press release from the Justice Department.

The process of reclassifying marijuana began under the administration of former President Joe Biden.

In October 2022, Biden asked then-Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Xavier Becerra and then-Attorney General Merrick Garland "to initiate the administrative process to review expeditiously how marijuana is scheduled under federal law."

The HHS in August 2023 made a recommendation to the DEA to move medical marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III.

In May 2024, the Justice Department announced Garland had submitted a notice of proposed rule-making to move medical marijuana to Schedule III, with DEA announcing in August 2024 that a hearing would be held on the proposal.

That hearing was scheduled to begin on Jan. 21, 2025, but was postponed about a week before by a judge.

Marijuana is the most widely used federally illegal drug in the country. Nearly one in five Americans -- 52.5 million people -- reported using it at least once in 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

So far, 24 states and the District of Columbia have fully legalized recreational marijuana for adults, allowing adults aged 21 and older to possess, use and, in most cases, cultivate small amounts of cannabis, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Although cannabis may have potential medical uses, it has also been associated with mental health problems, impaired driving, and lung and heart conditions. About three in 10 cannabis users will develop cannabis use disorder, meaning they are unable to stop using cannabis even though it's causing health and social problems, according to the CDC.

Cannabis use directly affects the parts of the brain responsible for memory, learning, attention and decision-making, the CDC says.

The CDC also cautions that it can cause harm to brain development in young people and use during pregnancy may be linked to lower birth weight and possible developmental effects.

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(NEW YORK) -- Nearly half of Americans -- 152.3 million people -- now live in places with unhealthy levels of ozone or particle pollution (PM2.5), two of the most dangerous air pollutants.

The American Lung Association's 2026 "State of the Air" report finds that more than 129 million people live in counties with failing grades for ozone pollution. This type of pollution forms when sunlight interacts with compounds emitted from cars, industry and chemicals, creating harmful ground-level ozone in the air.

About 62 million people live in counties with failing grades for daily particle pollution spikes, which consist of tiny particles in the air produced by sources like car exhaust, power plants, construction, fires and dust, according to the report.

Exposure to dirty air was not equal, the report found.

People of color were more than twice as likely to live in areas failing all major pollution measures, according to the report.

"[In] areas where people have fewer socioeconomic resources ... there's a snowball effect because many of these areas may have less access to healthy food, less safe places to work out outside and less access to health care," Dr. Afif El-Hasan, a board-certified pulmonologist and an American Lung Association spokesperson, told ABC News.

Many of these areas with high pollution are also underserved areas or have lower socioeconomic means, El-Hasan said.

Breathing in contaminated air not only makes people sicker; it affects family dynamics, finances and just about every other aspect of life, the report's authors say.

Children are disproportionately affected as well. About 33.5 million of them are living in counties that received failing grades for at least one major air pollutant.

"Children who grow up in areas with polluted air are going to have decreased lung development compared to children who grow up having been exposed to clean air," El-Hasan said. "Ultimately that leads to adults who have lower lung capacity than they would otherwise have -- and that's not reversible."

And because the pollution compromises the body's defenses, infections like the cold, flu and even COVID may be more severe in people who live in high-pollution areas, the findings suggested.

Despite decades of progress under the Clean Air Act, which was signed into law in 1970, the report found that air pollution is intensifying in many parts of the country.

Ozone pollution has worsened and now affects more people than in the past.

Climate change helps drive this trend by fueling extreme heat, drought and wildfires, the study suggested. And, while particle pollution has shown slight improvements, it still exposes far more people than historic low levels seen in the mid-2010s.

If you live in a place with poor air quality, there are steps you can take to protect your health, according to the American Lung Association.

Limit time outdoors on poor air quality days and check daily conditions. Use a high-quality mask like an N95 respirator and keep indoor air clean with filtration when pollution levels are high. Exercise indoors on bad air quality days.

Studies have also shown that staying up to date on vaccines, including flu and COVID shots, can also offer some protection.

Additionally, it's critical the U.S. maintains the gains it has made on air quality over decades of stronger public health policies, El-Hasan said.

"Air does not respect borders -- it will go everywhere," El-Hasan said. "People should understand that what they do in terms of making sure policies are protecting air locally -- it doesn't just help you. If we are all helping keep our local air clean, it will help the rest of the nation as well."

Grace Hagan M.D., is an internal medicine resident at Mayo Clinic and a member of the ABC News Medical Unit.

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(WASHINGTON) -- Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. heads to Capitol Hill Thursday after restoring staffing at the World Trade Center Health Program, a move that could ease one of the most persistent points of bipartisan criticism he has faced for months.

Program advocates and lawmakers said they received an email from the secretary on Wednesday approving hiring for 37 long-vacant positions. This will raise staffing from its current 83 employees to the federally authorized level of 120.  

The move comes after nearly a year of bipartisan criticism that staffing shortages were slowing care for the 140,000 responders and survivors the program serves, many of whom have been diagnosed with cancer, respiratory disease and other conditions tied to exposure to toxins after the 9/11 terror attacks in New York, Shanksville, Penn., and Washington, D.C.

The World Trade Center Health Program was created as part of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act to provide long-term medical monitoring and treatment to those affected by the attacks. For more than a year, the program has operated far below capacity with about 83 staff members, following a period of upheaval that included firings, rehires and shifting leadership, even as the participant population grew by nearly 30,000 new enrollees.

Advocates say the reduced staffing has had real consequences, including slower approval of survivors into the program, delays in managing contractors, and longer wait times for care.

“This is progress,” Benjamin Chevat, executive director of Citizens for the Extension of the James Zadroga Act, told ABC News. He credited the progress to sustained pressure from lawmakers in both parties and their consistent support of the program.

Lawmakers also have welcomed the end of the hiring freeze.

Rep. Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., told ABC News that the approval for the additional staff would “directly support the responders and survivors who rely on this care every day,” and that “more staff means better access to care, shorter wait times, and stronger support for those still living with the health impacts” of the attacks.

He called the move “real progress for the 9/11 community” and said it is “about making sure those who answered the call on September 11th get the care they have earned.”

Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., also welcomed the news but criticized the delays. “I am encouraged that, after repeated demands from me and from other members of Congress, Secretary Kennedy is finally increasing staffing at the World Trade Center Health Program so that our brave survivors and first responders can receive the quality health care they deserve,” Goldman told ABC News.

“The ongoing staffing shortages under this administration are unacceptable and have been undermining the program’s ability to provide timely and quality care to the enrollees," Goldman added. "I will be watching closely to ensure that new staffers are hired as quickly as possible and that our heroes receive the quality healthcare they were promised and deserve."

At a senate hearing last May, Kennedy acknowledged that "we made a couple of mistakes" in firing program staff and promised to address them.

“Under Secretary Kennedy’s leadership, the World Trade Center Health Program continues to move forward and deliver for responders and survivors,” a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services told ABC News in response to a request for comment. “The approval of these positions reflects HHS’ commitment to strengthening the program. The petition reviews are proceeding through established processes, and work is actively underway to advance pending petitions. Protecting the health and well-being of those affected by 9/11 remains a top priority.”

Chevat pointed out the timing of the decision, which comes as Kennedy prepared to face lawmakers at Thursday's public hearing: “Now a year later he is finally letting the program fill the staff vacancies that the program was blocked from filling.”

In a previous statement to ABC News, HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said decisions about the program, including staffing and whether to add new health conditions to be covered under the program, rest with the World Trade Center Health Program administrator, not Secretary Kennedy.

Even with the staffing issue moving toward resolution, significant concerns for the program remain, Chevat said. They include key decisions about expanding coverage for additional conditions including autoimmune, cardiac, and cognitive disorders are still pending – for years, in some cases.

Those decisions ultimately require sign-off within HHS, under Kennedy’s direction, according to Chevat. Until that happens, patients with those conditions don’t qualify for full coverage through the program.

Research funding for the program also remains stalled, according to Chevat. Its annual grant cycle, which typically distributes about $20 million for studies on 9/11-related illnesses, is still waiting for approval, despite the understanding that it would begin this past February, he said.

Additionally, communication between the program and the 9/11 community has been sparse under HHS oversight, with fewer updates and less clarity about decision-making, according to Chevat and other 9/11 survivor advocates.

Lawmakers are still likely to ask Kennedy questions about the World Trade Center Health Program during today's hearings, Chevat said. The research funding budget is also expected to come up during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing next week.

For now, however, the decision to restore program staffing removes one of the most visible and widely criticized problems, Chevat said.

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(NEW YORK) -- As President Donald Trump's administration touts its new federal dietary guidelines, experts and officials suggest there's a long road ahead before America’s students have healthier school meals.

With the Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services partnering to address chronic disease -- aiming to place whole, nutrient-dense food at the center of diets -- the administration believes it has taken a major step toward solving America's youth health crises.

From Secretaries Brooke Rollins and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary, there’s a full-scale push to make school meals healthier by next school year, but the USDA’s former Food and Nutrition Service Administrator Cindy Long said their changes won't happen "overnight."

Long -- who was USDA’s Deputy Administrator for Child Nutrition under former President Barack Obama and during President Donald Trump’s first term -- told ABC News the Healthy-Hunger Free Kids Act, which is the school meals bill that was signed into law in 2010, ignited a shift to healthier school meals over a decade ago.

Celebrating the newest dietary guidelines, the foundation of dozens of federal feeding programs, including school meals, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has said that her agency is submitting its proposed school meals rule by mid-spring. Meanwhile, implementing the meals in U.S. classrooms will see delays after the updated regulations, some health policy experts noted.

Dr. David Ludwig, a professor of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health, suggested the changes may take a while both in practice and culture.

“We have to address this on many levels,” Ludwig told ABC News, adding, “First, improving the guidelines that regulate food quality in schools. That's foundational.”

Ludwig echoed the Trump administration’s 2025-2030 guidelines, which are updated every five years, emphasizing that new school meal ingredients must reduce sugar and other processed carbohydrates and increase whole foods.

“Layer two is adequate funding so that not only healthful but delicious foods can be prepared,” he said, adding, “It's critical for children to understand that we don't want to raise a generation that thinks healthy foods are going to be just bland.”

Updates will be made through formal rulemaking, the government’s multi-step process that includes opportunities for public comment, to ensure USDA supports children’s access to nutritious, high-quality meals at school, according to a USDA spokesperson.

However, Long told ABC News that some of the President Joe Biden administration’s changes to reduce added sugar and sodium to school meals are still being implemented.

“You can't change this enormous system with 100,000 schools operating overnight,” she said, adding “You've got to allow time for people to be successful, for people to change menus, for them to procure the right products, for industry to be able to produce products that will help them bring down the sodium, bring down the added sugar etc.”

White House Senior Advisor Calley Means told ABC News there will be a “flurry” of regulation changes this year that will bolster kids’ meals at school. He bemoaned critics’ concerns that the administration lacks the funding to make the necessary changes.

“The government spends hundreds of billions of dollars on food procurement,” he said, adding, “We do not have a budget issue. There's been a political will problem that President Trump and Bobby Kennedy and Brooke Rollins have solved. There's care about this issue. We're going to be driving common sense solutions.”

Parental control over school meals

University of Illinois Professor of Nutrition Dr. Donald Layman believes promoting healthier meal options -- like increased protein and the subtraction of ultra-processed foods -- signals a “total sea change” for parents.

“I think it gives parents a different structure,” he told ABC News, adding, “They've been told that, well, eggs were bad for you, or that meats were bad for you, and they're left not knowing what to give their kids.”

“I've always felt that the issue was, how do we empower parents to do what they know is right, but they've been told they shouldn't do,” Layman added.

Hilary Boynton -- a California mom and former head of nutrition services at her kids’ school -- said, “people are starting to recognize that they have agency over their own health and [they can] be empowered by that.”

In Summer Barrett’s home state of West Virginia, a mom who says she's a part of the Make America Healthy Again Movement, said she’s grown frustrated with school meals containing excess amounts of sugar in Dunkin' Stix Donuts breakfasts.

“You're giving them 52 grams of sugar, and then you send them to class and you wonder, ‘oh, why can't you sit still,’” Barrett said. “Why can't you learn? Why can't you focus?" Well, cause you just jacked them up on more sugar than they should have in an entire day,” she added.

The new guidelines may signal that school meal changes are to come, thanks to MAHA moms like Barrett who have been “hungry for this nutrition science for a long time,” according to FDA Commissioner Makary. Makary and Kennedy have already started visiting schools to help promote programs that serve scratch-cooked meals with Whole Foods like fruits and vegetables.

Meanwhile, Cindy Long told ABC that the administration’s changes will only build on prior policy wins.

“I'm hoping that this will just continue on the path of, sort of, continuing to make school meals stronger and stronger,” she said.

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(NEW YORK) -- Weekly visits to emergency rooms for tick bites are at the highest level since at least 2017, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

During the most recent week, 71 per 100,000 ER visits were due to tick bites, compared to the average of about 30 per 100,000 ER visits for this time of year, more than double from what is typical this time of year.

Currently, the Northeast is reporting the most ER visits for tick bites, followed by the Midwest, Southeast, West and South Central regions, respectively, CDC data shows.

"We're running well above historic average and even well above last year," Dr. John J. Halperin, chair of the New Jersey Stroke Care Advisory Panel and member of the department of neuroscience at Atlantic Health Overlook Medical Center in New Jersey -- who partly focuses on Lyme disease -- told ABC News.

"The ticks have started a little earlier. There seems to be a lot of them. A lot of people are going to the emergency room," he continued. "It's not entirely clear how much of this is increased recognition and as people become more aware of this, more going to the emergency room. But there seems to be a clear increase in the number of ticks out there."

May is typically when ER visits for tick bites peak each year, and it remains unclear if the upward trend will continue.

Halperin said it is possible that the monthly April average will level out and match prior years.

"Spring and early summer are prime time for getting bitten by the locally youngest form of ticks, which are the main ones who get us humans," he said. "So, seeing a lot of them certainly means an increased risk."

Tick-borne diseases have been on the rise in recent years and scientists suspect it is partly linked to climate change, which has caused shorter winters, earlier springs and hotter summers.

Dr. Christopher Bazzoli, an emergency medicine physician at Cleveland Clinic, said because of increased tick populations, in conjunction with warmer weather and heavy rains, it is likely some tick populations grow earlier in the season.

"Ticks tend to become active when the temp reaches 45 degrees [Fahrenheit] or more," he told ABC News. "If [temperatures] stay higher into the fall, we could also see a longer tick season."

Halperin said that in addition to climate change, there has been an increase in the recognition of certain tick-borne diseases.

"One big change ... was the CDC changed what they would allow to be called a confirmed case of Lyme disease and really loosened the criteria," he said. "So, there was a huge bump in the reported numbers."

The CDC recommends that people avoid wooded and brushy areas with high grass and leaf litter and stay in the center of trails when hiking. The agency also recommends using Environmental Protection Agency-registered insect repellents containing at least 20% DEET,  20% picaridin as the listed active ingredient or other approved ingredients, but to avoid use for children under the age of 3.

"The thing to appreciate is these ticks have a strongly preferred habitat," Halperin said. "They spend much of their lives in low brush. Their preferred reservoir host is the field mouse. Field mice carry Lyme disease ... and if a tick lodges on that field mouse, it picks up the infection, and they can give it to us. The first thing you could do is stay away from areas where there might be field mice and ticks."

The CDC also recommends treating outdoor clothing and gear with 0.5% permethrin, an insecticide and repellent, which remains effective even after multiple washes.

Halperin suggests doing a tick check at the end of the day. If you find one, he recommends using fine-tip tweezers, placing them between the skin and the tick and pulling to remove the tick.

Bazzoli recommended cleaning the area and taking a picture of the tick to identify it and what type of disease it could possibly be carrying.

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(NEW YORK) -- Taking acetaminophen, also known by the brand name Tylenol, during pregnancy had no effect on children developing autism, according to a study of over 1.5 million children in Denmark published this week. 

The study was published in JAMA Pediatrics. 

Researchers analyzed 1.5 million children born between 1997 and 2022. About 1.8% of those who were exposed to Tylenol during pregnancy developed autism compared to 3.0% of those who were not exposed to Tylenol.

A prior study out of Sweden looked at siblings, finding no causal link between autism and Tylenol exposure during pregnancy. There are genetic associations and environmental triggers that are likely involved, but neither Tylenol nor vaccines has been shown to be the cause of autism.  

The new study out this week comes after President Donald Trump and his administration had previously urged pregnant mothers to avoid Tylenol, without substantive evidence for the claims. 

“With Tylenol, don't take it. Don't take it,” Trump said during a press event at the White House in September. “If you can't live, if your fever is so bad, you have to take one, because there's no alternative to that.” 

The FDA then initiated a process to update the safety label on acetaminophen to suggest that its use during pregnancy and autism were linked. 

At the time, Kenvue, the maker of Tylenol, wrote in part of a statement, "We believe independent, sound science clearly shows that taking acetaminophen does not cause autism. We strongly disagree with any suggestion otherwise and are deeply concerned with the health risk this poses for expecting mothers."

At the time, medical organizations, like the American College of Obstetrician & Gynecologists, immediately pushed back, noting that Tylenol was one of the few options for pregnant women to treat pain and fever, which can be harmful when left untreated.

It is generally not recommended for pregnant women to take ibuprofen, Advil, during pregnancy due to the risk of complications.

Nevertheless, the claims made by the administration have led to confusion. A prior study found that Tylenol use in emergency departments dipped 16% immediately following the announcement by the administration.

ABC News reached out to Kenvue, the maker of Tylenol, for a statement but did not immediately hear back. 

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(NEW YORK) -- E-bikes and e-scooters led to a growing number of trauma injuries at one New York City hospital, according to a new study published Wednesday.

About 7% of all trauma visits between 2018 and 2023 at Bellevue Hospital Center were due to micromobility injuries. Micromobility is the use of small, lightweight and low-speed modes of transportation such as bicycles, e-bikes and e-scooters.

The study showed a growing share of patients who sustained these injuries had accidents linked to e-bikes or e-scooters.

Hospital data showed that, by 2023, over half of all trauma cases related to bikes or scooters involved an e-bike or e-scooter, an increase from just 8% in 2018, according to the study, published in the journal Neurosurgery. 

The most common type of mechanism involved a collision with a motor vehicle followed by falls from the bike or scooter. 

Bellevue is a Level 1 Trauma center in a large metropolitan city, designed to treat the worst kinds of injuries. Over the study period, about 30% of patients suffered a traumatic brain injury, 26% had injury to the skull or face and 50% required surgery.

"Our study shows that micromobility injuries are producing serious brain and spinal trauma that demands neurosurgical care at a scale we haven't seen before," corresponding study author Dr. Hannah Weiss, a resident in the Department of Neurosurgery at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, said in a press release. "In a busy urban setting, we are seeing more and more of these injuries firsthand."

Most patients seen for these injuries, nearly 69%, needed to be admitted to the hospital and nearly a third needed intensive care.

The majority of patients stayed at least three days in the hospital. Pedestrians who were struck had higher rates of traumatic brain injuries and were more likely to be admitted for intensive care. 

"The data point to actionable solutions -- helmet use, safer bike lane design and enforcement -- that could prevent many of these injuries and better protect both riders and pedestrians, who in our study often sustained even more severe brain injuries than the riders themselves," Weiss said. 

About 20% of patients were intoxicated with alcohol, only 31% were using a helmet and injuries were more likely to occur in the evening hours, according to the study. 

"Our findings make clear that urban infrastructure must continue to improve to keep pace with the rapid rise of electric bikes and scooters," Dr. Paul P. Huang, an associate professor in the department of neurosurgery at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and chief of neurosurgery at NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue, said in a press release. 

"Future studies should track these injuries across multiple cities and measure whether protected bike lanes, helmet programs, and speed enforcement actually reduce the number of brain and spine surgeries we perform," Huang added,

Jade A. Cobern, MD, MPH, is a practicing physician, board-certified in pediatrics and general preventive medicine, and is a fellow of the ABC News Medical Unit. 

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(NEW YORK) -- Cigarette smoking among U.S. adults continues to fall to record low levels as e-cigarette use rises, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published early Thursday.

Nearly 10% of adults in the U.S. smoked cigarettes in 2024, the report found. This is down from about 11% in 2023, CDC data shows.

Rates of cigarette use have dramatically fallen since a landmark 1964 Surgeon General report warned about the dangers of cigarette smoking and linked it to lung cancer, chronic bronchitis and other serious diseases.

The 1964 report also found a 70% higher mortality rate among smokers and helped launch a nationwide anti-smoking campaign.

At the time, more than 42% of adult Americans were smokers, according to the Surgeon General.

"Decreased cigarette use is certainly in line with decades of trends and really hard work on the part of public health and education folks to get the word out about how awful cigarettes are and how deadly they are," Dr. Maria Rahmandar, medical director of the substance use & prevention program in the division of adolescent and young adult medicine at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, told ABC News.

"However, with decreased cigarette use, that means that big tobacco companies are losing money, and so they're always looking for new ways to capture customers and hook new people on powerfully addictive ... nicotine," she added.

The new CDC report found those living in rural areas were more likely to smoke more than city dwellers. More than 15% of those in non-metropolitan areas smoked cigarettes compared to those living in cities, the report noted.

Meanwhile, the report found that 7% of American adults used e-cigarettes, or vapes, in 2024.

This is a slight uptick from 6.5% of adults reporting e-cigarette use in 2023 and nearly double from the 3.7% of adults who reported using e-cigarettes in 2020, CDC data shows.

"I think we had a shot [at] the first tobacco‑free generation prior to e‑cigarettes coming onto the market. Unfortunately, it's kind of derailed that progress," Thomas Carr, director of national policy at the American Lung Association, told ABC News.

The report found that vaping patterns were similar to cigarettes by metro areas, where 6.1% reported using e-cigarettes compared to 9.2% in rural areas. 

Previous CDC data found that men; those who identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual; and those who report serious psychological distress are more likely to report current e-cigarette use.

The CDC has also previously found that some adults use e-cigarettes to try to quit smoking cigarettes. The health agency notes the Food and Drug Administration has not approved any e-cigarette to help people quit smoking.

Rahmandar said e-cigarettes have been marketed as a way for people to get off cigarettes, which she noted can help. But she cautioned that there are still many unknowns about e-cigarette harms.

"Cigarettes are terrible, and it is possible that e‑cigarettes are safer -- not safe -- safer than cigarettes," she said. "So could it be better for somebody to switch that in a harm reduction philosophy? Yes, however, we still don't know long term effects of e‑cigarettes, either ... We know that there are immediate effects. There certainly are harmful chemicals, carcinogens, toxins, heavy metals, respiratory irritants and other things inside of there that certainly can cause immediate harm." 

By age, those between age 45 and 64 were most likely to be smokers followed by those between ages 25 and 44.

Among vapers, those between ages 18 and 24 had the highest prevalence of e-cigarette use followed by those between ages 25 and 44.

Previous CDC data has shown that the majority of young adults who use e-cigarettes have never smoked cigarettes.

"I think this is ... the JUUL generation," Carr said, referencing what was the most popular e-cigarette in the U.S. "From 2017 to 2019, they got teens to get hooked on JUUL, and they're now adults, and unfortunately, they haven't been able to quit using e-cigarettes."

Tiffany Le, MD, is a pediatrics resident at UT Southwestern Medical Center and a member of the ABC News Medical Unit. 

ABC News' Liz Neporent contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) -- Earlier this week, pharmaceutical company Pfizer and its partner Valneva announced that an experimental Lyme disease vaccine showed more than 70% efficacy in late-stage clinical trials.

The candidate, PF-07307405, showed 73.2% efficacy in reducing confirmed cases of Lyme disease cases after the fourth and final dose was administered when compared to a placebo.

However, the companies said there were fewer than anticipated cases of Lyme disease during the trial period and the study missed an important benchmark.

The trial did not reach its primary endpoint to provide an idea of how the results of this vaccine would turn out in a much larger population of people. Only with re-analyzing the data were researchers able to generate a statistically meaningful result.

Experts in tick-borne diseases told ABC News they still need to see the full data from the trials and that it's early to determine what kind of impact the vaccine will have -- but they add that results are "encouraging."

"There are many other companies that are trying to develop something, but those are years and years and years away from being anywhere close to being marketed," Dr. Gene Shapiro, a professor of pediatric infectious diseases and epidemiology of microbial diseases, told ABC News. "So, this vaccine was very similar to the vaccine that we know worked in the past. I think we have to pay attention to [this new one]."

Lyme disease is a bacterial infection that is spread through the bite of blacklegged ticks, also known as deer ticks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Symptoms include fever, headache, fatigue and a skin rash known as erythema migrans, the CDC says. If left untreated, the infection can spread to joints, the heart and the nervous system.

More than 89,000 cases of Lyme disease were reported to the CDC by state health departments and the District of Columbia in 2023, according to the latest data available from the federal health agency. Estimates suggest about 476,000 Americans may be diagnosed and treated for Lyme disease annually.

Currently, no vaccine for Lyme disease is available in the U.S. Previously, a vaccine was available, but it was discontinued in 2002, according to the CDC.

"The uptake was poor. The sales were poor, and the company decided to stop selling it," Shapiro said. "The currently developed vaccine [by Pfizer and Valneva] is very, very similar to that vaccine, with very minor modifications."

Dr. Martin Becker, a clinical associate professor in the department of medicine at NYU Grossman Long Island School of Medicine, added that there were concerns raised, including about vaccine recipients having joint problems but several studies examining a link failed to find an association.

Becker said there have been many clinical trials underway "but this one that Pfizer just announced, I believe, is the one that's been most advanced," he told ABC News. "We were eagerly awaiting results from this large Phase III trial. Other previous trials were already published showing the safety and immunogenicity [of the vaccine]."

Pfizer and Valneva said they are planning to file for approval with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, with Pfizer telling ABC News that the trial results show there is a level of protection against Lyme disease.

"It doesn't mean it doesn't work, but it does mean -- if we had higher numbers of incidence of infection -- we would be more confident about the degree of protection. It's very encouraging," Becker said.

Questions remain about whether the vaccine, if approved, will have higher uptake than the previous vaccine did decades earlier.

Shapiro said there might be more uptake with this vaccine if stronger recommendations are made. At the time the old vaccine was approved by federal regulators, Shapiro said the recommendation from the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices was to consider the shot for those at higher risk, but it was not recommended for those at low or no risk.

"It was not a very strong recommendation," Shapiro said. "And I think there was less awareness of Lyme disease. So, most likely, [the newer vaccine] would get a stronger endorsement today."

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(NEW YORK) -- Nearly 90,000 bottles of children's ibuprofen are being voluntarily recalled due to the potential presence of a foreign substance.

According to a notice from the Food and Drug Administration, Taro Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. received complaints from customers who reported “a gel-like mass and black particles” in the drug products.

Four-ounce (120 ml) bottles of Children's Ibuprofen Oral Suspension are impacted by the recall. The FDA said the children’s medications, intended for pain relief from the common cold, flu, sore throat, headache and toothache and a fever reducer, were manufactured in India for Taro Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc.

Recalled children’s ibuprofen products have lot codes of: 7261973A and 7261974A and bear an expiration date of 01/31/2027, according to the federal agency.

The FDA is classifying the recall as a Class II, which the agency defines as anything where the "use of or exposure to a violative product may cause temporary or medically reversible adverse health consequences or where the probability of serious adverse health consequences is remote."

Taro Pharmaceuticals is a subsidiary of Sun Pharma. 

In a statement, Jeremy Allen, vice president of corporate affairs for Sun Pharma, said: "We are committed to maintaining the highest standards of quality across all Taro labeled products, including those manufactured by third-party partners such as Strides, the application holder. We are in close contact with Strides as it fully investigates the root cause of this issue and ensures all regulatory expectations are met. Sun Pharmaceuticals remains dedicated to protecting patient safety and ensuring strong oversight of our partner."

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(NEW YORK) -- When Jessica Chamberlain went to sign up for health insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) for 2026, she not prepared for the sticker shock.

Last year, Chamberlain was paying $59.67 in monthly premiums. This year, she would be paying nearly $100.

The 43-year-old mother of two from Illinois said she was floored to see her monthly premiums were nearly doubling.

"I can't afford that as a single mom with two kids," she told ABC News.

After carefully weighing her options, Chamberlain decide to forego health insurance and is currently uninsured.

"What do I sacrifice [to pay for health insurance]? I'm diabetic," she said. "What do I have to sacrifice to keep my medications and my health afloat?

Chamberlain is not alone. Nearly one in 10 people enrolled in the ACA Marketplace last year dropped their coverage in 2026, according to a new KFF survey published Thursday.

The findings come amid rising health care costs and the end of the enhanced premium tax credits. The tax credits helped lower the cost of monthly premiums for about 22 million Americans covered under the ACA and expired at the end of 2025, with no plans by Congress to extend them.

The survey built upon a previous KFF poll conducted in 2025 among Marketplace enrollees. Surveyors re-interviewed more than 1,100 adults between Feb. 2 and March 2, 2026.

Of the respondents, 69% said they re-enrolled in Marketplace coverage with 39% selecting the same plan and 29% switching plans.

More than half, or 51%, of returning ACA enrollees said their health care costs are "a lot higher" this year compared to last year. Of this group, four in 10 specifically said their premiums are "a lot higher." Additionally, 80% said all health care costs -- including premiums, deductibles, co-pays or coinsurance -- are higher.

Meanwhile, 9% of Marketplace enrollees dropped their ACA coverage and are currently uninsured.

When asked why they decided to drop or change their coverage, most respondents said costs were the driving factor.

One of the respondents, Holly Weir, a 26-year-old from Ohio, told ABC News she was paying $30 in monthly premiums last year under a plan run by UnitedHealthcare. This year, her plan went to $177 in monthly premiums.

"I didn't do anything to pick a new health care plan. I got the bill in the mail and I was like, '[Expletive]!'" Weir said. "I didn't pay too much attention until I got the bill the next month and I was like 'Oh my God, this isn't from me going to see a medical provider.'"

Weir decided to cancel her insurance and has applied for Medicaid coverage. She is currently waiting to see if she will be approved.

Weir said she is a thyroid cancer survivor, and she has to see an oncologist every two months or so, in addition to taking regular medication.

"Once that runs out, I'll get a lot more scared," she said. "Of course, I'm not going to be stupid and leave it so long. If it does come to it, I'll pay [for the insurance]. The idea that I would have to spend that each month is frustrating. I'm already not doing amazingly financially."

The survey found that even those who re-enrolled in the ACA Marketplace may need to rework their household budgets.

More than half, or 55%, said they need to cut spending on food or other basic household expenses to afford their health care costs.

Among those with chronic health conditions, 62% of those who reenrolled in the ACA Marketplace said they will be cutting back on food and other basics.

The survey found that 22% of respondents did not re-enroll in the ACA Marketplace and got coverage through an employer, Medicare, Medicaid or another health plan outside the Marketplace.

Chamberlain, who also responded to the survey, said her kids qualify to be on state-run Medicaid. However, she said she doesn't qualify because she makes too much in her current role working in probation.

She is hoping she can find another insurance plan to help cover health care costs.

"This is destroying people who have pre-existing conditions," she said. "It is affecting people, especially single moms. We're just trying to live."

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(MASSACHUSETTS) -- A Massachusetts judge ruled on Monday in favor of medical organizations in their litigation against Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over his changes to federal vaccine policy.

The judge temporarily blocked changes to the childhood vaccine schedule that were made at the beginning of this year, in which Kennedy reduced the number of recommended shots from 17 to 11. 

The judge also suspended the appointments of the 13 members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's vaccine advisory committee, who were all appointed unilaterally by Kennedy after he fired all the preceding members. 

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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(NEW YORK) -- As many as 724,000 service members, their families and veterans may rely on health care at hospitals that face financial vulnerability, partly due to cuts in President Donald Trump's megabill, according to a new analysis.

The bill, known as HR.1, was signed into law in last summer and included sweeping changes to health care including Medicaid. Strict work requirements, reduced federal funding and tightening provider tax rules impacts hospitals that are dependent on Medicaid, increasing their risk of uncompensated care and reducing revenue.

Service members and their families -- many of whom are covered by the military health insurance program TRICARE -- rely heavily on civilian hospitals for health care, particularly in areas without military treatment facilities.

The analysis, conducted by researchers the Healthcare Quality and Outcomes Lab at Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health (HSPH) and first viewed by ABC News, looked at how many TRICARE beneficiaries may be reliant on hospitals considered at risk of financial distress under these new changes.

The researchers said many hospitals rely so heavily on Medicaid reimbursements that cuts to the program under HR.1 will affect care the hospitals provide to other patients, including those in the military community.

"We wanted to get a sense of how many hospitals are potentially at risk for becoming potentially financially unstable with the upcoming looming HR.1 Medicaid cuts," Dr. Jose Figueroa, co-author of the analysis and associate professor of Health Policy and Management at HPSH told ABC News. "There's a big focus on rural hospitals, but it is not just rural hospitals at risk, that we were finding that across the country, many urban hospitals are at risk."

Figueroa said medical services that many TRICARE beneficiaries need are often only offered in civilian hospitals or in civilian health care systems. These beneficiaries are then exposed to hospitals that are potentially at financial risk, he noted.

"Military active duty service members on TRICARE and their families also on TRICARE are increasingly relying on civilian hospitals for their care, even when they're living within a military base," Figueroa said. "If we're finding evidence that there are many hospitals across the country that are at risk, to what extent will that affect military personnel and their families?"

TRICARE is run by the U.S. Department of Defense for those connected to the military, including active duty members, National Guard and reserve members, military retirees and their families. It is not the same as Medicaid, although some may qualify for both.

For their analysis, the team used three different criteria to identify a hospital that might be at risk.

If more than one in four of patients being treated at the hospital are on Medicaid, given that the HR.1. cuts are disproportionally affecting those on the federal health insurance program.
If the hospital is a safety net hospital, which serves a large number of patients with no insurance or with Medicaid, or a critical access hospital, which is a rural facility that provides essential health care services to underserved communities.
The Altman Z-score, which is an aggregate measure of the financial health of a hospital, combining liquidity, profitability, financial efficiency and solvency measures to categorize a hospital as being at risk for bankruptcy.
About 4% of hospitals were considered at higher risk of financial distress -- meeting three of the criteria and about 19% were at moderate risk of financial distress -- meeting two -- according to the analysis.

The team then used a dataset to help to identify 8.9 million TRICARE beneficiaries and their ZIP codes.

The analysis estimated that more than 117,000 TRICARE beneficiaries are currently living on or near military installations potentially exposed to a hospital at higher risk of financial distress. Additionally, more than 607,000 are living near a hospital with a moderate risk of financial distress.

This means that more than 724,000 TRICARE beneficiaries are living in military installation ZIP codes -- including bases, camps, posts, depots and stations -- where at least one hospital has multiple risk factors for financial distress.

Additionally, more than 3.5 million TRICARE beneficiaries living in ZIP codes without a military installation are potentially exposed to a higher-risk or moderate-risk hospital, the analysis found.

"As a country, we should do our best to take care of the people protecting us," Figueroa said. "Military personnel and their family members should be protected, and sometimes we have to remind ourselves that drastic cuts to our health care that affect our health delivery system also affects our active military personnel and their families as well."

Last month, during a Senate hearing, Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force David Wolfe said troops were struggling to get health care appointments and made reference to issues with TRICARE's reimbursement rate for providers.

"What we've all seen over the length of our careers is a gradual erosion in the availability of that health care for our service members and their families," Wolfe said, according to the Military Times.

Based on the results of the Harvard analysis, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D- Mass., is launching an investigation into how the Pentagon is guiding military families through health care cuts and whether Republicans and the Trump administration consulted the Pentagon before the cuts were made, her office told ABC News first.

Warren is also pressing the Pentagon to explain how these cuts are affecting military readiness.

"Donald Trump is putting troops' lives on the line in the Middle East while ripping away health care from their families at home," Warren said in a statement to ABC News. "Republicans swore the Medicaid cuts in their Big Beautiful Bill were about cutting waste, fraud, and abuse -- is that what they think of our military families' health care?"

In a statement sent to ABC News, the Pentagon didn't address Warren's comments.

"As with all congressional correspondences, the Department will respond directly to the authors as appropriate," a spokesperson said.

A Pentagon official also said it wouldn't be appropriate to comment on the methodology of studies not conducted by the department.

The White House didn't respond to ABC News' request for comment.

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(NEW YORK) -- Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon signed a bill into law on Monday banning abortion in the state after a "fetal heartbeat" has been detected.

HB 126, or the Human Heartbeat Act, prohibits abortion once cardiac activity is identified, which is around six weeks of pregnancy, before many women know they're pregnant.

If cardiac activity is detected, an abortion can only be performed in the case of a medical emergency, meaning if the life of the mother is in danger or if continuing the pregnancy would cause serious or irreversible impairment of a major bodily function, according to the bill.

The bill does not include exceptions for pregnancies as a result of rape or incest.

Any person who intentionally or knowingly violates the act will be charged with a felony punishable by up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $10,000, or both, according to the bill.

"Today I signed the Human Heartbeat Act into law, reaffirming my view that life is sacred. I resoundingly share the determination to defend the lives of unborn children and support the intentions behind the Human Heartbeat Act," Gordon wrote in a post on X on Monday.

Previously, abortion was allowed in Wyoming until fetal viability, which occurs between 24 and 26 weeks of gestation.

Wyoming is now the fifth state at least to have a "heartbeat ban" following bans enacted in Florida, Georgia, Iowa and South Carolina.

"This ban is an attack on Wyomingites' constitutional freedom to make their own health care decisions, and it puts the health and well-being of our communities at risk," Julie Burkhart, president of Wellspring Health Access, Wyoming's only abortion clinic, said in a statement.

"Every day that this law is in effect means people in our state will face even greater barriers to abortion care -- and some may be denied this care altogether," the statement continued. "With so many across Wyoming already struggling to access reproductive health care, restrictive policies like these take us further in the wrong direction."

Burkhart said Wellspring Health Access is prepared to challenge the ban in court and will continue to work with regional and national partners to help patients access the care they need.

Gordon wrote in the post on X that he was concerned the bill was "well-intentioned" but would lead to a "fragile legal effort with significant risk of ending in the courts rather than in lasting, durable policy."

Gordon suggested that voters should decide on the issue and that a question be placed on a ballot asking if an abortion ban should be cemented in the state constitution.

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(NEW YORK) -- Acetaminophen orders in emergency rooms for pregnant patients fell in the weeks after a White House briefing last year linked its use during pregnancy to an increased risk of autism, a new analysis finds.

Researchers at Harvard and Brown University looked at data from an electronic health records system with more than 294 million patient records from more than 1,600 hospitals and 37,000 clinics across the United States.

They found that orders for acetaminophen, also known by the brand name Tylenol, fell 10% between the briefing on Sept. 22, 2025 and Dec. 7, 2025, according to the analysis, published on Thursday in The Lancet. 

The drop in acetaminophen fell 16% in the first month after the White House news conference and reached a low of 20% in the third week after the announcement, according to the analysis. Over subsequent weeks, prescriptions appeared to trend back to baseline by early December. 

This analysis did not track over-the-counter use of acetaminophen sales, which is the most common way people purchase the medication. 

Meanwhile, as acetaminophen orders fell, new outpatient prescriptions for a drug called leucovorin increased sharply for children between ages 5 and 17, the analysis found.

Leucovorin is a form of folic acid used to reduce side effects from some chemotherapy drugs and treat folate deficiency.

Researchers have also studied it as a possible treatment for some children with autism who have cerebral folate deficiency, but it's unclear if it has a role in treating children with autism more broadly, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. 

At the same September White House briefing, the Trump administration announced it was starting the approval process for leucovorin as a possible treatment for autism.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. touted the drug as an "exciting therapy that may benefit large numbers of children who suffer from autism."

The analysis found a 93% rise in leucovorin prescriptions in the first month after the briefing and a 113% spike in week two, meaning prescriptions more than doubled compared with expected levels. Overall, the analysis found that leucovorin prescriptions increased by about 71% from mid-September to early December. 

"It is unknown whether the results reported reflect changes in patient demand or clinician decision making; nonetheless, they show the apparent power that public authority figures have to drive sudden changes in health care practices," the researchers wrote.

Many health professionals and major medical organizations criticized the Trump administration's assertion that pregnant women should avoid acetaminophen, claiming use during pregnancy may be linked to autism.

Studies on a potential link have not shown a direct cause-and-effect relationship. Some studies point to a possible association, but those associations often weaken or disappear once researchers adjust for other factors. 

In January, a large meta-analysis of about 60 studies was published in The Lancet Obstetrics, Gynecology & Women's Health, finding no link to developmental disorders in children when expectant mothers used acetaminophen as directed.

In response to statements made by the White House, The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists (ACOG) strongly rejected the claim that acetaminophen in pregnancy causes autism, calling it "highly concerning," "irresponsible" and "not backed by the full body of scientific evidence."

The group emphasized that more than 20 years of research show no direct link between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder or intellectual disability, specifically pointing to two high-quality studies.

Acetaminophen is regarded as one of the safest non-opioid pain medication for pregnant women, according to ACOG. The group adds it's an important drug to help treat fever in pregnancy that can have negative health impacts for both mom and baby if left untreated.

“The White House briefing was an extremely unusual mechanism to communicate medical information and bypassed many standard checks on ensuring accurate messaging,” Dr. Michael Barnett, a physician and professor of health services, policy and practice at Brown and one of the researchers, said in a press release. 

“The results show just how much political leaders can steer health behavior even when there has been no change in the evidence for these therapies,” Barnett said. 

In a statement, Kenvue Brands LLC, the maker of Tylenol, said it was "deeply concerned" about "unfounded claims" over its product.

"It is scientifically known that untreated high fevers pose potential serious risks to a pregnancy, such as miscarriage, pre-term labor and birth, and fetal malformations." the statement read, in part. 'As medical organizations have recognized, acetaminophen is the safest option for pain and fever relief for pregnant women as needed throughout their entire pregnancy."

Kenvue Brands added that there are multiple potential consequences as a result of pregnant women using acetaminophen less frequently, including higher rates of untreated fevers and use of medications that are less safe to use during pregnancy,

"Recent additional evidence has identified no increased rates of autism disorders, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, or intellectual disability among the offspring of those who used paracetamol during pregnancy," the company stated.

Jade A. Cobern, MD, MPH, is a practicing physician, board-certified in pediatrics and general preventive medicine, and is a fellow of the ABC News Medical Unit. 

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