A New Hampshire man fought for the chance at a pig kidney transplant, spending months getting into good enough shape to be part of a small pilot study of a highly experimental treatment. His effort paid off: Tim Andrews, 66, is only the second person known to be living with a pig kidney. Andrews is free from dialysis, Massachusetts General Hospital announced, and recovering so well from the Jan. 25 transplant that he left the hospital a week later. Andrews' surgery comes at a turning point in the quest to tell if animal-to-human transplants could help ease the shortage of donated human organs. The first four pig organ transplants — two hearts and two kidneys — were short-lived. But the fifth xenotransplant recipient, an Alabama woman not nearly as sick as prior patients, boosted the field — thriving for now 2½ months after a pig kidney transplant.
The Texas Department of State Health Services this week reported a measles outbreak involving school children in Gaines County, which is located southwest of Lubbock. In a statement yesterday, the DSHS said six cases have been reported in people whose symptoms began over the past 2 weeks. All are unvaccinated residents of Gaines County. Elsewhere, the Georgia Department of Public Health today reported two more measles cases in unvaccinated Atlanta residents. The patients are family members of a case confirmed in January.
Most nurses, doctors and other staff caring for military veterans through the Department of Veterans Affairs are not eligible for the Trump administration's deferred resignation offer, according to an email sent by VA leadership to staff. ... The new email, which was reviewed by The Associated Press, included an attached letter from VA's human resources department and a spreadsheet with a list of more than 130 occupations labeled "VA EXEMPTION REQUESTS."
The Trump administration has tasked two top political appointees with monitoring the Department of Government Efficiency's access to key systems inside the health agency responsible for managing Medicare and Medicaid, according to internal emails obtained by POLITICO. The appointees, Kim Brandt and John Brooks, are leading the CMS's "collaboration" with the unofficial cost-cutting group led by Elon Musk, including "ensuring appropriate access to CMS systems and technology."
The Trump administration is pushing the Department of Health and Human Services to go after "anything related to Covid" and contracts that would "be deemed wasteful by an average citizen if made public," according to an email sent to Food and Drug Administration staff on Thursday seen by Bloomberg. That includes General Services Administration contracts for services to support diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility offices, telework, swag or advertising spending, the memo said. Staff were asked to report data back on such wasteful spending by Thursday morning.
The Senate voted along party lines on Thursday to confirm Russell T. Vought to lead the Office of Management and Budget, putting in place one of the most powerful architects of President Trump's agenda to upend the federal bureaucracy and slash spending that the administration thinks is wasteful. In speeches, Mr. Vought made clear that he relished the opportunity to overhaul the ranks of career federal workers that Mr. Trump views as part of the "deep state."