logo
The fight over fluoridation

The fight over fluoridation

Politico10-07-2025
With help from Lauren Gardner
Driving the Day
FLUORIDE'S LAST STAND? Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. looks poised to win the battle over fluoride, to the dismay of dentists and oral health advocates, POLITICO's Danny Nguyen reports.
Florida and Utah banned the cavity-fighting mineral from their drinking water this year, and several other Republican-led states are considering similar measures. Oklahoma has dropped its recommendation that localities fluoridate.
Why it matters: The nearly three-quarters of Americans who drank fluoridated water before Kennedy became HHS secretary is set to plummet.
For Kennedy, who's long believed drinking fluoride is unhealthy, that's a win.
'Fluoride's predominant benefit to teeth comes from topical contact with the outside of the teeth, not from ingestion,' an HHS spokesperson told POLITICO. 'There is no need, therefore, to ingest fluoride.'
The impact of the retreat from fluoridation on oral health will reveal whether dentists are correct when they predict a cavity crisis will follow, or whether Kennedy's view that Americans can get the fluoride they need through toothpaste and mouthwash will bear out.
Drilling down: The CDC has included fluoridation in its list of the 10 greatest public health achievements of the 20th century, citing data that it reduces tooth decay by as much as 70 percent in children and tooth loss by as much as 60 percent in adults.
Kennedy nonetheless believes the case to remove fluoride is urgent because of reports that it could curtail children's brain development. It's a position bolstered by a report from the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences — although none of the studies were conducted in the U.S., and the levels of fluoride they examined were higher than what Americans typically consume — and a federal judge's order in September that the Environmental Protection Agency regulate fluoride in drinking water, citing risks that higher levels could impact intellectual development.
Dentists see it differently.
'This is revving up an antiscience narrative,' said Dr. Brett Kessler, the president of the American Dental Association, the country's leading dentists' group. 'There are ways to get fluoride in toothpaste, some of the foods we eat, some of the drinks we drink, topical fluoride mouthwashes. … But without fluoridated water, you're already behind the eight ball because you've got vulnerable teeth.'
WELCOME TO THURSDAY PULSE. Former President Joe Biden's doctor declined to answer questions today about Biden's health during the presidency in a GOP House probe, citing patient confidentiality and the Fifth Amendment. Send your tips, scoops and feedback to khooper@politico.com and sgardner@politico.com, and follow along @kelhoops and @sophie_gardnerj.
AROUND THE AGENCIES
THE SCOTUS ORDER FALLOUT — HHS employees are bracing for the Trump administration to move forward with mass firings after a Tuesday order from the Supreme Court cleared the way, POLITICO's Erin Schumaker reports.
The set-to-be-terminated employees' final hope rests on the ruling's suggestion that lower courts could still consider direct challenges to agencies' reorganization plans. But that will require plaintiffs to bring more detailed cases quickly and convince judges to stop the layoffs before they become a fait accompli. As cases become more granular, plaintiffs will likely face an uphill battle.
The White House said it plans to restart the terminations immediately.
Federal workers, who have long seen civil service laws and collective bargaining agreements as shields protecting their jobs, told POLITICO their world has been shaken.
'All of my friends are resigned to the worst,' said a National Institutes of Health staffer who was granted anonymity due to fear of retribution.
On Wednesday, federal workers remained in wait-and-see mode, uncertain and awaiting word from agency lawyers on how to interpret the ruling's implications for them. Staffers at HHS described feeling anxious and exhausted by the back-and-forth over their jobs.
'Fuck it,' another NIH staffer said. 'I'm ready to retire if I can.'
Key context: A number of more limited challenges to the layoffs remain viable, said attorney Max Stier, founding president and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit group that aims to improve the way the government functions.
'[The order] shouldn't, in and of itself, resolve those other cases,' he said.
The administration, for example, faces other legal challenges over its restructuring of HHS, which saw a quarter of its workforce bought out or let go, although hundreds of those workers have since been reinstated.
'HHS previously announced our plans to transform this Department to Make America Healthy Again and we intend to do just that,' HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon wrote in a text Wednesday.
At the Courts
DOJ TARGETS TRANS CARE — President Donald Trump's Justice Department intensified its campaign against gender-affirming medical care Wednesday, issuing subpoenas to at least 20 doctors and clinics that treat transgender minors, POLITICO's Simon Levien reports.
The DOJ's announcement coincided with a Federal Trade Commission hearing where opponents of gender transition-related medical care accused providers of not being truthful about the consequences of the treatments, such as counseling, hormone replacement therapy and surgery.
Chad Mizelle, DOJ chief of staff, said the providers 'perpetrated one of the greatest medical frauds.'
The DOJ didn't name the clinics but said it's also investigating false statements.
'Medical professionals and organizations that mutilated children in the service of a warped ideology will be held accountable by this Department of Justice,' said Attorney General Pam Bondi in a press release.
Why it matters: Trump has long assailed gender-affirming care for children, making his opposition to it a keystone of his 2024 campaign. HHS issued a report in May arguing there was little evidence to show the care is effective and 'a growing body of evidence pointing to significant risks.'
But most major U.S. medical organizations say the treatments are safe, can boost patients' quality of life and save children's lives.
The subpoenas are the administration's latest attempt to crack down on the small number of health care clinics that provide gender-affirming care to minors. Most states already restrict or ban the practice for children.
What's next: FTC Commissioner Melissa Holyoak said her agency would scrutinize how providers describe gender-affirming care when consulting patients.
In Congress
FIRST IN PULSE: BIPARTISAN PBM BILL — Rep. Buddy Carter, a GOP pharmacist running for a Georgia Senate seat, will introduce legislation today with 11 bipartisan colleagues that would overhaul the practices of the drug-price middlemen known as pharmacy benefit managers — an industry that's become a perennial congressional target, Lauren reports.
The bill incorporates proposals — including two dropped from the recently passed Republican megabill — addressing a range of issues that PBM critics say contribute to high health care costs and low reimbursement rates for independent pharmacies.
The package would resurrect a ban on spread-pricing in Medicaid and a survey requirement for retail pharmacies to report their drug-acquisition costs — provisions dropped from the reconciliation bill after the Senate parliamentarian ruled the Medicaid language would be subject to the 60-vote Byrd rule point of order. It also would aim to limit pharmacy steering of Medicare Part D beneficiaries and delink PBM compensation from drug costs.
'It's time to bust up the PBM monopoly, which has been stealing hope and health from patients for decades,' Carter said in a statement. 'As a pharmacist, I've seen how PBMs abuse patients firsthand, and believe that the cure to this infectious disease is transparency, competition, and accountability, which is exactly what our bipartisan package provides.'
Original co-sponsors include Reps. Rick Allen (R-Ga.), Jodey Arrington (R-Texas), Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas), Diana Harshbarger (R-Tenn.), Raha Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.), Greg Murphy (R-N.C.), John Rose (R-Tenn.), Deborah Ross (D-N.C.) and Derek Tran (D-Calif.).
GLOBAL HEALTH CUT CONCERNS — Some Republican senators expressed concerns about slashing funding for global health at their weekly lunch Wednesday, arguing that the White House's request to claw back $9.4 billion in congressionally approved funding should be tweaked.
Those concerns included the impact of slashing global AIDS funding and other international health funds, POLITICO's Jordain Carney reports. Republicans also sought clarity in the meeting about proposed reductions to food aid to other countries.
The pushback is the latest sign Republicans will have to make changes to the administration's rescissions package if they hope to pass it.
'Just by listening to the conversations — one, members still need to understand it better,' Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) said in a brief interview after the closed-door Republican lunch. He added, 'I think we will get it passed, but in all likelihood it will be modified.'
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said, 'I just heard a lot of concerns raised in this meeting just now. People have a lot of stuff they want changed.'
What's next: Congress has until the end of the day on July 18 to get the legislation to President Donald Trump's desk or the rescissions request expires, forcing the administration to spend the money as Congress originally intended. And assuming the Senate does make changes, it would bounce the legislation back to the House for a final vote. Senate leaders are gambling that their counterparts across the Capitol will just swallow those revisions.
WHAT WE'RE READING
The New York Times' Joseph Goldstein reports that 1.5 million New Yorkers could lose health insurance under the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act.
STAT's Katie Palmer reports on the challenges health systems face when trying to implement AI tools.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Rare Bone-Eating Cancer Replaced Man's Finger and Toe
Rare Bone-Eating Cancer Replaced Man's Finger and Toe

Gizmodo

time16 minutes ago

  • Gizmodo

Rare Bone-Eating Cancer Replaced Man's Finger and Toe

A 55-year-old man's swollen toes and fingers turned out to have a much stranger explanation than expected. In a recent case report, the man's doctors detailed how some of his bones were 'completely replaced' by metastatic tumors. Doctors in Australia described the case earlier this month in the New England Journal of Medicine. The man visited the hospital after weeks of having pain and swelling in one finger and one toe. They soon discovered the symptoms were an unusual complication of the man's earlier diagnosed metastatic squamous-cell lung cancer. Tragically, he soon died after. Gastrointestinal Cancers Are Surging Among Young Americans, and No One Is Quite Sure Why The man, as it turned out, had acrometastases—or cancers that had spread beyond his lungs to the bones past his elbows and knees. Acrometastases are incredibly rare, only estimated to occur in 0.1% of cases where cancer spreads to the bones. Though they're sometimes the first sign of a hidden late-stage cancer, they're more often preceded by other noticeable symptoms, as in this case. The condition is typically caused by cancers of the lung, gastrointestinal tract, and urinary tract; it's also more common in men. According to the report, the man had experienced six weeks of painful swelling in his right middle finger and right big toe, along with an open wound under the toe's fingernail. The swollen appendages were also firm and tender to touch. Acrometastases can superficially resemble gout or osteomyelitis, the report authors noted. But X-rays easily revealed the cause behind the man's symptoms: cancerous lesions that had 'completely replaced' the outermost bones of his finger and toe. The Next Big Cancer Treatment Could Be Herpes Images of the man's finger and toe can be seen here in an X post from the NEJM, and also embedded below. 55-year-old man with metastatic squamous-cell lung cancer presented with a 6-week history of pain and swelling of the right great toe and the tip of the right middle finger. Read the full case details in the Images in Clinical Medicine article 'Acrometastases,' from @petermaccc… — NEJM (@NEJM) July 17, 2025Because acrometastases are usually the result of highly advanced cancer, people's odds of survival once they develop it are already low. On average, people are expected to live less than six months after diagnosis. In this case, the doctors opted to treat the patient with palliative radiotherapy, which is intended to alleviate the symptoms of cancer rather than to eradicate it. The man died about three weeks later from refractory hypercalcemia, or dangerously high levels of calcium in the blood that don't respond to standard treatment. This condition is often a complication of cancer as well.

Revealing data shows number of caregivers in the US has skyrocketed
Revealing data shows number of caregivers in the US has skyrocketed

USA Today

timean hour ago

  • USA Today

Revealing data shows number of caregivers in the US has skyrocketed

Caroline Edwards, 59, helps her mother sit up in bed every morning and hands her a glass of water. Then, she retells her mother's life story, pointing to family photos on the wall. Her mother, Ingrid Martinez, started showing signs of Alzheimer's disease in 2017, Edwards said. It started slowly, but now her mom needs 24/7 care. "One day you realize her entire life and everything it encompasses − her house, her shopping for groceries and her personal care, her dog, her yard, filing her taxes, paying her property taxes, all of her bills, everything − is, like, suddenly in your hands," Edwards, of Mission Viejo, California, said. Now, more than ever, millions of Americans are in Edwards' shoes. Nearly 1 in 4 American adults are caregivers, according to a report, "Caregiving in the US 2025," jointly published by AARP and the National Alliance for Caregiving on July 24. It estimates more than 63 million adults are family caregivers who have provided care to adults or children with a medical condition or disability at some point in the past year. That's a 45% increase − 20 million more caregivers − in the last decade. That number doesn't include people who take care of children without a medical condition or disability. The report, which was first conducted in 1997 and this year includes data from a national survey of nearly 7,000 family caregivers, estimates 91 million Americans care for children under 18 in their households. The Cost of Care recent feature: Her mom got sick, she moved in to help. Years later, they both feel trapped. 'Family caregivers are a backbone of our health and long-term care systems − often providing complex care with little or no training, sacrificing their financial future and their own health, and too often doing it alone,' AARP CEO Myechia Minter-Jordan said in a news release. 'As our population ages, we must act boldly to support people providing this crucial source of care.' People are providing care for longer, too. Nearly 30% of caregivers have provided care for 5 years or more, an increase of 24% since 2015, the report found. "Families are doing more. They're being asked to do more. They're taking on more. And it's affecting every member of the family," Rita Choula, senior director of caregiving at AARP, told USA TODAY. While several policies have increased financial support for family caregivers in recent years, the report says less than 1 in 5 family caregivers were paid for the care they provided. Financial struggles are common among caregivers, and most survey respondents said tax credits, paid leave and paid caregiving programs would help. Caregivers said they need help in other ways, too. Respite care, help with paperwork, better paid leave policies and emotional support were among the most sought-after services caregivers said they valued in the survey. Caregivers in America are diverse, but a lot of them are like Edwards: middle-aged women caring for an aging parent. The report found the average age of a caregiver is 51 years old, that 61% of caregivers are women and that 70% of caregivers ages 18-64 are employed while also providing care. A woman's retirement crisis: Between caregiving and gender wage gap, can they catch up? Approximately 16 million of today's caregivers are in the sandwich generation, balancing care for both adults and children. Edwards is one of those caregivers, with a 17-year-old daughter heading into her senior year of high school. "You can't be a great mom and a great daughter at the same time. It's impossible," Edwards said. "I have a tremendous amount of guilt from all the time I have not spent with my daughter." Dementia, Alzheimer's impact 11% of care recipients Old age is the most common main reason care recipients need assistance, survey respondents said. The second most-common condition, at 11%, is Alzheimer's or dementia. An additional 19% of respondents indicated their care recipient is living with a cognitive impairment, leaving more than 1 in 4 caregivers caring for someone with memory issues and/or dementia. Another 17% of caregivers said they are "not sure" if their care recipient has a memory issue. Caregiving for someone with dementia is an intense type of care that involves more complex tasks, Choula said. And many people with dementia develop other chronic conditions, too, like heart disease or cancer, which can further complicate their care. "You're essentially having to function for that individual," Choula said. "You're having to make difficult choices and life sustaining choices for that individual." For Edwards, caregiving means helping Martinez use the bathroom and shower. She makes her meals and takes her to doctor's appointments. They play games and do puzzles together, and go for walks and drives around town. It's "very isolating, very lonely" to be a full-time caregiver, Edwards said. Sometimes she sees her mother nod and start to remember some parts of her life. But other times, Edwards said, "there's nothing there." Caregivers want respite care, help finding affordable resources Most caregivers live with their care recipient or within 20 minutes of them, according to the report from AARP and the National Alliance for Caregiving. Caregivers average 27 hours of care work per week, and nearly 1 in 4 caregivers provide at least 40 hours of care weekly. This care work can be overwhelming, caregivers say, and only 11% of caregivers said they've received formal training. Caregiving duties can be intense as care recipients often need help with routine tasks like bathing, dressing, feeding, taking medications, using the bathroom, getting out of bed or a chair and moving from one room to another. Caregivers may also help with grocery shopping, cooking and housework. To help lessen the load, the survey from AARP and the National Alliance for Caregiving found 1 in 3 family caregivers have paid help. Others rely on friends and family members to help out, including children. The report estimates 4 million children help with caregiving duties. What would be most helpful, caregivers often say, is access to respite care so family caregivers can get a break. Nearly 4 in 10 caregivers reported that respite services would be helpful, but only 13% said they use respite services. Tell your story: The caregiving crisis is real. USA TODAY wants to hear from you about how to solve it. Neal Shah, CEO of CareYaya Health Technologies, a tech platform that connects people in need of care with health care students, said there are lots of reasons why family caregivers don't get the help they need. Caregivers are underpaid, there's a caregiver workforce shortage and care services are too expensive for many families. There can also be shame, guilt and questions about care quality, which he experienced firsthand when he cared for his wife who was sick with cancer. "I kept taking sabbaticals from my work to manage her care, because every time I tried to get care help, the quality was just so bad. The reliability, the interpersonal interactions," Shah said. "I felt very guilty." The survey also found more family caregivers have had difficulty finding affordable care services since 2015. Finding meal delivery programs, transportation services and in-home health help is a struggle for 28% of caregivers. Caregivers find purpose in caring for loved ones While caregiving can take a toll on mental health, the report also found half of caregivers say the responsibility provides a sense of purpose or meaning in life. Family caregivers often find they grow closer to their loved one in caring for them, Choula said. Caregiving can also be empowering for some family caregivers, and allows adult children especially a chance to return the care their parents once gave them. While caring for her mother has been challenging, Edwards said she wants her mom to be able to stay at home. They've always been close, she said. Just a look from Edwards can make Martinez smile. "I do this out of my love I have for her," Edwards said. Madeline Mitchell's role covering women and the caregiving economy at USA TODAY is supported by a partnership with Pivotal and Journalism Funding Partners. Funders do not provide editorial input. Reach Madeline at memitchell@ and @maddiemitch_ on X.

RFK Jr. rescinds endorsements for some flu vaccines
RFK Jr. rescinds endorsements for some flu vaccines

Boston Globe

timean hour ago

  • Boston Globe

RFK Jr. rescinds endorsements for some flu vaccines

The decision will not affect most Americans seeking flu vaccines: Thimerosal is added to multidose vials of flu vaccines to prevent bacteria from growing, but it is not an ingredient of the single-dose vials administered to most people. During the 2024-25 respiratory virus season, only 3% of children and 2% of older adults received flu vaccines containing thimerosal, according to an analysis of electronic health records by Truveta, a company that analyzes such records. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Still, multidose vials are needed in places where it is difficult to store many vaccines, such as nursing homes or mobile clinics serving remote rural areas. Advertisement Kennedy's sign-off does not withdraw vaccines containing thimerosal from the market. But his rescinding the federal recommendation means that such shots may not be available to Americans, because insurance companies are no longer required to cover them. 'We urge global health authorities to follow this prudent example for the protection of children worldwide,' Kennedy said in a statement. Vaccine manufacturers have confirmed that they have the capacity to replace multidose vials containing mercury, ensuring that vaccine supplies for children and adults will 'remain uninterrupted,' the Department for Health and Human Services said in a statement. Advertisement Federal health officials began removing thimerosal from childhood vaccines about 25 years ago, citing an abundance of caution despite a lack of data supporting safety concerns. Dozens of studies have shown thimerosal to be harmless. But the anti-vaccine community has long falsely maintained that the ingredient can cause neurological problems. At a meeting of the vaccine advisers last month, Lyn Redwood, a former leader of Children's Health Defense, the anti-vaccine group founded by Kennedy, claimed thimerosal was dangerous and toxic to children. Her presentation incorrectly said the only flu vaccine still containing thimerosal had 50 micrograms per dose, double the actual amount. The seven new advisers voted 5-1, with one abstention, to withdraw recommendations for flu vaccines containing thimerosal for children, pregnant women and other adults. The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention typically accepts the recommendations of the committee. But the agency does not currently have a leader, so the decision fell to Kennedy. This article originally appeared in .

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store