Update: In an email, an HHS spokesperson said the pause applies to “mass communications and public appearances that are not directly related to emergencies or critical to preserving health. This is a short pause to allow the new team to set up a process for review and prioritization. There are exceptions for announcements that HHS divisions believe are mission critical, but they will be made on a case-by-case basis.”
Officials inside the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), the agency that oversees both the CDC and the FDA, have halted external communications, according to the Washington Post. The length and full scope of the directive is not clear, but the CDC manages updates on bird flu in humans, and the FDA is responsible for sending alerts related to food safety outbreaks and recalls.
Stefanie Spear, an HHS deputy chief of staff and longtime ally of Robert F. Kennedy, Trump’s nominee to lead HHS, delivered the instructions. While cabinet member hearings have been moving at a steady clip, RFK’s hearing has still not been scheduled.
“Americans depend on timely information from the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and other agencies to avoid foodborne illnesses like E. coli and Salmonella, and to navigate other health concerns,” the government watchdog group Center for Science in the Public Interest wrote in a press statement. “When it comes to stopping outbreaks, every second counts.”
In response to the question of whether food safety alerts would be impacted, FDA directed Civil Eats to HHS. HHS has not yet responded. (Link to this post.)
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