09 Oct, 2026
This story has been updated. The Trump administration announced Thursday that it is investigating nine universities for alleged fraud related to visas commonly used by postdoctoral researchers, a core part…
Welcome to the debut of ID Consult, a new STAT column from infectious disease physician Krutika Kuppalli about diseases, outbreak response, global health, and health policy. A 28-year-old laboratory worker…
President Donald Trump is promising more payments to voters just ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections — this time, to more than 20 million seniors, giving them $90 each…
Finding information from the National Institutes of Health about human health, disease, and biomedical research is about to look a lot different. On Monday, the NIH will unveil a new…
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration published a final rule aimed at lowering Medicare prices for drugs administered in doctor offices. It applies to only four companies. The Global Benchmark for…

Trump official calls for MMR vaccine to be separated into 3 shots

Jim O’Neill, acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, called for drastic changes to the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine that aren’t supported by medical research, intensifying the Trump administration’s criticism of a shot that’s a cornerstone of the childhood vaccination schedule.  “I call on vaccine manufacturers to develop safe monovalent vaccines […]

5 mins read

A health social media star’s advice for science communicators

Below is a lightly edited, AI-generated transcript of the “First Opinion Podcast” interview with Morgan McSweeney. Be sure to sign up for the weekly “First Opinion Podcast” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Get alerts about each new episode by signing up for the “First Opinion Podcast” newsletter. And don’t forget to sign […]

45 mins read

FDA approves another generic of abortion pill mifepristone| STAT

WASHINGTON — Federal officials have approved another generic version of the abortion pill mifepristone, a regulatory formality that quickly triggered pushback from anti-abortion groups and politicians aligned with the Trump administration. Drugmaker Evita Solutions announced on its website that the Food and Drug Administration signed off on its low-cost form of the pill, which is approved to end pregnancies through 10 […]

3 mins read

U.K. patient advocates urge antitrust regulator to probe drugmakers

The U.K.’s antitrust regulator has been asked by patient advocacy groups to investigate several large drugmakers and their U.K. lobbying organization for “suspected” and “coordinated” efforts to drive up the prices of medicines. The backdrop to the complaint has been an ongoing row between the pharmaceutical industry and the U.K. government over mandatory rebates that […]

1 min read

STAT readers weigh in on gun silencers and ENT surgeons

First Opinion is STAT’s platform for interesting, illuminating, and provocative articles about the life sciences writ large, written by biotech insiders, health care workers, researchers, and others. To encourage robust, good-faith discussion about issues raised in First Opinion essays, STAT publishes selected Letters to the Editor received in response to them. You can submit a […]

11 mins read