Updated just now. Six pages so far. The breadth of destruction is staggering.
The Trump admin terminated NIH grant funding for a long-running research network that studied HIV in adolescents.
One of the immediate impacts of this is a cancelled study to examine whether an antibiotic currently only approved for men to prevent STDs can also work in women.
A key sticking point is cost: lawmakers have struggled to get bills through Congress that cost money up front but reduce costs in the long-term. This bill would do that. By expanding access to testing and treatment, you reduce the long-term costs of treating sicker people
But the bill from Sen. Cassidy has stalled in Congress. Despite bipartisan sponsors in the senate, it hasn’t received a committee hearing or a vote, as lawmakers focus on other priorities and broader partisan fights over health spending.
All in all, it's a weird time to get public health spending through Congress. I haven't even gotten into reemerging policies that will harm people who inject drugs, the primary group of people impacted by hep C. That will come in future stories.
The second story in my series on barriers to hepatitis C elimination in the U.S. focuses on legislative hurdles. A bill would do what other countries and some states already do: negotiate with drug companies to lower treatment costs and expand access to those who need it most.
Marisa Kabas
If you missed my first story, you can read it here: rollcall.com/2026/04/27/d...
I have found it incredibly rewarding to talk to people cured of hep C about how it changed their lives. More stories to come!
Public health departments are laying off staff and cancelling vaccine clinics after the Trump administration prematurely pulled billions of dollars in funding
rollcall.com/2025/04/04/a...
rollcall.com/2026/04/27/i...
Now no one is doing that research. This comes at a time of rising congenital syphilis rates. “Without that data, men have access to that product but women don’t," said a researcher I spoke with.
rollcall.com/2025/03/26/w...
Jessie Hellmann
Jessie Hellmann
Jessie Hellmann
Jessie Hellmann
Jessie Hellmann
Jessie Hellmann
Jessie Hellmann
Jessie Hellmann
Jessie Hellmann
I've created a shareable document with a list of the HHS offices gutted today that I'll be updating as often as possible. Have something to add? Message marisakabas.04 on Signal or email [email protected]
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
