Daniel Payne
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Articles by Daniel Payne
Fauci adviser David Morens pleads guilty to avoiding records requests, conspiracy to defraud government
David Morens, a former top NIAID official.Heather Diehl/Getty Images WASHINGTON — David Morens, a former top National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases official, pleaded guilty Tuesday on charges related to concealing records from Freedom of Information Act requests.
How Respiratory Virus Symptoms Vary in Children
Respiratory infections are a routine part of childhood, but they don’t affect every child in the same way. Some infections lead to emergency care, while others cause only mild symptoms—or none at all. Understanding those differences has been difficult because most research focuses on children who seek medical care. A July 2026 study in Pediatrics offers new insight into how respiratory infections affect healthy young children.
National Catholic Register News https://www.ncregister.com/cna/fbi-reportedly-fires-agents-in-connection-with-memo-on-radical-traditionalist-catholics
A field office of the federal bureau had issued a memo on investigating Catholic communities in Virginia over alleged extremism. The J. Edgar Hoover FBI headquarters building in Washington, D.C. (photo: Tony Webster / Wikimedia Commons) Nation June 6, 2026 The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has reportedly fired several agents in connection with a controversial 2023 memo that detailed the bureauʼs plans to investigate “radical-traditionalist” Catholics in Virginia.
Grassroots MAHA pushes back against White House plan to back away from anti-vaccine rhetoric
GLP Policy & Performance Review, 2024 The GLP is committed to full transparency. Download the report. Global Gene Editing Regulation Tracker Our interactive GLP global map explains the status of each country’s regulations for human and agricultural gene editing and gene drives. GLP 2021 Annual Report The GLP is committed to full transparency. Download our 2021 Annual Report.
White House says it’s ‘done’ with vaccines. MAHA begs to differ
Gavin Newsom wants to hand Donald Trump his gasoline price problem Republicans have spent years hammering Gavin Newsom for California’s high gas prices. Now, the Democratic governor is seizing a sudden opening to shift the blame to Donald Trump as the war in Iran sends oil costs skyward. “Look at your cost at the pump the last few days: That was an act of the Trump …
Trump administration nears deals for cheaper weight-loss drugs with Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly
Affluent Indians drive boom in weight-loss drugs. But concerns are rising too The calls come thick and fast to Mumbai-based diabetologist Rahul Baxi - but not just from patients struggling to control blood sugar. Increasingly, it is young professionals asking the same thing: "Doctor, can you start me on weight-loss drugs?" Recently, a 23-year-old man came in, worried about the …
FDA Approves New Abortion Pill From Company Seeking to ‘Normalize Abortion’
An abbreviated new drug application for Evita Solutions, a Virginia-based pharmaceutical company, was approved, and pro-lifers are pushing back. FDA headquarters (photo: JHVEPhoto / Shutterstock.com) Nation October 2, 2025 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this week approved a new abortion pill made by a company that explicitly says it seeks to “normalize” abortion. A Sept. 30 letter obtained from the office of Sen.
HHS to have Rensselaer investigate question of autism-vaccine link
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US Olympics Will Ban Men From Competing in Women’s Competitions After Trump Order
The committee said it had updated its policies to ensure ‘fair and safe competition environments for women.’ Olympic rings in Paris 2024 (photo: Unsplash) Nation July 23, 2025 The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) will formally prohibit men from competing in women’s sports amid the Trump administration’s efforts to roll back transgender policies throughout the United States.
Catholics Praise Defunding of Planned Parenthood in Major Congressional Budget Bill
'America’s women and children deserve better and American taxpayers should have no role in funding these atrocities,' Ashley McGuire said. Speaker of the House Rep. Mike Johnson speaks as (left to right) House Republican Conference Chair Rep. Lisa McClain, Rep. Jason Smith, Rep. Jim Jordan, Rep. Mark Green, House Majority Leader Rep. Steve Scalise, and House Majority Whip Rep.
Former parish administrator faces decade in prison for $700,000 theft from Florida parish
The former administrator of a Florida Catholic parish pleaded no contest in court this month to charges that she stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from a Vero Beach church years ago. Prosecutors had alleged in 2022 that Deborah True and Father Richard Murphy stole nearly $1.5 million in parish funds from Holy Cross Catholic Church in Vero Beach between 2015 and 2020. Murphy died in March 2020. True, meanwhile, was charged with fraud and theft in connection with the alleged crime.
Insurers and providers are teaming up to fight Medicaid cuts Original
Republicans have managed to unite two health industry sectors normally at war — insurers and hospitals — by threatening to cut Medicaid. Lobbyists for both industries, faced with the prospect of losing billions of dollars in fees, are scrambling to convince lawmakers that tens of millions of low-income Americans who rely on the program will suffer.
Gunman shot Kansas Catholic priest ‘intentionally and with premeditation,’ prosecutor says
The accused killer of a Kansas Catholic priest shot the clergyman last week “intentionally” and with “premeditation,” a prosecutor has said. Gary Hermesch was taken into custody last week at the Nemaha County Jail and charged with first-degree murder in the shooting of Father Arul Carasala, the Nemaha County Sheriff’s Office said. Carasala was shot at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Seneca on April 3. The priest later died from his injuries at Nemaha Valley Community Hospital.
Arrest made in murder of Kansas archdiocesan priest
Police have arrested a man in connection with Thursday’s shooting death of a Catholic priest in the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas. Gary Hermesch was taken into custody at the Nemaha County Jail under suspicion of first-degree murder in the shooting of Father Arul Carasala, according to the Nemaha County Sheriff’s Office. Carasala had been shot at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Seneca on Thursday afternoon.
Chicago Archdiocese Sues Over ‘Racketeering Scheme’ Involving False Sex Abuse Claims
Share The Archdiocese of Chicago this week filed a lawsuit alleging a “racketeering enterprise” among a group of individuals who reportedly filed false abuse claims against a former priest to receive compensation from the Church there.
CDC pick has an AI-rich resume
Susan Monarez, the Trump administration's pick to lead the CDC, previously led a series of AI-driven public health initiatives. The Trump administration’s new pick to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a background in artificial intelligence. Susan Monarez will be the CDC director nominee, two people in the Trump administration who were granted anonymity told POLITICO’s Adam Cancyrn and Sophie Gardner.
Tracking canceled USAID contracts
Many canceled U.S. Agency for International Development contracts mention HIV/AIDS, malaria or tuberculosis. | Getty Images The Trump administration has ended nearly all programs at the U.S. Agency for International Development, which managed most of U.S. global health funding. Documents obtained by POLITICO show that as of March 3, the administration had earmarked more than 5,500 contracts for termination and more than 500 contracts to retain.
Leakers to Musk: We’re ‘not Elon’s servants’
“I look forward to the prosecutions of those at the Pentagon who are leaking maliciously false information to NYT,” Musk wrote in his post. But Musk’s post is not having the chilling effect on leakers he’d intended, according to conversations with more than half a dozen government employees who had previously spoken to POLITICO. If anything, it might be the other way around.
Leakers to Musk: We’re ‘not Elon’s servants’
The pervasive fear and anger that have been rippling through federal agencies over Elon Musk’s slashing approach to shrinking government deepened even further on Friday over the billionaire tech mogul’s threat to root out and punish anyone who is leaking to the media.
General Catalyst goes to Washington
The San Francisco-based venture capital firm General Catalyst has recommendations for federal health agencies. | AP The new policy arm of San Francisco-based venture capital firm General Catalyst wants lawmakers to clear the way for technological innovation as a way to fix the broken U.S. health care system. That’s the message of its first policy paper — an idea the Trump administration may embrace.
Google embraces health care’s AI agentic era
Google is betting big on bots. The company is working on several initiatives that give doctors and researchers access to AI agents built on large language models that can review scientific journals more quickly than humans and advise on research proposals, patient diagnoses and treatment options. This use of bots as agents is referred to as agentic AI.
AI relationships have entered the chat
Researchers worry that relational chatbots, which provide companionship, are addictive to kids. | AP Lawmakers have struggled for years to address the risks of social media for kids, largely without success. Now, AI chatbots have arrived on the scene, raising a host of new potential issues. Researchers who’ve closely followed social media’s impact on youth mental health are concerned that so-called relational chatbots — the ones that provide companionship — are just as likely to addict kids.
Seeking: Responsible AI worldwide
The WHO and Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands are teaming up on responsible AI guidance. | AFP via Getty Images The World Health Organization will team up with a Dutch university to help its member countries adopt responsible artificial intelligence technologies, the global health body said earlier this month. The WHO has designated a research center at Delft University of Technology as a WHO Collaborating Centre on AI for health governance.
'Bad DOG(GI)E' - POLITICO
Demonstrators protested in Washington against research funding freezes and firings at health and science agencies. | Erin Schumaker/POLITICO Scientists, researchers and patient advocates have turned out for demonstrations in cities nationwide to protest the Trump administration’s research cuts and firings at federal health and science agencies.
Funding bill skips measure to avert physician pay cuts, a blow to GOP Doctors Caucus Original
A key Republican said inclusion of the language would be a “line in the sand” necessary for his support. Rep. Greg Murphy (R-N.C.) said in recent months that Republican leadership was open to including the policy in the bill to keep the government funded through September, and that Trump administration officials had assured it would be addressed.
Califf: Do right by AI and patients
The important thing about AI is its continuous evaluation in the setting in which it’s used, former FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf said. | Andrew Harnik/AP Photo Former FDA Commissioner Robert Califf repeatedly pressed Congress to empower the agency to regulate AI in health care. Now out of government, he’s continuing to press for AI governance in the sector. At this week’s Cornell HealthNext AI Summit, he said he fears health systems will mostly use AI to increase profits.
NIH Pick Vows War on 'Frivolous' Research Spending
Dr. Jay Bhattacharya appears before the Senate HELP Committee for his NIH director confirmation hearing. | Ben Curtis/AP Photo Dr. Jay Bhattacharya promised to cut wasted research dollars and focus on funding studies to find the root causes of chronic diseases during his confirmation hearing to direct the $48 billion National Institutes of Health this morning.
A health CEO’s crucial AI meeting
Providence CEO Erik Wexler is both excited about AI and concerned about an arms race between payers and providers. | Providence Erik Wexler, CEO of the health behemoth Providence, has a lot of meetings, whether about policy, finances or the future of health care. But perhaps the most crucial meeting topic lately, he said, is artificial intelligence.
Family docs embrace AI tools
In a new survey, most doctors said they aren't using AI, but expect the tools will have a positive effect on medicine. | AP Family doctors are starting to adopt artificial intelligence in their practices — and they expect these tools will have positive impacts on medicine. That’s according to a new survey from the American Academy of Family Physicians and Rock Health, an advisory firm, which asked nearly 1,000 doctors about the tools. But it’s still early days.
Tech group eyes AI standards
The Consumer Technology Association is endeavoring to set standards around the development and deployment of predictive health artificial intelligence. The health care industry is desperate for standards for AI. The technology’s rapid ascent is moving faster than any consensus around how AI should be used or vetted. While various industry players have tried to bring about agreement on these issues, it hasn’t amounted to much yet.
Economic fallout from NIH cost cuts
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Firing 600 at NIH was a 'lowball' threat
Sen. Tammy Baldwin lamented mass firings at NIH during POLITICO’s First 100 Days: Health Care event on Wednesday. | Pixelme Studio for POLITICO Sen. Tammy Baldwin had some choice words for HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about mass firings at the National Institutes of Health over the weekend.
RFK Jr. should handpick vaccine scientists, former adviser says
Del Bigtree, now a leader of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s grassroots movement, said he should seek proof of an autism link. Del Bigtree gave a full-throated defense of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s leadership at HHS at a POLITICO event on Wednesday. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. should recruit scientists who want to seek proof that vaccines cause autism, one of his past advisers said at a POLITICO event Wednesday.
RFK Jr. should handpick vaccine scientists, former adviser says
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. should recruit scientists who want to seek proof that vaccines cause autism, one of his past advisers said at a POLITICO event Wednesday. Del Bigtree, who was Kennedy’s communications director during his presidential campaign and now leads a group promoting Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” movement, dismissed widely replicated studies finding no link to autism because he alleged that they were conducted by scientists who wanted to find that result.
Democrats need to use spending battle to control Trump, Sen. Baldwin says Original
Speaking at a POLITICO event, the Wisconsin Democrat said fellow Democrats should use their leverage when government funding expires next month. Sen. Tammy Baldwin said Democrats should, with Republicans, seek more information on what the administration is doing, from firings to spending pauses. Sen. Tammy Baldwin said Democrats should seek assurances next month when Congress considers government spending legislation that President Donald Trump will respect its wishes.
Firing 600 at NIH was a 'lowball' threat
Firing 600 at NIH was a 'lowball' threat The ideas and innovators shaping Health care Feb 19, 2025 View in browser By Erin Schumaker, Carmen Paun, Daniel Payne and Ruth Reader The First 100 Days: Health Care Sen. Tammy Baldwin lamented mass firings at NIH during POLITICO’s First 100 Days: Health Care event on Wednesday. | Pixelme Studio for POLITICO Sen. Tammy Baldwin had some choice words for HHS Secretary Robert F.
Culling the AI workforce
Officials working on AI and technology at the FDA were among the federal workers fired in recent days. | AP Perhaps lost on the list of 3,600 federal health workers dismissed over the weekend, were officials working on artificial intelligence and technology at the Food and Drug Administration, POLITICO’s Adam Cancryn, Megan Messerly and David Lim report.
Aid freeze and the future of HIV care
Programming note: We’ll be off this Monday for Presidents Day but will be back in your inboxes on Tuesday. Angeli Achrekar, deputy executive director for programs at UNAIDS, doesn't want progress on HIV to stall. | UNAIDS/B.Hamilton Nearly 3,000 people have been infected with HIV since late January because of the U.S. government suspending funding for HIV prevention services, the UN’s HIV/AIDS program estimates.
RFK Jr. now runs America’s health agencies
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is now in charge of the nation’s health agencies. His plans to upend them could make Elon Musk’s budget-cutting spree look modest by comparison. Kennedy won Senate confirmation on Thursday even after vowing to take nutrition and health programs in a radical new direction, and despite his long history of criticizing the safety of scientifically proven vaccines. “We will make sure our tax dollars support healthy foods. We will scrutinize the chemical additives in our food supply.
RFK Jr. now runs America’s health agencies
Democrats said Kennedy’s history of criticizing widely accepted vaccines made him a dangerous choice to lead HHS. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies during his Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Jan. 29, 2025, in Washington, D.C. | Win McNamee/Getty Images The Senate confirmed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in a 52-48 vote Thursday to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. He will be sworn in later today.
Why the health care industry is letting RFK Jr. cruise to confirmation
That’s not because they aren’t worried, but because they didn’t think they could stop him — or think the cost of speaking out would be too steep, five people representing health groups, granted anonymity to speak candidly, said. By staying mum, they hope to limit the fallout if Kennedy follows through on his plans to strip the industry to the studs.
Why the health care industry is letting RFK Jr. cruise to confirmation
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s expected Senate confirmation on Thursday to lead the nation’s health agencies threatens upheaval for America’s $4 trillion health care industry. The industry is doing little and hoping for the best. From drugmakers to doctors’ organizations, groups thought to have the clout to steer policy and funding in Washington because they enjoyed bipartisan support and huge lobbying budgets have remained silent about Kennedy.
Tech giants pick up the child-safety policy pieces
YouTube and Meta have different approaches for protecting kids online. | Jenny Kane/AP Photo While federal legislation to make social media safer for kids remains stalled, YouTube and Meta have unveiled policies this week to protect young users. The different approaches highlight their diverging philosophies on the issue.
Courts come for NIH cuts
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) opposes the Trump administration's move to slash indirect NIH funding. | Francis Chung/POLITICO Twenty-two state attorneys general, all Democrats, sued the Trump administration Monday in an attempt to stop it from slashing billions of dollars in health research grant funding for universities. Hours later, a federal district judge in Boston temporarily blocked the cost cuts in those states that had sued earlier in the day.
Maryland Supreme Court upholds law ending statute of limitations on child sex abuse lawsuits
The Maryland Supreme Court this week found that the state Child Victims Act (CVA) of 2023 did not violate the state constitution, allowing victims to file civil lawsuits against alleged abusers — including Catholic officials — regardless of when the abuse occurred.
AI needs rules to transform health care
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CMS AI on hold
With Robert King Trump signs executive order. | AP CMS’ playbook to leverage artificial intelligence in agency operations is in limbo in the wake of several actions by the Trump administration, Robert reports. The agency released its playbook in 2022 on how to adopt AI tools for any employees, partners or vendors.
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