CDC director challenges reports of measles deaths in Pennsylvania

Last week, Pennsylvania reported two deaths from measles, which marked the first deaths from the disease in the United States this year and the first measles deaths in the state in 35 years. According to the state, the deaths occurred in two unvaccinated individuals from Lancaster County and were "measles-associated."

Following the announcement, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) refused to release further details about the deaths, citing patient privacy, and criticized HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy for his rhetoric around vaccines. Kennedy then suggested that an aide to Shapiro had fabricated the deaths in order to blame Kennedy and accused Shapiro of using tactics Democrats utilized during the COVID-19 pandemic to rebut critics and steer people towards getting vaccinated.

"The performance was a replay of the Democrats' COVID playbook: fearmongering, misinformation, finger-pointing, and the weaponization of infectious disease fears for political gain," Kennedy wrote in a post on X.

In response to Kennedy's suggestion the deaths were fabricated, Pennsylvania Health Secretary Debra Bogen said she had "thoroughly reviewed the case investigation information" and "could confirm the two measles-related deaths."

Following Kennedy's comments, CDC Director Erica Schwartz ordered agency officials to challenge the two measles deaths reported by Pennsylvania, a highly unusual move that departs from the agency's practice of accepting data shared by states.

According to three former and current CDC officials familiar with the matter who spoke to the Washington Post, the agency did not include the two deaths in its weekly measles updates, a decision that came from Schwartz.

"This week's measles outbreaks update will not include the two measles-associated deaths reported by the Pennsylvania Department of Health on August 25 while CDC reviews additional information regarding the circumstances and causes of death," the CDC posted on its website.

The state's health department later said one of the deaths involved a newborn with a ruptured spleen, and the Lancaster County coroner, Stephen Diamantoni, said a pathologist who examined the newborn told him the primary cause of death was a spleen laceration hours after birth. Although the child tested positive for measles, the pathologist didn't believe the virus played a role in the baby's death.

Measles can cause significant inflammation to the spleen, which can make it more fragile and susceptible to a life-threatening rupture, Pennsylvania's health department said on Thursday.

(Mandavilli/Rosenbluth, New York Times, 8/31; Sun/Roubein, Washington Post, 8/31; Mayk, et al., NBC News, 8/27; Paun, POLITICO, 8/27)

FDA approves 4 updated COVID-19 shots as cases rise across the country

FDA has approved four updated COVID-19 vaccines for the 2026-2027 season that specifically target the XFG variant of the coronavirus. The XFG variant was the dominant strain of COVID-19 in the 2025-2026 season and in May, FDA's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee voted 8-0 with one abstention in favor of a monovalent XFG vaccine for the 2026-2027 season.

Moderna, Pfizer and BioNTech, and Novavax, Sanofi, and Takeda announced on Thursday that their COVID-19 vaccines formulated against XFG had earned approval from FDA.

Moderna said that its updated vaccines will be available "in the coming days" while Pfizer and BioNTech said they will begin shipping vaccines immediately.

Meanwhile, CDC recently reported that modeling conducted on wastewater data shows that "COVID-19 infections are growing or likely growing in 50 states," with zero states seeing cases decline as of mid-August.

The West and South are seeing higher COVID-19 levels than other regions. CDC is also tracking influenza and respiratory syncytial virus and said both are showing up less frequently in wastewater than COVID-19 currently is.

(Rudd, MedPage Today, 8/28; Martichoux, The Hill, 8/18)

In his email, Slovenski said that over the past few weeks, he and Jennifer Shuford, CDC's deputy director and CMO, have been holding "coffee chats" with agency employees, along with virtual sessions and interviews with leaders of CDC's centers, institutes, and offices. Leadership will be deciding "what CDC should prioritize" and will be holding more listening sessions through December, Slovenski wrote.

Debra Houry, former deputy director and CMO of CDC, told MedPage Today that staff have appreciated meeting with leadership but have yet to see meaningful changes, such as "bringing back those on administrative leave."

"Staff hopes this new team can advocate for the real needs of CDC and that [HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.] will listen, and if things can't get fixed, the agency won't be able to staff outbreaks and other programs," Houry added.

(Fiore, MedPage Today, 8/27)

RFK Jr. criticizes AMA's control of CPT system, saying Trump is 'changing all that'

In a video produced by HHS and shared on X on Friday by the Kennedy-aligned group MAHA Action, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. accused the American Medical Association (AMA) of profiting from its "monopoly" on the nation's billing codes and driving up healthcare costs, stating that President Donald Trump is "changing all that."

Since the early 1980s, the U.S. government has relied on AMA to maintain billing codes, also known as the "current procedural terminology" (CPT) codes, to determine how roughly a fifth of Medicare Part B's budget is spent.

In the video, Kennedy called the arrangement a "de facto monopoly" that Congress created decades ago to help manage the U.S. healthcare billing system and argued the system now puts "special interests ahead of the American people."

"Those costs don't disappear. Healthcare providers and insurers and employers pass them on to their patients. Every American pays the price," Kennedy said in the video. "Washington created a system that put special interests ahead of the American people. President Trump is changing all that."

In its proposed 2027 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, CMS included a request for information asking stakeholders if the federal government should develop an alternative to CPT codes. However, the administration hasn't formally proposed replacing CPT codes or ending AMA's power to charge licensing fees, nor have lawmakers announced any plans to change the current system.

Outside of potential federal action, the group PatientsRightsAdvocate.org has also filed a lawsuit against AMA as part of a push for greater transparency over CPT codes. Through the lawsuit, PatientRightsAdvocate.org hopes to republish CPT codes online and allow the public to search them for free. 

(Brown, Inside Health Policy [subscription required], 8/31)