TV News LIES

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told USA TODAY that “electromagnetic radiation is a major health concern” a day after his department launched a study of cellphone radiation.

“Generally speaking, electromagnetic radiation is a major health concern,” Kennedy said in the exclusive interview, when asked for his concerns about 5G towers. “I’m very concerned about it.”

The department said 22 states had restricted cellphone use in schools to improve health of children under the "Make America Healthy Again" movement. Since 2022, there's been a significant push by K-12 schools nationwide to ban cell phone use in classrooms. But this is to curb mental health effects of social media, prevent cyberbullying and being online at all times, not EMF radiation.

Cell providers' 5G networks promise faster connections but have long been the target of skeptics who say they have negative health effects. USA TODAY has previously debunked online claims that 5G is dangerous.

The Food and Drug Administration under Kennedy has taken down old webpages saying cellphones are not dangerous.

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The Trump administration has agreed to unfreeze millions in federal funding to Planned Parenthood and other family planning groups, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

The union filed to voluntarily dismiss the lawsuit on Jan. 13, citing the restoration of funds.investigation, citing potential violations of federal civil rights laws. In response, the ACLU sued the administration over the cuts.

The union filed to voluntarily dismiss the lawsuit on Jan. 13, citing the restoration of funds.

“We are relieved all of our members now have access to their promised funds, but we know the fight for contraceptive access in this country goes on. We will continue to stand up for our members and the essential care they provide to millions of individuals,” Clare Coleman, president and CEO of the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association, said in a statement.

The Trump administration ultimately paused 22 federal Title X grants, jeopardizing care for 842,000 patients across the country, according to the ACLU.

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Dr. Kade Goepferd watched the Trump administration's moves on Thursday to ban gender-affirming care for transgender youth with "a mix of sadness and frustration."

Goepferd, who is the founder of Children's Minnesota Gender Health Program, says that for the medical community, nothing has changed about the evidence supporting gender-affirming care that could justify the government's actions.

"There's a massive propaganda and disinformation campaign that is selectively targeting this small population of already vulnerable kids and their families," Goepferd says.

Federal health officials said many times at Thursday's announcement that their actions were driven by science and evidence, not politics or ideology. They frequently praised a report published by the Department of Health and Human Services in November. It concluded that clinicians who provide medical care to help youth transition have failed their patients and emphasized the benefits of psychotherapy as an alternative.

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With subsidies for Affordable Care Act (ACA) health insurance set to expire, Americans who rely on them will probably switch to plans with lower monthly premiums and high deductibles or decide not to purchase any coverage, which will have a serious and damaging impact on the entire sector, according to healthcare policy experts.

The average amount ACA plan enrollees pay annually for premiums is estimated to more than double, from an average of $888 this year to $1,904 in 2026, according to a KFF analysis.

That will then have economic downstream effects, including for rural hospitals and people who have employer-sponsored health insurance, according to the experts.

With “a significant portion of people dropping their marketplace coverage and being uninsured, it doesn’t just impact them, it impacts everyone”, said Emma Wager, a senior policy analyst for KFF’s program on the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

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A California jury on Friday awarded $40m to two women who said Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder was to blame for their ovarian cancer.

The jury in Los Angeles superior court awarded $18m to Monica Kent and $22m to Deborah Schultz and her husband after finding that Johnson & Johnson knew for years its talc-based products were dangerous but failed to warn consumers.

Erik Haas, Johnson & Johnson’s worldwide vice-president of litigation, said in a statement the company plans to “immediately appeal this verdict and expect to prevail as we typically do with aberrant adverse verdicts”.

A spokesperson for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Kent was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2014, according to court records. Schultz was diagnosed in 2018. Both women are California residents who say they used J&J’s baby powder after bathing for 40 years. Their treatments for ovarian cancer have involved major surgeries and dozens of rounds of chemotherapy, they testified at the trial.

In closing arguments that Reuters viewed on Courtroom View Network, Andy Birchfield, an attorney for the women, told the jury that Johnson & Johnson knew as far back as the 1960s that its product could cause cancer.

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Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Massachusetts, Michigan, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas and Puerto Rico also saw an increase in the spread of the virus, landing them in the “moderate” tier.

New York City, which reports as a separate jurisdiction from the rest of the state, moved into the most severe category for “very high” flu activity.

Much of this season’s flu activity is being driven by a new variant of influenza called subclade K. The subclade is a type of H3N2 influenza, which has historically caused more hospitalizations and deaths.

It’s not too late to boost your protection against the virus. “CDC recommends that every 6 months and older who has not yet been vaccinated this season get an annual influenza (flu) vaccine,” the agency said Friday.

The CDC said it has distributed 127 million doses so far.

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