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This is a MedPage Today story. Sen. Bill Cassidy, MD (R-La.), said he received numerous pledges from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the Trump administration to protect medicine and science — particularly regarding vaccines — that clinched his support for the HHS secretary nominee. Cassidy said Kennedy and the administration promised an "unprecedentedly close collaborative working relationship" that includes the two of them meeting or speaking "multiple times a month." They also said that Kennedy could appear before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee — which Cassidy currently chairs — quarterly if requested. Most of the pledges revolved around vaccines, including that Kennedy will work within current approval and safety monitoring systems, and not establish parallel systems. He’ll also maintain recommendations from CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) without changes, and statements that vaccines don’t cause autism won’t be…

This is a MedPage Today story. Employees at HHS and its various sub-agencies are struggling to figure out how to implement President Donald Trump’s executive order requiring them to report in-person to their work sites full-time, and how the changes will affect them. An Early Executive Order The in-person work requirement was outlined in an executive order signed by President Trump on January 20, his first day in office. The two-paragraph order stated that "Heads of all departments and agencies in the executive branch of government shall, as soon as practicable, take all necessary steps to terminate remote work arrangements and require employees to return to work in-person at their respective duty stations on a full-time basis, provided that the department and agency heads shall make exemptions they deem necessary." The order was further explained in a January 27 memo to agency heads from both the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)….

This is a MedPage Today story. Erica Hayes, 40, has not felt healthy since November 2020 when she first fell ill with COVID. Hayes is too sick to work, so she has spent much of the last 4 years sitting on her beige couch, often curled up under an electric blanket. "My blood flow now sucks, so my hands and my feet are freezing. Even if I’m sweating, my toes are cold," said Hayes, who lives in Western Pennsylvania. She misses feeling well enough to play with her 9-year-old son or attend her 17-year-old son’s baseball games. Along with claiming the lives of 1.2 million Americans, the COVID-19 pandemic has been described as a mass disabling event. Hayes is one of millions of Americans who suffer from long COVID. Depending on the patient, the condition can rob someone of energy, scramble the autonomic nervous system, or fog their memory, among many other symptoms. In addition to the brain fog and chronic fatigue, Hayes’ constellation of symptoms includes frequent hives and migraines….

This is a MedPage Today story. Welcome to the latest edition of Investigative Roundup, highlighting some of the best investigative reporting on healthcare each week. Malpractice Killed Mom What was supposed to be a routine procedure for a Texas mom instead became a tragic example of medical malpractice, according to reporting in Texas Monthly. Kimberly Ray had been getting injections in the lower lumbar region for pain from an old injury. But the injections stopped working, so her provider recommended getting a rhizotomy. Ray never woke up from the procedure. Her family ordered an autopsy, which found she "died as a result of complications following an injection procedure for pain." The family then hired a lawyer whose investigation found red flag after red flag associated with Integrity Wellness, the clinic where Ray sought treatment, and the medical staff associated with it. For one, the CRNA who administered anesthesia and performed the procedure wore a white coat and scrubs…