Health and Science Highlights

October 2, 2025 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH 

• What the shutdown means for Medicare, Medicaid and other health programs (NBC)
• American Health Insurance Providers issues statement on vaccines (AHIP)
• How Trump Boosted Bizarre ‘Medbed’ Conspiracy Theory With Deleted Post (Forbes)
• Scientists create human eggs in the lab, using skin cells (NPR)
• RFK Jr. 'rejects' a U.N. declaration on non-communicable diseases   (NPR)

SCIENCE AND TECH

• Trump DOE bans words including climate change and green  (NPR)
• How a major DOE report hides the whole truth on climate change  (Politico)
• A massive telecom threat was stopped right as world leaders gathered at UN headquarters in New York(AP)
• NPR cuts $5 million as public radio stations struggle to pay bills  (NPR)
• AI just created a working virus. The U.S. isn’t prepared for that. (Washington Post)

For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.

HEALTH 

What the shutdown means for Medicare, Medicaid and other health programs (NBC)

Your Medicare, Medicaid or Affordable Care Act coverage won’t vanish during the government shutdown, but changes to some benefits and fewer government workers to help could still disrupt care for millions.At the heart of the shutdown fight is whether Republican leaders accept a demand from Democrats to extend Obamacare subsidies before they expire at the end of the year and premiums start skyrocketing. Democrats also sought to undo President Donald Trump’s Medicaid cuts, but the GOP has shown no interest.

American Health Insurance Providers issues statement on vaccines (AHIP)

... “Health plans will continue to cover all ACIP-recommended immunizations that were recommended as of September 1, 2025, including updated formulations of the COVID-19 and influenza vaccines, with no cost-sharing for patients through the end of 2026.”

How Trump Boosted Bizarre ‘Medbed’ Conspiracy Theory With Deleted Post (Forbes)

President Donald Trump shared and then deleted a seemingly AI-generated video in which he was seen promising Americans access to “medbeds” a fictional technology popular with some far-right conspiracy theorists who believe they secretly exist and hold miracle cures for every illness, and have been withheld from common Americans….

Scientists create human eggs in the lab, using skin cells (NPR)

Scientists have created human eggs containing genes from adult skin cells, a step that someday could help women who are infertile or gay couples have babies with their own genes but would also raise difficult ethical, social and legal issues.

RFK Jr. 'rejects' a U.N. declaration on non-communicable diseases   (NPR)

 [U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary] Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the U.S. would "reject it."  The declaration that was being considered at the U.N. General Assembly in New York is the culmination of years of work – and five months of formal negotiations – by governments, health experts and members of civil society. It lays out a roadmap for preventing and controlling non-communicable diseases — like cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and cancer — and promoting mental health.

SCIENCE AND TECH

Trump DOE bans words including climate change and green  (NPR)

It was sent to employees of the Energy Department's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, which is the largest federal funder of clean energy technology…. The email …instructs employees working on energy efficiency and renewable energy projects to avoid using about a dozen words and phrases, many of which are central to their work…The move is part of a larger effort by the Trump administration to restrict access to information about climate change, and undercut federal efforts to address its causes.

How a major DOE report hides the whole truth on climate change  (Politico)

The Trump administration recruited five marginalized researchers to challenge the international consensus on global warming. Here’s how it went wrong. 

A massive telecom threat was stopped right as world leaders gathered at UN headquarters in New York (AP)

While close to 150 world leaders prepared to descend on Manhattan for the U.N. General Assembly, the U.S. Secret Service was quietly dismantling a massive hidden telecom network across the New York area…[that] could have crippled cell towers, jammed 911 calls and flooded networks with chaos….agents believe nation-state actors — perpetrators from particular countries — used the system to send encrypted messages to organized crime groups, cartels and terrorist organizations.

NPR cuts $5 million as public radio stations struggle to pay bills  (NPR)

NPR asked a federal judge to block the Corporation for Public Broadcasting from awarding a $57.9 million grant to a new consortium of public media institutions to operate the satellite that connects the public radio system for the next five years.

AI just created a working virus. The U.S. isn’t prepared for that. (Washington Post)

Washington Post - A stunning scientific accomplishment brings both great promise and great risk.