Secretary Kennedy's seven hearings; first data on CMS' WISeR model; fruits, veggies and early-onset lung cancer — Morning Medical Update Weekly Recap

RFK Jr. defends 2027 budget on Capitol Hill

The health secretary faced a weeks-long congressional gauntlet over vaccines, Medicaid, TrumpRX and a proposed 12% cut to the department.

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrapped a seven-hearing stretch across House and Senate committees this week and last, defending the department's proposed $111 billion 2027 budget. Republicans praised his work on nutrition, rural health and fraud enforcement, while Democrats hammered him on measles outbreaks, vaccine policy and what Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-New Hampshire) called "vanity projects" — including now-viral HHS-produced videos of Kennedy with musician Kid Rock.

Kennedy called some cuts, including roughly $5 billion from NIH, "painful," and laid out plans for a new Administration for a Healthy America, or AHA — a proposed agency that would fold HRSA, SAMHSA, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health and parts of the CDC into a single entity. He also touted commitments from more than 50 medical schools to add 40 hours of nutrition education starting this fall.

More on the hearings:

RFK: U.S. ‘at a generational turning point’ to change health care for the better

RFK Jr. on AHA: Administration for Healthy America part of HHS’s 2027 budget

AI, Medicare and a seven-week wait

A new snapshot report from the Washington senator's office shows the AI-driven prior authorization model is delaying care for seniors in six states.

Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Washington) grilled Secretary Kennedy on Wednesday over WISeR — the Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction model, a CMS pilot launched January 1 that uses AI-driven prior authorization on Medicare procedures in Arizona, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Ohio, Texas and Washington.

According to a snapshot report from Cantwell's office, built on data from the Washington State Hospital Association, patients are now waiting two to four times longer for procedures, with urgent authorizations stretching from one day to 15–20.

Kennedy called the delays "unacceptable" and pledged to work with her office, but defended the program overall — citing a reported jump in Medicare skin substitute spending from $250 million to $23 billion in three years. Reps. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio) and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-New Jersey) have introduced legislation to end the pilot entirely.

Healthy diet of fruits and vegetables linked to higher lung cancer risk in young non-smokers

USC researchers found that non-smoking lung cancer patients under 50 ate more fruits, vegetables and whole grains than the general population.

Young non-smokers who eat a diet high in fruits, vegetables and whole grains may face a higher risk of lung cancer than their peers, according to preliminary research from USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center presented at the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting.

The study surveyed 187 patients diagnosed with lung cancer by age 50 and found they had an average Healthy Eating Index score of 65 out of 100, compared to the national average of 57, and consumed more daily servings of dark green vegetables and whole grains than the general U.S. population. Researchers speculate that pesticide residue on commercially grown produce may be a contributing factor, noting that agricultural workers exposed to pesticides have higher rates of lung cancer. The study also found that young women who don't smoke had higher lung cancer incidence than men, and also tended to eat more produce.

The findings are preliminary — researchers did not directly test foods for pesticides — and the team says the next step is measuring pesticide levels in patients' blood or urine. "These counter-intuitive findings raise important questions about an unknown environmental risk factor for lung cancer," said lead investigator Jorge Nieva, M.D.