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06.20.25

I’ve got some good news about one of the pig kidney recipients we have been following. I can’t wait to tell you about it, but first, there’s a lot of news to get to. Here are the top health stories of the week.

— Sanjay

Former CDC advisers say they are ‘deeply concerned’ Kennedy’s actions will critically weaken US vaccine program

Seventeen vaccine experts who were dismissed from a federal advisory panel last week say they are worried that recent moves by US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will destabilize vaccine policy in the country and jeopardize access to lifesaving immunizations.

The experts sat on the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices, or ACIP, which plays an important role in ensuring access to vaccines.

Citing a “crisis in public trust in vaccines,” Kennedy dismissed all 17 sitting members of ACIP on June 9, saying without evidence that the panel was “plagued with persistent conflicts of interest.” Two days later, Kennedy named eight new advisers to the panel, including a few who’ve cast doubt on the safety and necessity of some vaccines.

In a viewpoint published in the medical journal JAMA, the former members dispute the idea that Americans don’t trust them or the vaccines they recommend. They say the abrupt dismissal of the entire membership of ACIP — along with CDC staff members who supported the committee’s work — has “stripped the program of the institutional knowledge and continuity that have been essential to its success over decades.” 

Trump administration to end 988 suicide prevention specialized service for LGBTQ+ youth in July

The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline’s specialized services for LGBTQ+ youth will no longer be in operation starting July 17, according to a statement from HHS’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

The administration said everyone who contacts the 988 lifeline will continue to receive access to crisis counselors who can help with suicidal, substance misuse or mental health crises, or any other kind of emotional distress, but there will no longer be the LGBTQ+ specialized services.

Soon after its launch in July 2022, the 988 Lifeline included a subnetwork for LGBTQ+ individuals to connect with specialized services, in which people dialing 988 are given the option to press 3 to reach crisis counselors trained to work with LGBTQ+ youth and adults under 25.

According to the latest data, more than 14.5 million people have called, texted or sent chats to the 988 Lifeline and have been transferred to a crisis contact center since July 2022. Nearly 1.3 million of those were routed to the LGBTQ+ specialized service.

When kids use screens, parents worry about the wrong thing, new study suggests

Many parents are worried about how much time their kids are spending on their screens. But a new study suggests that, to figure out how these platforms are affecting our kids, we need to focus on something else.

The amount of time kids spent on social media, mobile phones and video games wasn’t associated with more internalizing symptoms of mental health problems such as anxiety and depression, according to the study. That time also wasn’t associated with more externalizing symptoms of mental health problems, such as rule-breaking and aggression — or with suicidal behaviors or suicidal ideation.

What mattered was whether they were getting addicted.

Kids with high or an increasing trajectory of addictive social media and mobile phones use were at two to three times greater risk for suicidal behavior and suicidal ideations than the kids on the lower trajectory, according to the study.

Mouth tape is a billion-dollar industry. Is it worth your money?

WATCH: Mouth tape has become a billion-dollar industry. But experts say it’s a waste of money without learning more about how your mouth and throat work together while sleeping.

After talking to hundreds of dads, this podcaster shares his two biggest lessons.

But wait, there's more!

• Gen X, millennials are about three times more likely than their parents to be diagnosed with appendix cancer, study finds

• FDA approves twice-a-year injection for HIV prevention

• Chicken fettuccine Alfredo meals sold at Kroger and Walmart recalled after illnesses, deaths from listeria
• Health harms linked to living near highly microplastic-polluted US coastlines, study finds

• 201 ways to say ‘f**k’: what 1.7 billion words of online text shows about how the world swears

PHOTO CREDIT: Kate Flock/Massachusetts General Hospital

Chasing Life

From Dr. Sanjay Gupta — 

You probably remember Tim Andrews. He’s the man who received a pig kidney transplant earlier this year, becoming a true medical pioneer. He says he wanted to do his part to help find a solution to the organ shortage crisis.

And now, he is the longest-living person with a genetically edited pig kidney: It's been more than 140 days.

When I first met him in March, he was hopeful that he would break this record — but there was something else he was looking forward to even more.

“Visiting grandkids is going to be so much fun, because they saw me at the lowest, and now they'll be able to see me alive and laughing and carrying on like Grandpa does,” he told me.

On June 11, Tim not only got to see his grandkids; he got to throw the first pitch for his favorite team, the Boston Red Sox.

That's incredible. Tim went from thinking he’d die in the dialysis chair to laughing with his family again — all thanks to a kidney from a pig named Rafael.

Tim’s is the kind of story that can give us all hope and I'm grateful I got to help share it with the world.

You can learn more about Tim and the incredible science behind his journey by streaming “Dr. Sanjay Gupta Reports: Animal Pharm” on Max.

At any given moment, more than 100,000 people are waiting for an organ transplant. Every day, 17 of them die waiting. This is a story of survival, bravery, and a medical breakthrough that could solve everything — using organs from animals.

CNN Health's The Results Are In with Dr. Sanjay Gupta shows up in your

inbox every Friday.

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