Like most of American healthcare, kidney care has for decades been plagued by red tape. The Trump administration says it wants to change that. On Tuesday, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced his department's Kidney Care National Plan, which promises to introduce more competition, reduce regulatory barriers, expand patient choice, and overhaul America's kidney transplant system.
Much of the plan focuses on barriers to entry in dialysis care, which treats nearly 558,000 Americans. While dialysis can be performed at home, most patients receive treatment at specialized facilities, which must comply with federal certification requirements governing equipment, staffing, water quality, and patient safety in order to participate in Medicare.
Kennedy argues that regulatory barriers have discouraged competition and innovation, leaving patients with fewer dialysis treatment options. "Dialysis technology is an extraordinary technology," said Kennedy at the press conference, but "because of monopolies in the system and the barriers to new entrants, we have not seen any real improvements in that technology."
Of course, the existence of large or even monopolistic companies is not in itself evidence of a problem, but government regulation can often entrench those companies' positions in the market. "I like the fact that they're recognizing that a lot of regulatory…barriers are contributing to the problem, and that's refreshing to hear," says Jeffrey Singer, a practicing general surgeon and senior fellow at Reason Foundation, the nonprofit that publishes Reason. Singer says that removing barriers that prevent new companies from competing with established providers could not only increase choice but also drive down prices.
HHS says that two companies, DaVita and Fresenius Medical Care, control approximately 74 percent of the American dialysis market. As of 2019, roughly a third of Americans lived in areas where the only available dialysis provider was one of those two companies, according to the agency. The administration argues that government regulation has helped entrench this dominance by making it difficult for new providers to enter the market.
To address this, the Kidney Care National Plan suggests a number of reforms, including simplifying certification requirements. HHS also plans to investigate whether dominant dialysis providers have used payment arrangements and legal strategies to secure higher reimbursements without delivering better care.
The 17-page report calls for a review of existing requirements, but it does not specify which regulations will be repealed, nor does it establish a timeline for doing so. It also does not propose any significant reduction in the government's role in financing the distorted market. Instead, the plan largely seeks to make existing government-financed systems such as Medicare more competitive and efficient.
Kennedy has also correctly identified the need for reform regarding kidney donations. Nearly 90,000 people are waiting for a kidney transplant at any given time in America, and 11 people die every day waiting for a kidney. The transplant process is currently managed by Organ Procurement Organizations (OPOs), which are federally certified nonprofits responsible for recovering organs from donors and coordinating their transfer. There are currently just 55 federally designated OPOs operating in the United States, and HHS argues that they behave as "regional monopolies." Since no new OPOs have been approved in the last year, the Kidney Care National Plan suggests fast-tracking certification.
The plan also seeks to make living kidney donation easier by reducing financial barriers. Following the passage of the Honor Our Living Donors Act in February, HHS revised federal reimbursement rules so that a donor's eligibility for financial assistance is no longer determined by the transplant recipient's income. Eligible donors can receive up to $6,000 to cover expenses, including travel, lost wages, and childcare.
However, the reforms proposed stop short of allowing kidney donors to receive direct compensation for the organs themselves, which remains prohibited under federal law. "I can sell my blood. Why can't I sell my kidney?" Singer asks.
Peter Jaworski, director of the Georgetown Blood and Plasma Research Group, feels similarly, arguing that financial incentives are available to nearly everyone involved in kidney transplantation except the donors themselves. "According to this plan, it's OK to use incentives to encourage them to be more productive, to actually do a better job," Jaworski tells Reason, referring to transplant surgeons, hospitals, and organ procurement organizations. "The only exception, once again, is the donor who is offering a kidney."
Better solutions exist, according to Jaworski, who points to the proposed End Kidney Deaths Act. The bill, which was introduced by Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R–N.Y.) last year, would offer living kidney donors a $50,000 refundable tax credit, distributed over five years. "We have those systems in order to make sure that we can treat patients. That's the point of blood donation. That's the point of plasma donation. That's the point of kidney donation too."
America's plasma market is an excellent example of financial incentives encouraging donation. Unlike many other countries, the U.S. allows plasma donors to be compensated, and despite accounting for just over 4 percent of the world's population, it supplies approximately 68 percent of the plasma collected globally for manufacturing medicines.
"Why do you think America does it? Is it because in America there's way more altruism than in France or Italy or Belgium? No, it's because in the United States you can be paid to donate plasma," argues Jaworski.
The Trump administration appears to recognize that government overreach has stifled competition and restricted patient choice. It also recognizes that living adults donating kidneys will be part of the solution to the long, deadly waiting lists. But its plan leaves the government's outsize role in kidney care largely untouched. For patients facing years on dialysis or waiting for a lifesaving transplant, recognizing the problem is not enough.
The post RFK Jr. Wants To Cut Red Tape in Kidney Care. He Should Go Further. appeared first on Reason Magazine.
Investigations under way to determine whether virus normally found in livestock contributed to man’s death
A man in France has become the first human known to have contracted Shamonda virus, with investigations under way to explore whether it contributed to his death.
Shamonda virus is a type of bunyavirus and is spread by bites from infected midges. According to the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety, in animals such as cattle, sheep and goats it can cause diarrhoea, lack of appetite and a decline in milk yield, “as well as abortions and congenital abnormalities in newborn calves, lambs and kids”.
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© Photograph: Pascal Rossignol/REUTERS
© Photograph: Pascal Rossignol/REUTERS
© Photograph: Pascal Rossignol/REUTERS
Portugal’s planned 15% subsidy for obesity medicines will leave treatment beyond the reach of many patients, their national association has warned, accusing the government of introducing restrictions that will further
The post “We’ll be the laughing stock of Europe” appeared first on Portugal Resident.
The Cali Fund, set up to raise $1bn a year for biodiversity from drug companies, remains near empty
Big pharmaceutical companies have been accused of “free-riding on nature”, after a landmark biodiversity fund that invites businesses to put some of their profits back into conservation was left virtually empty.
The Cali Fund set out to raise $1bn (£750m) annually, by asking companies that profit from nature’s genetics to contribute towards conservation in low-income countries. But more than 18 months after the fund was launched, it remains far below this target.
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© Photograph: Rebecca Cole/The Guardian
© Photograph: Rebecca Cole/The Guardian
© Photograph: Rebecca Cole/The Guardian
© Alex Kent/The New York Times
Portugal already has much of the policy framework needed to tackle obesity – but people living with the disease are still waiting to see it translated into actual care, a
The post Portugal urged to turn obesity policy into action appeared first on Portugal Resident.
Needle exchanges, disease testing, providing Narcan and other harm reduction efforts navigate complexities of Western NC communities.
Reducing drug harm in NC mountain counties is a story from Carolina Public Press, an award-winning independent newsroom. Our breakthrough journalism shines a light on the critical overlooked and under-reported issues facing North Carolina’s more than 11 million residents. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.
Measures would remove some penalties for those helping women access abortion but are ‘small-scale step’, say campaigners
Poland’s lower house of parliament has approved two bills aimed at loosening a near-total ban on abortions, in what campaigners have described as a “small-scale step” ahead of protests calling on the government to fulfil its promises to overhaul the country’s laws.
The new measures, which are likely to be vetoed by Poland’s nationalist president, would remove some of the criminal penalties for those who help women to access abortion care and allow terminations in cases of foetal abnormalities.
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© Photograph: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto/REX/Shutterstock
© Photograph: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto/REX/Shutterstock
© Photograph: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto/REX/Shutterstock
by Brian Shilhavy
Health Impact News
Coconut oil’s health benefits are so numerous, that it should be the #1 dietary oil in everyone’s kitchen. The U.S. Government continues to demonize it through their USDA dietary recommendations simply because it is a saturated fat, and the FDA doesn’t like it either because it potentially takes away market share from many patented drugs.
One of the best places to find information on the benefits of coconut oil to contradict the negative propaganda from the U.S. Government, is in their very own database on their National Library of Medicine’s website, listing peer-reviewed journal articles published on the health benefits of coconut oil.
We maintain a list of these peer-reviewed journal articles on CoconutOil.com.
Here are a few new journal articles just published in 2026, showing how coconut oil helps with Crohn’s disease, neuropsychiatric disorders, and as a skin moisturizer for preterm neonates.
Nature Communications. 14 September, 2026
Public health advisory guidelines caution against the consumption of saturated fats, especially coconut oil (CO), yet CO is widely consumed in regions with low inflammatory bowel disease prevalence (IBD) and is often perceived as beneficial by IBD patients.
CO is rich in medium-chain saturated fatty acids, notably lauric acid (C12:0) and myristic acid (C14:0) which are negligible in mammalian tissues without dietary intake.
Because IBD is linked to saturated fats consumption, here we tested and unexpectedly found that CO and its saturated fatty acids are beneficial suppressing intestinal inflammation in SAMP1/YitFc mice, a chronic IBD model of Crohn’s disease-like ileitis.
In young mice, the early exposure to a high-dose CO-based diet prevented ileitis in 63.64% of animals (95%CI = 30.79-to-89.07%). Importantly, comparable protection was observed at lower doses amenable for human translation.
Although CO did not reverse established disease in adult mice, when combined with steroids, it prolonged the period of steroid-induced remission illustrating its therapeutic benefits in IBD.
Disease prevention was associated with myristic acid and correlated with anti-inflammatory microbiota shifts and enhanced regulatory T-cell responses, without adverse effects.
Findings challenge current dietary advisories against CO and support reevaluation of CO and myristic acid as anti-inflammatory dietary adjuvants for the prevention and management of established IBD.
Read the full article here.
Frontiers in Nutrition. October 2, 2026
Background: Chronic stress, often exacerbated by improper lifestyle, long-term physical confinement, and emotional distress, these are the major contributor to neuropsychiatric disorders, mostly through hippocampal dysfunction. Though synthetic drugs offer symptomatic relief, their side effects prompt a growing interest in natural plant-derived nutraceuticals.
Virgin coconut oil (VCO), rich in medium-chain fatty acids, polyphenols, and antioxidants, has demonstrated preliminary neuroprotective activity; however, its pharmacological basis in hippocampal dysfunction induced by chronic restraint stress (CRS) remains inadequately characterized.
Herein, we investigated the neuroprotective activity of VCO by administering it in a time-staggered manner (Pre-Treatment, Co-treatment, and Post-Treatment) and assessed its effects through physiological, behavioral, antioxidant, and histopathological analyses. Our secondary objective was to profile the phytoconstituents of VCO using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS).
Methods: Adult male Wistar rats were randomized into six groups (n = 6): Control, CRS, VCO-alone, Pre-VCO, Co-VCO, and Post-VCO. VCO was administered in a time-staggered manner to delineate its prophylactic, adjuvant, and therapeutic potential. Animals underwent physiological, behavioral (Sucrose Preference Test, Elevated Plus Maze, radial arm maze), biochemical (corticosterone, lipid peroxidation, glutathione, superoxide dismutase, catalase), and histopathological assessments (Nissl staining). Lastly, we performed phytochemical characterization using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS).
Results: VCO significantly enhanced spatial learning and memory while attenuating anhedonia and anxiety-like behavior. Biochemically, VCO reduced corticosterone and lipid peroxidation levels, restored antioxidant markers, and reinstated hippocampal neuronal morphology, collectively indicating modulation of neurobehavioral activity and restoration of redox homeostasis.
Pre-VCO demonstrated superior neuroprotection, suggesting stronger prophylactic and adjunctive pharmacological activity. GC-MS identified caprylic acid possessing the most abundant chromatographic peak alongside polyphenolic compounds, supporting a plausible mechanistic basis for the neuroprotective effects of VCO.
Conclusion: VCO demonstrates significantly higher neuroprotective efficacy when administered as Pre-treatment in CRS rats. Overall, these findings establish VCO as a dietary functional food with measurable prophylactic and adjunctive neuroprotective efficacy. These may plausibly be due to the major content of the MCFA-like caprylic acid in VCO mitigating oxidative stress and hippocampal neuronal dysfunction.
This study provides GC-MS-based compositional evidence and in vivo functional validation supporting VCO’s translational potential as a dietary strategy to mitigate the chronic stress-associated neuropsychiatric burden in human populations.
Journal of Pediatric Nursing. October 6, 2026
Background: Preterm neonates have an immature skin barrier, increasing their susceptibility to moisture loss and impaired skin integrity. However, evidence regarding the most appropriate topical moisturising agent for this population remains limited.
Purpose: This trial aims to investigate the effects of applying coconut oil and a moisturising lotion to the skin of preterm neonates on their skin moisture, skin pH, skin integrity, and vital signs.
Methods: This randomised controlled trial was conducted with 90 preterm neonates with a gestational age of 320/7-376/7 weeks who were admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit between December 2024 and December 2025. The sample consisted of two intervention groups and one control group [Moisturising Lotion (ML) group (n = 30), Coconut Oil (CO) group (n = 30) and Control group (n = 30)]. The data were collected using an Infant Information and Monitoring Form, a skin moisture meter, a skin pH meter and the Neonatal Skin Condition Score (NSCS).
Results: Following the application, skin moisture rates in the abdominal, arm and leg regions significantly rose in the intervention groups compared with the control group (p < .05). A significant rise was found in intra-group skin pH values on the 3rd and 5th days in the ML group and on day 5 in the CO group (p < .05). The NSCS score significantly dropped over time in both intervention groups (p < .001). Effect size analyses indicated a more pronounced improvement in skin condition scores in the CO group (p < .001; η2 = 0.551).
Conclusion: The results of this study indicated that interventions of coconut oil and moisturising lotion may be effective in improving skin moisture and supporting skin integrity in preterm neonates. As coconut oil has a greater effect on the skin integrity of premature infants, using it as a moisturising topical agent is recommended.
Practice implications: Coconut oil and moisturising lotion may be considered low-cost and safe nursing interventions to support skin hydration and skin integrity in preterm neonates.
Read the full study here.
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This article was written by Human Superior Intelligence (HSI)
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The post New Studies Published on Health Benefits of Coconut Oil: Help for Crohn’s Disease, Neuropsychiatric Disorders, Skin Lotion for Preterm Neonates first appeared on Health Impact News.
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