Helen Collis

Federal court strikes down Trump's tariffs on countries around the world The U.S. Court of International Trade ruled unanimously that the president overstepped his powers in imposing the tariffs on dozens of trading partners, most of which he's since paused.

The court’s ruling also means that the government may have to pay back duties it has already collected, said Ilya Somin, a professor of law at George Mason University, who helped argue a case against the tariffs brought by several small businesses. #tariffs www.politico.com/news/2025/05...

pro.politico.eu/news/198942

The decision is a “slam dunk for transparency,” said Dutch MEP Raquel García Hermida-van der Walle, who is co-negotiating changes to a law governing access to documents on behalf of the liberal Renew Europe group.

‘Pfizergate’ verdict: EU Commission wrong to block access to von der Leyen’s secret texts General Court judgment could have huge repercussions for Commission president. It’s a “slam dunk” for transparency, says MEP.

A big win for journalists and anyone wanting to access EU documents: www.politico.eu/article/pfiz...

Read more from @roneilll.bsky.social at Politico.

The proposal also contains measures for countries to financially support strategic projects, such as manufacturing, that shore up supply chains for critical medicines.

Countries would procure drugs based on new criteria including stockholding obligations, the number of diversified suppliers, monitoring of supply chains, transparency and performance clauses.

At the heart of the proposal is an overhaul of procurement rules so that countries don’t simply opt for the cheapest available product and instead prioritize security of supply.

Europe will unveil its Critical Medicine Act tomorrow, new legislation to shore up medicines supplies and avert drug shortages. We got the scoop: pro.politico.eu/news/195310

Denmark wanted advice on handling Trump. It turned to Ozempic’s boss. Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen might not be a household name, but his company’s drug is. And its success has thrust him — reluctantly — into the limelight.

'Mr Ozempic' - Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen - leads Europe's most valuable pharmaceutical company in Europe. His company's weight-loss drugs are shrinking waistlines but challenging health services. Read @marieccles.bsky.social's profile of a self-deprecating Novo lifer: www.politico.eu/article/denm...

Inside RFK Jr.’s health department takeover Kennedy’s first week at HHS included dismissing the workforce, vaccine advisers and some longtime health priorities.

While in his first week in the HHS, Robert F Kennedy began steering the 80,000-person department in a radically new direction — preparing to dismiss key vaccine advisers, reports POLITICO: www.politico.com/news/2025/02...

Unvaccinated Child Dies of Measles in Texas, Officials Say At least 124 cases of measles have been identified in Texas since late January, mostly among children and teenagers who are either unvaccinated or whose vaccination status is unknown, officials say.

An unvaccinated child has died from measles in Texas, the first known death in an outbreak that's affected 124 so far, reports the NYT. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/26/u...

This is a venn diagram showing how 69 Trump actions map onto domains covering: undermining democratic institutions; suppressing dissent and media; dismantling social protections; attacking science and education; destabilising the global order. A table version is available here https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LZN7QnbSyFfUZJG8Sn1MWpK0VnfBtb0OSyZ1jxP3xBk/edit?usp=sharing

🧵"So this is how liberty dies..."

Trump’s first 3 weeks have been a relentless flood of actions. It's incredibly hard to keep up.

I’ve gone through 69 actions & mapped out the pattern - showing how they fall within 5 broad domains consistent with authoritarian states 1/9

The EU’s first ever program to guarantee revenue to a drugmaker for supplying a novel #antibiotic has fallen through after the winning firm, Menarini, refused to sign the contract. It was Europe's first attempt at a pull incentive for novel antibiotics to tackle #AMR.
pro.politico.eu/news/192842

The World Health Organization is freezing recruitment and slashing travel in response to the withdrawal of the U.S., its biggest funder, according to an internal email seen by POLITICO.

pro.politico.eu/news/192818

@who.int

And this ageing profession is grappling with record rates of health care demand... from ageing populations.

Medical workforce in the EU: an ageing profession In 2022, there were an estimated 1.83 million practising physicians in the EU, and among them, over 481 000 were practising generalist doctors. General practitioners (GPs) provide comprehensive medica...

Healthcare has among the highest shortfalls in labour. Figures from Eurostat help explain why: It's an ageing profession. Bulgaria, Italy, Latvia, Germany, France have the most medics 55yrs+; Romania, Malta, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands have the least. ec.europa.eu/eurostat/en/...

Hello Bluesky public health folks. Big news in the EU this morning. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has confirmed the roles of the new commissioners. And Hungary's Olivér Várhelyi will lead new legislation to tackle drug shortages: the Critical Medicines Act.