The nation’s health secretary addressed agency employees, asking them to shed any corporate influence. But he did not address the mass layoffs that have gutted oversight of tobacco and vapes, food safety and drug reviews.

© Ash Ponders for The New York Times

Robert F. Kennedy, President Trump’s nominee for health secretary, vigorously defended his views on vaccines, and a key senator still has clear doubts.

The drug, Journavx by Vertex Pharmaceuticals, blocks pain signals to the brain, making it nonaddictive.

In a Senate hearing, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. said that efforts to address the high rates of chronic disease need to start with fixing the food supply.

Inside the $32 billion industry transforming marijuana, its consumption and beliefs about its ability to heal.

Two U.S. companies teamed up to treat cancer patients using an unproven blood filter in Antigua, out of reach of American regulators.

Scientific meetings were canceled, and research data on the bird flu outbreak was delayed, amid confusion over the directive.

In a wide-ranging interview, Xavier Becerra, President Biden’s health secretary, defended his tenure and hinted that he might run for governor of California.

In the final days of the Biden administration, the F.D.A. is moving ahead with a proposal to require companies to produce a less addictive product for traditional smokers.

The agency issued designs for front-of-package lists that food companies would be required to include.

Consumer and food safety groups have long urged the agency to revoke the use of this dye and others. The F.D.A. says there still is no evidence it is a human carcinogenic.

While some agree with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that the agency needs reform, their ideas for fixing it are very different from his.