Gabrielle M. Etzel

Pittsburgh, United States

Healthcare Reporter at Washington Examiner

Articles

Supreme Court upholds Tennessee ban on transgender procedures for minors

1 week ago | gazette.com | Jack Birle |Gabrielle M. Etzel

The Supreme Court upheld a Tennessee law banning transgender procedures for minors on Wednesday, finding it does not violate the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion in the 6-3 decision upholding Tennessee's SB 1, which prohibits the use of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgical procedures to treat gender dysphoria and related conditions in minors.
Fired vaccine panel experts received thousands from Big Pharma

2 weeks ago | washingtonexaminer.com | Gabrielle M. Etzel

Several of the members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired on Monday received tens of thousands of dollars from pharmaceutical companies in the past decade, according to HHS disclosure records.
Doctors ask Senate to investigate RFK Jr. over vaccine panel firings

2 weeks ago | washingtonexaminer.com | Gabrielle M. Etzel

Members of the American Medical Association passed an emergency resolution during their annual meeting calling on the Senate to investigate Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.The emergency resolution on Tuesday came as a response to Kennedy’s controversial decision to fire the 17 sitting members of a vaccine safety advisory panel within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, announced Monday afternoon.
NIH director grilled by both parties for proposed research budget cuts

2 weeks ago | washingtonexaminer.com | Gabrielle M. Etzel

Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Appropriations Committee grilled National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya on Tuesday morning regarding President Donald Trump’s proposed 2026 budget that would slash funding for the premier biomedical research agency. Sens.
Kennedy removes all members of vaccine safety panel

2 weeks ago | washingtonexaminer.com | Gabrielle M. Etzel

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday announced that he was retiring the members of a key vaccine safety panel, saying a “clean sweep” is needed to re-establish public trust in the medical establishment. Kennedy, a longtime vaccine skeptic, announced that his administration would be “taking a bold step in restoring public trust” in vaccine science by retiring all of the 17 members on the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices and appointing replacements.
Jay Bhattacharya responds to complaint from thousands of NIH employees

2 weeks ago | washingtonexaminer.com | Gabrielle M. Etzel

National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya responded to complaints from nearly 4,500 of his scientist employees protesting his leadership of the premier biomedical research agency. Bhattacharya responded in a social media post on X to the complaints of thousands of NIH employees who signed a petition-style complaint about problems the agency has experienced since Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took the helm of the Department of Health and Human Services in January.
Controversial suppressed paper on trans youth procedures is published

3 weeks ago | washingtonexaminer.com | Gabrielle M. Etzel

The results of a study funded by the National Institutes of Health on the mental effects of puberty blockers on gender dysphoric youth were unceremoniously posted online last month following months of outcry about the author’s suppression of her findings.
Senate confirms Trump HHS pick in favor of anti-aging research

3 weeks ago | washingtonexaminer.com | Gabrielle M. Etzel

The Senate on Thursday confirmed anti-aging research investor Jim O’Neill for the second-highest position at the Department of Health and Human Services, a step toward an era of deregulation in biomedical research from the highest levels of the department. O’Neill, President Donald Trump’s nominee to serve one step below HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as deputy secretary, was confirmed on partisan lines in a vote of 52 to 43.
Democrats step up attack on healthcare provisions in GOP megabill

3 weeks ago | washingtonexaminer.com | Gabrielle M. Etzel

Democrats are honing their attacks on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to accuse Republicans of taking health insurance away from enrollees in Medicaid and Obamacare. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), joined by Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) from the Senate Finance Committee, told reporters on Wednesday that Democrats are “ready to fight” against what he characterized as a Republican effort to decimate healthcare.
Nearly 11 million uninsured under One Big Beautiful Bill Act, CBO says

3 weeks ago | washingtonexaminer.com | Gabrielle M. Etzel

Nearly 11 million more people would be uninsured over the next decade if provisions that affect Medicaid and Obamacare health insurance plans are enacted under the Republican tax megabill, according to estimates released by the Congressional Budget Office on Wednesday. Democrats will likely use the estimate to try to stop the bill from advancing.