TV News LIES

A new COVID-19 variant, BA.3.2, has been detected in 25 states, according to a recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The new variant was first found in South Africa in November 2024 and has since spread to at least 23 countries; it accounts for 30% of current COVID-19 cases in certain parts of Europe.

BA.3.2 was first identified in the United States in January 2026 and currently makes up less than 1% of cases in the country, according to Dr. Abraar Karan, an instructor in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine in California.

“In the U.S., it has been detected in wastewater across multiple states which suggests low-level spread, but it has not emerged as the dominant variant,” Dr. Syra Madad, an epidemiologist and author of the Substack Critical Health Voices, told HuffPost via email. (The current dominant variant in the U.S. is XFG, according to CDC data.)

While COVID-19 levels are low throughout most of the country, this variant is capturing researchers’ attention for a reason. Here’s what to know:

“BA.3.2 is a newer SARS-CoV-2 variant that public health officials are watching closely because it has a large number of spike protein mutations, which may help it partially evade immunity from prior infection or vaccination,” said Madad.

“It does have more mutations than some other variants ... in the spike protein, which is particularly relevant for various proxies of whether this could cause more problems to humans,” Karan said.

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More than 100 substances widely used in common US foods, supplements and beverages underwent no health and safety review by the US Food and Drug Administration, a new analysis of federal records finds.

The review of FDA records by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) non-profit reveals that diverse products across the food pyramid, such as Capri Sun drinks, Kettle and Fire organic broth, Acme smoked fish, and Quaker Oats snack bars, use a range of substances that have not undergone review by regulators.

Companies are using the generally recognized as safe (GRAS) rule that was developed in 1958 to allow ingredients such as salt or white vinegar to be used without a burdensome and needless review process.

But companies are increasingly exploiting the rule and sending potentially dangerous new chemicals or substances into the food system without scrutiny, EWG found. Some of these have caused health problems. In 2022, food made with the GRAS ingredient tara flour was believed to have caused over 300 illnesses and 113 hospitalizations.

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Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said Dunkin’ and other companies will need to prove that their ingredients are safe, prompting Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey (D) on Wednesday to reply back, “Come and take it.”

Kennedy, while at a rally at Brazos Hall last week in Austin, Texas, said, “We’re going to ask Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks, ‘Show us the safety data that show that it’s OK for a teenage girl to drink an iced coffee with 115 grams of sugar in it.'”

He added, as the audience applauded, “I don’t think they’re going to be able to do it.

“The reforms aim to ensure American foods follow the highest safety and nutritional standards globally,” MAHA Action, Kennedy’s nonprofit health advocacy group, said in a statement explaining Kennedy’s announcement.

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The Supreme Court on March 2 backed parents' right to be told if their child changes their name, or pronouns they're using in school, blocking California rules aimed at preventing teachers from outing transgender students to their parents.

"Under long-established precedent, parents − not the State − have primary authority with respect to 'the upbringing and education of children,'" the majority said in an unsigned opinion. "The right protected by these precedents includes the right not to be shut out of participation in decisions regarding their children’s mental health."

The court’s three liberal justices dissented from the decision to grant the parents' emergency request.

Justice Elena Kagan criticized the conservative majority for making a rushed decision about a case "raising novel legal questions and arousing strong views" that is at an early stage of litigation.

"The Court is impatient: It already knows what it thinks, and insists on getting everything over quickly," she wrote of the decision that came without the full rounds of briefing and oral arguments for cases.

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Since September, 16 major drug companies have inked deals with the Trump administration to lower prices. But in January — the time of year when pharmaceutical companies typically roll out price hikes — all 16 companies released higher list prices for some of their drugs.

The agreements, nicknamed "most favored nation" deals, were aimed at getting lower prices for American consumers and pushing other wealthy countries to pay higher prices for new drugs.

But drug companies, including the 16 that made deals, raised the prices of 872 brand-name drugs in the first two weeks of 2026, according to a new analysis by 46brooklyn, a drug price research firm.The drugs with price hikes included medicines to treat cancer, heart failure and Type 2 diabetes. The price of some COVID shots also went up.

"The real truth serum is what's happening in the marketplace after those deals occur," says Antonio Ciaccia, CEO of 46brooklyn, a nonprofit that tracks the list prices of prescription medications. "January is prime time for list price changes on brand-name drugs. So in examining where we are today, we're pretty much in line with the last few years."

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Dr. Kade Goepferd watched the Trump administration's moves on Thursday to ban gender-affirming care for transgender youth with "a mix of sadness and frustration."

Goepferd, who is the founder of Children's Minnesota Gender Health Program, says that for the medical community, nothing has changed about the evidence supporting gender-affirming care that could justify the government's actions.

"There's a massive propaganda and disinformation campaign that is selectively targeting this small population of already vulnerable kids and their families," Goepferd says.

Federal health officials said many times at Thursday's announcement that their actions were driven by science and evidence, not politics or ideology. They frequently praised a report published by the Department of Health and Human Services in November. It concluded that clinicians who provide medical care to help youth transition have failed their patients and emphasized the benefits of psychotherapy as an alternative.

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