The FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research issued its annual report on the approval of drugs, which announced that the agency OK’d 50 novel drugs in 2024, 15 of which were related to cancer care and treatment.

At today’s Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing, nominee for Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) Jr. refused to renounce his claims that the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine is “dangerous and defective.” When given the opportunity to do so, Kennedy instead pointed to an ongoing lawsuit involving Merck and claims the company didn’t adequately disclose the side effects of Gardasil, its HPV vaccine; Kennedy litigated the case at earlier stages and stands to profit if Merck loses. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, HPV infection causes nearly all cases of cervical cancer, and more than 90% of HPV-caused cancers––which also include some anal, penile, vulvar, vaginal, and head and neck cancers—can be prevented through vaccination.