Pediatricians push forward with lifelong safety for little ones, pushing against shifting federal guidance

• The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends COVID-19 vaccinations for children aged 623 months, citing serious illness risk.

• This move directly contrasts with Health Secretary RFK Jr. and federal guidance, which now favors individualized decision-making over routine shots.

• The AAP emphasizes evidence-based recommendations to protect the most vulnerable youngsters and urges insurers to keep covering vaccines.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has unveiled its own evidence-based immunization schedule, diverging from federal health guidance.

At the heart of the difference? The AAP wants COVID-19 shots for young children while U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has pulled back, removing universal COVID-19 vaccine recommendations for healthy kids.

The AAP will continue to provide recommendations for immunizations that are rooted in science and are in the best interest of the health of infants, children and adolescents, AAP President Susan J. Kressly, MD, FAAP, said in a news release.

Pediatricians know how important routine childhood immunizations are in keeping children, families and their communities healthy and thriving.

Why the AAP is holding the line

The academy underscores that children aged 6 to 23 months face the highest hospitalization rates for COVID among pediatric groups comparable to adults in their 50s and 60s.

That risk, the AAP argues, isnt something to ignore. By including COVID-19 among the returning vaccines alongside flu, RSV, and others, they aim to ensure families have clear, protective guidance.

What federal policy says and why it matters

In May, RFK Jr., removed routine COVID-19 vaccine recommendations for healthy children and pregnant people.

The CDC followed with a shared clinical decision-making model leaving it to parents and doctors to weigh pros and cons rather than issuing a blanket should vaccinate rule.

The AAP believes that shift creates confusion and potentially undermines child health so its drawing a clear line in the pediatric sand.

What parents and caregivers should know

1. AAP backs COVID-19 shots for babies and toddlers (623 months) highlighting real risks and vaccine effectiveness.

2. Federal guidance is no longer universal for healthy kids; now its a personalized, parent-doctor conversation.

3. Insurance coverage may follow AAPs lead, depending on provider decisions so keep an eye on your plan, especially if RFK Jr.s changes impact whats considered routine care.

4. Ultimately, the AAPs goal is clear: provide trusted, science-rooted guidance in a shifting public health landscape.
   

We extensively reviewed the most recently available data about COVID-19 risks in kids, as well as safety and effectiveness of available COVID-19 vaccines, Sean OLeary, M.D., FAAP, chair of the AAP Committee on Infectious Diseases, said in the news release.

It's clear they are very safe for all populations. Among the reasons we decided to move to a risk-based recommendation for healthy older children is the fact that the hospitalization rate for young children and children with underlying medical conditions remains high, in line with rates for many of the other vaccine-preventable diseases for which we vaccinate.

Consumer group warns that federal oversight is waning and state must step in

• Center for Responsible Lending urges states to take the lead on solar financing reforms as federal oversight wanes.

• Key recommendations include limits on hidden fees, enforceable savings guarantees, and stricter sales protections.

• Goal is to ensure fair access to rooftop solar for low- and moderate-income homeowners.

The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) has released a new reportcalling on policymakers and regulators to strengthen consumer protections in rooftop solar financing, warning that abusive practices threaten both homeowners and the industrys long-term success.

With the federal government scaling back oversight, CRLs policy recommendations arguethat states must take the lead in creating a fairer, more transparent market.

Now more than ever, state action will play a critical role to restore trust and ensure the solar industrys long-term success, said Andrew Kushner, senior policy counsel at CRL and co-author of the report. We urge policymakers and regulators to enact reforms to combat abusive practices that could harm the very communities that stand to benefit most.

Recommendations for reform

Among the most pressing reforms, CRL is urging states to:

• Require lenders to conduct an ability to repay analysis for solar loans.

• Cap hidden dealer fees and ensure such fees genuinely reduce interest rates.

• Provide accurate, good-faith estimates of energy production and savings, guaranteed for at least five years.

• Mandate clear, written explanations of tax credits and their limitations, especially for low- and moderate-income households.

• Enforce consumer protection laws against fraudulent or high-pressure sales tactics, while requiring that installations be done by licensed professionals.

Solar panels play a critical role in increasing access to clean energy, said Anneliese Lederer, another co-author and CRL senior policy counsel. By enacting policies that require both transparency and truthfulness in solar financing, policymakers can help create a market that better benefits both consumers and lenders.

Warning against abuses

The report builds on CRLs earlier study, The Shady Side of Solar System Financing, which detailed how some lenders mislead consumers about true costs, often inflating solar system prices by 25 percent or more and saddling borrowers with unaffordable loans.

CRL said reforms outlined in the new report would help prevent such practices and expand access to solar energy in a way that protects families, particularly those in vulnerable communities.

The decision allows hundreds of positions to be eliminated at the CFPB

The state alleged that Booking advertised artificially low room rates

By Truman Lewis of ConsumerAffairs

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has won a $9.5 million settlement with Booking Holdings Inc., operator of the Booking.com site, for deceptively marketing hotel room prices to consumers by omitting mandatory fees. This settlement marks the largest amount recovered by a state related to junk fee practices against any hotel or online travel agency.

'Spicy' feature accused of enabling fake nude images and videos of both celebrities and private citizens

• Consumer and privacy groups file formal complaints urging regulators to investigate xAIs Grok Imagine platform.

• Spicy feature accused of enabling NCII, including fake nude images and videos of both celebrities and private citizens.

• Coalition of 16 advocacy organizations warns the tool poses urgent risks to survivors, children, and vulnerable communities.

A coalition of consumer protection, privacy, and digital rights advocates has filed a sweeping request for investigation into xAI, accusing the company of promoting and enabling non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII) through its Grok Imagine platform.

The filing, led by the Consumer Federation of America (CFA), was submitted to attorneys general in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, 93 U.S. attorneys offices, and the Federal Trade Commission. It asks regulators to crack down on what the groups call the promotion, creation, and facilitation of illegal sexual exploitation via Grok Imagines spicy feature, which allows users to generate nude videos from AI-produced images.

Exploitative, unfair, and lazy

This feature is exploitative, unfair, and lazy, said Ben Winters, CFAs director of AI and privacy in a news release. Its a crystal-clear representation of why AI built off of peoples data without knowledge or consent in the hands of an unaccountable billionaire is a legal and ethical nightmare. This feature endangers everyone, with an acute and urgent risk for domestic violence survivors, kids, and more.

Advocates argue the creation of NCIIwhether involving public figures or private citizensposes devastating risks, from extortion and blackmail to long-lasting personal and professional harm.

Broad coalition of support

The complaint was joined by 15 organizations, including the Center for Economic Justice, Common Sense Media, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, Fairplay, the National Consumers League, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, and the Tech Oversight Project.

The groups said swift enforcement is needed not only to protect individuals but to draw clear boundaries around what constitutes acceptable deployment of artificial intelligence.

The creation of NCII is unacceptable, illegal, and damaging enough, but embedding it into a consumer-facing AI platform risks normalizing abuse at scale, the coalition wrote.