Originally published at: Good News Friday: NIH Opens Vaccine Injury Clinic, Judge Rejects Flock Surveillance, and USS Lincoln Returns – Peak Prosperity
Health
HHS opened an NIH clinic to study and treat patients reporting health problems after vaccination and proposed reimbursing doctors for VAERS reports. The Bethesda clinic opened on October 5 so clinicians and researchers can evaluate patients and investigate causes. CMS proposed paying physicians for time spent filing suspected injury reports, matching typical Medicare reimbursement. Federal standards will require electronic health records to capture vaccine-related adverse events so the data follows patients. CDC is modernizing VAERS for mobile reporting and better research tools after awarding a contract. Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the government must listen to patients rather than dismiss them and use evidence to make vaccines safer. Other public health experts, including Dr. Peter Hotez, said the United States already has sophisticated, redundant vaccine monitoring systems and expressed concern that the initiative could sow doubt amid declining vaccination rates and measles outbreaks.
Separately, FTC Director Andrew Ferguson warned that hospitals must give patients complete, accurate prices before elective procedures or face federal court. He sent warning letters to CEOs of 24 of the nation’s largest healthcare companies, saying disclosure must start immediately. Price posting has been required since 2020, but only about half of hospitals fully comply, and many files are hard to navigate. Just 18 percent that post fees list dollar prices for at least half of services. Ferguson said prices are deceptive if they conceal true cost, omit fees, or cover only part of care. Investigations are underway, with focus on rural Americans, seniors, and veterans.
Privacy & Surveillance
A federal judge ruled a Flock automated license plate reader search unconstitutional, writing that it constituted indiscriminate mass surveillance. The judge wrote that Flock’s nationwide network is approaching dragnet-type law enforcement practice and that the officer should have obtained a warrant. A Flock Safety spokesman said the ruling goes against the overwhelming weight of authority in similar cases across the country and that the company expects it to be appealed and overturned.
Relatedly, the Ban Flock Act would prohibit federal agencies from acquiring, possessing, accessing, or using automated license plate readers or their data without explicit congressional authorization capping retention at 48 hours with due process, privacy, and free speech protections. States and localities using ALPRs would lose specified federal grants, and no federal funds could buy or operate the devices. Illegally obtained evidence would be inadmissible, and individuals could sue for damages. Toll systems would be exempt if data is deleted within 48 hours of payment. Sponsors include Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jeff Merkley. Bernie Sanders is planning a Senate version. Republicans Thomas Massie and Eric Burlison introduced a similar Flock-Off Act, and Florida ordered Flock cameras removed from state highways.
On Internet surveillance, Google asked a Nevada court to quash a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police keyword warrant, arguing it is a facially invalid general warrant that violates federal and state constitutions. The sealed warrant, tied to the July killing of a homeless woman, seeks information on everyone who searched specified terms rather than an identified suspect. A hearing is set for late October. Nevada has no reverse-keyword statute. Google disclosed that Las Vegas and Henderson police had served it numerous reverse warrants under gag orders. No federal appellate court has decided whether obtaining such data from a search engine constitutes a search.
US Politics
The Treasury Department blocked $175 million in payments to deceased recipients in fiscal 2026 after screening more than 1.1 billion payments totaling about $3.7 trillion and returning roughly 13,500 of them. Do Not Pay coverage expanded from 4 percent of federal programs to 99 percent. Bank-account and Taxpayer Identification Number verification became fully operational on September 30. Congress advanced a bill to permanently share the Social Security Death Master File with Treasury. Secretary Scott Bessent said the department is using better data and stronger controls to stop improper payments before money leaves.
After the Supreme Court struck down a broad birthright citizenship order in June, the Justice Department is applying existing fraud laws to birth tourism. Attorney General Todd Blanche said prosecutors have been told to prioritize cases of foreign nationals traveling under false pretenses to obtain citizenship for children born here. The department is working with Homeland Security to tighten questions posed to travelers. Executive orders targeted birth tourism, and a visa-denial policy targets commercial operators, visa fixers, and medical providers. A federal judge blocked one order in September, but the DOJ has asked that the injunction be dissolved, arguing the order was prospective only.
Speaking of immigration, the DOJ sued the University of Delaware for granting in-state tuition to illegal immigrants while charging out-of-state U.S. citizens 2.7 times more. Resident undergraduate tuition is $15,740 versus $42,470 for non-residents, a $26,730 yearly gap. To qualify for the cheaper rate, the illegal immigrant must have attended a Delaware high school for three years, graduated or earned a GED, lived with a parent or legal guardian while in school, enrolled within 18 months of graduating, and applied for citizenship or permanent residency. Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward Jr. said the department will challenge every policy giving such non-citizens benefits unavailable to all Americans. The case is the 26th such suit, with favorable orders already won against six states. A March ruling dismissed a similar Minnesota challenge. The University of Delaware said it is reviewing the complaint carefully and declined further comment because it is a pending legal matter.
In other news, the USS Abraham Lincoln returned to San Diego after more than 300 days away, including a reported record 265 consecutive days at sea. Nearly 5,000 sailors and Marines had left in November 2025 on a planned seven-month deployment that included a brief stop in Guam and a later call in Thailand. The Navy acknowledged logistics problems amid reports of shortages, hygiene issues, and poorly maintained facilities. Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao told Congress that eight sailors in the strike group had attempted suicide. Upon docking, Secretary Pete Hegseth awarded the Presidential Unit Citation as families reunited; some sailors met newborns for the first time. Hegseth said portrayals of dysfunction did not match what he heard from leadership. The ship’s commander, Capt. Dan Keeler, said there were no suicides or lost lives on board.
Sources
USS Lincoln Home After 300-Day Iran Deployment: Shortages, Suicide Attempts, and Hegseth’s Citation
The plight of the Lincoln carrier and its crew of some 5,000 sailors and Marines grabbed international headlines for months, given reports of substandard living conditions, food and supply shortages, and mental health crises which led to attempted suicides among servicemembers.
Treasury Blocks $175 Million in Payments to Dead Recipients
The Treasury Department blocked $175 million in federal payments from going to deceased recipients in fiscal year 2026 as the Trump administration expanded efforts to prevent fraud and improper government spending.
HHS Under RFK Jr. Opens Vaccine Injury Clinic, Pays Doctors to Report to VAERS
We must listen to patients and families who report vaccine injuries—not dismiss or gaslight them.
Judge: Flock ALPR Search Was Unconstitutional Mass Surveillance Dragnet
Federal Judge Rules a Flock Search Was ‘Indiscriminate Mass Surveillance’ and Unconstitutional
Bipartisan Ban Flock Act Targets Federal License-Plate Surveillance
“Flock is eviscerating the very notion of privacy by installing tens of thousands of cameras in communities across America without their consent,”
DOJ Sues University of Delaware: Illegal Aliens Get In-State Tuition While Out-of-State Americans Pay 2.7x More
This Department of Justice’s efforts will not cease until we have challenged every state law or university policy that gives preferential treatment to illegal aliens over our Nation’s own citizens.
Google Challenges Vegas Keyword Warrant as Illegal General Search
The warrant wants a crowd, not a suspect, and Google is asking whether that is constitutional.
FTC Warns Hospitals: Hide Prices, Face Court
Let me be clear: these letters are a warning. Healthcare providers must disclose their prices to consumers and must do so starting today,
DOJ Turns to Fraud Laws Against Birth Tourism After SCOTUS Blocks Citizenship Order
Those cases can be difficult to prove, but it’s not slowing us down.
In addition to sources submitted by community members, the following were also used in the creation of this report: USA TODAY, CNN, 404 Media, Spotlight Delaware, and Reclaim The Net.