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Tumultuous FDA upends regulations on vaccines and medications
As most experienced, knowledgeable leaders leave or are pushed out of the FDA, Trump appointees are quietly changing the way vaccines and medications are regulated. I’ve been following vaccine regulations and recommendations closely, and I’m concerned about the future of vaccines — and certain politicized medications — in the United States. Today, I wanted to…
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How Trump is “illegally” holding back funds
Protesters in D.C. called attention to the Trump administration’s refusal to disburse money, even though Congress appropriated it. Yesterday, protesters laid on the ground in a busy intersection near the White House to call attention to the Trump administration’s refusal to pay for HIV prevention and care. I was there to report for the Guardian…
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When Trump targets the homeless, we’re all at risk
Americans are losing affordable housing under Trump. And his new executive order goes even further. Before he began deploying federal agents, the National Guard, and the D.C. police to clear urban camping sites, Trump issued a new executive order on homelessness. It made immediate waves among people focused on housing, but otherwise it’s not gotten…
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Covid cases are on the rise — but vaccines are being restricted
Getting a booster is a great way to protect yourself. We’re at the start of a new Covid wave. Several key measurements — including wastewater data, test positivity and emergency room visits — indicate a new rise in infections. Cases are increasing or probably increasing in 45 states, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It’s getting harder to…
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FDA may pull the only Covid vaccine available for all kids
The FDA may not renew Pfizer’s pediatric Covid vaccine — the only one available to kids without health conditions On Saturday, I published a scoop: The FDA reportedly told Pfizer it may not renew the emergency use authorization for its Covid vaccine for children aged 6 months to four years. That’s the only Covid vaccine…
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Measles-stricken children in Texas had “intense” symptoms, anti-vaxxers say
“It was, like, quite intense, those little babies with those sort of almost whooping coughs.” One of the most prominent anti-vaccine activists in the U.S., Brian Hooker, says he caught measles in West Texas and traveled back home. That means either: I wrote about this for the Guardian today, and I hope you’re able to click and…
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How RFK Jr. made millions from vaccine lawsuits
His actions as health secretary could lead to widespread vaccine shortages, illness, death — and personal enrichment. My editor at the New Republic recently asked me what I thought of the latest news on vaccines. He was referring to the decision by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of health and human services, to fire 17…
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RFK Jr. recommends new vaccines after months of delay
With no official or acting CDC director, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is in charge of the CDC — and recommending vaccines is the one job he can’t delegate. Who is in charge at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention? I reported on this last week for the Guardian — and the answer was…
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How the Trump admin is undermining vaccines
They’re calling all science into question and undermining public trust in the whole endeavor. Messenger RNA, or mRNA, vaccines heralded a major breakthrough in battling the Covid pandemic, building on three decades of scientific work and earning a Nobel prize. They show promise for treating or preventing certain cancers, rare conditions and infectious diseases — including, potentially,…
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Are we ready for the next pandemic?
The U.S. response to the bird flu and measles outbreaks are worrying signs that our pandemic preparedness has eroded. I’ve been covering bird flu for a while now. It wasn’t great under Biden. There was never enough testing to understand where outbreaks are happening and how they are spreading. Health leaders chose not to deploy…
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NIH director’s own research filled with errors
Jay Bhattacharya used a flawed study in 2020 to argue for reopening even as Covid gained force. Today, Jay Bhattacharya, the director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), testified before a Congressional committee. The main takeaway: Bhattacharya does not seem interested in defending steep budget cuts to U.S. research. He said budgets are a…
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Top US officials throw Covid vaccines into turmoil
The Trump administration is bypassing scientific evidence and procedure to change vaccine rules. Last week, three top U.S. health officials made an unusual announcement about Covid vaccines. They said they would remove the recommendation for Covid vaccination from the childhood immunization schedule, and would also cease recommending it for pregnant people. The first reason it…
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There is always hope
Today is the fifth anniversary of my brother’s death. The weather here in the Washington, DC, area feels appropriate. This morning was full of clouds and rain, with the occasional rumble of thunder keeping us inside. But now blue skies peek through the trees, and warm air and birdsong float through the open window. There…
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RFK Jr’s autism database is still happening
It’s not a “registry,” it’s a “real-world data platform” to “link existing datasets,” HHS told me. The news that the U.S. government was creating an “autism registry” sparked a major outcry in recent weeks. One petition against it gained 30,000 signatures in one day, eventually reaching nearly 50,000 names. The backlash seemed to work. “We…
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The measles outbreak is getting worse — and so is the misinformation
Anti-vaccine activists, and the U.S. health secretary, are promoting unproven treatments in place of vaccination. A second child died from measles in Texas this month. Both of the girls, ages 6 and 8, had no previous health conditions, other than being unvaccinated. The outbreak in Texas has now risen to 541 known cases and 56 hospitalizations. The…
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It’s time to take action on bird flu
When this version of H5N1 first landed in North America, borne on the wings of migratory birds blown off course from Europe in late 2021, Seema Lakdawala followed the developments closely, but she wasn’t overly worried about it leading to a pandemic in humans yet. Here’s what Lakdawala, an influenza virologist and co-director of the Center for…
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Why experts think we’ll have another flu pandemic
And how climate change and large-scale industrial agricultural amplify outbreaks. Scientists often debate where the next pandemic will come from and what virus will cause it, but they tend to agree on one thing: At some point, the world will see another flu pandemic, I reported recently for Sierra Magazine. “If you go back in…
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What is bird flu, and why worry about it?
The H5N1 outbreak in the United States is heating up. Here’s what you need to know. I’ve been writing about bird flu for some time now, but I realized I’ve never really talked about what it is, how people are getting sick, and why it’s a threat. The past few months brought a few worrying…
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What gives me hope
As the Trump administration attacks science and expertise, and a measles outbreak is already testing its laidback approach to health, ordinary people are fighting back. There’s a good/infuriating article about anti-vaccine sentiment in West Texas during the growing measles outbreak there. It’s really illuminating and I recommend reading it, if you’re able. This line has…
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Texas pharmacies are running low on measles vaccine
The surge in demand comes as a second measles death is reported in New Mexico — and as the top U.S. health official promotes misinformation on measles. There are now 198 known cases, 23 hospitalizations and one death from measles in Texas, and 30 known cases and one death in New Mexico. But if you call a…
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Not a Doctor 