Public health

Senator Endorses Discredited Doctor’s Book on a Chemical He Claims Treats Everything from Autism to Cancer
Wisconsin’s Ron Johnson has a history of spreading vaccine misinformation. Now he’s giving credence to assertions about the therapeutic powers of chlorine dioxide, a disinfectant and deodorizer. “It is all lunacy,” one expert said.
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CDC Advisers Drop Decades-Old Universal Hepatitis B Birth Dose Recommendation, Suggest Blood Testing After One Dose
Scientists say that hepatitis B vaccine is safe and effective, and that dropping the decades-old practice of a universal dose at birth will have only one result: hepatitis B rates and resulting liver cancer, cirrhosis, and premature death will rise among the unvaccinated or undervaccinated—whether in infancy or later in life, when unprotected adults will be vulnerable to infection.
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Aluminum in Vaccines: Separating RFK Jr.’s Claims from Scientific Evidence
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s belief that aluminum in vaccines can cause health issues is contradicted by scientific evidence, a fact which RFK Jr. does not allow to interfere with his campaign against vaccination. What is incontrovertible is that increasing vaccine hesitancy and reduced vaccination rates lead to more vulnerable people and more infectious diseases, illnesses, and deaths. It is important to question medical interventions, but this questioning should be informed, rational, and open.
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Study Warns Past Heat Waves Would Be Far More Lethal Now
The weather patterns behind Europe’s past extreme heat waves could cause tens of thousands more deaths in today’s hotter climate –unless countries rapidly scale up heat-adaptation efforts.
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South Carolina’s Measles Outbreak Shows Chilling Effect of Vaccine Misinformation
For the first time in more than two decades, the United States is poised to lose its measles elimination status, a designation indicating that outbreaks are rare and rapidly contained. The confluence of larger national trends —including historically low vaccination rates, skepticism fueled by the pandemic, misinformation, and “health freedom” ideologies promoted by conservative politicians —have put communities at risk for the reemergence of a preventable, potentially deadly virus.
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CDC’s New Deputy Director Is Vocal Critic of Vaccines, Advocated for Ivermectin
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. named a critic o COVID vaccines — and a promoter of a worthless alternative to such vaccines – as deputy director of CDC.
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Physical Approaches to Civilian Biodefense
Progress in biological sciences and technologies will offer more opportunities to improve human well-being in the coming decades, but this progress may also lower barriers that are blocking bad actors from engineering pathogens to cause destruction. We need to identify potential preparedness measures for challenging biological threats.
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After Unprecedented Autism-Vaccine Messaging Change, Scientists, Advocates Say CDC No Longer Trustworthy
“Ideology has replaced science as the means for addressing life-saving research and best practices that save lives,” said CIDRAP director Michael T. Osterholm. The “propaganda machine for RFK Jr.’s fixed, immutable, science-resistant theories” has triumphed at the CDC, said Paul Offit, an infectious disease specialist at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “It’s not enough to push the snake oil. You have to discredit mainstream biomedical science and portray scientists as public enemies or cartoon villains, and that’s what Kennedy’s seeking to do,” said Peter Hotez, codirector of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development.
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The CDC’s Return to Autism Panic Is Exactly Why It Needs Reform
Resurrecting a claim disproven countless times doesn’t protect public health—it undermines trust in the very institution meant to safeguard it. The controversy, however, makes the points I’ve made before even more urgent: The CDC should be restored to its original role —a dedicated partner that supports and coordinates disease-control efforts.
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Global Risk Index for AI-enabled Biological Tools
Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the life sciences, accelerating breakthroughs in research, drug discovery and biotechnology. However, some of the AI tools that drive innovation can also be misused, posing significant dual-use risks.
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Defining Risk in Biological Research: Why Researchers Need Clearer Oversight Frameworks
Policymakers and researchers need a consistent and transparent way to weigh the risks and benefits of risky biological research to facilitate review processes and oversight.
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CDC in Crisis: Mass Layoffs, Leadership Turmoil, and Vaccine Controversy
Roughly 3,000 of CDC’s 13,000 staff received RIF (reduction-in-force) notices this year. Officials warn that these layoffs have left the CDC dangerously unprepared to protect Americans’ health and safety.
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New Poll Reflects Broad American Distrust in Health Agencies and Their Advice
The manner in which Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has run HHS – the promotion of fringe theories as a substitute for scientific methods; the replacement of scientists in key positions with anti-vaccine activists and conspiracy theorists, and more — has consequences: Americans’ trust in federal health agencies like the CDC and its childhood vaccine recommendations is declining, and more than twice as many people think the administration’s policies have made the country less healthy as those who think they have made the nation healthier.
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Trump’s New $100K Visa Fee Could Worsen State Doctor Shortages, Experts Say
Many immigrant physicians help fill gaps in rural communities’ health care systems thanks in part to the H-1B visa, which allows skilled foreign workers to come work in the U.S.
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Critical Action Needed to Address Growing Biosecurity Risks
A new report warns that biosecurity risks are increasing. Emerging technologies and other trends are making biological threats more numerous, frequent, and consequential. The report outlines how emerging biotechnology must itself be used to secure biology, akin to how software is required to secure software.
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