Public health

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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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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Circumcision, Tylenol, and Autism? RFK Jr. Misses the Cut
When public health officials use their platforms to promote pet theories instead of proven science, it’s not just sloppy—it’s dangerous. These pronouncements shape research priorities, regulatory decisions, and the information the public is allowed to hear. When science gets filtered through political agendas and personal crusades, public health becomes a tool of control rather than a source of trust. HHS officials wield enormous influence over Americans’ medical choices; that power demands humility and restraint—not speculation masquerading as science.
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At Least 170 U.S. Hospitals Face Major Flood Risk. Experts Say Trump Is Making It Worse.
At many of these facilities, flooding from heavy storms has the potential to jeopardize patient care, block access to emergency rooms, and force evacuations.
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Funding Cuts, Policy Shifts, and the Erosion of U.S. Scientific and Public Health Capacity
The U.S. continues to face mounting threats to its health, scientific enterprise, and national security. A recent report warns that proposed FY 2026 budget cuts to the National Science Foundation (NSF) could reduce its funding by more than half – from $9 billion in FY 2025 to under $4 billion. If passed by Congress, these cuts would result in an estimated ~$11 billion in economic losses.
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Why a Study Claiming Vaccines Cause Chronic Illness Is Severely Flawed – a Biostatistician Explains the Biases and Unsupported Conclusions
At a Senate hearing on Sept. 9, 2025, witnesses supporting HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign against vaccination, presented an unpublished study, claiming the study was never published because the authors feared being fired for finding evidence supporting the health risks of vaccines. This claim was false. The study has serious design problems that keep it from revealing much about whether vaccines affect children’s long-term health.
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Launching World’s First Mushroom-Powered Waterless Toilet
Researchers are launching the world’s first mushroom-powered waterless toilet at the UBC Botanical Garden on Sept. 26. The MycoToilet turns human waste into nutrient-rich compost and features a modern, sustainable design.
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Upward and Onward: 2025 Preparedness Summit
Public health preparedness in the United States has always had to learn on its feet. It was abruptly brought into the spotlight by the 2001 anthrax attacks and given a national security imperative.
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Health Officials from 10 Northeast States Officially Band Together
More states are responding to – and rebuking — Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s antivaccine efforts by pulling their resources so they can provide evidence-based, science-informed vaccine guidance and coordinate public health efforts which are independent of the federal government.
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As Tensions Over RFK Jr.’s Vaccine Policy Mount, States Act to Secure Access to Vaccines
In an effort to secure the health of their citizens, several states have acted quickly to preserve vaccine access through legislation, bills, executive orders, and regional collaborations that can issue independent recommendations and expand pharmacy-based administration of vaccines regardless of federal guidance. The action reflects a loss of confidence in the CDC and its vaccination committee which HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has stacked with vaccine skeptics.
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Vaccine Death and Side Effects Database Relies on Unverified Reports – and Trump Officials and Right-Wing Media Are Applying It Out of Context
In its meeting over the last two days, the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has discussed reports linking 25 child deaths to COVID-19 vaccines. These death reports are derived from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, or VAERS, a database the anti-vaccine movement and conspiracy theorists have used to spread misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine.
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Universal COVID Vaccination Saves Lives, Averts 10% to 20% of Disease Burden, Estimates Suggest
A modeling study today in JAMA Network Open estimates that COVID-19 vaccination of all people in the United States in 2024-25 would have prevented 10% to 20% of hospitalizations and deaths compared with no vaccination, with additional indirect benefits to older adults compared with vaccinating only high-risk groups.
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More States Protect Access to the COVID Shot as Feds Restrict Eligibility
At least 17 states have taken steps to ensure broader access to the COVID-19 vaccine since last month, when the federal government significantly restricted eligibility for the shot. The moves represent an extraordinary state rebellion against the public health authority of the federal government.
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