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Touting recent charges of Chinese researchers, FBI called Fusarium graminearum a "potential agroterrorism weapon" A retired USDA ARS scientist who co-authored with them told us this fungus is already "extremely prevalent" in North America, likely originated here www.cbsnews.com/news/fungus-...

submitted 1 day ago • 1 comment

A CDC official is resigning from role overseeing updates COVID-19 vaccine recommendations In an email to others in group, she said she started in public health to help most vulnerable "that is not something I am able to continue doing in this role" www.cbsnews.com/news/cdc-off...

submitted 2 days ago • 0 comments

Will norovirus surge early again this year? CDC's Emerging Infectious Diseases journal is out with a new report on the rise of a new strain from this notorious stomach bug called GII.17, now dominant nationwide www.cbsnews.com/news/norovir...

submitted 2 days ago • 0 comments

The CDC has stepped up its warning about the risk of measles while traveling It comes after at least 62 reports of travelers contagious with virus, including at least 1 situation determined to be spread within airplane www.cbsnews.com/news/cdc-mea...

submitted 7 days ago • 0 comments

Following Secy Kennedy's announcement The CDC has now updated its childhood immunization schedule, which now says "children 6 months and older may receive COVID-19 vaccination" www.cbsnews.com/news/cdc-kid...

submitted 7 days ago • 2 comments

A reminder that CDC's COVID-19 vaccine recommendations are directly tied to: - requirements for what health insurance is required to cover with no out-of-pocket costs - liability protections expanding access to COVID shots in places like pharmacies www.cbsnews.com/news/rfk-jr-...

submitted 9 days ago • 8 comments

The CDC's airport screening program with Ginkgo Bioworks has now detected multiple cases of the new COVID-19 variant NB.1.8.1, which has been linked to a recent surge in China www.cbsnews.com/news/us-repo...

submitted 14 days ago • 13 comments

Here's our coverage on White House MAHA Commission's new report, highlighting 4 factors for childhood disease Secy Kennedy called it "probably the strongest and most radical consensus by a government agency in history about the state of America's health" www.cbsnews.com/news/rfk-jr-...

submitted 15 days ago • 2 comments

The FDA is ordering Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna to expand warnings about myocarditis/pericarditis from their shots HHS told us: "Americans deserve radical transparency around the safety and efficacy of COVID vaccines and the FDA is delivering" www.cbsnews.com/news/fda-cov...

submitted 16 days ago • 0 comments

Asked today by Sen Hyde Smith about Thursday's MAHA report, Secy Kennedy sought to reassure farmers on what it will say about pesticides "The drafts that I've seen, there is not a single word in them that should worry the American farmer" www.cbsnews.com/news/rfk-jr-...

submitted 16 days ago • 2 comments

The FDA will continue approving COVID-19 vaccine updates, based on immunogenicity, for seniors and other with an underlying condition Dr Vinay Prasad said he thinks interim results on new placebo studies for others could be out "by next calendar year" www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-v...

submitted 16 days ago • 7 comments

Steep cuts to federal research grants have now disrupted millions in awards once backed by former President Joe Biden's "Cancer Moonshot" initiative, after funding was frozen to Harvard and Columbia www.cbsnews.com/news/biden-c...

submitted 17 days ago • 0 comments

Some of NIH's top brain researchers got layoff notices last month While they were asked to keep working in labs for now, their layoffs were never rescinded "As far as I know, we have not fired any working scientists," Secy Kennedy had told Congress www.cbsnews.com/news/rfk-jr-...

submitted 18 days ago • 3 comments

A new CDC study estimates hundreds of drowning deaths could be prevented by more pool fences & life jackets while boating It was one of last authored by agency's injury prevention researchers, before Secy Kennedy's layoffs largely eliminated them www.cbsnews.com/news/pool-fe...

submitted 20 days ago • 0 comments

The FDA has granted its first marketing authorization to an Alzheimer's blood test It comes years after other Alzheimer's blood tests entered the U.S. market, which were "laboratory developed tests" not subject to the agency's oversight www.cbsnews.com/news/fda-fir...

submitted 20 days ago • 0 comments

The FDA is planning to revisit its approval of the so-called "yoga mat" chemical bread ingredient that's banned in Europe, known as azodicarbonamide or ADA www.cbsnews.com/news/fda-yog...

submitted 22 days ago • 2 comments

Senate Dems and the Biden administration dropped plans to set drug price caps based on the amount paid in other high-income countries, during talks years ago to push thru law that empowered Medicare to negotiate down the cost of prescription medications. www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-d...

submitted 22 days ago • 1 comment

The head of NIOSH, Dr. John Howard, and several teams at this worker safety agency within CDC have been reinstated, ahead of Secy Kennedy's Capitol Hill hearings tomorrow www.cbsnews.com/news/john-ho...

submitted 23 days ago • 6 comments

Officials at multiple HHS agencies have been ordered to mail out new termination letters to probationary employees They had previously been on paid leave, amid court battles over their fate. A spokesperson told us "This is nothing of a surprise." www.cbsnews.com/news/hhs-to-...

submitted 28 days ago • 0 comments

We're told HHS has decided to block many laid-off workers from receiving overdue bonus pay that had been earned from high performance last year "If the savings from the layoffs were pennies from the HHS budget, this is hundredths of a penny." www.cbsnews.com/news/hhs-to-...

submitted 28 days ago • 4 comments

From Secy Kennedy ally Dr Robert Malone, on skepticism from base re: Dr Casey Means' record on vaccines "The nutritional agenda is a core part of MAHA. It may not be their core part of MAHA. But there's no doubt that it's a central part of the overall mission" www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-c...

submitted 29 days ago • 3 comments

We're told CDC was granted an exemption from federal hiring freeze to hire a new class of its Epidemic Intelligence Service, the "disease detectives" We've also heard of exemptions for agency's LLS fellowship and NIH's clinical fellows www.cbsnews.com/news/cdc-dis...

submitted 29 days ago • 0 comments

Some at NIOSH, in 9/11 program, and FDA, in San Francisco & Chicago food safety labs, got notices today officially reversing layoffs It comes after NIH faced hundreds more layoffs, which we're told was to compensate for reinstatements elsewhere www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/hhs...

submitted 30 days ago • 1 comment

The FDA has replaced Dr. Peter Marks, the agency's top vaccines official, with a vocal critic of Marks: Dr. Vinay Prasad Prasad posted in March that his predecessor was "one of the most dangerous, pro-pharma regulators of the 21st century" www.cbsnews.com/news/fda-cri...

submitted 30 days ago • 3 comments

The FDA's top inspections official is stepping down, amid frustration with Commissioner Makary's plans "It's fairly basic math. We know how long inspectional activities take. If they get shorter, which inspections activities are we no longer performing?" www.cbsnews.com/news/fda-top...

submitted 31 days ago • 5 comments

There were hundreds more laid off at NIH on Friday, we're told, including at NCI Sounds like layoffs were to make up for reinstatements elsewhere HHS told us "savings from these reductions will help redirect resources toward critical programs" www.cbsnews.com/news/nih-lay...

submitted 31 days ago • 3 comments

Nearly all of remaining staff at CDC's NIOSH received lay off notices today, we're told This is an org chart shared with us illustrating eliminated divisions to date Cuts had already upended approvals of new N95 respirators and probes of firefighter injuries www.cbsnews.com/news/worker-...

submitted 34 days ago • 23 comments

Weekly measles cases, backdated by rash onset in CDC's figures, have now topped peak of what had been worst wave since 20th century It comes as the health department in Texas tells us they're now watching for an increase from Easter travel in coming weeks www.cbsnews.com/news/weekly-...

submitted 34 days ago • 0 comments

A HHS spox tells us Secy Kennedy is asking CDC to develop new guidance for treating measles using drugs, vitamins Earlier, he said they were developing a worksheet for docs promoting budesonide, clarithromycin and other "very effective" treatments www.cbsnews.com/news/rfk-jr-...

submitted 35 days ago • 17 comments

We've told this move by HHS to redirect $500M to a project linked to NIH's Dr. Memoli was unusual both in size and how it was done Political appointees handpicked project for funding without usual reviews by career scientists w/ @celinegounder.com www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-f...

submitted 35 days ago • 3 comments

Early CDC data suggests that diabetes mortality has dropped to some of lowest levels in years, after surge during COVID-19 "While diabetes-related death rates have decreased since 2021, they have not returned to pre-pandemic levels" www.cbsnews.com/news/diabete...

submitted 37 days ago • 1 comment

Some news from Major Garrett's intv of Dr Marty Makary - sounds like FDA now looking at whether it will still approve updates to COVID shots for next winter - "really excited" to have Tracy Beth Høeg in process, when asked about her role in Novavax approval www.cbsnews.com/news/fda-cov...

submitted 37 days ago • 4 comments

After FDA cuts to inspections and drug safety A handful of support staff, and labs in Detroit and San Juan, were told in recent days that their layoffs would be reversed This could mark one of first major reversals to Secy Kennedy's layoffs to date www.cbsnews.com/news/fda-to-...

submitted 38 days ago • 2 comments

An HHS official has told us same, that they "are not creating an autism registry" tinalexander.github.io/notes/2025/0... It contradicts what NIH's director had told agency's advisers days ago, in a presentation about Secy Kennedy's autism research effort www.cbsnews.com/news/health-...

submitted 42 days ago • 0 comments

The CDC's bird flu guidance has not changed under Secy Kennedy, the agency and states tell us, despite social media rumors otherwise Testing is still being offered. California is offering $25 gift cards at clinics near farms with bird flu www.cbsnews.com/news/bird-fl...

submitted 43 days ago • 1 comment

In interviews, FDA Commissioner Makary has repeatedly claimed no scientists were laid off at his agency We spoke to laid-off scientists in some of FDA's food safety labs that were gutted by layoffs "That just made me so mad," one laid-off scientist told us www.cbsnews.com/news/fda-hea...

submitted 43 days ago • 6 comments

Earlier Secy Kennedy said "by September, we will know what has caused the autism epidemic" Now NIH's Dr Jay Bhattacharya says that's when grants will be made "hard to guarantee when science will make an advance. It depends on, you know, nature has its say" www.cbsnews.com/news/nih-dir...

submitted 44 days ago • 2 comments

Today FDA's Marty Makary asked food brands to stop synthetic dyes "Let's start in a friendly way and see if we can do this without any statutory or regulatory changes. But we are exploring every tool in the toolbox to make sure this gets done very quickly" www.cbsnews.com/news/fda-art...

submitted 44 days ago • 0 comments

We're learning more about NIH's plans for Secy Kennedy's new autism studies NIH Director Bhattacharya says they're amassing a swath of confidential medical data to link together for first time, ranging from broader access to CMS records to smartwatch data www.cbsnews.com/news/rfk-jr-...

submitted 45 days ago • 78 comments