Winner of mRNA Nobel Prize says ACIP member’s claim that Covid vaccines persist is “absolutely impossible” In Q&A, Drew Weissman says vast literature shows Covid shots are safe, refutes claims from Retsef Levi www.statnews.com/2025/09/20/d...

The head of ACIP, the CDC vaccine advisory panel, comes out swinging, in a big way. Via @matthewherper.bsky.social @chelseacirruzzo.bsky.social www.statnews.com/2025/09/18/c...

At the ACIP meeting, Kulldorff keeps going back to the story of the J&J vaccine. What he gets wrong is that I don't think a vaccine with that serious a side effect had a chance in that market. Here is my story on that sad tale. www.statnews.com/2021/12/17/t...

HHS abruptly cancels CDC meeting with RFK Jr., anti-vaccine activist as scrutiny mounts www.statnews.com/2025/09/17/r... via @statnews.com

Ousted CDC director says Kennedy plans to change pediatric vaccine schedule www.statnews.com/2025/09/17/m... via @statnews.com

CDC temporarily revokes remote work approvals for employees with disabilities www.statnews.com/2025/09/16/c...

CDC has been ‘censored’ and ‘politicized’ under RFK Jr., former officials plan to say www.statnews.com/2025/09/16/c... via @statnews.com

A great column from @pharmalot on why the Trump admin's attack on direct-to-consumer drug ads may actually... work!!!???? www.statnews.com/2025/09/12/f...

And if you're having trouble accessing this, try our new 10th anniversary subscription sale: 10 months of STAT+ for $10/mo: marketing.statnews.com/stat-10th-st...

This is an impressive list @statnews.com -- full of impactful journalism worth revisiting www.statnews.com/2025/09/09/s...

Some really important clarity — insofar as clarity exists — to simple questions here: Can anyone get a Covid shot if they want one? And if not, why not? Via @matthewherper.bsky.social www.statnews.com/2025/09/04/c...

Can anyone get a Covid shot if they want one? No Despite what Secretary Kennedy said -- and he and Warren both seemed to be confused about our confusing system. #medsky www.statnews.com/2025/09/04/c...

Pfizer’s CEO defends Covid vaccines, suggests Trump may deserve a Nobel Peace Prize #medsky www.statnews.com/2025/09/03/p...

This is a fantastic thread summarizing the data on the mRNA covid shots.

This 🧵 is long so please bear with me. It is compiles evidence in a historical timeline on how effective #COVIDVaccines are. When a pandemic ends we quickly and easily forget the tools that got us out of it. So here is my labour day gift to you prompted by this headline.

"Anti-vaxxers think Trump's saying Pfizer lied to him. Public health people think he’s trying to create daylight with RFK." Trump's latest post is a Rorschach test. lnkd.in/eZTSqpjH

I can

CDC’s crisis marks a dark moment for public health, says ⁦‪Ashish Jha. The only way out is a new HHS secretary. www.statnews.com/2025/08/28/c...

AND NOW THE SENIOR CDC LEADERS HAVE JOINED THE WALK OUT! www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ7Q...

However bad you think things are at the CDC they are worse. That's the takeaway from this well-reported story from Daniel Payne w/back-up from an all-star STAT team. Must-read. www.statnews.com/2025/08/28/c...

Health secretary RFK Jr. issues harsh critique of CDC after ouster of its director Kennedy cites ‘malaise at the agency’ a day after several other high-ranking officials quit, but misrepresents the facts on several issues. www.statnews.com/2025/08/28/r...

CDC Director Susan Monarez is ousted, leading to senior leaders exit agency citing ‘weaponization of public health’ www.statnews.com/2025/08/27/c...

Dear Vinay Prasad: Please embrace dissent, and fade into the background A memo to the provocateur who is once again the head of the FDA center overseeing vaccines, gene therapies, and more www.statnews.com/2025/08/11/v...

In an interview with @matthewherper.bsky.social, @billgates.bsky.social announced that the @gatesfoundation.bsky.social will commit $2.5 billion through 2030 to support dozens of different approaches for improving women’s health.

This is a story about process as well as substance. CBO had scored this provision as costing $5B (a benefit for industry, even as the bill cut nearly a trillion dollars from Medicaid). But CBO somehow missed the best-selling drug in the world, among others. /2

This morning I spoke with @billgates.bsky.social about his foundation's $2.5 billion commitment to women's health -- and the U.S. governments withdrawal from research. "We're just not able to replace what the U.S. government has canceled," Gates said -- though where they can, they will.

Vinay Prasad was not good for the FDA. But his ouster makes things worse - thoughtful take by @matthewherper.bsky.social www.statnews.com/2025/07/30/v... via @statnews.com

In preparation of today's mark-up of the NIH appropriations bill in the Senate and other activities, I sent this note to Senator Susan Collins' office. 1/2

Trump administration moves to ban concentrated 7-OH, kratom-related synthetic FDA says it is not focused on ‘natural kratom leaf products’ www.statnews.com/2025/07/29/7...

Going to shift research focus to include more cats and bell ringing. 🐈‍⬛

FDA and NIH are moving away from animal testing. Scientists are split on whether that's a good idea, @marissa-russo.bsky.social and I report for @statnews.com after talking with 10+ researchers across academia and biotech. www.statnews.com/2025/07/25/n...

The crisis over Sarepta’s Duchenne therapy is a mess. But the lesson is clear: This is no way to do drug development. www.statnews.com/2025/07/21/s...

ICYMI: Great piece by @matthewherper.bsky.social in @statnews.com on how the new FDA Commissioner too often hypes and misleads about his plans for FDA that on further scrutiny are not much or not possible. Hoping for less PR and more substance moving forward. www.statnews.com/2025/07/14/f... #MedSky

A former Pfizer scientist denied an allegation made by House Republicans that he conspired to delay the release of Covid shot data to hurt Trump’s 2020 election prospects www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Smart piece by @matthewherper.bsky.social: FDA Commissioner Marty Makary’s ideas are ambitious on first blush, but merit more scrutiny. www.statnews.com/2025/07/14/f...

"Makary often seems to bring ideas to the table that seem sensical on the surface but less impressive upon closer inspection... he proposed moving Narcan, which is used to treat opioid overdoses, over the counter. That was a wonderful idea — except that the FDA had done it in 2023."

A red state reckons with Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' Louisiana voted for Trump. But it also relies heavily on Medicaid benefits, which are set to face steep cuts under the president's new One Big Beautiful Bill Ac www.nbcnews.com/politics/don...

FDA Commissioner Marty Makary impressed me with his the promise to post FDA rejection letters. But linking his new, two-month vouchers to cuts in drug prices? That idea doesn't hold up to basic economics. On why the top FDA job is not just about talking. www.statnews.com/2025/07/14/f...

The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine owns a stem cell biobank that was once the largest of its kind in the world. But it's now racing to sell off thousands of samples before many of them are discarded. To understand why, see my latest for @statnews.com www.statnews.com/2025/07/11/s...

"[Paatients are] driven not by ignorance but by fear, confusion, and a deep sense that no one in the system is really looking out for them. That’s not just a personal choice. It’s a systemic failure. And it’s costing lives." www.statnews.com/2025/07/07/a... via @statnews.com

This Life cover, from 1914, imagines how people would dress in 1950. They were only off by 75 years!!! This couple wouldn’t get a second glance in Williamsburg. Except people also wear the 1914 outfits.

Kennedy's HHS is scaring parents into asking if kids can receive vaccines early www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

HHS backtracks on pledge to disclose new vaccine advisers’ conflicts of interest www.statnews.com/2025/07/09/k...

Gilead to provide HIV prevention drug to 2 million people in lower income countries at cost Agreement with Global Fund does not include PEPFAR, reflecting Trump’s cuts to foreign aid www.statnews.com/pharmalot/20...

MIT's Amy Finkelstein says defenders of Medicaid cuts are misunderstood her work. www.statnews.com/2025/07/03/o...

“The use of GLP-1 medications has already caused US grocery volume losses of between 1.2 per cent and 2.9 per cent, estimates Big Chalk Analytics, a consumer goods industry consultancy.” on.ft.com/40EAC7Y

NEW: Federal prosecutors say among the reasons why Elizabeth Holmes should not be let out of prison is that she is "ripe for recidivism," citing her partner's blood-testing startup "that bears eerie similarities to Theranos," which is a story that I first broke

RFK Jr. says he has a team working on changes to the vaccine injury compensation program www.statnews.com/2025/07/01/r...

One of @SecKennedy's talking points around medical journals is a quote from Marcia Angell, former editor of NEJM. Today in STAT, Angell says she never said it- and that Kennedy's actions will worsen pharmaceutical company influence in medicine. Read it here: www.statnews.com/2025/06/30/r...

Eric Green was the first institute director forced out of NIH. He still hasn’t been told why www.statnews.com/2025/06/26/n... via @statnews.com