“Don’t let the bastards grind you down. I love you all.”

Our beloved Alice Wong has joined the ancestors. It was one of the great honors of my life to call Alice my friend, co-author & co-conspirator. She was a true genius, a force of nature the likes of which the world has never seen before. I love you, Alice, and am equal parts grateful and devastated

In a statement, Councilmember Wendell Felder says he's "deeply concerned" with the two shootings by federal agents in Ward 7 over the last month: "Situations like these underscore the need for all law-enforcement partners to operate in ways that strengthen rather than strain trust."

UPDATED: Washington state epidemiologist on first human infected with H5N5 bird flu strain, different from H5N1 that has been spreading widely: “This is a severely ill patient.” But officials say no change to public health response or guidance. My story. 1/3 www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

And one of the hallmarks of the 1918 H1N1 pandemic was that it was MORE LIKELY to kill younger, healthier people through cytokine storm. Guess what's a great way to prepare for a pandemic? Making sure vaccines can be manufactured, rolled out and administered very quickly.

One of the most upsetting parts about covering the start of the Covid pandemic was having to report on all the perfectly healthy younger people whose first symptom - very first symptom - was dropping dead of a stroke.

Murphy on the shutdown cave: "Trump was showing signs of cracking. What did he do Wednesday? He called all Republicans to the WH & said, 'end the filibuster.' They basically told him no. His only play would have been to come to Ds to cut a deal, but we were so impatient we didn't even get there."

A crossing guard was killed by the driver of a dump truck yesterday. absolutely heartbreaking. Look at our intersections, look how hostile these are for people/children - this is what we continue to build and defend at all costs. These aren't accidents, these are results. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

In June, after Jenna Norton put her name on public criticism of the NIH's direction under President Trump, Jay Bhattacharya told us: "Respectful dissent in science is productive." kffhealthnews.org/news/article... Now she says she's been placed on leave. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/u...

Leading medical publication the British Medical Journal recognises SUVs as a danger to public health in a new editorial co-authored by T&E’s James Nix: bit.ly/4hVDlBC Large SUVs are a danger to pedestrians, cyclists & other drivers. It's time to take action to reduce their presence in urban areas.

This is designed to tank public health & primary care by excluding public health professions, advanced nursing practice, physical & occupational therapy from loans that can cover the cost of education. This is going to make an existing workforce crisis worse. aspph.org/department-o...

"Fourth-year Sophia Bangura, one of the student journalists who worked on the project, was terminated from the organization three days later for “insubordination” for asking followup questions during the interview and declining to apologize to the interim president’s office."

This a a really helpful piece on this practice - though from what I've written about in the past the potential legal issues may go beyond drug importation which this piece largely focuses on. www.cnbc.com/2025/11/13/e...

"Mr. Epstein’s defenders counter that he has been unjustly persecuted because of his wealth and lofty connections." Educated guess tells me the data would show that the US legal system & all systems is cruelest to those with least wealth and power and not the other way around....

According to the car wash owner, agents arrested employees before they could obtain their documentation from their work lockers. So many were likely here legally. Here's hoping this article on Zac boasting about how he ruined some immigrants' lives follows him around for a very long time.

“A federal judge is planning to release on bond hundreds of people who have been detained by federal immigration agents in Chicago since June.” I also wonder how many were deported so quickly they never had a chance to fight it.

Was thinking about this...

RAPE. Words do matter. If they were under the age of consent, it's called statutory rape. I fought for years at various news outlets, always with male writers who tried to use phrases such as "had sex with a 5-year-old" or "12-year-old" or the like. It's not "having sex." It's rape.

One of the defining feelings in American life, for decades now, is elites doing plainly criminal shit and nothing at all happening as a result. It is deranging in a way that virtually nothing else is. Media fixates on perceived street lawlessness but shit like this matters much more in my opinion.

NEW: Jeffrey Epstein said in emails that he had been advising the Russian government on how to deal with Donald Trump, one of several cases in which he wielded his connections to try to influence the course of foreign affairs. w @nahaltoosi www.politico.com/news/2025/11...

RFK Jr. has said he does not want to take vaccines away from Americans. But at a closed-door meeting of vaccine scientists in September, a top official at the FDA suggested doing just that. Here's how Vinay Prasad and Tracy Beth Høeg are reshaping vaccine regulation: www.statnews.com/2025/11/12/f...

It's been nearly two years since the first gene-editing therapy, Casgevy, was approved for sickle cell disease. Just 39 patients worldwide have received it in that time. This is from a Nov. 10 update from manufacturer Vertex:

This from former FDA Commissioner Rob Califf to me on Rick Pazdur's appointment to CDER seems key thing to watch... "I hope he will be given leeway to do what’s right.” insights.citeline.com/pink-sheet/a...

"Thank you for admitting that MPD is still working with ICE because the mayor has said several times that MPD is not working with ICE and you just confirmed that [you are]," Commissioner Jamila White, chair, ANC 8A, said.

Dreamers were once obvious candidates for a path to citizenship. Now, they’re getting picked up, detained, and set for potential deportation.

Russell Brand, who was charged earlier this year with multiple counts of rape and sexual assault, will be there too. I guess that’s just fine by the man in charge of Americans’ health. “English comedian Russell Brand will deliver an “eloquent rant” before Kennedy takes the stage to close the event.”

BREAKING: SCOTUS extends Justice Jackson’s administrative stay in the SNAP benefits case through 11:59p Thursday—presumably hoping to moot out the request if the shutdown ends. Jackson wouldn’t have extended the admin stay and would deny DOJ’s stay request. Earlier: www.lawdork.com/p/trump-admi...

Also, the HHS Secretary sold cocaine in college and was a heroin addict for 14 years so it is RICH whenever they go after people for old drug offenses.

After José's arrest sparked outrage in August, DHS attacked him in a press release, calling him a "criminal illegal alien, not a firefighter." DHS has cited a 12-year-old drug delivery charge while failing to acknowledge the charge was dismissed. Full @us.theguardian.com interview and story here:

Wow, a Long Island jury awarded $112 Million to 674 immigrants who were unlawfully held by county police so they could be handed over to ICE

i’ve added alt text

scoop: RICHARD PAZDUR set to be named FDA's top drug regulator He'd initially turned down job leading agency's CDER but reconsidered

Oh, to be a fly on the wall. www.statnews.com/2025/11/11/m...

DC area folks, please be on lookout for this young girl.

ByHeart plans to recall all its baby formula products amid a multistate outbreak of infant botulism, company officials said. The company said it was notified Monday evening of 15 cases in a dozen states.

2 things to emphasize here: 1. unusual process FDA took to come to this labeling change. 2. some of the unsubstantiated claims senior FDA officials and others made about the benefits of menopause hormone therapies yesterday. insights.citeline.com/pink-sheet/d...

From Paul Kim on leucovorin: "Proffering a proactive guarantee of approval on the basis of a limited, non-trial-based dossier effectively broadcasts that the FDA is prepared to approve new drugs without clinical trials." www.milbank.org/quarterly/op...

My thoughts on the FDA announcement today about MHT vajenda.substack.com/p/reaction-t...

Consequences of our retreat from foreign assistance and global health: #MedSky #HealthPolicy

Arianna Sofia Veraza and her parents were driving to Sam's Club for milk, eggs and diapers yesterday when they heard helicopters and horns blaring yesterday. They had turned around to leave when a federal agent pepper-sprayed them through a car window. www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/09/c...

Interestingly the JAMA piece on updating the drug labeling for hormone replacement therapy was coauthored by now departed CDER Director Tidmarsh.... more on where the CDER search stands from Friday ICYMI: insights.citeline.com/pink-sheet/a...

Chatted with generic drug industry trade association head last week about domestic manufacturing: insights.citeline.com/pink-sheet/i...

At HHS for the hormone replacement therapy announcement, where it appears Usha Vance is expected.

Hearing from more people after this went out. "We're all pissed. This was a lot of unnecessary stress on people and their families for nothing. And if I win the lottery tonight I absolutely will spend millions to hire people to follow these 8 Dems around for a year and make their lives miserable."

I received this email about Democrats caving to end the shutdown from one of the SNAP recipients I spoke to:

“I want you to understand what it is like to live in Chicago during this time.” aphyr.com/posts/397-i-...

Before ACA, many Americans couldn’t afford insurance Alex Smith was a diabetic who got kicked off his Mom’s insurance at 26 He made 35k a year which was “too much” for Medicaid, but not nearly enough to cover insurance premiums He had to ration his insulin & died a month after losing insurance

The coordinated nature of this—none are facing voters in 2026—means that either Schumer approved it or failed in his job as Senate Majority Leader to stop it. Dems voting "no" get zero credit until they demand a change in leadership. Schumer out as Leader, Durbin out as Whip.

I think this is the question Democrats are gonna get over and over: if you just handed over your main demand in the end, why cause a painful shutdown at all? Governing is more than politics, but wild to see this group of Dems arguably toss the whole party under the bus, *politically* speaking.

Vibes among House Democrats and activists, "The Senate is the enemy"