flu season is rough this year in Hawai’i. i talked about it with @khon2news.bsky.social

…wherein i talk to @khon2news.bsky.social about my concerns about the new vaccine recommendations. this shift will lead to vaccine preventable deaths. hard stop.

1/ HHS just announced the most significant rollback of childhood vaccine recommendations in modern American history. Seven vaccines are being moved to “shared clinical decision-making,” a category that sounds reasonable but functionally ensures millions of children won’t receive them.🧵

we just keep reaching new lows with this administration. it’s honestly scary how easily we keep sinking and sinking into the abyss of fascism and authoritarianism. we were so much more fragile than we realized.

Every time ACIP meets, Bill Cassidy (R, Coward City) makes pathetic mewling sounds about how bad the committee is. It is Bill Cassidy’s fault that ACIP is no longer a legitimate scientific body. Sir, you are a fucking U.S. Senator. Impeach RFK Jr or STFU.

amidst all the insane chaos in the world, perhaps this is a palate cleanser (literally)… i just found out chewing gum is chock full of microplastics and my world is rent asunder. i quit coffee a couple months back but now i gotta quit gum too?????? what’s next???

just more reasons to support campaign finance reform. this is messed up.

an interesting idea from a guy who def knows what he’s talking about. finding ways to extract real progress out of the abject chaos in the govt right now is exactly what we need to be doing.

OMG, as a father, allow me to emphasize it is not ok for adult men to be into teen age girls, and if you are an adult rationalizing “15 year olds” as somehow ok: You are gross You need help Stay the hell away from my children or my students

This substack from @kkjetelina.bsky.social and @hayrook.bsky.social is fantastic. and tbh, this is ALL the stuff we've been saying @pnhp.bsky.social for years. There is a better way... there's just no political will to eliminate the private health insurance industry.

When health care is under attack, what do we do? Rise up, fight back! #SinglePayer #MedicareForAll

#acaexpansion #governmentshutdown #shutdown #affordablecareact

Did you know...seniors of color enrolled in Medicare “Advantage” are offered lower quality plans, face higher rates of prior authorization denials, and suffer worse health outcomes compared to their white counterparts? Learn more: pnhp.org/EquityReport

advocating for patients with #pnhp. stop privatizing our healthcare system, #wisersucks, no cuts to Medicaid. we need a national, government-run, nonprofit healthcare system for EVERYONE.

a glorious rebuttal of the asinine MAHA report from a few weeks ago. TLDR: we have ways of making the US healthy but they’re not discussed in the report, and anyhow the current administration is doing everything it can to make people less healthy through its actions. jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

speaking as the immediate past president of a so called “liberal group” this is so not okay. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/15/b...

We told you so. It gives me no satisfaction that we were right. (December 2024 article warning vaccines were in jeopardy) @mauikidsdr.bsky.social @philipverhoef.bsky.social www.civilbeat.org/2024/12/rout...

get vaccinated. appreciated the chance to talk about the recent wastewater detection of measles on the big island.

the new academic year is always a little thrilling, and it's also endearing: one of my interns enthusiastically keeps referring to the patient's "chlorine" level (not chloride) and talking about "sensational deficits" not "sensory deficits". may we never have "sensational deficits"!

marginalized communities are ALWAYS the most affected by EVERYTHING, and ALWAYS the least supported, which is 1 reason why the absolute gutting of the federal govt is so horrid. marginalized groups are not regarded as a profit opportunity ergo the current admin has no interest in them.

if you text me and you're someone from work and you say "call me asap" my gut response is "oh shit someone is dying gotta move quick" the contractor working on my house says "call me asap" and i'm thinking "did you blow up my house?" and he says "just want to talk about tile choices."

#alohalife. I admitted a patient who became hyperkalemic from eating too many mangos. Granted, she is dialysis-dependent at baseline, but still. she came in with a crazy high K and chest pain and was briefly on pressors and bipap and at the end of the day the culprit was too many mangos.

the linking of health insurance access to employment is one of the single greatest health care policy failures in our country’s history.

louder for the folks in the back. they’re not work requirements. they’re reporting requirements… specifically designed to make it harder to access this and therefore save $$ and hurt people. it’s conceptually no different than what private insurance does with prior auths and robo-denials.

the thing is, up to this point, ACIPs decision making was transparent and science-based, and we could respect it. but all it takes is one decision (like yesterdays) that is so clearly political and contrary to the evidence and now we can’t trust anything they say. it’s a damn shame. fuck rfk jr.

the actual story here is that the president of the united states is a pathological liar and unhinged narcissist who regularly invents world-shaking claims and takes credit for things that didn't happen, BUT THE NEWS MEDIA CANNOT SAY THAT, so instead the story becomes "is there a war? who knows!"

just when you think it couldn’t get worse. the hits just keep coming.

hmm. is "meat" in this context a noun or a verb? regardless, this represents an excellent opportunity for some silly/morbid/inappropriate jokes.

she’s pretty amazing.

I think HHS forgot about this data when making recommendations

perhaps it’s time to make america great again.

this is insanity. jabsom.hawaii.edu/news-events/...

You’ve got questions, we’ve got answers. #SinglePayer #MedicareForAll

the thing that bothers me more about this clip is Makary keeps saying “we need to be honest with people…” implying that we haven’t been. that the CDC or the govt or your local epidemiologist has been lying to you. and for that, he can just fuck right off.

can personally confirm that we are seeing more of this than i have in a long long time. please. for the good of everyone (and esp those who can’t get the vaccine) make sure your pertussis immunizations are up to date

wtaf?

In this excellent editorial, the authors attempt to reframe the narrative and rebut the lies and half-truths that RFK Jr is pushing.

HHS Secretary RFK Jr. is a danger to the public’s health and should resign or be fired, says APHA. In just a few short weeks, his actions on vacccines, fluoride and other public health science have shown how wrong he is for the job. Read & share our statement: apha.org/news-and-med...

We need to listen to leaders like Drs. @philipverhoef.bsky.social and Lindsey Heathcock, especially today, when the first case of measles has been reported on Oahu. #vaccineswork #MMRworks #measles www.civilbeat.org/2025/04/the-...

Rep @jilltokuda.bsky.social : “doctors take an oath to do no harm… so should legislators.” fighting for kids!! thanks Jill!!! #Aapadvocacy

Rep Jim McGovern: “Republican legislators should be more afraid of their constituents than Elon Musk.” #aapadvocacy

Let’s call out RFK and Trump’s agenda for what it is: a blatant attempt to eliminate the “undesirables.” This is grounded in the fallacious notion that the “American Dream” is available to anyone who just puts their nose to the grindstone, pulls themselves up by their bootstraps, and works hard…

couldn’t agree more. it would be a win/win for everyone, except the profiteers against whom we are absolutely fighting in this moment as 47 does everything he can to give them unfettered, unregulated access to govt resources. #singlepayernow

On this Sunday morning, @god grant me the serenity to not scream “they literally told us this is what they’d do, we fucking warned you” to friends/family who either voted for this or sat out the last election thinking it doesn’t matter anyways and are now upset about what is happening

1: all these prior auths waste time and contribute to burnout 2: only 6-7% are denied, meaning that the prior auth was unnecessary 3: most appeals were overturned and 4: 200x more prior auths with MA compared to trad Medicare. ABOLISH MEDICARE ADVANTAGE NOW. @pnhp.bsky.social rb.gy/q90v5f

How many lies can we debunk in 30 seconds:

i keep hearing from some folks that “it’s perfectly normal for there to be some hiccups during the change of an administration” and let me just say that what is happening is not even in the same universe as a hiccup that has ever happened before. that gaslighting has gotta stop.