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Hundreds of thousands dead and counting...

This👇! Framing “it seems personal freedom has become an even greater value in people’s health decision making” completely ignores how this equation was/is built by self-interested actors. Push back w more science & information, will fail if we don’t build political strategy based on actors involved

#USAIDForever 🎄

"Despite the avalanche of funding, the latest research suggests that only 10 to 15 percent of Parkinson’s cases can be fully explained by genetics." The new field of exposomics, study of the exposome of your lifetime's environmental exposures, may shine a light on the balance.

Great article by @jsmoliga.bsky.social on the hidden economics behind academic publishing. This would be a tragi-comic read if it didn't ring so true! 📚

Moving quickly and breaking things: "Many of the largest savings that DOGE claimed turned out to be wrong. And while the group did make thousands of smaller cuts... those amounted to little in the scale of the federal budget."

We're drowning in plastic: Plastic pollution will more than double by 2040 without action. But Pew's new report (launched today) shows that we have the solutions to dramatically reduce it. The question is whether we'll act in time. [🧵 1/3]

"The city of San Francisco on Tuesday sued 10 major food companies, alleging that they marketed and sold ultraprocessed foods that they knew were harmful to human health and had been designed to be addictive." #PublicHealth #Nutrition #MedSky

Excellent interview via @npr.org on the opportunities and pitfalls of AI for doctors. 2/3 of doctors already use AI in some capacity, but few report any training on its safe, effective, and ethical use.

"The more these false citations are unquestioningly repeated from one article to the next, the more the illusion of their authenticity is reinforced." "LLMs are structurally indifferent to truth." www.rollingstone.com/culture/cult...

For those in need of a momentary break from the news, check out the finalists from Nikon’s comedy wildlife photo contest. They’re fantastic! [Shoutout to @austinkleon.bsky.social for the original share via his SubStack] PHOTO CREDIT: Alison Tuck www.comedywildlifephoto.com/gallery/niko...

ICYMI: My recent publication in @science.org, a book review of @vxchang.bsky.social's The Body Digital... Technology extends the body, then captures it. Our hands once shaped stone. Now they swipe glass. Our voice echoed in caves. Now they travels everywhere, instantly.

Toxic spill from a Chinese-owned mine in Zambia has contaminated rivers, soil, & fish, impacting over 300k households. Farmers are suing for $80bn in one of Africa's biggest environmental lawsuits. Can indebted countries hold the PRC accountable for environmental damage on their soil? #GreenSky

Fascinating #LongRead on the trial of two men charged with cutting down England's beloved Sycamore Gap tree. See also: /r/treelaw: www.reddit.com/r/treelaw/co... harpers.org/archive/2026...

Today, Dec 18, is International Migrants Day... celebrating the contributions of migrants worldwide who cross borders in search of safety, opportunity, and a better future. #InternationalMigrantsDay

The idea that we all breathe the same air is a lie... Marginalized groups around the world suffer the worst impacts of environmental toxins and climate change. #EnvironmentalJustice

Rising anti-science rhetoric "...has made routine preventive care feel like walking into an ideological minefield. Increasingly, it is making it harder and sometimes nearly impossible to protect patients’ health." (excerpt from @statnews.com article) See also: theconversation.com/winning-with...

🇳🇦 At 31, Dr. Esperance Luvindao is Africa's youngest health minister. Her priorities for Namibia: medication access, digital health, and sustainable health financing.

Latest via @propublica.org: Climate policy rollbacks could lead to 1.3 million additional heat-related deaths worldwide by 2115... most of which would impact the poorest countries in Africa and South Asia. This is the human cost of our retreat from climate action. #GreenSky #EnviroSky #MedSky

This is the insurance industry's playbook: deny or delay until it's too late. Eric Tennant's insurer denied the cancer treatment his doctors recommended, only approving it months later when he was too sick to receive it. He died in September. Via @kffhealthnews.org

"Publicly, the administration tried to temper international backlash by promising to keep or restore critical lifesaving programs." But "...political appointees & DOGE operatives cut programs in ways that guaranteed widespread harm & death in some of the world’s most desperate situations."

Via the @nytimes.com & @theexamination.org: Dirty lead recycling factories in Nigeria supplying Ford, GM, and Tesla are poisoning communities. Opaque supply chains allow everyone to blame someone else. #MedSky #GreenSky @blanphear.bsky.social

White House lied about “sex changes” in Guatemala to destroy USAID. Lies to govern. Clinics closed. Lives broke. Credibility burned. Migration rose. 💀

Great interview this AM on @npr.org's Morning Edition with @drdemetre.bsky.social: www.npr.org/2025/11/21/n... "There's also no evidence that umbrellas don't cause kittens." I'll be adding his quote above as a post-script to my holiday cards this year. 👏🏽👏🏽

ICYMI: sharing my recent publication in STAT News - First Opinion, republished to my Substack today without a paywall: apothek.substack.com/p/how-emotio... We share how emotions and cognitive biases sabotage our health coverage decisions. Call it the Insurance Fear Factor:

"Looking back at the person she was when she was pregnant, it’s sometimes hard for Lopez to recognise herself." “Nobody joins a cult willingly,” she says. “You think you’re joining a great movement.”

Article by @helenbranswell.bsky.social in @statnews.com... important reminder to vaccinate before upcoming holiday gatherings!

Interview with an ex-USAID entomologist who worked to prevent malaria around the world: "As a scientist, being able to use scientific data to make decisions that are going to impact people’s lives — that is the best thing you can do." #USAIDForever #MedSky #GlobalHealth

"The recent meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene was a reminder of how global funding cuts and this year's changes in priorities have undermined public health and pandemic preparedness." @drjudystone.bsky.social

"Every year, promising new uses for generic drugs emerge from academia, non-profits, and patient groups — yet most never reach patients. Not because of scientific barriers, but because the U.S. drug development system was built for commercial sponsors."

The cruelty is the point... #USAIDForever

Great explainer via @lseblogs.bsky.social: Moore's Law gave us 50 years of exponential classical computing growth, but it's hitting physical limits. Quantum computing could provide a horizon of future growth. Perhaps solving problems that old computers never could? Think climate change, cancer, ...

Via @krutikakuppalli.bsky.social: The rise of anti-science rhetoric "...has made routine preventive care feel like walking into an ideological minefield. Increasingly, it is making it harder and sometimes nearly impossible to protect patients’ health."

Via @pauloffit.bsky.social from 2023: Worth a read. The author recounts his conversation with RFK Jr. twenty years ago and the lies that followed. “…RFK Jr. has said that he has taped our conversation. Great. Release the tape. Let’s hear what really happened.” #MedSky

🚨 DOGE no longer exists The experiment may be over, but its devastating impacts remain. Crimes include: unauthorized access to classified systems, violations of federal records laws, & regulatory breaches. Agencies now lack capacity for disaster response, consumer protection, & disease prevention.

Corporate poisoning for profit? Crickets... 🦗🦗

We're closing the gates to global talent and turning off the taps for scientific research right when we need it most. Climate change, next-gen cancer therapies, quantum computing, AI... all of these challenges require the world's best minds and bold investment. #Science 🧪

"The proposed revisions to the assessment, released Wednesday, nearly double the amount of formaldehyde considered safe to inhale... Even that older assessment significantly underestimated the dangers posed by formaldehyde..."

🚨🇳🇵 HIV testing in Nepal dropped 34% in the first half of 2025 after USAID programs were terminated and Global Fund grants delayed. The most significant decline is among the high-risk groups most at risk for contracting HIV. Years of progress against HIV are being erased. #MedSky #GlobalHealth

Short answer: Short of testing, you can't tell! Key takeaway: "Just as both illnesses look alike, you can prevent their spread in similar ways: frequent hand-washing, sticking to places with good ventilation, avoiding crowds, masking, staying home when you’re sick and getting vaccinated."

"The most intuitive number in the report is how many people in the world lack access to essential health services. In the 2023 report that number was 4.5 billion and now it’s 4.6 billion."

The U.S. Is Funding Fewer Grants in Every Area of Science and Medicine: "...less research was funded in areas such as aging, diabetes, strokes, cancer and mental health."

📡 The November Apothek Dispatch is live! This monthly #Substack explores #health, #environment & #tech. This month we cover rising health insurance gaps, future HIV infection projections, and microforests. Plus: a selection of jobs, grants, and conferences you may find interesting.

Sharing my book review of @vxchang.bsky.social's book, The Body Digital, published yesterday in @science.org: 🧪 From phonographs to AI, Chang traces the impact of technology on the human experience. A poetic meditation on the machines that make us human.

"Gas-powered leaf blowers aren’t just annoying; they’re bad for public health." #airpollution #noisepollution Solutions: electric blowers, acceptance of fallen leaves as free fertilizer, and the occasional rake.

A roadmap to a roadmap: "...the world took another small step towards the phaseout of fossil fuels – a faltering, inadequate step, and one that will barely interrupt the climate’s steady march towards catastrophe. But a significant departure from total inaction nonetheless."

We don't fully understand the impacts of existing PFAS contamination. Now, AI infrastructure is being used as poliical cover for chemical deregulation that will expose more communities to environmental and health risks.

In case your ears are ringing with the sound of gas powered leaf blowers this morning: "They release up to 30% of their fuel mixture unburned, along with carcinogens like benzene, formaldehyde and butadiene." "Users are instructed not to operate the machines within 50 feet of bystanders."

Over the last two days we've heard a litany of anti-immigrant rhetoric from the White House. For every American who's been told to "go back" because of your name, accent, or skin color: YOU BELONG HERE. Our country was built by immigrants seeking a better life. We ARE the American story.