Now more than ever, independent journalism is vital. Please consider supporting the work of @science.org's journalists: 1. Sign up for @nerdychristie.bsky.social's *excellent* ScienceAdviser newsletter: www.science.org/content/page... 2. Subscribe for $25/year. www.science.org/content/page...

Brain-computer implants have helped some patients with ALS or paralysis move, speak and function So why are they not yet approved? Companies, researchers and regulators can't agree on how to actually prove, in large trials, they work Via @rosebroderick.bsky.social www.statnews.com/2026/02/26/b...

Hi — new to BlueSky! I’m a journalist covering how health policy and systems impact people. Lately I’ve reported on federal cuts hitting a rural bioscience hub, a town recovering from meth, and a man who said he had to break Medicaid rules. Based in Montana, I write for both 📰 and 📻

“It was always the case: if it’s FDA, leave it alone,” one lobbyist told STAT. “There’s been a swing. … Now the conversations are: Can we influence the process? I had never had that conversation before.”

Huge congrats to @lizzylawrence.bsky.social for winning a George Polk award for her unrelenting coverage of turmoil at the FDA over the past year. The STAT team was also recognized for our reporting on the Trump admin's impact on health and science. www.statnews.com/2026/02/18/s...

BREAKING: FDA reverses course and will now review Moderna's flu vaccine, the company announced Wednesday www.statnews.com/2026/02/18/f...

Vertex’s #$VRTX CRISPR cure for sickle cell has been slow to launch, reaching just 60 patients in 2 years. Doctors told STAT there's been a surprising culprit: They often can't collect enough cells to make the therapy www.statnews.com/2026/02/05/v...

Why Bristol Myers Squibb believes a decades-old drug can treat Alzheimer’s www.statnews.com/2026/02/02/b...

Recently out from pedi oncology colleagues, about "cancer exceptionalism." tl;dr: We accept therapy-induced malignancies as part of the benefit-risk calculus when treating cancer, but are unwilling to weigh them in the balance when treating nonmalignant disease. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...

FDA halts two Regenxbio gene therapy programs after brain tumor found in patient Patient is asymptomatic. FDA was supposed to make a decision on lead program, for Hunter syndrome, on February 8 www.statnews.com/2026/01/28/f...

Scholars raise concerns about new FDA pathway for personalized CRISPR treatments 'When the FDA opens the door to these things, there’s a lot of pressure to then open the door a little wider and a little wider until an exceptional program becomes the norm' www.statnews.com/2026/01/26/f...

Endometriosis often takes years to diagnose. Startups want to change that Scientists hunt for biomarkers in blood, menstrual fluid, spit, and stool www.statnews.com/2026/01/26/e...

Thanks to @jasonmast.bsky.social for highlighting our analysis of FDA's new plausible mechanism pathway in @statnews.com. Key pts: - Plausible mech is a great idea for n of 1/few - FDA needs to stop advancing policy via journal article - Impt open Qs on scope www.statnews.com/2026/01/26/f...

Scholars raise concerns about new FDA pathway for personalized CRISPR treatments 'When the FDA opens the door to these things, there’s a lot of pressure to then open the door a little wider and a little wider until an exceptional program becomes the norm'

DHS has shot 12 people during immigration enforcement operations since September:

Federal health officials slash recommended childhood vaccinations under Trump’s directive www.statnews.com/2026/01/05/c...

All ten parts of our series attempting to put our arms around the ramifications of various cuts and disruptions to the scientific enterprise this year are live, and you can read them here: www.statnews.com/american-sci...

Welcome back to the @statnews.com “3 To Watch” series where instead of closing the year with a review of the past, we focus on what's ahead. First up: 3 key issues to watch at FDA as Makary struggles to stabilize the agency. Vaccine policy is #2 💉via @lizzylawrence.bsky.social

NEW: How the FDA’s Lax Generic Drug Rules Put Her Life at Risk

W/ @helenbranswell.bsky.social: The CDC has awarded $1.6 million to controversial Danish researchers with ties to top Food and Drug Administration official Tracy Beth Høeg. The funding is for a study on hepatitis B vaccines that some experts say may be unethical. www.statnews.com/2025/12/18/c...

We updated this story with some insights from lawyers and policy experts on whether or not CMS has the legal authority to do this, what challenges to the rules may look like, and when those challenges can happen. Take a read:

Article about scientists leaving (or not leaving) the US - including me! I landed in a truly great spot - but what's happening in the US is messed up. @isemevol.bsky.social @sfstatebio.bsky.social @umontpellier.bsky.social

Amid talk of a brain drain, some scientists leave U.S. behind www.statnews.com/2025/12/17/r...

A @statnews.com investigation reveals Humana is skewing the debate over how to care for older Americans. www.statnews.com/2025/12/16/i...

A child’s sudden death unnerves a promising area of gene therapy research www.statnews.com/2025/12/15/g...

Early-career trans researchers reconsider their futures amid lost funding and fear Part 6 in STAT's American Science, Shattered series, looking at what the Trump Administration has done to science and health in 11 months www.statnews.com/2025/12/09/h...

Dyne $DYN plans to file for approval for next-generation Duchenne drug Infusion could be a more effective version of controversial Sarepta drug Exondys www.statnews.com/2025/12/08/d...

"Trump has ‘shaken the hell’ out of the 80-year research pact between the government and universities. What now?" The first in a remarkable series looking at what the Trump Administration has done to American science and health over 11 months www.statnews.com/2025/12/04/a...

Top drug regulator Richard Pazdur set to leave FDA www.statnews.com/2025/12/02/r... via @statnews.com

The latest chapter in the ongoing saga around reasonable accommodations at the CDC: HHS has a new policy that permits telework for people with disabilities — but CDC officials still plan to cancel existing agreements and force people back into the office www.statnews.com/2025/12/02/c...

New York Times article on science funding with some depressing but familiar curves with interactive graphics. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

W/o showing his work, Prasad blames at least 10 pediatric deaths on the COVID vax. Meanwhile, a "2023 JAMA paper said that during the 12 months ending in July 2022, 821 people aged 19 and under died of Covid." The authors also indicated that was an underestimate. www.statnews.com/2025/11/29/c...

"The US government will not be commemorating World AIDS day this year". Silence = Death There are 1.1 million people living with HIV in the United States, 40 million globally

Now that’s a lede. Story by @taracopp.bsky.social and @michelleboorstein.bsky.social. Read here: www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

The day before the CDC webpage on vaccines and autism was overhauled, @danielpayne.bsky.social wrote this piece on vaccine manufacturers anxious about the next shoe to drop for them. It has now dropped, and it will not help their cause or, they note, public health. www.statnews.com/2025/11/18/t...

I wrote about it lol defector.com/olivia-nuzzi...

How RFK Jr., America’s celebrity health secretary, is steamrolling science A remarkable profile from @chelseacirruzzo.bsky.social @caseyross.bsky.social and @sarah-todd.bsky.social www.statnews.com/2025/11/18/r...

"Alice supported and took many people with Long COVID under her wing — I was honored to call her a colleague and friend." @mileswgriffis.bsky.social in @thesicktimes.org's obituary for the great Alice Wong: thesicktimes.org/2025/11/15/a...

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

AbbVie executives no longer wants to live forever www.statnews.com/2025/11/12/a...

It's a terrible idea to hire Captain Ahab! He's clearly nuts!

OMG. Arena BioWorks, an ambitious biomedical institute backed by billionaires, abruptly shuts down www.statnews.com/2025/11/04/a... via @statnews.com

Microdosing GLP-1 drugs? Right now, there's no robust clinical evidence doing so provides benefits. Benefits for the companies *selling* the treatments, however, are definitely confirmed. Via @katiepalmer.bsky.social www.statnews.com/2025/11/04/m...

FDA’s top drug regulator placed on leave amid investigation CDER Director George Tidmarsh is accused of seeking to use authority to inflict financial harm on former associate www.statnews.com/2025/11/02/f...

FDA’s top drug regulator placed on leave amid investigation CDER Director George Tidmarsh is accused of seeking to use authority to inflict financial harm on former associate www.statnews.com/2025/11/02/f...

2. Also please read @lizzylawrence.bsky.social's piece on the impact Vinay Prasad is having on #FDA's vaccines division, where between Prasad pushing leaders out and people heading for the exits, there are concerns about #CBER's capacity to function. www.statnews.com/2025/10/31/v...

1. Looking for weekend reads? Can't do better than these by my uber-talented @statnews.com colleagues @jasonmast.bsky.social & @lizzylawrence.bsky.social. First, Jason's indepth look at #Moderna's transition from pandemic savior to company with significant problems. www.statnews.com/2025/10/30/m...

Yesterday, we published a lengthy look at Moderna's post-Covid fall, from one of the most valued companies in the world to to a biotech facing serious questions about its longterm future It's a story of hubris, the limits of mRNA technology, and, of course, RFK Jr www.statnews.com/2025/10/30/m...

How Moderna, the company that helped save the world, unraveled www.statnews.com/2025/10/30/m...