Another reminder that people around the world risk their lives for liberties that many Americans seem ready to surrender without a fight or even a lawsuit. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/22/b...

you’re not allowed to get mad at me, I said “controversy incoming” that’s the rule :)

Thread. ACIP's reversal this morning imposes new financial barriers to accessing the MMRV vaccine for VFC-eligible families, while AHIP's public statements mean that privately insured families will continue to have access with no cost-sharing, at least for now.

who's out here protectively aspartaming

If you just cancelled Disney+ and you’re wondering what do to with that extra money, one option: STAT is running a big sale right now, you can get 10 months for $10 marketing.statnews.com/stat-10th-st...

LET’S GIVE A ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR GRILLED CHEESE!!!!!!!

What's an estimator that you wish had a good package implemented?

What my wellness goals are looking like for the rest of 2025

"I hope, bluntly, that the net effect of my talks is to discourage people from applying. I don’t want to discourage everyone who talks to me from applying, but I do want to prompt serious reflection about why a doctoral program would be a good next step."

A bluetorial on NIH funding and out year commitments: A historical perspective

Right like very temping to zoom in on that line about fascists, but that’s actually a reference to a video game, Helldivers, and that context makes the meaning of that line really difficult to parse (if there’s any meaning at all)

Did not have this on my bingo card this year - abandoning FDA advisory committee review of new drugs. Had an interesting, wide-ranging convo with Art Allen at @kffhealthnews.org on the whys, wherefores, and wtfs of this policy change kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

If you run a life science lab where research has either significantly slowed or shut down completely due to Trump administration policies, I’d like to hear your story. I'm a biotech and life sciences reporter for @statnews.com, and you can reach me at [email protected] #journorequest

What does it mean to have a human in the loop of medical AI? Here's a fun place to look: a 2022 FDA guidance that's about what *doesn't* count as a medical device! Had a blast exploring this quasi-standard, out in the Penn J of Law & Innovation: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... #MedicalAI #law

I encourage people to watch this video. The selected footage shows the professor doing nothing even slightly out of line, whereas the student misinterprets the law and hopes to impose her religious beliefs on the material. Administrators caving to this is terrifying.

I almost couldn't bring myself to watch the actual video, but the professor was so professional, wow. Inspiring and chilling at the same time. www.kbtx.com/2025/09/09/a...

congrats to Araraura, the proprietor of Daily Silksong News, who after an unbroken streak of 1,693 daily updates, most of which consisted of "there is no news today", can finally rest (aka, play Silksong) www.ign.com/articles/aft...

New 'Metrics Note! "One weird trick" to characterize compliers / the effective population underlying design-based OLS & IV specifications Check it out: www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/lgba6...

"We’re currently at about 54% of last year’s total [of funded R01s]...Another way to look at this is that we’re missing 1,809 new R01s."

When my editor asks where the draft is

Doctors filed yet another lawsuit against HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., this one alleging he has effectively "shut down" AHRQ's extramural grant-making by illegally impounding funds. https://www.medpagetoday.com/washington-watch/washington-watch/117219

David Cutler popping off, my goodness jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

"It comes down to esoteric scope of practice laws." A health policy classic

NEWS: CVS, the largest pharmacy chain in the country, is currently not offering Covid vaccines in 16 states and DC — even to people who meet the new FDA criteria — because the CDC hasn't signed off and isn't expected to do so (if it does so) for at least three weeks.

Sen. Cassidy calling for CDC's Sept. ACIP meeting to be postponed indefinitely... not sure the results of the meeting would go well for COVID vax but without the ACIP meeting there will be reimbursement issues for latest COVID vaccines.

There is nothing stopping doctors from administering off-label vaccines, but *pharmacists* are prohibited from doing so in many states.

Anyone have insights/thoughts here? It doesn't seem like anything in recent weeks stops providers from administering "off-label" vaccines. Have insurers come out and said they won't reimburse without documentation? Are Walgreens and CVS worried about liability related to vaccine side effects?

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checking with walgreens and ughhh

welp

CDC website has been updated… (Deb Houry, the CDC's chief medical officer, resigned yesterday, meaning that the agency's top two leadership posts are now vacant)

Thoughtful overview of new prior authorization program in Traditional Medicare.

But this is a good answer. I would love to talk about people's favorite lunches.

friends it is now safe to resume our heated discussion about what is and is not a sandwich

If you're interested in a @statnews.com subscription and are a student, new graduate, teacher, or health care worker, see this page for discounts on offer. www.statnews.com/stat-subscri...

We finally have an example of what he means by 1500% reductions. If a drug is $10 somewhere else and $150 in the US, then bringing the price in the US down to $10 is a 1500% decrease (not a 93% decrease, I guess).

I know there's a lot of controversy about the Cracker Barrel logo, so I worked up a new option that should be good with everyone... The barrel is back, but it's now guarded by Scubble, The Cracker Goblin. I also worked up a new slogan for the company!

Spent maybe half a day working on reviewing an article, and my review was ~3,000 words. I was happy to get it done in about 4-5 hours, but also felt a little guilty that maybe I had rushed it a bit. Not because of anything specific, just that my reviews often take a little longer.

Eye-opening and heartbreaking www.nytimes.com/2025/08/21/o...

what a nice little ray of positivity

we're all cooked

Only saw the NY news after seeing this, just assumed it was a fun prompt with no context.

I'm sorry, I was just doing a bit. I didn't think they would call me out. www.startribune.com/we-asked-whe...

I just thanked a reviewer for their referee report and got this response: "Thanks a lot for the nice message. I rarely get any feedback from editors when I review, so I very much appreciate this." I continue to be amazed at how poorly most reviewers are treated for all the free labor they provide.

Hello. I wrote a nice long essay about AI and this very strange moment where we're constantly told we're living in the dawn of a strange new future but the only thing that's actually clear is that everyone feels pretty unmoored and uncertain. I hope you'll read it

(returning to work after a week of vacation and i don't remember how to do emails anymore): greetings, to my colleagues in officemongering

monday again

"post a screenshot of your first 5 steam purchases and let bluesky judge you open the steam client, click your name in the top right -> account details -> view purchase history and scroll down" Huh, I forgot what it was like to not having a gaming PC.

Two stunning winners ✨🥇