So obvious when stated plainly, yet US doesn't see it. "Being proactive in a situation like this, where you have critically endangered and endemic island species, makes sense, if you’ve done your homework,' says ecologist John Gittleman of the University of Georgia." www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

"[E]ven skeptics of diversity, equity and inclusion programs who might welcome a policy shift should understand the real cost of such deals. They coerce institutions into agreeing that the country's chief executive can interpret and enforce laws unilaterally, undermining the rule of law itself."

Yet another reason to ❤️ NY. NYS DOH Announces Historic $544K Penalty Against Former Suffolk County Nurse Practitioner for Fraudulent Vaccination Practices" www.health.ny.gov/press/releas...

"His wife has said that he relied on an inhaler for asthma, but ICE agents rejected her attempt to give them the device when he was taken into custody."

"The new OMB rule threatens to go even further...[with] restrictions on...travel, data sharing, and technical assistance that threaten to stifle international cooperation in science and education." Public comments til 7/13 here: www.regulations.gov/document/OMB... www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Mindblowing, at least to this humanities person, and bravo to this: The scientists "founded a public-benefit institution called Biotic that hopes to advance the capabilities of the synthetic cell by making it available to other researchers." www.cnn.com/2026/07/01/s...

The "largest antiabortion group in Texas is...proposing to target a narrow slice of women, those with medical licenses, by threatening to revoke their licenses if they are caught taking abortion pills." www.nytimes.com/2026/06/24/u...

The new commission "will convene experts from risk science, security, the social and political sciences, mathematics and computer science, and health to rethink a systems approach to misinformation and disinformation threats to human health and security." www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Posting explainer of similar situation in 2020, after @lizzylawrence.bsky.social broke story about mystery VIP's "compassionate use" of retatrutide. W/ @artcap.bsky.social & Alison Bateman-House. www.statnews.com/2020/10/08/c... via @statnews.com

"“I don’t want to be fighting subpoenas for the next two years instead of improving America’s health,” Kennedy told the congressional candidate. “For me, you know, there’s an immediate pragmatic reason for this phone call.” www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Great piece on case's impact. A "controversial decision at the time, it established important ethical duties for health care providers, while enabling countless third parties to reduce their risks of potential harm." [email protected] www.statnews.com/2026/06/25/t... via @statnews.com

Can submit public comments here: www.regulations.gov/document/OMB...

OK, people. It takes 2 minutes to write a letter to Congress, a few extra if you personalize it. Russ Vought's attempt to take over ALL federal grant funding is anti-democratic and dangerous. We need MORE letters. Let's tip it over 2000 today. actionnetwork.org/letters/oppo...

Eli Lilly gave extraordinary obesity drug access to a 79-year-old patient. Who was it? Learn more on preapproval access from CUPA (NYU Compassionate Use and Preapproval Access Working Group): tinyurl.com/phwuw7cr www.statnews.com/2026/06/23/e... via @statnews.com

“These drugs aren’t yet approved for obesity in patients this young. And without further studies, it isn’t certain that young children can safely use the medications for weight loss without compromising a critical period of growth for their bones and brain.” @lisakearns.bsky.social

More Than 770,000 Children Are No Longer Receiving SNAP Benefits After Trump Changes Federal Food Program www.propublica.org/article/snap...

Fallout continues from the ADA's decision to forcibly expel five diabetes experts from its annual meeting in New Orleans for handing out copies of an editorial criticizing federal cuts to biomedical research. Liz Cooney has the latest: www.statnews.com/2026/06/09/a...

Just out (paywalled): "Science Fiction as a Pedagogical Tool for High School Bioethics Education," by Ambria Willams, Ayden Eilmus, Dhriti Jagadish, @artcap.bsky.social, and me. NYU HS Bioethics Project is illustrative case: tinyurl.com/5drt38xk link.springer.com/article/10.1...

When an expert on authoritarianism (@anneapplebaum.bsky.social) is writing about your scientific meeting, alarm bells should go off. Write to American Diabetes Association CEO Charles Henderson at [email protected] and Chief Medical Officer Rita Rastogi Kalyani at [email protected].

“The harm that white phosphorus causes is horrific,” said Bonnie Docherty, a senior arms adviser at Human Rights Watch. “It inflicts burns that can penetrate to the bone...causes severe respiratory damage, and organ failure.” www.nytimes.com/2026/06/06/w...

"While administration officials frame this as defending our borders and ensuring "rapid access to care" for exposed individuals, the medical, ethical, and legal reality is far more troubling." www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/the-...

This is the end of American science and innovation. Russell Vought is the angel of death who is presiding over this abomination of a OMB regulation.

PLEASE SHARE: STAT is hiring for a "Trust-in-science" reporter! The reporter will cover where trust is breaking down, the consequences, and how to rebuild it. If you or someone you know would be great for the position, please apply! #journojobs #journalismjobs #journalism #science 📰🧪

I am heartbroken that Muhlenberg announced this week "the non-renewal of 13 faculty positions, as well as the elimination of 9 currently filled staff positions.” We are losing incredible faculty and staff with no clear justification for the criteria used. Students are rightly demanding transparency.

“'The NAACP will not watch the same institutions that depend on Black athletic prowess to fill their stadiums and their bank accounts remain silent while their states strip Black communities of their voice,' NAACP executive director Derrick Johnson said." www.nytimes.com/athletic/729...

1. If you've been following the rollercoast that #CDC 's #ACIP has become under Sec. Kennedy, you'll find this interesting. The new ACIP charter that was published in April has been withdrawn. The announcement here: public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2026-10012.pdf h/t @doritreiss.bsky.social

Ugh, this is bad. “The apparent scale of the outbreak makes a response harder, given the number of contacts that need to be traced and tests that need to be run, says Jason Kindrachuk, a virologist at the University of Manitoba…. “It's a heck of a lot of cases to be under the radar,” Rimoin says.”

The change comes as arXiv and others struggle to manage an influx of AI-generated materials masquerading as rigorous science.

#Ebola: New outbreak in NE DRC, in Ituri province, where the large 2018-2020 outbreak took place. Security issues there make responses challenging. DRC has announced this one is caused by the Bundibugyo species of Ebola. Only 2 previous Bundibugyo outbreaks (2007, 2012). No licensed vaccine for it.

"The individual claims almost matter less than the cycle itself: See a new disease. Distrust the official explanation. Assume a coverup. Mention ivermectin. Suggest a hidden profit motive. Repeat." www.statnews.com/2026/05/08/h... via @statnews.com

Wonderful news.

Op Ed in the Toronto Star: Nonconsensual sensitive exams continue to take place on anesthetized bodies in Canadian medical schools www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

ICE Agents Detain Newlywed Spouse of Soldier Training to Deploy www.nytimes.com/2026/04/05/u...

YIKES. “Ars Technica published an article containing fabricated quotations generated by an AI tool and attributed to a source who did not say them. That is a serious failure of our standards. Direct quotations must always reflect what a source actually said.” @jackiantonovich.bsky.social

In Springfield, Ohio, people are preparing in advance of a “large deportation” promised by the president. To all appearances, the city is 2 or 3 days from a federal ethnic cleansing, grounded in a hate campaign organized by the vice-president and American Nazis. snyder.substack.com/p/ethnic-cle...

With Trump going full authoritarian on Venezuela-Greenland, ICE, and the Fed, the response has to be serious. Four Republican senators (Tillis, McConnell, Murkowski, Collins?) could announce they’ll caucus for now with the Dems to give them control of the Senate to check Trump.

In 2 weeks! CUPACon 2026 on current topics in expanded access, presented by NYU Working Group on Compassionate Use & Preapproval Access. Feat Richard Pazdur, Andrew Lo, @hollylynchez.bsky.social @profcrobertson.bsky.social, Alison Bateman-House, and others. Fantastic agenda, workshops, networking.

"When patients reject vaccines today, they are rejecting one of the most powerful tools we have to keep them safe, not because the science has changed, but because the information ecosystem has." www.statnews.com/2025/12/10/a... via @statnews.com

Border patrol agents are clearly recording raids with Meta glasses www.404media.co/border-patro...

🚨 BIG BIG DEAL 🚨 The spokesperson's claim this delay is not political but bc "comprehensive scientific reviews take the time necessary to get the science right" is absurd. They claim to have figured out leucovorin + COVID vax deaths already. But they need more time on a drug as well studied as mife?

Story now updated w/ the answer: "Three sources close to Pazdur told STAT that concerns about the legality of a new drug review program, Makary and Prasad inserting themselves into drug review decisions, and Makary’s efforts to handpick hires for CDER contributed to Pazdur’s decision to leave."

Was it Prasad's Friday vaccine email? Was it the politicized review process established for the national priority voucher products? Or some other bridge too far that hasn't yet come to light? A huge loss for the American public, which was set to benefit from a quarter century of Pazdur's experience.

Major AI conference flooded with peer reviews written fully by AI. Controversy has erupted after 21% of manuscript reviews for an international AI conference were found to be generated by artificial intelligence. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Wow.

NEWS --> BBC confirms to me that they did edit a line out of historian @rutgerbregman.com's speech. It called Trump "the most openly corrupt president in US history." BBC also confirms this was done on the advice of lawyers. So Trump's threats worked. New piece: newrepublic.com/article/2036...

"Public health experts warned that the CDC is no longer a trustworthy source of vaccine information. 'It comes not as a shock…that on the CDC website we have disinformation,' said Kathryn Edwards, a Vanderbilt professor emerita of pediatrics." www.statnews.com/2025/11/20/c... via @statnews.com