@mattwynia.bsky.social
ID doc. Dad. Ethics in disasters, which is a lot lately. Professor of medicine and of public health. Posts mine, not my employer’s.
RFK, Jr.: "We're doing the studies to make the proof."
That's how it works in court: seek out evidence to make your case, minimize or ignore contrary evidence.
But that's the opposite of how science works. We seek evidence to *disprove* our hypotheses.
www.medpagetoday.com/washington-w...
Americans trust federal science agencies less now than they did at the end of last year, largely due to declining confidence among Democrats...54% now trust the CDC, down from 60% in June and 66% in December 2024.
www.ipsos.com/en-us/axios-...
“China pushed more than one million people out of their homes in west-central China [25yrs ago]…for the reservoir of the Three Gorges Dam. This year, China has been installing enough solar panels every three weeks to match the power generation capacity of that dam.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/b...
Fascinating and inspiring piece from David Brooks, again.
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
“the push to approve leucovorin, a generic drug that’s mainly used to alleviate side effects of cancer treatment, as an autism treatment is a sign that the U.S. is headed toward a new era of drug regulation: one where political decisions lead, and evidence follows.”
www.statnews.com/2025/10/14/f...
“Indiana Hospital Association has warned that hospitals will see "catastrophic losses" from the changes in Medicaid and other federal funding.”
www.axios.com/local/indian...
“Employees were crying in her office or in the bathroom almost every day, she said, adding, “There’s just a lot of idealism that’s being crushed.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/h...
"I spent three nights...in federal custody...I was never told what I was charged with...had no phone call...no access to an attorney...missed my daughter’s third birthday. No explanation. No charges. No apology. One day, I was just told, “you’re free to go.”
newsletter.ofthebrave.org/p/im-a-us-ci...
"...vaccines have been: 80%-90% effective against paralytic polio, 98% effective against HPV-induced precancer, 97% effective against measles, 90%-95% effective against Hib, 100% effective against severe chickenpox..." www.statnews.com/2025/10/10/m... via @statnews.com
12.10.2025 15:10 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
Great story on Building out the high-school to health care pipeline.
www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...
“Many people who were RIFed were currently excepted staff working on emergency responses and other critical functions.” insidemedicine.substack.com/p/breaking-n...
11.10.2025 13:17 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
“…if forces like economic collapse and war supply momentum to big social change, they don’t dictate the shape of history. Human beings, their projects and their institutions carve grooves into the future that structure the direction of change.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/o...
Favorite quote: “A good pan is like a trusted friend: It improves with time, instead of slowly poisoning you.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/o...
Only half of adults today trust the CDC to "provide reliable vaccine information," down from 63% last year. Democrats remain more likely than Republicans to trust the CDC, but among Democrats trust has plummeted 24 points since 2023.
www.cnn.com/2025/10/09/h...
43% of Americans say they support "MAHA", but even among them, "at least three in ten MAHA supporters say they either “somewhat” or “strongly” disapprove of the way Kennedy is handling his role as HHS Secretary (30%) and U.S. vaccine policy (35%)...
www.kff.org/public-opini...
“Now it’s unclear how, or if, the NIH will foster open conversations around scientific and ethical issues involving novel biotechnologies.”
www.statnews.com/2025/10/07/h...
"The CDC is now two distinct agencies—a house divided against itself. There are the career officers...Then there’s a small coterie...who control major policies...and its social media...So, now when we hear from the CDC, we have to ask “which CDC” is speaking? open.substack.com/pub/insideme...
06.10.2025 13:59 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
I love this: "National Guard troops could help Portland, if they rented office space."
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/04/o...
“My respiratory system has never been the same,”… “she spent “a lot of time” being angry about her parents’ decision. But…they thought they were just doing what was best for her.
“It is such a complicated thing to hold, because it was a choice that hurt me”
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...
If correct this is terrifying, since democracy, and arguably civilization itself, depends on a basic level of mutual trust and recognition of our shared human values across ideological and political divides. We are in this country, and on this planet, together.
www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
“…scientific marvels…are the fruit of…the same tireless, single-minded effort every elite athlete understands. The fringe science appearing in young men’s online social media feeds, however, requires none of that effort.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/03/o...
It's hard, if not impossible, to do good work in public health if you are required to ignore basic facts about disparities in health outcomes among different groups, such as the 11.4 yr life expectancy gap between Black and non-Black Chicagoans.
www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/seco...
“We took such a hit during COVID and now to be hit [again] as a pediatrician, it's hard."
www.medpagetoday.com/publichealth...
With rapid changes in social norms lately, including many leaders now ignoring hard earned lessons about scientific racism and eugenics, this made me wonder if I’ve been too worried about AI setting norms and biases in concrete. This could be a plus, if AI helps us retain the lessons of history.
29.09.2025 02:10 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
AI-generated “efficiency gains might be especially seductive for commercial IRBs not connected to academic institutions, which in 2021 reviewed nearly half of studies involving new drugs.”
www.science.org/content/arti...
I do not think this chart shows what she thinks it shows…
29.09.2025 01:54 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0I am an autistic person. That day felt like a mafia hit. This did not just happen in a vacuum. RFK has targeted the autistic community for years. Victimizing kids most vulnerable who can’t fight back makes him lots of money.
28.09.2025 18:57 — 👍 6 🔁 3 💬 1 📌 0
“…the charge of hypocrisy is useful only for judging people, not for judging ideas”
So yes, leftist cancel culture was bad. So what? That doesn’t make right wing attacks on free speech OK.
Remember your kindergarten ethics, people.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
Out now: our research on using surrogates for informed consent in ICU patients - several interesting findings, including that all groups agree research coordinators, not PIs, should conduct the consent process...
authors.elsevier.com/c/1lqx52p-lG...
“Many…on the right still spend a lot of time complaining that their speech rights…were violated by the left in recent years. Instead of merely airing grievances, they might consider doing something useful…pressuring allied lawmakers to better protect speech”
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
