Dr Joi Barrett

How Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will undermine and ultimately destroy US vaccination programs When Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was nominated to be Secretary of Health & Human Services, I called him an "extinction-level threat" to public health. Here's how he will attempt to make vaccines extinct in

For example, in February I speculated, based on my having followed his antivax activism for two decades, a presumed blueprint. He waited longer than I thought he would to disband ACIP and pack it with antivaxxers. sciencebasedmedicine.org/how-robert-f...

Again, do *not* underestimate his determination to purge the US of all vaccines. Do not believe him when he says he doesn't want to take away anyone's vaccines. He now has the power to succeed in his two decades-long quest to eliminate vaccines.

Trump’s pick to run FDA is top exec of company that provides compounded weight-loss drugs Trump’s pick to run FDA is top exec of Sesame, a company that provides compounded weight-loss drugs

So Marty Makary wrote that he has no conflicts of interest for his @nejm.org piece and yet he is an executive at the telemedicine company Sesame that sells compounded GLP-1s. Ok. www.statnews.com/2024/11/24/m...

New FDA framework on Covid vaccines leaves pediatricians confused and concerned A new FDA framework for Covid-19 vaccines created confusion among physicians about what it means for young children

“We shouldn’t make vaccine recommendations based on the opinion polls”.

Indeed.

www.statnews.com/2025/05/20/f...

1. A #measles 🧵:
#CDC reports that as of 4/10, there were 712 confirmed measles cases & 3 measles deaths in 25 states across the US to date this year. Many of them are linked to the West Texas outbreak, with individual states reporting:
Texas, 541; New Mexico, 58; Kansas, 32; Oklahoma, 12.

RFK Jr. claims curve is flattening in Texas measles outbreak. Does the data agree? HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the curve is flattening in the measles outbreak in Texas. Public health experts say that's not what the data shows.

Important article - glad to be quoted along with @craigspencer.bsky.social

abcnews.go.com/Health/rfk-j...

Who Will Care for Infants With H.I.V. Overseas? (Gift Article) The consequences of mother-to-child transmission can be enormous, a new study suggests. But the U.S. has dismissed experts working to solve the problem.

USA led the world in expertise stopping HIV, incl preventing mother to child transmission. But DOGE has now dismissed every global prevention expert at USAID, CDC, & State Dept.

The risk is insane: Resurgent HIV & 500K child deaths by 2030. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/08/h...

Physicians at a hospital in Lubbock, Texas report treating several unvaccinated children who exhibited symptoms of liver damage due to excessive vitamin A intake.

6/11

U.S. measles cases as of March 30, 2025 Map shows how many cases are in each state. 1-2 cases: AK, WA, MN, MI, KY, N, FL, VT, RI. 3-9 cases: CA, OK, PA, NY, NJ, MD, GA. 10-49 cases: NM, KS, OH. 50 or more cases: TX This count includes both confirmed and suspected cases. SOURCES: CORI, state and local health departments, news outlets, YALE ESF-8 Virtual Medical Operation Center

As of March 30, there are approximately 529 measles cases across 20 states. Experts project that the Southwest outbreak, which has spread from West Texas to New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Kansas, could last up to a year as cases continue to rise.

Read this full thread for what to know. ⬇️ 1/11 🧵

I had a hypothesis that vitamin D prevents cancer. I worked on this for > 10 years, had 3 NIH-funded grants, and published >30 papers on this topic. Based on our work and that of my esteemed colleagues, I concluded that the evidence does not support the hypothesis.

RFK Jr., we are not the same.

The CDC Buried a Measles Forecast That Stressed the Need for Vaccinations The move — along with the CDC’s explanation — is a sign that the nation’s top public health agency may be falling in line under HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime critic of vaccines.

This week, as the number of confirmed measles cases rose to 483, the CDC buried a report that would’ve stressed the importance of getting vaccinated.

The move was “not normal at all,” one agency staff member said.

By @sheinvestigates.bsky.social

Opinion | The Story of One Woman Who Fell Prey to the Medical Freedom Movement With Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary, what was once a fringe movement now controls the halls of power.

www.nytimes.com/2025/03/29/o...

RFK Jr. forces out Peter Marks, FDA’s top vaccine scientist Marks, an architect of Operation Warp Speed for coronavirus vaccines, warned that a measles outbreak shows how confidence in science is being “undermined.”

Peter Marks has been a constant force for good at FDA and this is beyond worrisome. It’s devastating news. wapo.st/4j31DJa

"If Peter Marks does not want to get behind restoring science to its golden standard and promoting radical transparency, then he has no place at F.D.A. under the strong leadership of Secretary Kennedy.”

This is trivial compared to the gravity of what's happening to medicine and public health in the United States, but I hope that Andrew Nixon never manages to wash the taste of these truckling words from his mouth.

RFK Jr. forces out Peter Marks, FDA’s top vaccine scientist Marks, an architect of Operation Warp Speed for coronavirus vaccines, warned that a measles outbreak shows how confidence in science is being “undermined.”

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

This is incredibly bad.

“It has become clear that truth and transparency are not desired by the Secretary, but rather he wishes subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies,” Marks wrote.

Pushed out

This is why you don’t use vitamin A unsupervised. Especially in children (who are at higher risk of toxicity). The vitamin A toxidrome is AWFUL and there is no reversal agent.

This could have been avoided with a strong, clear communication about the importance of measles vaccination.

Senate confirms Trump’s nominee to run NIH The Senate on Tuesday confirmed health researcher Jay Bhattacharya as the next leader of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).  Bhattacharya was confirmed on a party- line vote, 53 to 47.  …

Get ready for more censorship, less dissent, less intellectual freedom, less funding for research in all areas, more prematurely ended careers, less biosafety, less health security, less preparedness, fewer vaccines, fewer jobs, & more dead people.

thehill.com/policy/healt...

RFK Jr. told people to take Vitamin A rather than the vaccine. Multiple children ended up poisoned. And the measles outbreak is ongoing.

This segment from @maryannefranks.bsky.social is an incredibly tight argument that captures the breadth of the Trump assault on free speech perfectly and in less than a minute.

Spread it far and wide.

A Review of “In Covid’s Wake”: According to Laptop Class Professors, the Heroes of the Pandemic Were Laptop Class Professors The authors of the Great Barrington Declaration prevented fair and honest discussion by constantly spreading fake information. The authors of a new book don't care at all.

Laptop class professors wrote a revisionist history of the pandemic to glorify the laptop class.

My review of In COVID’s Wake, a horrible new book praising misinformation advocates of herd immunity via mass infection.

sciencebasedmedicine.org/laptopclassb...

• Women scientists receive THREE TIMES more personal attacks online than men when discussing science.

• Women scientists are twice as likely to be sexually harassed online.

• Women scientists receive 40% fewer invites to be expert sources for media, even with more qualifications.

1/

• Men interrupt women in professional settings 33% more often than they do men.

• Women in STEM need a PhD to be perceived to be as competent as a man with a bachelors in the same field.

Happy International Women’s Day.

Why do some children still get sick with a disease after being vaccinated?

Short answer: Vaccines significantly reduce the likelihood of getting sick, even if they don’t prevent 100% of infections. They can also lessen the severity of illness.

Longer answer: Continue reading ⬇️

🧵1/6

Second death reported in growing measles outbreak The death of a New Mexico adult comes eight days after a 6-year-old child succumbed to the disease in Texas last week.

A second death from the still-evolving #measles outbreak in Texas - this one, in an adult.

1) the measles vaccine is safe and marvelously effective
2) you can receive the vaccine up to 72hrs after exposure
3) vitamin A helps malnourished kids but doesn't cure
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

America Is Botching Measles Vaccination is the only way to prevent measles infection, a fact the Trump administration has downplayed.

Public-health officials have long advised vaccinations to mitigate measles outbreaks. The Trump administration is downplaying this tactic—and this could add to the small but growing death toll, @katherinejwu.com reports:

I’ve repeatedly been scolded for sharing direct reports, from scientists that I know personally, about disastrous orders coming from the current administration.

I’m told this hasn’t been vetted by a news organization and so I shouldn’t post it here.

No. I believe my colleagues.

Is the air we breathe safe? Is the air we breathe safe? This seemingly straightforward question is often unanswerable because regulations, monitoring approaches, and reporting structures cannot keep up with the rapid human-induc...

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Women Live Longer Than Men—But Not in Medicine "What could explain this mortality puzzle?" write Dr. Christopher Worsham and Dr. Anupam Jena.

Our latest piece for TIME Ideas, based on findings from a new study out in JAMA Internal Medicine about mortality among health care workers.

TIME: time.com/7261514/fema...
JAMA IM: jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Wasserman Schultz: "They are devastating the economy and all in the service of one goal: They are trying to make sure they can make enough room to give massive tax breaks to the wealthy, millionaires, billionaires, and corporations."