Eric Boodman

Prasad overruled FDA staff to reject Moderna's flu vaccine application The rejection is the latest instance of Vinay Prasad overruling career FDA scientists to place vaccines under harsher scrutiny.

If you're not reading @lizzylawrence.bsky.social's stories on the FDA, you are missing out.

Today's scoop is that agency staff were poised to evaluate Moderna's flu vaccine application but were overruled by Vinay Prasad, who refused to review the submission.

www.statnews.com/2026/02/11/m...

Is 'shared decision-making' being hijacked by U.S. health officials to sow doubt about vaccines? Experts worry that health officials' use of 'shared decision-making' in new vaccine guidance distorts the concept's meaning and disregards the importance of evidence.

In the Trump administration's vaccine rhetoric, you'll hear a refrain: "shared decision-making."

But shared decision-making researchers worry that the feds may be hijacking the term to sow doubt when the evidence of benefit is in fact very strong.

www.statnews.com/2026/01/20/s...

Alex Pretti remembered by health care workers at a Minneapolis vigil as a ‘stand-up guy’ Health care workers brought flowers and wreaths, lit candles, and draped stethoscopes over a wooden cross as a makeshift memorial to nurse Alex Pretti.

A hard but important read from @mmolteni.bsky.social about Alex Pretti, the ICU nurse who was shot by federal agents in Minneapolis

www.statnews.com/2026/01/26/a...

Federal health officials slash recommended childhood vaccinations under Trump’s directive The number of recommended childhood shots drops from 17 to 11.

After an order from Trump, federal officials unilaterally slash recommended childhood vaccines from 17 to 11, @chelseacirruzzo.bsky.social @helenbranswell.bsky.social report. Public health experts worry the move will sow confusion for parents.
www.statnews.com/2026/01/05/c...

In Texas, ex-vegan restaurateurs put MAHA's vision for farming to the test A former vegan chef is trying to execute MAHA's dream of a utopian future based on small-scale, family-owned farms.

A great profile from @isabellacueto.bsky.social about LA-vegan-restaurateurs-turned-tallow-embracing-MAHA-evangelists in small-town Texas.

www.statnews.com/2025/10/16/m...

In dispensing advice on Tylenol and autism, Trump takes on a new role: doctor in chief Trump repeatedly and forcefully issued direct medical advice during his autism announcement, in ways that went beyond presidential precedent.

Smart story from @jonathanwosen.bsky.social and @angusrohan.bsky.social on the dangerous new territory Trump waded into Monday as he issued direct medical advice regarding the use of Tylenol. Almost makes one nostalgic for the days of some light bleach-pushing.

www.statnews.com/2025/09/23/t...

Hospitals get dinged for reporting too many infections. In some cases, the solution is not to test A STAT Investigation: To avoid fines for reporting excessive hospital-acquired infections, some facilities are discouraging testing.

"Health care's dirty little secret": To avoid being fined for hospital-acquired infections, some administrators discourage clinicians from testing for them, even when that worsens patient care. Important reporting from @tarabannow.bsky.social

www.statnews.com/2025/09/22/h...

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 jonathan.wosen@statnews.com #journorequest

NIH director: mRNA vaccine contracts were canceled because public lacks trust in technology NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya offered an explanation for the cancellation of mRNA vaccine contracts that didn't align with that of his boss, health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

#NIH director Jay Bhattacharya says the #BARDA mRNA contracts were terminated because the platform isn't viable because people don't trust it.
Experts question some of the claims Bhattacharya made. www.statnews.com/2025/08/11/m...

Jay Bhattacharya once studied health disparities. As NIH director, he’s allowed such research to wither Jay Bhattacharya’s tenure as NIH director has seen health disparities research swept up in the Trump administration’s attack on DEI

NEW: Massive and confusing inconsistencies at NIH. New director says health disparities research is critical yet grants are being cut left and right. With @aniloza.bsky.social and @ericboodman.bsky.social. (Also my last story for STAT. 😢) www.statnews.com/2025/08/01/n...

Jay Bhattacharya once studied health disparities. As NIH director, he’s allowed such research to wither Jay Bhattacharya’s tenure as NIH director has seen health disparities research swept up in the Trump administration’s attack on DEI

Incredibly well reported deep dive on NIH and health disparities research in STAT. 🧵

www.statnews.com/2025/08/01/n...

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Inside the fall of Vinay Prasad at the FDA Prasad's departure followed a campaign by a right-wing activist and a controversy over a rare disease drug.

. @lizzylawrence.bsky.social takes a look at the lead up to Vinay Prasad's abrupt departure from #FDA. The now former #CBER head "wasn’t able to outrun his firebrand persona," she writes.
www.statnews.com/2025/07/30/v...

Did a drug prevent this man’s ALS? For over an hour, Jeff Vierstra lay still in Columbia University’s ALS clinic, as a doctor poked him ankle-to-throat with an electric needle. Sometimes,

He didn't have ALS. At least, not yet. But clearly some of his nerve cells had died. Would an experimental drug prevent him from getting it?

Great piece from @jasonmast.bsky.social

www.statnews.com/2025/07/28/a...

Senate passes Trump’s tax-cut bill that would slash Medicaid spending The Senate has passed a $4.5 trillion tax cut bill after last-minute changes to its health care provisions, as Republicans scrambled to get their party on board.

Senate passes Trump’s tax-cut bill that would slash Medicaid spending

www.statnews.com/2025/07/01/s...

The CDC’s vaccine advisory panel, empowered by RFK Jr., is just getting started The ACIP, the CDC’s vaccine advisory panel newly empowered by health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is just getting started.

You can't make this stuff up.
Fortunately, my brilliant colleague @jasonmast.bsky.social, was around to explain to you all what happened at the first meeting of the new #ACIP. www.statnews.com/2025/06/26/c...

Why a lot of Native American deaths are not counted Native American deaths are significantly undercounted because of errors in death certificates, a new study claims.

Important story: Native American longevity rates even lower than previously thoughts because their race is often recorded wrong on death certificates. Story by new STAT intern Marissa Russo. www.statnews.com/2025/06/18/l...

Vaccine advisers to consider MMRV vaccines, 'thimerosal containing' flu shots in pared-down meeting RFK Jr.'s handpicked advisers will discuss two long-approved shots at their next meeting

The newly reconstituted CDC vaccine advisory committee will discuss the combination measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella vaccine, among other things, at its meeting next week. It has been on the CDC’s childhood vaccination schedule for decades.

www.statnews.com/2025/06/18/r...

Vinay Prasad named chief medical and science officer at FDA Vinay Prasad is taking on several big roles at the FDA, solidifying his position as a top adviser to Commissioner Marty Makary.

NEW: Vinay Prasad will now hold three separate jobs at the Food and Drug Administration, solidifying his position as a top adviser to Commissioner Marty Makary.
www.statnews.com/2025/06/18/v...

Supreme Court ruling on gender-affirming care delivers major setback for transgender rights Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors can stand after the Supreme Court ruled that it does not constitute sex-based discrimination, in a 6-3 decision.

BREAKING: The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 to uphold Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care for trans minors. Story here, will be updating: www.statnews.com/2025/06/18/s...

CDC workers fired from prominent STI, hepatitis labs are rehired The staff of two world-class CDC laboratories that were slated to be closed by the Trump administration have been informed that their terminations have been canceled.

Two critical labs at the #CDC were inexplicable targeted for closure in April. The #STD & viral #hepatitis laboratories are among the parts at the agency where terminations have been rescinded. www.statnews.com/2025/06/16/c...

Veteran photographer Michael Nigro was shot in the head with a non-lethal bullet while covering anti-ICE protests in LA. "It felt very very intentional," Nigro tells NPR, "a chilling effect to convince us to go away."

Other reporters say they have been targeted too.

My story below:

Federal judge rules that hundreds of NIH grant terminations were 'void and illegal' A federal judge ruled that some of the grant terminations by the National Institutes of Health on DEI grounds are “void and illegal.”

BREAKING: federal judge overrules hundreds of NIH grant terminations

www.statnews.com/2025/06/16/n...

Private equity firm will finance Harvard research lab, in possible template for future A private equity firm will finance a Harvard University research lab, a possible template for the future as schools nationwide absorb federal funding cuts.

As Harvard scientists grapple with massive funding cuts, one lab at the school of public health turns to funding from private equity, Allison DeAngelis reports for @statnews.com

www.statnews.com/2025/06/16/h...

RFK Jr.’s new vaccine panel raises questions of how Kennedy defines conflicts of interest The entanglements and strongly expressed views of the new vaccine panel raises questions of how Robert F. Kennedy Jr. defines conflicts of interest.

RFK Jr. said he dismissed an entire vaccine advisory board because of conflicts of interest. But new members appear to have their own conflicts. Many question how the secretary defines COI in the first place.

Via @chelseacirruzzo.bsky.social

www.statnews.com/2025/06/13/r...

To prevent ovarian cancers, fallopian tube removal is on the rise To prevent ovarian cancers, fallopian tube removal is on an upsurge — and diagnostic manuals are finally catching up.

Wrote about why fallopian tube removals are replacing "tube-tying" — and how pathologists came to believe that the most common kind of so-called ovarian cancer often begins in the tube.

www.statnews.com/2025/06/16/o...

Marco Rubio said no one has died due to U.S. aid cuts. This mom disagrees Mariam Mohammed says her younger son died when she could not get treatment for him at a U.S.-funded clinic that had temporarily closed. Researchers say that are many thousands of cases like his.

Last week, Marco Rubio said no one has died from USAID cuts and "No children are dying on my watch."

This mother begs to differ, and researchers suspect there are tens to hundreds of thousands more stories like hers.

By ‪@gabrielleemanuel.bsky.social‬ and me
www.npr.org/sections/goa...

Screenshot of this paragraph: "“I’ve always believed we were working, in a slow, mostly linear process, toward more democratization in the world,” she said. “My work on consensus building has largely assumed people engaged in that process would be living in democratic societies, and that’s not a fair assumption anymore.” In March, a Swedish research institute released its annual report finding that for the first time in decades, there are now more people living in autocracies than democracies."

Ethical discussions about genome-editing are inextricable from questions about government funding and regulation of science.

But some experts' assumptions about the workings of government are now up in the air, @mmolteni.bsky.social writes.

www.statnews.com/2025/05/27/g...

Drug overdose deaths fell sharply in 2024, as fentanyl cases dropped but meth spiked U.S. drug overdose deaths fell 27% in 2024, the lowest since 2019, with fentanyl cases sharply down but methamphetamine up, the CDC reports.

New: CDC data released today shows a 27% decrease in drug overdose deaths in 2024 compared to the year prior, as fentanyl deaths plummet but deaths involving stimulants like meth and cocaine increase

www.statnews.com/2025/05/14/d...

Chinese and Chinese-American researchers in the U.S. confront a perilous moment Chinese and Chinese-American researchers are reassessing their futures in the U.S., potentially shifting the balance in global scientific innovation, as well as in the biopharma industry.

The Trump administration’s vast overhaul of the U.S. scientific enterprise is hitting Chinese-American researchers particularly hard, with big implications for the future of global scientific competition and collaboration, Brian Yang writes for @statnews.com:

www.statnews.com/2025/05/12/n...

Amid the Milwaukee lead crisis, a laid-off CDC scientist volunteered his expertise. It wasn’t so simple After his job was cut, a CDC scientist volunteered to help Milwaukee respond to the lead crisis in its public schools. For now, he's in limbo.

A laid-off CDC expert is offering free help to Milwaukee during its lead crisis.

“As far as I know, it’s still a free country, and if you want to volunteer your time to help people in need, I don’t think that’s proscribed," he said.

HHS, though, isn't so sure.

www.statnews.com/2025/05/12/l...