Meg Winchester

E.P.A. Moves to Weaken Limits on Ethylene Oxide The gas, ethylene oxide, plays a crucial role in sterilizing medical devices. But long-term exposure is linked to several types of cancer and other ailments.

Breaking News: The EPA moved to weaken limits on emissions of ethylene oxide, a cancer-causing gas.

A Third of Americans Have Cut Spending or Borrowed Money for Health Care

“One-third of Americans — an estimated 82 million people — say they are making sacrifices, including skipping meals or driving less, to pay for care, according to a new survey released on Thursday… Those without insurance reported even more trade-offs.”

After Sowing Distrust in Fluoridated Water, Kennedy and Skeptics Turn to Obstructing Other Fluoride Sources Florida and Utah have banned fluoridation, with multiple other states looking to do the same. Critics of fluoride in drinking water point to supplements as an alternative, but many are creating barrie...

Under RFK Jr., the federal government is taking aim at not just fluoridated water but also fluoride supplements.

The FDA announced efforts to restrict the sale of certain fluoride products to children and has issued a warning about their risks to health care professionals.

Experts fear ‘unethical’ vaccine trial in Africa is ‘prototype’ for US studies under RFK Jr Danish researchers whose work on effects of vaccines has been called into question are at center of US vaccine policy

EXCLUSIVE: @standupforscience.bsky.social sent an investigator to Guinea-Bissau and shared their unpublished findings with members of Congress. I obtained a copy of that report, which details how deeply the researchers are enmeshed - and what that means for US:
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Good words of warning here. AI models are generally designed to read and incorporate (and, in a sense, believe) virtually everything they find online, with very few guardrails. The information can get divorced from its original source, context, & rebuttals or retractions. That's a really big problem

Meat and Dairy Industries Spent Big Money Lobbying Ahead of Trump Dietary Guideline Changes The new Dietary Guidelines for Americans emphasize red meat and dairy.

NEW: In January the Trump administration released new dietary guidelines that prompted the consumption of red meat and full-fat dairy products.

Federal lobbying disclosures reveal that the meat and dairy industries spent big money lobbying USDA and HHS, which were responsible for the guidelines.

Dr. Oz says Obamacare enrollment may be ‘too high’ Even as the top official for Medicaid and Medicare claims millions may be falsely enrolled, the Trump administration is urging younger people to sign up for high-deductible ACA plans.

Somehow I missed this yesterday: Oz is saying that ACA enrollment may be too high and is essentially arguing that because so many people were able to overcome the burdens Republicans threw at them, there must be fraud. www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...

‘A sobering preview’: extreme heat now affects one in three people globally, study finds Rising temperatures making it hard even for young, healthy people to safely do normal physical tasks in many regions Climate breakdown is shrinking the amount of time that people can safely go about their lives, according to a study that shows a third of the world’s population now resides in areas where heat severely limits activity. Rising temperatures, driven by the continued burning of fossil fuels, are making it difficult even for many young, healthy adults to do basic physical activities, such as housework or walking up stairs during daylight hours at the height of the summer, the report warns. Continue reading...

‘A sobering preview’: extreme heat now affects one in three people globally, study finds

RFK Jr’s pick to review Covid vaccines authored misleading research, experts say HHS says the MIT professor is ‘more than qualified’ to serve on the agency’s vaccine advisory panel and calls ‘attacks’ on him ‘politically motivated’

I wrote about the MIT professor who is leading a review of Covid-19 vaccine safety for Robert F Kennedy Jr's HHS. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

A Trump Order Protected a Weedkiller. And Also a Weapon of War.

Trump signed an EO benefitting Bayer, the makers of cancer-linked weedkiller Roundup and deadly munitions component white phosphorus.

It came after Bayer hired top Trumpworld lobbyist Brian Ballard and spent over $9M last year on federal lobbying.

"Drain the swamp."

Large drugmakers are developing fewer antibiotics, analysis finds The number of potential antimicrobial treatments being developed by the world’s largest drugmakers nosedived by 35% over the past five years, according to a new analysis.

When people say lower drug prices will harm innovation, it is important to ask if our current system incentivizes the innovation we truly need...

"The findings highlight a mismatch between business incentives and public health needs." #healthpolicy

www.statnews.com/2026/03/10/d...

Colorado, North Dakota see uptick in measles activity

In Utah, health officials are warning that measles patients are suffering from anemia and liver inflammation.

www.cidrap.umn.edu/m...

Photo: Dave Haygarth/Flickr cc

Fragments of U.S.-Made Missile Seen in Photos Taken by Iran Near Deadly School Strike

'Made in USA' and Department of Defense codes imprinted on weapons fragments used to make American Tomahawks and seen in photos by Iran near bombed school. Latest story w/ @trbrtc.bsky.social and @johnismay.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2026/03/09/w...

I'm shocked -- SHOCKED!

Stark Divide: Americans More Confident in Career Scientists at U.S. Health Agencies Than Leaders | The Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania When it comes to reliable health information, Americans are more confident in federal health agencies' career scientists than their leaders.

A new Annenberg poll shows Americans trust federal career scientists and independent medical groups more than in the political leaders running U.S. health agencies
www.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org/stark-divide...

Bhattacharya urges measles vaccination as US activity increases

After remaining silent for almost a year about the U.S. measles outbreak, NIH/CDC poseur Jay Bhattacharya is now recommending measles vaccines.

And this is where he gets to see the impact of the destruction of trust in public health and vaccines, for which he is partially responsible.

US health officials are trying to delay a regional World Health Organization meeting that would confirm the loss of its measles elimination status until after the midterm elections in November.

This is a reckless, accountability-dodging move that puts politics over public health.

Scientists, Engineers and Legal Experts Condemn Partisan Attack on Scientific Reference Manual for Judges - Inside Climate News Last month, a government agency erased climate change from a manual that helps federal and state judges understand complex science in court. The political attack on the nonpartisan publication “should...

My latest for @insideclimatenews.org. More than two dozen authors of an influential objective scientific resource for judges condemned a recent political attack on the reference manual by Republican AGs, who succeeded in erasing a chapter on climate science.
insideclimatenews.org/news/0303202...

Measles outbreaks are costing the U.S. millions of dollars. The true losses can't be counted. As vaccination rates decline, the economic consequences will increase, research suggests.

Every public health professional could have predicted this 👇🏾

Measles outbreaks are costing the U.S. millions of dollars. The true losses can't be counted.

www.nbcnews.com/health/kids-...

Why it's a bit surprising that the U.S. is attending a key global flu meeting After the U.S. withdrew from the World Health Organization, it wasn't clear they would participate in this WHO-led meeting to determine the recipe for the next flu vaccine.

After the U.S. withdrew from the World Health Organization, it wasn't clear they would participate in this WHO-led meeting to determine the recipe for the next flu vaccine. n.pr/3Mwgx07

“Shah Alam’s death comes just 15 months after his arrival in Buffalo in December 2024. He is survived by his wife and two sons.” Border Patrol leaves nearly blind, non-English-speaking refugee to die in the winter cold a few miles from his home

Frontiers | Characterization of subchronic lung and brain consequences caused by mouse-adapted SARS-CoV-2 and influenza A infection of C57BL6 mice IntroductionSARS-CoV-2 and, to a lesser extent, influenza A can lead to long-term complications in the respiratory and nervous systems. However, the mechanis...

Comparison of Covid vs flu in the experimental model:
Only Covid showed persistent brain inflammation
Repair of lung tissue impaired with Covid vs flu
www.frontiersin.org/journals/imm...

Every single step that the anti-science, anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist RFK Jr takes to dismantle the US medical, public health, & health research systems is incredibly painful & distressing

This one would hit so hard

Without the USPSTF, evidence-based screening & prevention would crumble 😢

we couldn't use government funds to buy coffee (like, folgers ground coffee) when i worked on a CDC outbreak emergency response

N.I.H. Director Will Temporarily Run C.D.C. in Leadership Shake-Up

Dr. Michael T. Osterholm, an infectious disease expert at the University of Minnesota, called the arrangement “a recipe for disaster.” Given the deep cuts at the C.D.C., he said, “I think the C.D.C. is one disaster away from being a disaster itself.”

Chlorine Dioxide, Raw Camel Milk: The FDA No Longer Warns Against These and Other Ineffective Autism Treatments The FDA has taken down a webpage warning about therapies and products making “false claims” of treating autism. It’s part of a series of actions the agency has taken under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy ...

NEW: The FDA has removed a webpage warning about dangerous therapies claiming to treat autism. It’s part of a series of actions the agency has taken under RFK Jr. to discredit long-established science.

By @megomatz.bsky.social

FDA reverses course, agrees to review Moderna’s flu vaccine The FDA reversed course and told Moderna it would review its application for a new flu vaccine, the company announced Wednesday.

Just a reminder that we are experiencing the worst flu season in two decades partly caused by drops in flu uptake and they tried to thwart the review of flu vaccine developed using the mRNA platform.
Glad to see this proceed but this is far from over.
www.statnews.com/2026/02/18/f...

It costs $130 + a $35 facility fee to obtain a passport and an extra $30 for a passport card. In California, fees for certified copies of vital records are between $18 and $31 each. How is the SAVE Act not a poll tax?

With Latest Rollback, the U.S. Essentially Has No Clean-Car Rules

“The U.S. no longer has emission standards of any meaning,” said Margo T. Oge, who served as the E.P.A.’s top vehicle emissions regulator under three presidents and has since advised both automakers and environmental groups…

“Nothing. Zero,” she added. “Not many countries have zero.”

“.. using millions of dollars from the former U.S. foreign aid agency to pay for the security detail of Russell Vought ..”

@reuters.com
www.reuters.com/world/us/whi...