Dana Howard

As many others have posted, a must-read by 12 former FDA commissioners laying out what's so deeply troubling about the substance of and process used for recent changes to vaccine policy at FDA: www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....

But @jasonlschwartz.bsky.social perhaps summed it up best 👇

ACIP wants to eliminate gaps in screening so vulnerable infants who need Hep B vax get it... this is not within their purview. Usually ACIP would take into account the current situation in US and make most equitable decision given the realities.

We should fix problems in the US health system that mean prenatal care is often inadequate or lacking...but public health experts wouldn't just will that into being by making decisions that are based on a system that doesn't exist.

Here is Jason Goldman's beautiful, amazing takedown of the whole sham #ACIP meeting today. (2 parts) So glad he said what every expert in the field is feeling today (and all year).

Next liaison, Jason Goldman of American College of Physicians who speaks "you are wasting taxpayer dollars by not having scientific rigorous discussion on issues that truly matter. The best thing you can do is adjourn the meeting."

Going to be an awful day for anyone who appreciates vaccines, as Kennedy's ACIP meets today. The agenda is up and even the person representing CDC in the first session is a hard-core antivaxxer (Mark Blaxill). Starting today at 8am Eastern.

Thanks @robcaliff.bsky.social and 11 other prior FDA Commissioners for weighing in on vaccines, evidence, appropriate policy in today's @nejm.org www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
www.statnews.com/2025/12/03/f...

If you are reading that article that thinks too many students get accommodations & feeling like maybe it has a point, you should instead read @dorfmandoron.bsky.social's "Fear of the Disability Con" (www.jstor.org/stable/45284...).

In the great words of Justice Breyer decrying the absurdity that real abortion clinics can be forced to say things the state mandates while fake abortion clinics can't:

REALLY?

Abortion ‘Reversal’ Speech Protected From NY State Regulation (1) New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) is barred from enforcing state false advertising and consumer protection laws against anti-abortion medical centers in the state that promote abortion “reve...

Today, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that NY Attorney General Letitia James can't enforce false advertising and consumer protection laws against crisis pregnncy centers over their promotion of pseudoscientific and potentially dangerous abortion pill "reversal."

Doctors respond to ‘data-free’ decision over menopause hormone therapy: ‘It’s not true’ Physicians say FDA panel conflated two issues and made baseless claims about unproven health benefits

The FDA bypassed its typical process and overstated the science behind menopause hormone therapy, experts told me – with troubling implications for future drug decisions
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

FDA review staff was excluded from voting on whether to approve first priority voucher drug Top officials like Vinay Prasad and George Tidmarsh voted on the drug, a major break from the FDA's typical practice.

“You are taking the decision away from the reviewers, and you’re putting it in the hands of the political leaders of FDA,” Fernandez Lynch said.

It doesn't take an expert to understand how bad this is. More great reporting from @lizzylawrence.bsky.social

www.statnews.com/2025/11/21/t...

X1.2 speed
Jenna Norton
@jenna-m-norton.bsky.social

“At a panel discussion about psychedelics as medical treatments, investor Christian Angermayer urged attendees to “follow the science” about the drugs — eliciting audible groans from several audience members.”

“Exclusive: FDA review staff was excluded from voting on whether to approve first priority voucher drug. In a major departure from the FDA's typical practice, politically appointed top agency officials voted on whether to approve the first product from a drug rather than the FDA review staff.”

FDA delays left recalled baby formula on store shelves, food safety expert says The leader of the Association of Food and Drug Officials told Healthbeat that the FDA has been slow to share distribution lists for recalled ByHeart formula. “I’m not sure they recognize the sense of ...

FDA delays left recalled ByHeart baby formula on store shelves, food safety expert tells Healthbeat. Nearly a week was lost clearing bureaucratic hurdles before all state and local food safety officials were told where formula was being sold. www.healthbeat.org/2025/11/22/b... #IDsky #Medsky

Such a hard ask! I’ll pick two. both shaped my way of thinking. Shame and Necessity by Bernard Williams and Solitary Confinement: Social Death and Its Afterlives By Lisa Guenther.

“The new version reveals that many of the authors and reviewers have been outspoken critics of gender-affirming care, are affiliated with anti-LGBTQ+ groups, and have little-to-no experience providing clinical care for young trans people.”

RFK Jr had committed to Bill Cassidy, as a condition to win his vote, that he would keep website language.

Cassidy in February: “If confirmed… CDC will not remove statements on their website pointing out that vaccines do not cause autism.”

Note the language in second photo.

Walnut sourdough loaf

Walnut loaf. Just came out the oven. A bit misshapen, but I’ll take it.

A Tribal data repository to advance Indigenous health and sovereignty - Nature Genetics We present the first federally funded Tribal data repository — the Data for Indigenous Implementations, Interventions, and Innovations Tribal Data Repository. This repository takes a revolutionary app...

Once again, sharing our groundbreaking paper. We did a lot of good work to forward the practice of #IDSov but it's incomplete and we need to be allowed to finish so that we can all move forward together and be competitive on the Global Tech and Science playing field. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

“More than 90 doctors were involved in Walker’s care, but not one offered her the option to end her pregnancy, according to medical records.”

“Ticking Time Bomb”: A Pregnant Mother Kept Getting Sicker. She Died After She Couldn’t Get an Abortion in Texas. Walker is one of several women ProPublica found with underlying health conditions who died when they couldn’t access abortions.

NEW:

In 2024, Tierra Walker was sick and getting sicker. She was also pregnant.

She knew abortion was illegal in Texas, but thought there was an exception for women like her, whose health was at risk. Doctors told her there was no emergency.

Then she died.

www.propublica.org/article/texa...

Pay attention to this bill Ohioans:

Take action now and tell the Ohio House that students deserve facts not propaganda in our schools!

informative article with this hopeful kernel from @greerdonley.bsky.social :“Mifepristone manufacturer Danco Laboratories last year confirmed ongoing efforts to add miscarriage management as an approved use to its drug label. Were that to happen, it could be a game changer for access.”

FDA’s abortion-pill safety review under growing scrutiny • West Virginia Watch The FDA is facing increasing pressure from abortion opponents and advocates over how it regulates abortion medication.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is facing increasing pressure from abortion opponents and advocates over how it regulates a drug that has become central to abortion access since Roe v. Wade was overturned three years ago, reports @sofiaresnick.bsky.social.

new paper by Sean Westwood:

With current technology, it is impossible to tell whether survey respondents are real or bots. Among other things, makes it easy for bad actors to manipulate outcomes. No good news here for the future of online-based survey research

U of A, NYU and Harvard experts lead process to codify world’s first global standard on Indigenous Peoples’ data

Here's fresh and happy news just out today! NativeBio was a late and junior partner but very happy to be part of this important work.

nni.arizona.edu/news/u-nyu-a...

Columbus Metropolitan Library Workers Are Organizing Their Union With OFT To our patrons and our community:We are proud to publicly announce that hundreds of workers at Columbus Metropolitan Library are coming together to build our union. We do different jobs, and we work i...

this is our public statement.

www.oft-aft.org/press/columb...