Dana Smith

American science and medicine has been thrown into chaos and uncertainty over the past week. Here are some stories to get up to speed. 1/12

RFK Jr. Sought to Stop Covid Vaccinations 6 Months After Rollout Robert F. Kennedy Jr. petitioned the F.D.A. to revoke authorization of the shots at a time when they were in high demand and considered life-saving.

NEW: In a deadly phase of the pandemic, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. petitioned the FDA to revoke authorization -- present or future -- of all Covid vaccines for all ages.

www.nytimes.com/2025/01/17/h...

PSA to my friends in California near the fires: breathing in wildfire smoke is really bad for you (even if it’s not super thick where you are) but if you have face masks (N95, KN95, etc) those can help a lot

Mr. Kennedy has privately expressed interest in having Mr. Siri serve in the Health and Human Services Department’s top legal job, general counsel.

He did not mention the petitions he has lodged on behalf of ICAN with the Food and Drug Administration, asking regulators to withdraw or suspend approval of vaccines not only for polio, but also for hepatitis B.

Like Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Siri insists he does not want to take vaccines away from anyone who wants them. “You want to get the vaccine — it’s America, a free country.” he told Arizona legislators last year after laying out his concerns about the vaccines for polio and other illnesses.

RFK Jr.’s Lawyer Has Asked the FDA to Revoke Polio Vaccine Approval (Gift Article) Aaron Siri, who specializes in vaccine lawsuits, has been at Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s side reviewing candidates for top jobs at the Department of Health and Human Services.

Must-read story by my NYT Health colleagues www.nytimes.com/2024/12/13/h...

The Average Human Body Temperature Is Not 98.6 Degrees Here’s why we appear to be getting cooler, and what that could mean when it comes to fevers.

“Average human body temperature is not really 98.6 degrees F. Instead, most people’s baseline is a little bit cooler.… Some researchers say it could just be a measurement issue.… Other experts think humans really have gotten cooler over the past 150 years.” Great story by @smithdanag.bsky.social 🧪

Well Announces New Hires and a Promotion | The New York Times Company

When I started blogging about science as a graduate student over a decade ago, never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would end up at The New York Times. Thrilled to officially join the Well desk as a reporter covering brain health and longevity! www.nytco.com/press/well-a...

It’s me! Bringing you more terrifying news about covid!

“She has come to believe that many of the run-of-the-mill complaints general practitioners see in their day-to-day, which they may be tempted to discount as psychosomatic or “sensitive” or hypochondriacal, do have a biological basis — probably far more than anyone knows or thinks.”

The Mystery of Long COVID Is Just the Beginning At Yale’s clinic, medical sleuth Lisa Sanders is trying almost everything.

Fantastic profile of Lisa Sanders and a great way into telling the story of long covid nymag.com/intelligence...

The Daily Tar Heel front page for Wednesday, August 30, 2023: a full page of bold faced, all caps text in black and red ink from messages during a shooting on campus.

The cover of Thursday's The Daily Tar Heel, a striking response by the student-run paper to an on-campus lockdown and killing. (more twitter.com/caitlyn_yaed...)