Robert Califf

DeSantis’ Canadian drug import plan in Florida goes from campaign trail to tough realities The state’s effort has stalled in part because it failed to win over the Canadian drug industry, which has consistently warned the Canadian government that the U.S. program jeopardized the country’s d...

Not a surprising outcome. Seems to me that if Congress can ok a workaround like importation, it could ok negotiating for a fair price in the first place. Canada never hid its concerns and plans but some people didn't want to hear it.

www.politico.com/news/2026/02...

Capturing Lightning in a Bottle The Unique Challenges of Writing a Book on AI and Healthcare

A good book and nice to see an ECG symbol on the cover as an old fashioned cardiologist!

open.substack.com/pub/robertwa...

in the long run, govt recommendations should be the result of transparent public dialogue and revealing the basis for scientific recommendations. Dr. Mayne, as I would have expected, lays out the disregard for transparency, balance and scientific analysis.

When Politics Poisons Process: How Ideology and Industry Interests Trump Science in the New Dietary Guidelines for Americans Recently, the Trump administration announced the updated Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs) with great fanfare.

This one is highly recommended. Whether you agree or disagree with the guidelines (for example, I like the aggressive tone on "highly processed foods" & continued focus on reducing sugar & salt),

open.substack.com/pub/drsusanm...

While at the same time recommending more mass slaughter for meat consumption when the evidence points in the opposite direction. Hope we can all get behind "real food", less ultraprocessing and less salt and sugar!

About Those Dietary Guidelines ... In some ways, I wish they'd been even worse. Here's why.

Raises some important questions. One that it brings out is the contradiction of opposing the use of animals in biomedical research intended to improve health ....

bittmanproject.substack.com/p/about-thos...

Live Free and Die: US Life Expectancy Has a Problem (But It's Not Seed Oils) We deserve to live until we are old

I hope we'll take these conclusions seriously. Seems like the infrastructrure to support health is being eviscerated when the data points in the opposite direction.

open.substack.com/pub/jenndowd...

The Call I Didn’t Want to Take I lost my dad to cigarettes. Then I took a call from the vape industry.

A good survey of what's known and the context. A real dilemma. The lost chance (for now) to keep nicotine levels to subaddictive amounts is especially painful. I'll have more to say in my substack when the time comes.

open.substack.com/pub/theunbia...

This surprised me.

Agree that this is a very well written summary of the impact on every day health.

Shared decision-making, informed consent, and the rhetoric of false empowerment What these medical terms mean and how they’re fueling confusion about vaccines

YLE does a good job of describing key nuances here. There are multiple levels on these issues that deserve (and have had) serious consideration by medical and public health communities --and of course, the public.

open.substack.com/pub/yourloca...

The NC Children’s Hospital An Idea Whose Time Has Come

Sharing my hopes for the NC Childrens Hospital as an example of what could be done to improve the care and outcomes of children.

substack.com/@robcaliff27...

Dr Nestle is embracing the good and questioning the recommendations that seem to be inconsistent with scientific knowledge. Should raise good discussions.

www.foodpolitics.com

More good news on coffee. Nice to see something that turns conventional wisdom upside down--not a perfect study, but a prospective RCT would require govt funding most likely!

JAMA Research Summary: "Caffeinated Coffee Consumption or Abstinence to Reduce Atrial Fibrillation." Key points: Atrial fibrillation; coffee consumption (47%) vs. abstinence (64%) recurrence; study details participants, trial, implications, limitations.

📊 Research Summary: Adults with #AFib who drank at least one cup of caffeinated coffee daily after successful cardioversion had a lower risk of recurrence than those who abstained from coffee and caffeine.

ja.ma/4a5vGgG

Rejecting Decades of Science, Vaccine Panel Chair Says Polio and Other Shots Should Be Optional

Sad perversion of foundational medical ethics. I don't think this is public health vs medicine. Its public and medicine vs bad medicine and bad public health.

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/23/h...

Pfizer CEO Takes Aim at Kennedy Over Vaccines Robert F. Kennedy’s position on vaccines is profoundly "anti-science" and making progress would require a new health secretary, Pfizer Chief Executive Albert Bourla said Wednesday. “I have very produc...

Brief and pointed. What do other leaders of companies that make vaccines think?

www.wsj.com/livecoverage...

COMMENTARY: When overhauling childhood vaccine recs, feds need to provide at least some useful data

Good summary of process fouls. The "show your work" part of this is as basic as first grade.

www.cidrap.umn.edu/childhood-va...

How to strengthen your immune system Note: In case you missed it, please take the reader survey!

Helpful summary from YLE

open.substack.com/pub/yourloca...

And Dr Topol didn't mention that he was also a recipient of the IgNobel prize in 1993!

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...

I think the combination using digital support for the individual part could really make it happen.

Highly recommend this one. It makes the point over and over that "shaping the environment" to make it easier to do healthy things is likely the key as opposed to lecturing people about individual decisions.
lnkd.in/enxu8m2J

Dan Buettner: A Look Into the Blue Zones
youtube.com

YouTube video by UCSF-Stanford CERSI 2026 UCSF-Stanford Summit - Debate 2: Should Biosimilars Be Approved

I thought both debaters did a good job on this one about whether human studies should be required for assessment of biosimilars for consideration of appproval for marketing or whether analytical methods plus post-market real world evidence would suffice.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYJ2...

RIP USDA's Household Food Security reports - Food Politics by Marion Nestle The last of USDA's annual household food insecurity reports says food insecurity remains high. Current cuts should make it worse.

If you don't measure it, it must not be happening.

www.foodpolitics.com/2026/01/rip-...

Can We Create Systems of Rational Healthcare for Children with Serious Illness? The Case of Congenital Heart Disease

Thoughts of a parent, grand-parent and great-grandparent! and a cardiologist and policy person. We have the technology. Do we have the humanity and moral compass?

robcaliff272993.substack.com/p/can-we-cre...

RFK Jr.’s Strategy for Restoring Trust Just make one false claim after the next and never look back. Never admit you were wrong. Never apologize.

Disturbing

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Universities are interesting places. Happened to be walking across this campus as an annual ritual was unfolding--students moving into tents for a while to have an opportunity to watch basketball games, while parents continue to pay tuition. Yet, everyone is happy and upbeat!

Opinion | Stop Worrying, and Let A.I. Help Save Your Life

Good advice from Dr Wachter.

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/19/o...

CMS’ new MAHA ELEVATE innovation model has a fundamental flaw CMS’ new MAHA ELEVATE innovation model has a fundamental flaw, The Workup columnist Vishal Khetpal writes.

This might seem subtle, but its not! Good points here about a program that could make a very positive difference.

www.statnews.com/2026/01/16/c...