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Reposted by Jessica Pickett

Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 23h

Reshma Ramachandran “said the sequence of events is the antithesis of how the FDA is supposed to function.

“What we’re seeing here is, ‘We believe this and we’re going to find the evidence to support that’ …That’s just inherently wrong in terms of how a scientific agency like the FDA operates.”

Inside FDA, career staffers describe how political pressure is influencing their work

Current and former FDA staff said the level of involvement of political officials in nitty-gritty regulatory matters is unprecedented.

www.statnews.com

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Jessica Pickett @pickettjessica.bsky.social · 14d

Whoa.

Will this directly update the CDC-funded model that Lisa Prosser and David Hutton's team previously presented to ACIP, or do you envision this as an entirely independent effort?

Jessica Pickett @pickettjessica.bsky.social · 15d

a cartoon character is covering his eyes with his hands .

ALT: a cartoon character is covering his eyes with his hands .

media.tenor.com

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Jessica Pickett @pickettjessica.bsky.social · 15d

oh no what did i miss

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Jessica Pickett @pickettjessica.bsky.social · 15d

it’s so deeply disconcerting to work where I work as a (differently) neurodivergent person with an (unrelated) autoimmune B vitamin deficiency right now 🫠

Jessica Pickett @pickettjessica.bsky.social · 15d

…which is extra terrifying, because widespread false positives for an autoimmune etiology open the hell mouth www.politico.com/news/2025/09...

Excerpt from linked Politico article about MAHA lawyers trying to take down VICP by “rebranding” autism

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Jessica Pickett @pickettjessica.bsky.social · 15d

To your last point, though: does the leucovorin request set a precedent for FDA to then approve FRAA tests for presumptive diagnosis & treatment despite limited evidence (effectively “rebranding” autism)?

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Jessica Pickett @pickettjessica.bsky.social · 17d

I assume by now they’ve also done extensive bloodwork to rule out autoimmune etiologies, right? (E.g. my B12 deficiency from pernicious anemia presented partly as a drastic increase in migraine frequency / severity.)

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Reposted by Jessica Pickett

Jake Scott, MD @jakescottmd.bsky.social · 18d

Japan tried this. They suspended MMR in 1993 and used monovalent vaccines.

Result: coverage plummeted, measles and rubella cases shot up, they had multiple measles outbreaks (one with >100k cases), and they then switched back to MMR.

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Jessica Pickett @pickettjessica.bsky.social · 18d

Beyond “just” desecrating rigorous regulatory authority to benefit supplement grifters, I am deeply concerned that this sets up an attack on VICP by rebranding autism as central folate deficiency (e.g. by licensing a serum autoantibody test with that indication): www.politico.com/news/2025/09...

"Part of what Secretary Kennedy is doing right now - and with my help, and we have a team looking at it - is we have to figure out a way to capture these kids," Downing said.
"If you don't want to use the 'A word,' whatever, that's fine," he said, referring to autism. "How do we capture them: do we broaden the definition of encephalopathic events? Do we broaden neurological injuries? How do we do that?"

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Reposted by Jessica Pickett

Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg @theradr.bsky.social · 18d

This is EXCELLENT.

1) this is spot-on analysis of the problem & a great immediate 1st thing a city can do to improve outcome.

2) as a 2 min clip? He's giving history, hope & change. Speaking to women, to Jewish & Black NYers, saying "abortion." & also naming eugenics in feminism. 100/10 no notes.

Hex Anderson @dexanderson.com · 18d

Cuomo could never.

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Reposted by Jessica Pickett

Greg Folkers @gregfolkers.bsky.social · 19d

KFF: Tracking State Actions on Vaccine Policy and Access

by Jennifer Kates, Clea Bell, Josh Michaud, Elizabeth Williams, and Jennifer Tolbert

bit.ly/4myqENC

Tracking State Actions on Vaccine Policy and Access | KFF

With recent federal actions to curtail vaccine access, many states have announced actions intended to maintain broader access. This issue brief provides a snapshot of this rapidly changing landscape, ...

bit.ly

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Reposted by Jessica Pickett

Christina Jewett @by-cjewett.bsky.social · 21d

NEW: Approval of an old generic to treat autism symptoms upended the FDA's usual process. Some experts worry that the limits of the drug will get lost in the hype.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/23/h...

F.D.A.’s Approval of Drug for Autism Upends Review Process

www.nytimes.com

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Jessica Pickett @pickettjessica.bsky.social · 21d

Have we considered that maybe these clowns are just trying to rationalize their fear of needles?

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Reposted by Jessica Pickett

Edward Nirenberg @enirenberg.bsky.social · 21d

I'm having this surreal realization that standing up for evidence and data has become a politically polarizing position, and I don't know what to do about that.

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Reposted by Jessica Pickett

Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 21d

“What has to be said is that given this performance, given the unhinged behavior of Kennedy, given the president’s total lack of knowledge about health and science, & given the sycophantic behavior of his top medical and science officials, one thing is clear: Americans cannot trust their government”

The U.S. government has jumped the public health shark

“The Trump regime sees science as an enemy and public health as only fit for personal anecdotes and conspiracy,” writes Arthur Caplan.

www.statnews.com

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Jessica Pickett @pickettjessica.bsky.social · 21d

UK based, actually, but the US is by far their biggest market. They have no plans to manufacture or market it, but likely fear jeopardizing other products under review.

So imho the more pertinent question is whether / how to salvage their reputation for scientific credibility going forward.

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Reposted by Jessica Pickett

Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 23d

The astronomical new Skill Penalty on US work visas will hobble a core driver of productivity growth in the US economy.

“H-1B visas cause innovation, they cause entrepreneurship, they cause more R&D investment,” I told the @wsj.com

Very nice and balanced piece by @jdlahart.bsky.social —>

Will the $100,000 Visa Fee Help U.S. Workers? Economists Aren’t So Sure

Changes to the H-1B system could benefit some U.S. workers. But economists say losing foreign talent could weaken the overall job market—and shift production overseas.

www.wsj.com

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Reposted by Jessica Pickett

Heather @uberheathen.bsky.social · 25d

I sincerely believe the end of Google Reader was when the Internet started to get worse instead of better

erika @yeeeerika.bsky.social · Jan 13

i don't want to hear your most boomer complaint. what's your most millennial complaint?

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Jessica Pickett @pickettjessica.bsky.social · 25d

In my head canon all of the former ACIP members are playing a drinking game over Zoom

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Jessica Pickett @pickettjessica.bsky.social · 25d

Has anyone in the medical humanities written about the rhetoric of "gold standard" science as an epistemological signifier of mistrust in academic research?

(See also: the original macroeconomic meaning and corresponding opposition to the Federal Reserve.)

Reposted by Jessica Pickett

Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 26d

Kennedy & co “are testing the waters, but they’re also accustoming the public both to the idea of fewer vaccines and to the routine of doubting vetted immunizations…Whether vaccine infrastructure disappears by erosion or rapid demolition, the end result will be the same: a nation far less protected”

Ed Belongia MD @belongia.bsky.social · 26d

"[ACIP] made its choice about MMRV at breakneck speed. In advance of meetings, ACIP...work groups...would evaluate the evidence on vaccines... Major decisions would not be made without an assessment of the benefits & risks... All of that has gone out the window."

www.theatlantic.com/health/2025/...

Kennedy’s Anti-Vaccine Council Is Going After the Easy Targets

Its members voted to stop recommending a combination vaccine for measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella.

www.theatlantic.com

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Reposted by Jessica Pickett

Jason Ukman @jasonukman.bsky.social · 26d

The head of ACIP, the CDC vaccine advisory panel, comes out swinging, in a big way.

Via @matthewherper.bsky.social @chelseacirruzzo.bsky.social

www.statnews.com/2025/09/18/c...

Federal vaccine adviser says former CDC officials can’t be trusted unless they agree to ‘public debate’

The chair of a key vaccine committee that advises the CDC will strike a confrontational tone at meeting of the panel, according to a copy of his prepared remarks.

www.statnews.com

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Reposted by Jessica Pickett

Jason L. Schwartz @jasonlschwartz.bsky.social · 26d

None of the ACIP understand that they just voted to maintain VFC coverage for the MMRV vaccine for kids under 4 (50% of US kids) through one vote—a good thing!—while removing the overall recommendation for any kid to get it (and thus ending ACA coverage requirement for kids with private insurance).

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Jessica Pickett @pickettjessica.bsky.social · 26d

Had Kulldorff even heard of the Evidence to Recommendations Framework…?

<sighs in transparent gold standard science>

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