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Reposted by Patti Zettler

Angie Rasmussen @angierasmussen.bsky.social · 1d

For more information about the Friday night massacre at CDC, I wrote up an analysis of who got terminated and what that means for public health.

Grateful to @saveamericamvmt.bsky.social for supporting and amplifying. We are in really terrible trouble.

rasmussenretorts.substack.com/p/the-death-...

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Timothy Caulfield @caulfieldtim.bsky.social · 1d

Extracting Drugs from Nature Is Hard www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/... @jonathanjarry.bsky.social

"The fact that a natural molecule has some anticancer activity when added to cells in a plastic dish does not mean it will be safe & effective when given to a patient"

Reality: most fail in human studies.

Extracting Drugs from Nature Is Hard

A video on Facebook with nearly one million views informs me that the avocado tree is a pharmacy in disguise. “Its leaves help regulate blood sugar,” the narrator says, “its seeds target cancer cells,...

www.mcgill.ca

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Patti Zettler @pzettler.bsky.social · 1d

Terrible and terrifying news for all of us.

Lena Sun @lenasun.bsky.social · 1d

NEW: @CDCgov hit hard by massive firings that several staff describe to me as a “bloodbath.”
Among those RIFd:
—leadership of the center for immunization and respiratory diseases;
—leadership of global health center
—leadership of the measles outbreak response; 1/4

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Sarah Karlin-Smith @sarahkarlin-smith.bsky.social · 2d

Isn't this the opposite of what HHS leadership said their policies would do?
A new KFF poll shows public trust in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is now at its lowest level since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/childhood-va...

New poll: Public confidence in CDC for vaccine advice tumbles

www.cidrap.umn.edu

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Patti Zettler @pzettler.bsky.social · 3d

Another good reason to be back on bluesky - catching up on colleagues' work. @medlawdan.bsky.social & @weparmet.bsky.social packed *a lot* of info into this piece.

Daniel G. Aaron, MD, JD @medlawdan.bsky.social · 3d

NEW: @weparmet.bsky.social and me in @amjpublichealth.bsky.social on last Supreme Ct term & impact on health. TLDR: Major concerns about the Court's politicizing health agencies, dashing protections for marginalized groups, and eroding access to justice.

ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/full/10....

AJPH

American Journal of Public Health (AJPH) from the American Public Health Association (APHA)

ajph.aphapublications.org

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Sam Bagenstos @sbagen.bsky.social · 3d

An essential piece from a dream team of scholars!

Patti Zettler @pzettler.bsky.social · 3d

I have been off bluesky for a while - but this is a good reason to be back. Check out the latest from me, @reshmagar.bsky.social & @hollylynchez.bsky.social!

With thanks to the many folks whose work informed this piece, incl @rachelsachs.bsky.social , @sbagen.bsky.social @drjoshs.bsky.social...

Holly Fernandez Lynch @hollylynchez.bsky.social · 4d

New from @pzettler.bsky.social @reshmagar.bsky.social + me in @jhppl.bsky.social.
We describe themes driving historic FDA reforms, explain how what's happening under Trump2 is different + call for principles to guide FDA reform and activity across administrations.
read.dukeupress.edu/jhppl/articl...

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Patti Zettler @pzettler.bsky.social · 3d

@profgenkanter.bsky.social, @simonfhaeder.bsky.social, @oberlanderunc.bsky.social, @jsross119.bsky.social & many others.

Thx also to the @jhppl.bsky.social editors for their work on our piece & the entire "Public Health under Siege" issue:
read.dukeupress.edu/jhppl/advanc...

Advance Publication | Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law | Duke University Press

read.dukeupress.edu

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Patti Zettler @pzettler.bsky.social · 3d

I have been off bluesky for a while - but this is a good reason to be back. Check out the latest from me, @reshmagar.bsky.social & @hollylynchez.bsky.social!

With thanks to the many folks whose work informed this piece, incl @rachelsachs.bsky.social , @sbagen.bsky.social @drjoshs.bsky.social...

Holly Fernandez Lynch @hollylynchez.bsky.social · 4d

New from @pzettler.bsky.social @reshmagar.bsky.social + me in @jhppl.bsky.social.
We describe themes driving historic FDA reforms, explain how what's happening under Trump2 is different + call for principles to guide FDA reform and activity across administrations.
read.dukeupress.edu/jhppl/articl...

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Nicholson Price @nicholson.bsky.social · Sep 9

What does it mean to have a human in the loop of medical AI? Here's a fun place to look: a 2022 FDA guidance that's about what *doesn't* count as a medical device!
Had a blast exploring this quasi-standard, out in the Penn J of Law & Innovation: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
#MedicalAI #law

An Incidental Standard for Medical AI

<p><span>Medical AI is poised to make a major difference in the provision of health. It brings major challenges, though: how can developers and implementers ens

papers.ssrn.com

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Arghavan Salles, MD, PhD @arghavansallesmd.medsky.social · Aug 31

This should be a bigger story. A government official had the YouTube channel of a private citizen shut down bc he didn’t like what that citizen was saying. This administration’s version of free speech is a joke.

Nikhil Shah @grandmastershah.bsky.social · Aug 31

"He noted that snippets of Prasad’s comments still appeared on anti-vaccine social media accounts, suggesting Prasad was directing his removal demand only at a critic and not anti-vaccine influencers. In the past, Prasad has complained about censorship by social media companies."

Top FDA official demands removal of YouTube videos of himself that criticized Covid vaccines

Doctor who created now-defunct channel says he wanted to ‘preserve’ what Trump health officials said during Covid

www.theguardian.com

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News Eye @newseye.bsky.social · Aug 28

BREAKING: Big moment as CDC staff stage a mass walkout.

They have lined the street outside its HQ to greet and salute the four top officials who have resigned in protest at RFK Jr’s attack on the agency’s science base.

(🎥 AP)

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Demetre Daskalakis @drdemetre.bsky.social · Aug 28

Enough is enough. The health of the country is in danger. Read our resignation letters: insidemedicine.substack.com/p/breaking-n...

Breaking News: Read three top CDC officials' resignation emails.

The end of an era.

insidemedicine.substack.com

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Sam Bagenstos @sbagen.bsky.social · Aug 27

And this makes it much worse. The CDC is losing a swath of outstanding, senior public servants. These are really terrific people who have served the public health with distinction across administrations. An enormous loss.

open.substack.com/pub/insideme...

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Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics @bermaninstitute.bsky.social · Jul 18

Funding cuts to the National Institutes of Health and the US Food and Drug Administration could sharply reduce the number of new drugs available to Americans in the coming decades, according to an analysis released on Friday by the Congressional Budget Office. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/18/h...

Health Cuts Would Result in Fewer Drugs for Americans, Budget Office Reports

www.nytimes.com

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Maxwell Smith, PhD @maxwellsmith.bsky.social · Jul 18

My university (@westernu.ca) is offering up to $160,000 CAD in funding to support doctoral students impacted by recent changes in higher ed in the US.

And I'm keen on supervising students who may be interested (and who conduct research in public health ethics). DM me.

grad.uwo.ca/finances/wes...

Doctoral Excellence Award

Western University, in vibrant London, Ontario, delivers an academic and student experience second to none.

grad.uwo.ca

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Dara Purvis @darapurvis.bsky.social · Jul 14

Out today is my review of Allison Whelan's excellent article about pediatric predisposition genetic testing and a right to future privacy. Given my own interests I started thinking about a right to future privacy for transgender children, but I suspect it will be relevant to all sorts of topics!

Jotwell @jotwell.bsky.social · Jul 14

Jotwell Family:
Dara E. Purvis, The Right to Children’s Future Privacy, JOTWELL (July 14, 2025) (reviewing Allison M. Whelan, Poked, Prodded, and Privacy: Parents, Children, and Pediatric Genetic Testing, 109 Iowa L. Rev. 1219 (2024)), family.jotwell.com/the-right-to....

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Sam Bagenstos @sbagen.bsky.social · Jul 8

Really good thread. I'd add two things. (Mini-thread.)

Nick Bednar @nicholasbednar.bsky.social · Jul 8

The Supreme Court has stayed the AFGE case, which prohibited the Trump administration from moving forward with Reductions-in-Force. Several quick notes based on a cursory skim: 1/

www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...

www.supremecourt.gov

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Daniel S. Goldberg @profgoldberg.bsky.social · Jul 7

I just want to re-up this Health Affairs Forefront piece co-authored with @rickweinmeyer.bsky.social. We're working on the concept of a "Public Health Law Vacuum" as a form of governance failure.

Who is creating these vacuums? Why? What are the consequences? And what can we do about it? ⤵️

#PHLaw

Public Health Law Vacuums: A Present And Future Threat | Health Affairs Forefront

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a dangerous trend: the intentional creation of public health law vacuums, in which no governance efforts are exerted to address a defined public health problem.

www.healthaffairs.org

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STAT @statnews.com · Jul 7

FDA staff are already missing deadlines, and the future consequences could be even more dire as workers head for the exits.
www.statnews.com/2025/07/07/f...

Inside the staff exodus and tanking morale that threaten Makary’s FDA

FDA staff are struggling and missing deadlines, and the future consequences could be even more dire.

www.statnews.com

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Sam Bagenstos @sbagen.bsky.social · Jun 28

As someone who has been on the business end of nationwide injunctions that I thought were improper, I find the question of what rules we should adopt for them to be genuinely hard. But yesterday's decision deserves massive criticism, for at least two reasons. (Thread.)

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Sam Bagenstos @sbagen.bsky.social · Jun 27

The Affordable Care Act's requirement that insurers cover preventive services dodges a bullet in Braidwood. That's good. But the broader effect of the opinion is probably to reinforce RFK and Trump's politicized control over the medical, scientific, and public health professionals who work at HHS.

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Dr. Sven-Eric Jordt #TobRegSky @sejordt.bsky.social · Jun 25

#PedSky #MedSky #EpiSky #policysky #polisky 🧪🛟
Fantastic real time skeeting from the FDA ACIP meeting. Thank you!!!

Walker Bragman @walkerbragman.bsky.social · Jun 25

ACIP meeting in about an hour.

Here we go…

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Patti Zettler @pzettler.bsky.social · Jun 25

"[S]uggesting that there are regularly 6 months of wiggle room in important FDA reviews that prior administrations have missed is a tough pill to swallow. Far more plausible is that speed will be traded for review quality and confidence, despite protestations to the contrary..."

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Patti Zettler @pzettler.bsky.social · Jun 25

Must-read by @hollylynchez.bsky.social on FDA's new "Commissioner's National Priority Voucher" program.

www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/seco...

Opinion | How Fast Is Too Fast for FDA Drug Review?

'Common sense' and the FDA Commissioner's National Priority Voucher Program

www.medpagetoday.com

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Jason L. Schwartz @jasonlschwartz.bsky.social · Jun 25

Kudos to the AAP for taking this step and for speaking with such clarity. Exactly the kind of approach and focus I outlined in NEJM last week.

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