Brian Leas
@brianleas.bsky.social
Health policy research, evidence-based medicine, all things Philly. Penn Medicine. Cochrane.
Reposted by Brian Leas
“The Florida Department of Health is warning about the risks of drinking raw, unpasteurized milk after 21 people, including six children under the age of 10, were sickened by E. coli and campylobacter bacteria linked to raw milk from the same farm. Seven people have been hospitalized”
Florida officials warn about risks of drinking raw milk after 21 people sickened
Florida health officials say 21 people, including six children, were sickened by E. coli and campylobacter bacteria linked to raw milk, and seven were hospitalized.
www.cbsnews.com
August 5, 2025 at 12:58 AM
“The Florida Department of Health is warning about the risks of drinking raw, unpasteurized milk after 21 people, including six children under the age of 10, were sickened by E. coli and campylobacter bacteria linked to raw milk from the same farm. Seven people have been hospitalized”
Reposted by Brian Leas
open.substack.com/pub/pauloffi...
The CDC just made the same mistake they made 25 years ago.
The CDC just made the same mistake they made 25 years ago.
Mercury Rising
A CDC Advisory Committee just made the same mistake it did 25 years ago. And it’s only the beginning.
open.substack.com
July 15, 2025 at 11:05 AM
open.substack.com/pub/pauloffi...
The CDC just made the same mistake they made 25 years ago.
The CDC just made the same mistake they made 25 years ago.
Reposted by Brian Leas
HHS has expanded the list of public benefits — including community health centers — that several groups of immigrants, including undocumented immigrants, will be ineligible for.
KFF polling shows these centers are a key source of care for many immigrants: on.kff.org/4kECc0Z
KFF polling shows these centers are a key source of care for many immigrants: on.kff.org/4kECc0Z
July 11, 2025 at 3:29 PM
HHS has expanded the list of public benefits — including community health centers — that several groups of immigrants, including undocumented immigrants, will be ineligible for.
KFF polling shows these centers are a key source of care for many immigrants: on.kff.org/4kECc0Z
KFF polling shows these centers are a key source of care for many immigrants: on.kff.org/4kECc0Z
INDIANA JONES AND THE RAIDERS OF THE LOST AHRQ
July 2, 2025 at 7:11 PM
INDIANA JONES AND THE RAIDERS OF THE LOST AHRQ
Reposted by Brian Leas
An analysis comparing the number of scientific papers on vaccines published by recently fired #ACIP members to those published by the 8 people Sec. Kennedy chose to replace them shows a stark difference in depth of expertise in the field. www.science.org/content/arti...
The members of RFK Jr.’s new vaccine committee have published little on vaccines
Purge at immunization panel represents a major loss of expertise, as measured by scientific papers
www.science.org
June 16, 2025 at 1:20 PM
An analysis comparing the number of scientific papers on vaccines published by recently fired #ACIP members to those published by the 8 people Sec. Kennedy chose to replace them shows a stark difference in depth of expertise in the field. www.science.org/content/arti...
Reposted by Brian Leas
‼️ 🚨🔔 WOW. Martin Kulldorff, who RFK Jr picked to be on ACIP, has been making $$$$ testifying against the HPV vaccine (he lost the case in NC). This is a HUGE conflict of interest. ACIP rules BAN being “a paid litigation consultant or expert witness in litigation involving a vaccine manufacturer.”
Martin Kulldorff - "one of the new vaccine advisers picked by U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has earned thousands of dollars as an expert witness in litigation against Merck’s Gardasil vaccine, court records show."
www.yahoo.com/news/exclusi...
www.yahoo.com/news/exclusi...
June 12, 2025 at 8:54 PM
‼️ 🚨🔔 WOW. Martin Kulldorff, who RFK Jr picked to be on ACIP, has been making $$$$ testifying against the HPV vaccine (he lost the case in NC). This is a HUGE conflict of interest. ACIP rules BAN being “a paid litigation consultant or expert witness in litigation involving a vaccine manufacturer.”
Reposted by Brian Leas
Possibly the best thing I've read about ChatGPT yet.
h/t @melaniemitchell.bsky.social
amandaguinzburg.substack.com/p/diabolus-e...
h/t @melaniemitchell.bsky.social
amandaguinzburg.substack.com/p/diabolus-e...
Diabolus Ex Machina
This Is Not An Essay
amandaguinzburg.substack.com
June 4, 2025 at 4:42 AM
Possibly the best thing I've read about ChatGPT yet.
h/t @melaniemitchell.bsky.social
amandaguinzburg.substack.com/p/diabolus-e...
h/t @melaniemitchell.bsky.social
amandaguinzburg.substack.com/p/diabolus-e...
Reposted by Brian Leas
Confounding race with genetics causes doctors to miss treatable ailments. buff.ly/d1Iqvum
Race doesn’t affect the onset or progression of disease — racial bias does
Confounding race with genetics causes doctors to miss treatable ailments.
buff.ly
May 28, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Confounding race with genetics causes doctors to miss treatable ailments. buff.ly/d1Iqvum
Reposted by Brian Leas
Lot of supplements folks in the admin. My report from earlier in the year: kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
Rep. Jake Auchincloss worries current admin is going to try to turn our pharma industry into one big GNC store... that punishes the real innovators, he says at FDLI.
May 16, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Lot of supplements folks in the admin. My report from earlier in the year: kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
Reposted by Brian Leas
RFK Jr. rejects cornerstone of health science: Germ theory. arstechnica.com/health/2025/...
RFK Jr. rejects cornerstone of health science: Germ theory
In his 2021 book vilifying Anthony Fauci, RFK Jr. lays out support for an alternate theory.
arstechnica.com
April 30, 2025 at 6:59 PM
RFK Jr. rejects cornerstone of health science: Germ theory. arstechnica.com/health/2025/...
Reposted by Brian Leas
The line about white men who "continue to enjoy the presumption of expertise even when they are far outside their depth" in responding to a white, male business school faculty member writing about topics far afield from his area of expertise is just 👨🍳💋
April 23, 2025 at 2:02 PM
The line about white men who "continue to enjoy the presumption of expertise even when they are far outside their depth" in responding to a white, male business school faculty member writing about topics far afield from his area of expertise is just 👨🍳💋
Reposted by Brian Leas
Anyway, this is bullshit. It’s using intimidation to derail a merit-based process & exert political control over scientific findings, partly because some butthurt contrarians had papers rejected.
Journals must fight back against scientific censorship.
www.science.org/content/arti...
Journals must fight back against scientific censorship.
www.science.org/content/arti...
Trump administration targets academic journals with attorney letter, proposed funding cuts
Budget plan would kill two CDC journals, while U.S. prosecutor accuses some nongovernmental publications of being “partisans”
www.science.org
April 22, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Anyway, this is bullshit. It’s using intimidation to derail a merit-based process & exert political control over scientific findings, partly because some butthurt contrarians had papers rejected.
Journals must fight back against scientific censorship.
www.science.org/content/arti...
Journals must fight back against scientific censorship.
www.science.org/content/arti...
Reposted by Brian Leas
An internal budget proposal gives the clearest sense yet of how Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would build his new Administration for a Healthy America.
Leaked budget document outlines how Kennedy may cut up HHS to build new AHA
An internal budget proposal gives the clearest sense yet of how Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would build his new Administration for a Healthy America.
buff.ly
April 16, 2025 at 11:40 PM
An internal budget proposal gives the clearest sense yet of how Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would build his new Administration for a Healthy America.
Reposted by Brian Leas
These HHS RIFs are reckless and cruel. In a typical RIF, employees aren’t locked out immediately—they stay to wrap up work and ensure a smooth transition. Instead, this admin abruptly shut everyone out, creating chaos that harms both workers and the people they serve.
April 1, 2025 at 2:45 PM
These HHS RIFs are reckless and cruel. In a typical RIF, employees aren’t locked out immediately—they stay to wrap up work and ensure a smooth transition. Instead, this admin abruptly shut everyone out, creating chaos that harms both workers and the people they serve.
Reposted by Brian Leas
In a sign that the professoriate is fighting back against the machines,* apparently the Georgetown bookstore is running low on blue books.**
* i.e., AI chatbots
** the kind students hand-write exams in, not the legal citation guide
* i.e., AI chatbots
** the kind students hand-write exams in, not the legal citation guide
March 31, 2025 at 4:00 PM
In a sign that the professoriate is fighting back against the machines,* apparently the Georgetown bookstore is running low on blue books.**
* i.e., AI chatbots
** the kind students hand-write exams in, not the legal citation guide
* i.e., AI chatbots
** the kind students hand-write exams in, not the legal citation guide
Reposted by Brian Leas
Maybe it seems that this is something that I shouldn’t even say, but science is a process, and you have to keep an open mind, always. Your hypothesis might be wrong, as much as you may wish otherwise. As the incomparable @joho.bsky.social wrote, “policy-based evidence making” is not the way.
March 28, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Maybe it seems that this is something that I shouldn’t even say, but science is a process, and you have to keep an open mind, always. Your hypothesis might be wrong, as much as you may wish otherwise. As the incomparable @joho.bsky.social wrote, “policy-based evidence making” is not the way.
Reposted by Brian Leas
Control procurement, HR, and IT and they control the money, the people, and the computer systems — the systems that allow NIH to run.
If you’re a scientist in the US it’s time to speak up now. This seems innocuous but it’s devastating for American science. They’re trying to slip this through.
If you’re a scientist in the US it’s time to speak up now. This seems innocuous but it’s devastating for American science. They’re trying to slip this through.
March 27, 2025 at 12:37 PM
Control procurement, HR, and IT and they control the money, the people, and the computer systems — the systems that allow NIH to run.
If you’re a scientist in the US it’s time to speak up now. This seems innocuous but it’s devastating for American science. They’re trying to slip this through.
If you’re a scientist in the US it’s time to speak up now. This seems innocuous but it’s devastating for American science. They’re trying to slip this through.
Reposted by Brian Leas
“Key to the reorganization is a plan to centralize the department’s communications, procurement, human resources, information technology and policy planning”
No no no. We must resist this.
This plan consolidates authoritarian power at the top. It will give Trump easy control.
No no no. We must resist this.
This plan consolidates authoritarian power at the top. It will give Trump easy control.
Exclusive | RFK Jr. Plans 10,000 Job Cuts in Major Restructuring of Health Department
The changes would reshape the nation’s health agencies and close regional offices.
www.wsj.com
March 27, 2025 at 12:33 PM
“Key to the reorganization is a plan to centralize the department’s communications, procurement, human resources, information technology and policy planning”
No no no. We must resist this.
This plan consolidates authoritarian power at the top. It will give Trump easy control.
No no no. We must resist this.
This plan consolidates authoritarian power at the top. It will give Trump easy control.
Reposted by Brian Leas
RFK is planning to merge ASPE and AHRQ into one "Office of Strategy" at HHS. Unlikely to be good news for AHRQ's research mission.
from @wsj.com
www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
from @wsj.com
www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
March 27, 2025 at 12:25 PM
RFK is planning to merge ASPE and AHRQ into one "Office of Strategy" at HHS. Unlikely to be good news for AHRQ's research mission.
from @wsj.com
www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
from @wsj.com
www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
Reposted by Brian Leas
“This notion of conflating censorship with basic education and basic public health is very frightening, and very dangerous.” -Carl Bergstrom, a biologist at the University of Washington.
www.statnews.com/2025/03/26/n...
www.statnews.com/2025/03/26/n...
On NIH director’s first day, the agency tackles one of his priorities — ending ‘censorship’ in science
On Jay Bhattacharya's first day as NIH director, the agency directed staff to identify contracts related to “fighting misinformation or disinformation”
www.statnews.com
March 27, 2025 at 1:37 AM
“This notion of conflating censorship with basic education and basic public health is very frightening, and very dangerous.” -Carl Bergstrom, a biologist at the University of Washington.
www.statnews.com/2025/03/26/n...
www.statnews.com/2025/03/26/n...
Reposted by Brian Leas
Even in 2025, some things still shock. Like the apparent selection of a long-time vaccine opponent who was disciplined & fined for practicing medicine without a license to conduct a new HHS study into whether there's a link between vaccines and autism.
www.statnews.com/2025/03/26/r...
www.statnews.com/2025/03/26/r...
Vaccine critic’s apparent selection to head HHS autism study shocks experts
The apparent choice of a major player in the anti-vaccine community to conduct an HHS study on autism has shocked vaccine experts.
www.statnews.com
March 26, 2025 at 10:03 PM
Even in 2025, some things still shock. Like the apparent selection of a long-time vaccine opponent who was disciplined & fined for practicing medicine without a license to conduct a new HHS study into whether there's a link between vaccines and autism.
www.statnews.com/2025/03/26/r...
www.statnews.com/2025/03/26/r...
Reposted by Brian Leas
Ideology rules. Expertise is out. Hail Lysenko. drrubin.substack.com/p/white-hous...
White House considers shutting down 9 CDC expert panels
What could that potentially mean for our health?
drrubin.substack.com
March 23, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Ideology rules. Expertise is out. Hail Lysenko. drrubin.substack.com/p/white-hous...
Reposted by Brian Leas
RFK Jr. Falsely Claims Measles Vax Causes Deaths 'Every Year' - experts debunk it. www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdi...
RFK Jr. Falsely Claims Measles Vax Causes Deaths 'Every Year'
Vaccine expert debunks recent statements from nation's top health official
www.medpagetoday.com
March 22, 2025 at 8:47 PM
RFK Jr. Falsely Claims Measles Vax Causes Deaths 'Every Year' - experts debunk it. www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdi...
Reposted by Brian Leas
This is the small but mighty agency that funds my research. Destroying it will be a huge loss for our health care system.
Exclusive: Get ready for worse health care and more medical errors unless this ongoing illegal impoundment is stopped and quickly reversed. www.offmessage.net/p/the-trump-...
The Trump Administration Goes To War With Health-Care Quality
Inside its plan to destroy a small agency that keeps you safe.
www.offmessage.net
March 19, 2025 at 2:43 PM
This is the small but mighty agency that funds my research. Destroying it will be a huge loss for our health care system.
Reposted by Brian Leas
Evidence-based Practice Centers (EPCs) have been doing the work to inform clinical guidelines, decisions by CMS, FDA and others since 1997. EPCs developed *the* reports on Making Healthcare Safer. EPCs and AHRQ are at risk. #AHRQSavesLives No #MAHA without #AHRQ
March 18, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Evidence-based Practice Centers (EPCs) have been doing the work to inform clinical guidelines, decisions by CMS, FDA and others since 1997. EPCs developed *the* reports on Making Healthcare Safer. EPCs and AHRQ are at risk. #AHRQSavesLives No #MAHA without #AHRQ