Miriam Rabkin
@miriam2024.bsky.social
Physician, feminist, North Carolinian. Global Health consultant working on HIV and health systems. Mostly lurking/reposting for now…
Pinned
Reposted by Miriam Rabkin
On the day the Trump administration stops observing world AIDS day, Defend Public Health has a post about RFK Jrs’ denialism about HIV and AIDS.
www.defendpublichealth.org/opinion/whop...
www.defendpublichealth.org/opinion/whop...
Whopper of the Week: RFK Jr. Has Plainly Stated His Belief in the Falsehoods of AIDS Denialism | Defend Public Health
In June 2023, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told New York Magazine, "There are much better candidates than HIV for what causes AIDS." This is blatantly false, contradicted by mountains of data and real-world ...
www.defendpublichealth.org
November 26, 2025 at 10:14 PM
On the day the Trump administration stops observing world AIDS day, Defend Public Health has a post about RFK Jrs’ denialism about HIV and AIDS.
www.defendpublichealth.org/opinion/whop...
www.defendpublichealth.org/opinion/whop...
Reposted by Miriam Rabkin
It’s Wednesday and that means it’s time for Defend Public Health’s Whopper of the Week!
This week @brucemirken.mas.to.ap.brid.gy @benecal.bsky.social and @aetiology.bsky.social take on RFK Jr.’s AIDS Denialism. It’s a great read.
This week @brucemirken.mas.to.ap.brid.gy @benecal.bsky.social and @aetiology.bsky.social take on RFK Jr.’s AIDS Denialism. It’s a great read.
Whopper of the Week: RFK Jr. Has Plainly Stated His Belief in the Falsehoods of AIDS Denialism | Defend Public Health
In June 2023, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told New York Magazine, "There are much better candidates than HIV for what causes AIDS." This is blatantly false, contradicted by mountains of data and real-world ...
www.defendpublichealth.org
November 26, 2025 at 7:06 PM
It’s Wednesday and that means it’s time for Defend Public Health’s Whopper of the Week!
This week @brucemirken.mas.to.ap.brid.gy @benecal.bsky.social and @aetiology.bsky.social take on RFK Jr.’s AIDS Denialism. It’s a great read.
This week @brucemirken.mas.to.ap.brid.gy @benecal.bsky.social and @aetiology.bsky.social take on RFK Jr.’s AIDS Denialism. It’s a great read.
Reposted by Miriam Rabkin
Listen up, Dorks, we need to talk.
Science is political and we all need to get in the game. But--and I'm going to hold your hand through this--trainings, attending planning meetings, and reading substacks isn't enough.
YOU MUST TAKE ACTUAL ACTION...
Look at your action to sitting ratio!
1/
Science is political and we all need to get in the game. But--and I'm going to hold your hand through this--trainings, attending planning meetings, and reading substacks isn't enough.
YOU MUST TAKE ACTUAL ACTION...
Look at your action to sitting ratio!
1/
November 25, 2025 at 12:08 PM
Listen up, Dorks, we need to talk.
Science is political and we all need to get in the game. But--and I'm going to hold your hand through this--trainings, attending planning meetings, and reading substacks isn't enough.
YOU MUST TAKE ACTUAL ACTION...
Look at your action to sitting ratio!
1/
Science is political and we all need to get in the game. But--and I'm going to hold your hand through this--trainings, attending planning meetings, and reading substacks isn't enough.
YOU MUST TAKE ACTUAL ACTION...
Look at your action to sitting ratio!
1/
Reposted by Miriam Rabkin
Anti-vaccine sentiment is now a load-bearing plank in the Republican platform.
Democrats haven’t budged on the need for school vaccine requirements since 2019. Republicans have consumed so much disinformation that their support has declined by 27% since then.
Democrats haven’t budged on the need for school vaccine requirements since 2019. Republicans have consumed so much disinformation that their support has declined by 27% since then.
November 23, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Anti-vaccine sentiment is now a load-bearing plank in the Republican platform.
Democrats haven’t budged on the need for school vaccine requirements since 2019. Republicans have consumed so much disinformation that their support has declined by 27% since then.
Democrats haven’t budged on the need for school vaccine requirements since 2019. Republicans have consumed so much disinformation that their support has declined by 27% since then.
Reposted by Miriam Rabkin
TAPPER: Dr Cassidy, RFK Jr lied to you
CASSIDY: First let me say what's most important -- vaccines are safe.
CASSIDY: First let me say what's most important -- vaccines are safe.
November 23, 2025 at 2:35 PM
TAPPER: Dr Cassidy, RFK Jr lied to you
CASSIDY: First let me say what's most important -- vaccines are safe.
CASSIDY: First let me say what's most important -- vaccines are safe.
Reposted by Miriam Rabkin
RFK’s policies are ideologically driven. He cherry picks studies to try to sound science-y. Most are flawed, poor quality studies which he gussies up by saying gold standard repeatedly. He doesn’t care about facts or science, he just wants to sound legitimate to ppl who can’t tell the difference.
November 22, 2025 at 9:37 PM
RFK’s policies are ideologically driven. He cherry picks studies to try to sound science-y. Most are flawed, poor quality studies which he gussies up by saying gold standard repeatedly. He doesn’t care about facts or science, he just wants to sound legitimate to ppl who can’t tell the difference.
Reposted by Miriam Rabkin
Reposted by Miriam Rabkin
Imagine, if you will, that NASA updated its website to suggest gravity might not exist, prompting CalTech and CERN to release statements saying, "With great sadness, we can no longer recommend listening to NASA."
This is what's happening in epidemiology.
This is what's happening in epidemiology.
November 21, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Imagine, if you will, that NASA updated its website to suggest gravity might not exist, prompting CalTech and CERN to release statements saying, "With great sadness, we can no longer recommend listening to NASA."
This is what's happening in epidemiology.
This is what's happening in epidemiology.
Reposted by Miriam Rabkin
Control of HIV, TB and malaria at risk after global health fund donations fall
Control of HIV, TB and malaria at risk after global health fund donations fall
Leading past donors including France, Japan and European Commission fail to contribute at pledging summit
Control of the deadly infectious diseases HIV, tuberculosis and malaria “hangs in the balance” after a shortfall in donations to a leading global health fund, advocates have warned.
Only $11.3bn of the Global Fund to Fight Aids, TB and Malaria’s $18bn (£14bn) targeted budget for 2026 to 2028 has been confirmed so far. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 22, 2025 at 5:29 AM
Control of HIV, TB and malaria at risk after global health fund donations fall
Reposted by Miriam Rabkin
How do we know that autism is not linked to vaccines?
Short answer: Massive studies have not found a link between autism and vaccines.
Longer answer: Continue reading ⬇️
🧵1/8 @kkjetelina.bsky.social @meganranney.bsky.social @jasonlschwartz.bsky.social @enirenberg.bsky.social
Short answer: Massive studies have not found a link between autism and vaccines.
Longer answer: Continue reading ⬇️
🧵1/8 @kkjetelina.bsky.social @meganranney.bsky.social @jasonlschwartz.bsky.social @enirenberg.bsky.social
December 11, 2024 at 9:32 PM
How do we know that autism is not linked to vaccines?
Short answer: Massive studies have not found a link between autism and vaccines.
Longer answer: Continue reading ⬇️
🧵1/8 @kkjetelina.bsky.social @meganranney.bsky.social @jasonlschwartz.bsky.social @enirenberg.bsky.social
Short answer: Massive studies have not found a link between autism and vaccines.
Longer answer: Continue reading ⬇️
🧵1/8 @kkjetelina.bsky.social @meganranney.bsky.social @jasonlschwartz.bsky.social @enirenberg.bsky.social
Reposted by Miriam Rabkin
A horrifying graphic from Pew showing the fruits of the right wing war on public health.
Only 48% of Republicans believe that vaccines prevent serious illness, while 80% of Democrats do.
This is not a difference of opinion in science. This is the result of a ruthless disinformation campaign.
Only 48% of Republicans believe that vaccines prevent serious illness, while 80% of Democrats do.
This is not a difference of opinion in science. This is the result of a ruthless disinformation campaign.
November 20, 2025 at 8:46 PM
A horrifying graphic from Pew showing the fruits of the right wing war on public health.
Only 48% of Republicans believe that vaccines prevent serious illness, while 80% of Democrats do.
This is not a difference of opinion in science. This is the result of a ruthless disinformation campaign.
Only 48% of Republicans believe that vaccines prevent serious illness, while 80% of Democrats do.
This is not a difference of opinion in science. This is the result of a ruthless disinformation campaign.
Reposted by Miriam Rabkin
I certainly did not like last night's "update" to the CDC website suggesting that vaccines do cause autism after all. I liked it even less when I thought about what that means for the upcoming ACIP meeting.
rasmussenretorts.substack.com/p/preventabl...
rasmussenretorts.substack.com/p/preventabl...
Preventable Disease Holiday Giving Guide
Let's see where the Advisory Clown Car on Immunization Practices is going this meeting
rasmussenretorts.substack.com
November 20, 2025 at 9:15 PM
I certainly did not like last night's "update" to the CDC website suggesting that vaccines do cause autism after all. I liked it even less when I thought about what that means for the upcoming ACIP meeting.
rasmussenretorts.substack.com/p/preventabl...
rasmussenretorts.substack.com/p/preventabl...
👇
For more than two decades, scientists have studied whether vaccines cause autism. The answer has been consistent: there’s no evidence they do.
I compiled a list of 14 studies, covering more than 10 million children, that find no link between vaccines and autism.
I compiled a list of 14 studies, covering more than 10 million children, that find no link between vaccines and autism.
November 20, 2025 at 9:40 PM
👇
👇
ICYMI: Yesterday, the CDC updated its vaccine safety page to say that vaccines might cause autism (they don’t) and that the science isn’t settled (it is).
For substantiation, the page links out to several studies by anti-vax allies of HHS Robert Kennedy Jr.
www.importantcontext.news/p/cdc-change...
For substantiation, the page links out to several studies by anti-vax allies of HHS Robert Kennedy Jr.
www.importantcontext.news/p/cdc-change...
CDC Updates Vaccine Safety Page to Promote Vaccine Misinformation, Cites Kennedy’s Anti-Vax Allies
It is the latest move by Robert Kennedy Jr.’s Department of Health and Human Services to undermine vaccines.
www.importantcontext.news
November 20, 2025 at 3:13 PM
👇
Reposted by Miriam Rabkin
Can’t believe the whole country has to suffer through the return of Dickensian childhood diseases because the worst, most ignorant attention-demanders decided other people’s expertise makes them feel bad
November 20, 2025 at 4:19 AM
Can’t believe the whole country has to suffer through the return of Dickensian childhood diseases because the worst, most ignorant attention-demanders decided other people’s expertise makes them feel bad
Reposted by Miriam Rabkin
The CDC just rewrote its vaccines & autism webpage, suggesting we can't definitively state vaccines don't cause autism. This exploits a philosophical trick about proving negatives while ignoring studies of millions of children with consistent findings.
jakescottmd.substack.com/p/the-cdc-re...
jakescottmd.substack.com/p/the-cdc-re...
The CDC Rewrites Its Guidance on Vaccines and Autism
On November 19, 2025, the agency altered decades of clear messaging, but the evidence hasn't changed.
jakescottmd.substack.com
November 20, 2025 at 10:19 AM
The CDC just rewrote its vaccines & autism webpage, suggesting we can't definitively state vaccines don't cause autism. This exploits a philosophical trick about proving negatives while ignoring studies of millions of children with consistent findings.
jakescottmd.substack.com/p/the-cdc-re...
jakescottmd.substack.com/p/the-cdc-re...
Kennedy says his CDC panel is “unbiased.” But he fired all of the prior vaccine experts and replaced them with people who’ve publicly questioned vaccines for years. That’s not science; that’s ideology. 👉 Read more www.defendpublichealth.org/opinion/whop... #PublicHealth #Vaccines
Whopper of the Week: Kennedy's “Unbiased” Vaccine Panel is actually packed with Anti-vaxxers | Defend Public Health
ACIP will meet in December and is considering some major changes to childhood vaccines. In June Secretary Kennedy fired the panel of experts and installed a group of vaccine cynics. To justify this ch...
www.defendpublichealth.org
November 20, 2025 at 8:30 AM
Kennedy says his CDC panel is “unbiased.” But he fired all of the prior vaccine experts and replaced them with people who’ve publicly questioned vaccines for years. That’s not science; that’s ideology. 👉 Read more www.defendpublichealth.org/opinion/whop... #PublicHealth #Vaccines
Reposted by Miriam Rabkin
The U.S. government is now inarguably spreading medical disinformation that is going to kill babies preferentially.
Period.
This is an INTOLERABLE. UNPRECEDENTED. DANGEROUS. ATTACK. ON ALL OF US.
Period.
This is an INTOLERABLE. UNPRECEDENTED. DANGEROUS. ATTACK. ON ALL OF US.
November 20, 2025 at 3:29 AM
The U.S. government is now inarguably spreading medical disinformation that is going to kill babies preferentially.
Period.
This is an INTOLERABLE. UNPRECEDENTED. DANGEROUS. ATTACK. ON ALL OF US.
Period.
This is an INTOLERABLE. UNPRECEDENTED. DANGEROUS. ATTACK. ON ALL OF US.
Reposted by Miriam Rabkin
Decades ago, #measles was declared eliminated in the U.S. Now it's roaring back, and that elimination status will soon officially come to an end. Why? The answer is simple: #rfkjr, as two of my colleagues from @defendpublichealth.bsky.social explain (no paywall, but free registration required) […]
Original post on mas.to
mas.to
November 19, 2025 at 7:09 PM
Decades ago, #measles was declared eliminated in the U.S. Now it's roaring back, and that elimination status will soon officially come to an end. Why? The answer is simple: #rfkjr, as two of my colleagues from @defendpublichealth.bsky.social explain (no paywall, but free registration required) […]
Reposted by Miriam Rabkin
🚨NEW: A massive new study found no link between exposure to recommended levels of fluoride and IQ decline in children. Over the past year, Health Secretary RFK Junior has claimed that fluoride causes IQ loss, neuro disorders and bone cancer, among other issues.
My story for @sciam.bsky.social 🧪
My story for @sciam.bsky.social 🧪
Massive Study Finds No Link Between Fluoride in Tap Water and Lower Child IQ
Researchers tracked thousands of Americans for decades, finding no links between ingesting recommended levels of fluoride and lower cognitive skills
www.scientificamerican.com
November 19, 2025 at 7:16 PM
🚨NEW: A massive new study found no link between exposure to recommended levels of fluoride and IQ decline in children. Over the past year, Health Secretary RFK Junior has claimed that fluoride causes IQ loss, neuro disorders and bone cancer, among other issues.
My story for @sciam.bsky.social 🧪
My story for @sciam.bsky.social 🧪
Reposted by Miriam Rabkin
The RFK Jr Disaster www.statnews.com/2025/11/18/r...
@pauloffit.bsky.social: He says "the opposite of what’s true, over & over again."
@jakescottmd.bsky.social: "To say vaccines cause mutation is like saying umbrellas cause rain. It’s backwards. It’s beyond misinformation. It’s patently false."
@pauloffit.bsky.social: He says "the opposite of what’s true, over & over again."
@jakescottmd.bsky.social: "To say vaccines cause mutation is like saying umbrellas cause rain. It’s backwards. It’s beyond misinformation. It’s patently false."
How RFK Jr., America's celebrity health secretary, is steamrolling science
RFK Jr. is plowing ahead with sweeping changes to U.S. health care that have thrilled supporters, purged opponents, and horrified critics.
www.statnews.com
November 19, 2025 at 1:24 PM
The RFK Jr Disaster www.statnews.com/2025/11/18/r...
@pauloffit.bsky.social: He says "the opposite of what’s true, over & over again."
@jakescottmd.bsky.social: "To say vaccines cause mutation is like saying umbrellas cause rain. It’s backwards. It’s beyond misinformation. It’s patently false."
@pauloffit.bsky.social: He says "the opposite of what’s true, over & over again."
@jakescottmd.bsky.social: "To say vaccines cause mutation is like saying umbrellas cause rain. It’s backwards. It’s beyond misinformation. It’s patently false."
Reposted by Miriam Rabkin
So many of us have been warning the public that RFK Jr. is going to take away access to as many vaccines as he can.
The December ACIP meeting is dedicating an entire day to reviewing “the safety” of the childhood vaccine schedule.
There’s not a shred of credible evidence that warrants this.
The December ACIP meeting is dedicating an entire day to reviewing “the safety” of the childhood vaccine schedule.
There’s not a shred of credible evidence that warrants this.
November 17, 2025 at 6:25 PM
So many of us have been warning the public that RFK Jr. is going to take away access to as many vaccines as he can.
The December ACIP meeting is dedicating an entire day to reviewing “the safety” of the childhood vaccine schedule.
There’s not a shred of credible evidence that warrants this.
The December ACIP meeting is dedicating an entire day to reviewing “the safety” of the childhood vaccine schedule.
There’s not a shred of credible evidence that warrants this.
Reposted by Miriam Rabkin
A new study found the Trump administration’s cuts to NIH grants disrupted more than 380 clinical trials, affecting over 74,000 participants.
The cuts disproportionately impacted trials on infectious diseases and minority communities.
The cuts disproportionately impacted trials on infectious diseases and minority communities.
Federal cuts upended clinical trials. A new study reveals the toll.
Grants for 383 clinical trials were terminated and the funding disruptions affected more than 74,000 trial participants, according to new research.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 17, 2025 at 11:00 PM
A new study found the Trump administration’s cuts to NIH grants disrupted more than 380 clinical trials, affecting over 74,000 participants.
The cuts disproportionately impacted trials on infectious diseases and minority communities.
The cuts disproportionately impacted trials on infectious diseases and minority communities.
Reposted by Miriam Rabkin
I've got a bad feeling about the upcoming flu season, given the fact that there are a bunch of subtypes at this party with the potential to wreak varying amounts of havoc. So I broke it all down here.
open.substack.com/pub/rasmusse...
open.substack.com/pub/rasmusse...
The Real Subtypes of the 2025 Flu Season
Have you ever been to a party where you sensed the messiness before it happened?
open.substack.com
November 17, 2025 at 2:54 PM
I've got a bad feeling about the upcoming flu season, given the fact that there are a bunch of subtypes at this party with the potential to wreak varying amounts of havoc. So I broke it all down here.
open.substack.com/pub/rasmusse...
open.substack.com/pub/rasmusse...