Veronika J. Wirtz
@verowirtz.bsky.social
Health systems researcher, pharmacist, mom, wife. Professor
@BUSPH Promoting equitable and affordable access to and quality use of medicines.
@BUSPH Promoting equitable and affordable access to and quality use of medicines.
"Demands for ideological alignment as a condition of employment are irreconcilable with an agency (FDA) whose strength is the pluralism of its expert views." www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
A Threat to Evidence-Based Vaccine Policy and Public Health Security at the FDA | NEJM
Twelve former commissioners of the FDA express concern that the agency’s recent moves will undermine a regulatory model designed to ensure vaccine safety, effectiveness, and availability.
www.nejm.org
December 4, 2025 at 7:07 PM
"Demands for ideological alignment as a condition of employment are irreconcilable with an agency (FDA) whose strength is the pluralism of its expert views." www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
"As former commissioners of the FDA... we are deeply concerned by sweeping new FDA assertions about vaccine safety and proposals that would undermine a regulatory model designed to ensure that vaccines are safe, effective, and available when the public needs them most."
www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
A Threat to Evidence-Based Vaccine Policy and Public Health Security at the FDA | NEJM
Twelve former commissioners of the FDA express concern that the agency’s recent moves
will undermine a regulatory model designed to ensure vaccine safety, effectiveness,
and availability.
www.nejm.org
December 4, 2025 at 12:36 PM
"As former commissioners of the FDA... we are deeply concerned by sweeping new FDA assertions about vaccine safety and proposals that would undermine a regulatory model designed to ensure that vaccines are safe, effective, and available when the public needs them most."
www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
"If the estimates and predicted 15 million deaths come to pass, it won’t be because of natural disasters. It will be the result of a distinctly man-made disaster—a calculated bureaucratic choice to put “America First” by leaving the rest of the world to die." contrarian.substack.com/p/the-privat...
The privatization of American morality
The State Department’s new “America First” Global Health Strategy is a transactional gamble with millions of lives at risk.
contrarian.substack.com
December 3, 2025 at 12:24 AM
"If the estimates and predicted 15 million deaths come to pass, it won’t be because of natural disasters. It will be the result of a distinctly man-made disaster—a calculated bureaucratic choice to put “America First” by leaving the rest of the world to die." contrarian.substack.com/p/the-privat...
"Health care in the United States remains extraordinarily expensive, and the federal government and states must confront the high costs that make it so difficult to cover all Americans." www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/24/o...
Three things in public health to be thankful for - The Boston Globe
As this tumultuous year draws to a close — and especially during this season of thanksgiving — it’s important to recognize the contributions that deserve gratitude.
www.bostonglobe.com
November 24, 2025 at 11:25 AM
"Health care in the United States remains extraordinarily expensive, and the federal government and states must confront the high costs that make it so difficult to cover all Americans." www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/24/o...
The short documentary “Rovina’s Choice” tells the story of what goes when aid goes. www.newyorker.com/video/watch/...
“Rovina’s Choice” Shows How the Shutdown of U.S.A.I.D. Has Already Killed Hundreds of Thousands
www.newyorker.com
November 16, 2025 at 4:13 PM
The short documentary “Rovina’s Choice” tells the story of what goes when aid goes. www.newyorker.com/video/watch/...
"Stopping it [cholera] is therefore not a scientific, medical or technical challenge; fundamentally, it’s a political one." Hakainde Hichilema & Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
Cholera is spreading fast, yet it can be stopped. Why haven’t we consigned it to history? | Hakainde Hichilema and Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
Vaccine production must be expanded to combat this ancient disease, especially in Africa, but a lack of political will is holding us back
www.theguardian.com
October 28, 2025 at 4:07 PM
"Stopping it [cholera] is therefore not a scientific, medical or technical challenge; fundamentally, it’s a political one." Hakainde Hichilema & Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
"Putting JD Vance's friend as an institute director, breaking the normal process for selecting scientific talent, this is really bad," Mark Histed, PhD, chief of a lab on neural computation and behavior at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). www.medpagetoday.com/washington-w...
NIH Institute Director Abruptly Replaced
New NIEHS chief is a friend of Vice President JD Vance
www.medpagetoday.com
October 27, 2025 at 10:39 AM
"Putting JD Vance's friend as an institute director, breaking the normal process for selecting scientific talent, this is really bad," Mark Histed, PhD, chief of a lab on neural computation and behavior at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). www.medpagetoday.com/washington-w...
"Decommercialized national health insurance: a single, public insurance plan that covers everyone [...] That kind of reform would save both money and lives, and it would put communities, not investors, in control of health care" www.statnews.com/2025/10/21/h...
The U.S. experiment with profit-driven health care has failed
“The market competition, managed care, and ‘corporate efficiency’ that economists prescribed as the cure for health care inflation instead accelerated it.”
www.statnews.com
October 22, 2025 at 11:12 AM
"Decommercialized national health insurance: a single, public insurance plan that covers everyone [...] That kind of reform would save both money and lives, and it would put communities, not investors, in control of health care" www.statnews.com/2025/10/21/h...
""The Trump Administration terminated Dr. Marrazzo for her advocacy on behalf of critical health research and for her support of the overwhelming body of evidence that shows vaccines are safe and effective," Ms. Katz said." www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/h...
Kennedy Fires N.I.H. Scientist Who Filed Whistle-Blower Complaint
www.nytimes.com
October 3, 2025 at 9:45 AM
""The Trump Administration terminated Dr. Marrazzo for her advocacy on behalf of critical health research and for her support of the overwhelming body of evidence that shows vaccines are safe and effective," Ms. Katz said." www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/h...
"Medical and science communities cannot change societies alone. But we can set standards of behaviour and create value systems that resist corrosive social and political forces." www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
The far-right and health: an evolving political crisis
Across Europe and North America, racism, xenophobia, and far-right nationalism have
become normalised in public and political discourse, leading many people to feel anxiety
and fear of violence, discr...
www.thelancet.com
October 3, 2025 at 9:43 AM
"Medical and science communities cannot change societies alone. But we can set standards of behaviour and create value systems that resist corrosive social and political forces." www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Who Makes Decisions About Vaccine Policy Now? www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Who Makes Decisions About Vaccine Policy Now?
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has hired longtime vaccine safety skeptics and scientists who are critical of Covid shots and mandates to make immunization policy decisions for Americans.
www.nytimes.com
September 19, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Who Makes Decisions About Vaccine Policy Now? www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
“Compulsory unification of opinion achieves only the unanimity of the graveyard.” www.nytimes.com/2025/09/18/o...
Opinion | Charlie Kirk, Jimmy Kimmel and the Future of Free Speech in America
www.nytimes.com
September 19, 2025 at 1:36 AM
“Compulsory unification of opinion achieves only the unanimity of the graveyard.” www.nytimes.com/2025/09/18/o...
Substantial Number of People Ditch Wegovy Within a Year www.medpagetoday.com/meetingcover...
Substantial Number of People Ditch Wegovy Within a Year
Younger users, men were especially prone to quitting
www.medpagetoday.com
September 17, 2025 at 10:57 AM
Substantial Number of People Ditch Wegovy Within a Year www.medpagetoday.com/meetingcover...
"As is so often the case with Mr. Trump, however, he has both identified a real problem and enacted a set of policies that will worsen that problem. With public health, the damage could be vast. ... rejecting basic medical knowledge and turning back the clock ..." www.nytimes.com/2025/09/12/o...
Opinion | Trump’s Policies Are Endangering Your Health
www.nytimes.com
September 12, 2025 at 12:14 PM
"As is so often the case with Mr. Trump, however, he has both identified a real problem and enacted a set of policies that will worsen that problem. With public health, the damage could be vast. ... rejecting basic medical knowledge and turning back the clock ..." www.nytimes.com/2025/09/12/o...
“The deliberate destruction of nearly $10 million worth of contraceptives, under the blatantly false pretense that they are abortifacients, is an outrageous act of cruelty,” said Beth Schlachter, director of U.S. external relations for MSI Reproductive Choices. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/11/h...
$10 Million in Contraceptives Have Been Destroyed on Orders From Trump Officials
www.nytimes.com
September 12, 2025 at 12:41 AM
“The deliberate destruction of nearly $10 million worth of contraceptives, under the blatantly false pretense that they are abortifacients, is an outrageous act of cruelty,” said Beth Schlachter, director of U.S. external relations for MSI Reproductive Choices. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/11/h...
Through legal proceedings, Democracy Forward obtained a previously secret grant agreement between the U.S. and El Salvador for holding hundreds of Venezuelans removed under the Alien Enemies Act in CECOT. democracyforward.org/wp-content/u...
democracyforward.org
September 11, 2025 at 11:51 AM
Through legal proceedings, Democracy Forward obtained a previously secret grant agreement between the U.S. and El Salvador for holding hundreds of Venezuelans removed under the Alien Enemies Act in CECOT. democracyforward.org/wp-content/u...
The Trump administration has dismantled agencies across the government that sought to protect the integrity of US elections and to combat foreign malign influence at home and abroad.
www.ft.com/content/d31b...
www.ft.com/content/d31b...
US ends international push to combat fake news from hostile states
Washington terminates agreements with European countries to fight disinformation from Russia, China and Iran
www.ft.com
September 9, 2025 at 4:59 PM
The Trump administration has dismantled agencies across the government that sought to protect the integrity of US elections and to combat foreign malign influence at home and abroad.
www.ft.com/content/d31b...
www.ft.com/content/d31b...
Congress should act before this becomes institutionalized. Lawmakers could amend FACA to clarify that any FDA meeting convened to offer regulatory advice — no matter what it’s called — must comply with FACA’s transparency and balance requirements. www.statnews.com/2025/09/05/f...
The FDA’s pivot from ad comms to ‘expert’ panels is bad medicine
G. Caleb Alexander has chaired or served on more than a dozen FDA advisory committees. He’s worried the shift to ‘expert’ panels lacks transparency.
www.statnews.com
September 6, 2025 at 12:13 AM
Congress should act before this becomes institutionalized. Lawmakers could amend FACA to clarify that any FDA meeting convened to offer regulatory advice — no matter what it’s called — must comply with FACA’s transparency and balance requirements. www.statnews.com/2025/09/05/f...
People take to streets against Trump administration plans to rescind funding for life-saving international programs. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Protesters demand release of HIV funds ‘illegally’ withheld by Trump
People take to streets against Trump administration plans to rescind funding for life-saving international programs
www.theguardian.com
September 4, 2025 at 2:00 PM
People take to streets against Trump administration plans to rescind funding for life-saving international programs. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
“It’s like this country at its worst,” Offit said in an interview, recalling how he witnessed a 9-month-old girl die of rotavirus as a medical resident before the vaccine was invented. www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...
Prominent critic of RFK Jr. blocked from FDA vaccine committee
Paul Offit, a pediatrician and co-inventor of the rotavirus vaccine, can no longer participate in the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee.
www.washingtonpost.com
September 4, 2025 at 10:41 AM
“It’s like this country at its worst,” Offit said in an interview, recalling how he witnessed a 9-month-old girl die of rotavirus as a medical resident before the vaccine was invented. www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...
"The men and women who have joined the C.D.C. across generations have done so not for prestige or power.....they deserve a health and human services secretary who stands up for health, supports science and has their back. So, too, does our country." www.nytimes.com/2025/09/01/o...
Opinion | We Ran the C.D.C.: Kennedy Is Endangering Every American’s Health
www.nytimes.com
September 2, 2025 at 10:35 AM
"The men and women who have joined the C.D.C. across generations have done so not for prestige or power.....they deserve a health and human services secretary who stands up for health, supports science and has their back. So, too, does our country." www.nytimes.com/2025/09/01/o...
"This amounts to a very dark moment for public health. There is no clear way out other than a new secretary of Health and Human Services — a change that more public health experts and lawmakers are beginning to demand." www.statnews.com/2025/08/28/c...
CDC’s crisis marks a dark moment for public health
“The firing of Susan Monarez, the first Senate-confirmed CDC director in history, was more than just unprecedented,” writes Ashish K. Jha.
www.statnews.com
August 30, 2025 at 9:50 AM
"This amounts to a very dark moment for public health. There is no clear way out other than a new secretary of Health and Human Services — a change that more public health experts and lawmakers are beginning to demand." www.statnews.com/2025/08/28/c...
In a connected world, malaria is affecting all
www.gatesnotes.com/work/save-li...
www.gatesnotes.com/work/save-li...
www.gatesnotes.com
August 25, 2025 at 2:15 PM
In a connected world, malaria is affecting all
www.gatesnotes.com/work/save-li...
www.gatesnotes.com/work/save-li...
Paul Krugman "Nobody is safe from weaponized government"
paulkrugman.substack.com/p/we-are-all...
paulkrugman.substack.com/p/we-are-all...
We Are All Lisa Cook
Nobody is safe from weaponized government
paulkrugman.substack.com
August 25, 2025 at 12:26 PM
Paul Krugman "Nobody is safe from weaponized government"
paulkrugman.substack.com/p/we-are-all...
paulkrugman.substack.com/p/we-are-all...