@maxwellsmith
Bioethicist, Associate Professor, & CIHR Applied Public Health Chair at Western University in London, Ontario, Canada. Also Director, Western's Centre for Bioethics and Associate Director, Rotman Institute of Philosophy. Views are my own. maxwellsmith.ca
The next ethics director will be VERY busy, investigating:
Was it ethical for NIH leadership to terminate studies on health disparities, including research at Duke on the health of transgender people?
Was it ethical for Bhattacharya to ban our team from using the words “racial disparities”?
1/n
Staff at the nation’s largest Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility have placed bets on which detainee will be the next to die by suicide, according to new reporting from the Associated Press based on 911 calls and detainee accounts.
"Politically correct", "woke", etc. have simply always been synonyms for "moral".
From @jeremyfaust.bsky.social
“Doctors and scientists quickly said the data didn't support the president's claim, but emergency room orders for Tylenol, or acetaminophen, for pregnant patients went down 10% in the months that followed”
The Arizona State Legislature just got one step closer to a November ballot proposition that would ban any childhood vaccine requirements for school entry.
AZ House Republicans have passed it and now it’s on to the Senate Republicans.
Exciting!! “Europe's medicines regulator on Friday recommended approval for Moderna’s mCombriax, paving the way for it to become the first combined shot for protecting people aged 50 and older against COVID and seasonal influenza in a single dose.” @jackiantonovich.bsky.social
Thanks for sharing/tagging! At Western University's new Centre for Bioethics we're tracing the history of bioethics in the region, dating back to the Westminster Centre for Ethics and Human Values, established in the late '70s as well. More history of Bioethics in Canada is needed!
I think one reason for people's stubbornness here is that this language has become normal for *them*, and so they're defensive. But good risk communication should apply even to the language that has become normal or habit for me and you.
I often hear the retort, "but people understand I'm referring to lockdown/the emergency phase when I say that!" or something of that nature. First, that's a bad assumption. Second, why are you so opposed to avoiding language that is imprecise and can distort risk? It's a strange hill to die on.
Public health takes risk communication seriously. We routinely advocate for shifts in language to help people understand risk and make informed choices.
But when questioned about confusing language that can distort risk, like 'back during COVID' or 'post-COVID', we remain surprisingly obstinate.
"Doug Ford’s government said traffic officers could help replace banned speed cameras. Three months later, here’s what Toronto police say. Most of the 150 speed camera locations in Toronto are not eligible for traffic-calming infrastructure."
www.thestar.com/news/gta/dou...
Report underscores death toll of health care-related infections
Infections acquired in health care settings kill three times more people than car accidents each year.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/h...
Photo: Bart Heird / Flickr cc
New from @katherineeban.bsky.social in @rollingstone.com: CDC appointees bypassed the agency’s scientists to rush-fund a study questioning the hep B birth dose. The ethics committee president says his name was used on the approval without his knowledge.
www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
Screenshot of the linked press release announcing the appointment of Dr. Joss Reimer as CPHO.
👀Hey, Canada finally has a new Chief Public Health Officer (!).
www.canada.ca/en/public-he...
Congrats Dr. Joss Reimer.
#CPHO
I spoke with @melodyschreiber.com about the deep irony of Bhattacharya serving as Acting Director of CDC & Director of NIH simultaneously.
For years, he has advocated for separation between these role, framing this type of arrangement as a conflict of interest that would have chilling effects.
On a recent podcast appearance, Bhattacharya said the funniest experience he's had with Trump was standing next him while the President gave misleading medical advice to pregnant people.
4-5 years ago there were MDs like Lucy McBride crowing about the urgency of normal, getting kids back to school. There were PR hacks like David Zweig supporting them. Now kids are being sent to immigration detention, getting measles & these folks are nowhere to be found. It was never about the kids.
Our new CDC Director
Sure sure let’s order the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) to end all pandemic preparedness and biodefense work.
WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG?
Revokes scientific finding
“…aims to get bills that would roll back or eliminate vaccine requirements in every statehouse in the country.” 😳
Journalists have often asked me how vaccine policy in the US could impact Canadians. I've repeated that one way, among many, is by fundamentally altering the value proposition for vaccine research and development. And so it begins.
Hallway health care metric one of several 'to be retired' from health agency’s public report
One emergency physician calling it ‘utter malpractice’ to not release the data publicly
www.thetrillium.ca/news/health/...
#onpoli
When anti-mask-wearing laws were being proposed/passed, clinically vulnerable lives were devalued for what seemed like ridiculous argument that the COVID cautious were hiding faces for criming reasons. Now ICE et al are hiding their faces for criming reasons. Every accusation seems a confession.
Autonomy in vaccine decision-making is supported, not undermined, by expert recommendations and guidance. Thanks for emphasizing this, @kmpanthagani.bsky.social
This came in the same budget that axed a luxury tax on yachts. www.thestar.com/news/canada/...
Here is a post for all those “ethics” and “accountability” in AI folks.
Good luck with that!
Screenshot of the partial table of cuts, with Global Affairs (population 7657/workforce adjustment notices 1223) and Health Canada (population 9628/workforce adjustment notices 1039) highlighted
🤔"Tracking job cuts in the [Canadian] federal public service" www.hilltimes.com/story/2026/0...
⬇️. Precisely.
When people refuse to get vaccinated, simply piling on more evidence of their effectiveness is not enough. The same holds for politic leaders & the officials they appoint.
There are, however, powerful moral arguments that are more appropriate (& by extension political ones as well).
Regarding his claim that vaccine mandates violate informed consent, we rebut this view here:
jme.bmj.com/content/earl...