Breaking NYT:
Two teenage brothers and mariachi stars who visited the White House last summer were just released with their family from ICE detention centers in South Texas — immediately following the visit of a delegation of Democratic lawmakers who pressed for them to be freed.
SCOOP: The FDA has said that it will consider authorizing e-cigarettes in flavors that appeal to adults -- coffees, teas, spices and mint. That would mean more authorized options beyond the illicit candy/fruity vapes.
Public health officials are not pleased.
www.nytimes.com/2026/03/09/h...
NEW: Tension between rare disease families and the FDA are rising as the agency closes the door on a series of new drugs:
www.nytimes.com/2026/03/05/h...
NEW: Trump has lost the MAHA moms. The glyphosate order was the final straw.
"Women feel like they were lied to." -- Alex Clark
"A betrayal" -- Zen Honeycutt
RFK has escaped the wrath of movement's leaders, if not the rank and file.w/ @hirokotabuchi.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/19/u...
NEW: Sec. Kennedy has a new take on glyphosate as Trump moves to ramp production: “Donald Trump’s executive order puts America first where it matters most — our defense readiness 🚨 and our food supply. 🚨"
via @hirokotabuchi.bsky.social + @sherylnyt.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/18/u...
Reuters: New Mexico lawmakers on Monday passed legislation to launch what they said was the first full investigation into what happened at Zorro Ranch, where the late U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is accused of trafficking and sexually assaulting girls and women.
NEW: Vaccine makers' fears about RFK Jr. as health secretary have begun to come true and “sent a chill through the entire industry," leading to layoffs and canceled programs:
via Rebecca Robbins
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/16/h...
In a secret deportation arrangement, the Trump administration flew nine people, nearly all of whom had been granted U.S. court protections from being sent back to their home countries, to Cameroon.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/14/w...
Great scoop —->
NEW: A federal tool meant to find noncitizens on voter rolls is consistently marking citizens as noncitizens, especially if they were born outside the U.S., causing chaos as election clerks try not to disenfranchise voters, @zachdespart.bsky.social and I found. 🧵 www.propublica.org/article/save...
NEW: Health Secretary Kennedy's allies are pushing in states to repeal school-entry vaccine requirements.
Vaccine proponents view the effort as an escalation in dismantling the nation's vaccine system:
🎁 www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/h...
A photo of gallup
Gallup will no longer measure presidential approval after 88 years thehill.com/homenews/med...
Update: HHS defends the move, but Makary went on Fox News today to say this was normal dialog with a drug maker—-> www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/h...
NEW: FDA defends -- and backs off from -- its refusal to review Moderna's application for an mRNA flu vaccine. The company had spent ~$750M on studies, one with 41,000 people.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/h...
NEW: The F.D.A. refused to accept an application from Moderna for its mRNA flu vaccine.
Its reason: The agency did not think Moderna compared the new vaccine to one of the best flu shots available. The company spent $750M+ on a 41,000 person study.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/h...
NEW from
@rachanadpradhan.bsky.social -->
The National Cancer Institute, funded by tax dollars, is studying ivermectin, a horse dewormer and lice treatment, to treat cancer:
kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
If this is our government's position, then why not release ALL THE FILES?
There is an overwhelming amount of evidence being ignored here, including affidavits signed as sworn testimony under oath by the victims and pictures not yet released.
When are we going to start believing the victims?
The Trump administration finalized a new policy on Thursday that would strip job protections from up to 50,000 federal workers, a move that would make it easier for President Trump to remove or discipline them, in his latest effort to dismantle the federal work force.
NEW: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said that the keto diet could cure schizophrenia — an unfounded claim that experts say vastly overstates preliminary research into whether a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet might help patients w/ the disorder.
via @sherylnyt.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/u...
I couldn't string sentences together yesterday, Maybe that's a sign that I shouldn't have been spared when all my fantastic colleagues who unfairly lost their jobs pushed through their grief to write beautiful notes about their careers and the situation at The Washington Post. The health team lost 8 out of 13 reporters yesterday despite health listed as part of The Post's new pared down focus. Just six months after becoming an editor and having the honor to lead an all-star team covering federal health agencies and public health, I have to go back to reporting because there are barely any health reporters left to edit. I'll say more about the reporters we lost later today, but as a team, we did everything we were supposed to do under the vision for The Post to be a digital innovator that breaks news, offers hard-hitting accountability and directly address reader concerns. We landed exclusives on the CDC director's firing, plans to overhaul the childhood vaccine schedule, projections for steep ACA marketplace rate increases and more. We avoided dutiful iterative stories and covered storylines such as the expiration of enhanced ACA premiums with smart targeted angles that were widely read. We broke the mold of a traditional newspaper with clever formats including a pop-up newsletter and live chats to help readers navigate new restrictions on coronavirus vaccines, a quiz to understand new dietary guidelines and vertical videos to showcase reporter expertise. The Metro section where I started my career (and offers a clear reason for millions of potential subscribers to pay for us instead of or in addition to other national outlets!) is hollowed out. Reporters around the world wiped out after the owner set a vision for international relevance. A sports department home to journalistic legends shuttered. And so much more bleeding across the entire newsroom.
The Washington Post gutted the health team which I helped to lead despite our stories being among the most widely read, impactful and adept at reaching new audiences.
What we walked away from: "While they are rarely fatal, these diseases exact a huge toll in human suffering, including pain, disfigurement and disabilities such as blindness. They are sometimes called 'biblical' because they have plagued humans for so long that they are mentioned in ancient texts."
BERNIE SANDERS: Do vaccines cause autism?
BHATTACHARYA: I do not believe that the measles vaccine causes autism
SANDERS: Nah. Uh uh. I didn't ask measles. Do vaccines cause autism?
BHATTACHARYA: I have not seen a study that suggests any single vaccine causes autism
Under a "mild" scenario of ongoing budget cuts to developing nations, 2.5 million children younger than 5 die by 2030 from malaria, HIV/AIDS, TB and diarrheal diseases.
Imagine losing a child who is younger than 5.
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
A new study puts a number on the potential human toll of sharp aid cuts over the past year, projecting an extra 9.4 million deaths by 2030 if the current trends persist.
Don Lemon speaks outside of the courtroom after release: "I have spent my entire life covering the news. I will not stop now ... I will not be silenced."
NEW: Sec. Kennedy stacked a government autism panel w/ people who believe vaccines cause autism, a widely debunked claim.
They include a doctor who gave dangerous heavy metal treatments for a young child with autism.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/29/h...
.@nytimes.com: A Bush-appointed federal judge in Minnesota excoriated ICE on Wednesday, saying it had violated nearly 100 court orders & disobeyed more judicial directives in January alone than “some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence.”
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/28/u...
Love to see the art emerging around this moment . . .
New federal data shows 23 million people have signed up for ACA coverage, 1.3 million fewer than last year as enhanced tax credits expire.
The number of people losing coverage will rise as people can't make their premium payments, which are more than doubling on average.
www.cms.gov/newsroom/fac...
Selfishly, I'm pretty pleased that we milked 11 years of family seating (2 kids, 5.5 yrs apart) out of this policy before it went away. 😎
