Category: Politics and Regulation
Jay Bhattacharya’s “plan to drive Gold Standard Science”: A Trojan horse for Lysenko-izing the NIH
Last week, the NIH published a plan to "drive Gold Standard Science." The plan cunningly wraps what are obvious Lysenkoist ideological purity tests disguised as "academic freedom" and "unbiased peer review" in seemingly reasonable proposals.
What do mRNA vaccines, Synthroid, and pharmaceuticals have in common (according to MAHA)?
If you want to understand why Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has halted $500 million in funding for mRNA vaccine development, look no further than Synthroid and herbal medicines.
Every accusation was a confession of what they wanted to do if they were to attain power
On Friday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that would shift power over grantmaking away from career scientists to political appointees. Lysenkoism 2.0 has been made official policy, and science in the US is in deep trouble.
EBM “Boy Wonder” Vinay Prasad is toppled
Evidence-based medicine "Boy Wonder" Dr. Vinay Prasad was fired as CBER Director after less than three months on the job. What can the kerfuffle surrounding his ouster tell us about the FDA and doctors who enabled Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.?
A department adrift from its own “Gold” standards
Phantom citations, misinformation, and imbalance in HHS communications
COVID-19 contrarian Dr. Vinay Prasad meets real world responsibility
Dr. Vinay Prasad parlayed his COVID-19 contrarianism into a high-ranking position in the FDA. Now he's facing real world responsibility, and knives are out for him. Can he survive?
Go Ahead, Make the Case That Science, Free Speech, and the FDA Are Thriving Under Drs. Marty Makary and Vinay Prasad
Unlike Drs. Adam Cifu and John Mandrola, I do not constantly boast of my "nuance" or claim to be a master of "clinical appraisal." They have so much to teach me.
After ACIP: Where Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will likely go from here in his quest to eliminate vaccines
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was on The Tucker Carlson Show last week. It got me to thinking: What's next in RFK Jr.'s crusade against vaccines after he turned ACIP into an antivax committee?
Dr. Vinay Prasad: Bodily Autonomy Applies to Raw Milk, Not Vaccines
This is what it looks like when disinformation doctors pretend to value data and science to further their true objective, MAHA politics.
Wearables and Wellness Populism: How Smart Watches Got MAHA’d
Fifteen years ago, then-contributor Peter Lipson wrote a short post on this blog that I’ve reflected on many times since. Titled Your Disease, Your Fault, Peter described a central theme that runs through nearly every variant of alternative medicine: That illness is preventable, and therefore, your fault. According to this worldview, disease isn’t a product of biology, inequity, or chance. It is...