Tag: MAHA

Trump is antivax.

“Best practices”: The buzzword that the Trump administration will use to eliminate as many vaccines as RFK Jr. can

The CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices met last week, eliminating the universal recommendation for the birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine. There was, however, a more insidious threat to vaccines in a White House press release after the meeting cloaked under the buzzword "best practices."

/ December 8, 2025
A person in a yellow shirt stands closely in front of a mirror, touching the glass and looking intently at their own reflection, which appears thoughtful.

If The Atlantic Wishes to Honestly Understand the Origins of MAHA, They Need to Investigate The Atlantic.

The Atlantic has some of the best writers around. But they were also eager to launder right-wing talking points under the guise of a being liberal, reasonable, and moderate publication, able to see all nuanced sides of complex issues.

/ November 28, 2025
MAHA has fallen

“MAHA has fallen”? Antivaxxers are getting very impatient with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Recently, antivaxxers have been expressing their impatience with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s progress eliminating vaccines. It was inevitable. Has MAHA fallen?

/ November 17, 2025
Casey Means

Surgeon General nominee Dr. Casey Means and functional medicine: Legitimizing quackery

Surgeon general nominee Dr. Casey Means is an advocate of "functional medicine." She, MAHA, and a new "board certification" will falsely legitimize quackery.

/ October 20, 2025
Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (RFK Jr.)
Robin toppled. (Vinay Prasad.)

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.?

/ August 4, 2025
Vinay Prasad, MD, MPH

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?

/ July 28, 2025
A person wearing a blue long-sleeve shirt checks a white smartwatch on their wrist, displaying a colorful screen with time and fitness activity data.

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...

/ July 3, 2025
Mehmet Oz, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Marty Makary, Jay Bhattacharya, Vinay Prasad

Marty Makary and Vinay Prasad embrace a “more fluid concept of evidence” at the FDA

Last Thursday during a roundtable on stem cell therapies, new FDA Commissioner Marty Makary referred to EBM levels of evidence as an artificial and dogmatic construct. Apparently Dr. David Katz's "more fluid concept of evidence" now reigns at the FDA—selectively.

/ June 9, 2025
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The MAHA Report: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (mostly the bad and ugly)

President Donald Trump and HHS Secretary's MAHA report has landed. It's a mix of the good (a little), but mostly the bad and the ugly (a lot).

/ May 26, 2025