Tag: National Institutes of Health

EBM hierarchy

HHS is weaponizing evidence-based medicine to falsely portray vaccines as unsafe

Last week, HHS announced that all "new vaccines will undergo safety testing in placebo-controlled trials." Sounds good? Not so fast. This is really a deceptive weaponization of evidence-based medicine to undermine confidence in vaccines and eliminate at least some of them.

/ May 5, 2025
Extinction-level event. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

How bad is it? RFK Jr.’s extinction-level threat to science-based federal health policy and public health is here

Five months ago, I called RFK Jr. an "extinction-level" threat to US biomedical science and public health. That extinction is under way.

/ April 14, 2025
Great Barrington Declaration authors Jay Bhattacharya, Martin Kulldorff, and Sunetra Gupta in front of AIER headquarters in Great Barrington, MA.

Paul Thacker relitigates criticisms of Dr. Jay Bhattacharya and the Great Barrington Declaration

"Journalist" Paul Thacker defends Dr. Jay Bhattacharya and the Great Barrington Declaration by rehashing the same old deceptive rhetoric that was easily debunked when it was first employed.

/ March 6, 2025
National Institutes of Health (NIH).

DOGE vs. the NIH: Say goodbye to the greatest engine of biomedical research ever created

Friday, the Trump administration slashed indirect costs associated with NIH grants. What does this mean, and why could it be so disastrous for biomedical research?

/ February 10, 2025
National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The attack on the NIH has begun

Donald Trump has been sworn in, and his new administration has immediately turned its sights on the NIH. The danger to US biomedical research has never been more acute.

/ January 27, 2025
An NIH study section

Are NIH study sections a waste of time?

Since the nomination of Dr. Jay Bhattacharya for NIH Director, I've been seeing a suggestion from certain contrarian doctors for a "randomized trial" of study sections vs. a "modified lottery" to determine which grant applications are funded by the NIH. Just what the heck is Dr. Vinay Prasad talking about?

/ December 9, 2024
National Institutes of Health (NIH).

RFK Jr. vs. the NIH: Say goodbye to the greatest engine of biomedical research ever created

President-Elect Donald Trump has nominated antivaccine activist and anti-pharma conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to be Secretary of Health and Human Services. I've written about the damage he will do, if confirmed, to the CDC and FDA, but what about NIH, the greatest engine of biomedical research ever?

/ November 18, 2024
Trump at Madison Square Garden

Donald Trump won. Now what for science-based federal health policy?

Last week, Donald Trump defeated Kamala Harris and will return to the White House in January. What does this mean for science-based federal health policy? Hint: Nothing good. Just like the rest of the government, the worst people are likely to be in charge of health and science policy.

/ November 11, 2024
NCCIH Logo defined

The NCCIH embraces the quackery that is “functional medicine”

The process of "integrating" quackery with medicine continues apace as the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health embraces the quackery that is "functional medicine."

/ September 30, 2024
The NIH grant process is not The Godfather.

Improving how the NIH decides which grants to fund: Reality vs. conspiracy

Last week, the United States National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced a plan to decrease the problem of reputational bias in grant funding. I couldn't help but contrast how hard the NIH tries to use the most rigorous scientific criteria to decide whose grants to fund with the conspiracy theory that Anthony Fauci personally doles out NIH dollars like a mob boss...

/ December 12, 2022