Tag Archives: CDC

RFK Sent Congress “Willful Medical Disinformation”

NPR reports: A document the Department of Health and Human Services sent to lawmakers to support Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s decision to change U.S. policy on COVID vaccines cites scientific studies that are unpublished or under dispute and mischaracterizes others. One health expert called the document “willful medical disinformation” about the safety of COVID vaccines for children and pregnant …

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CDC To Reinstate More Than 450 Laid Off Employees

NBC News reports: More than 460 laid-off employees at the nation’s top public health agency received notices Wednesday that they are being reinstated, according to a union representing the workers. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services confirmed reinstatement notices went out to the former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention employees, but provided few details. About 2,400 CDC …

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Scientists Mull Independent Counterpart To CDC

Axios reports: By gutting the expert panel that’s advised the government on vaccine policy for more than 60 years, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. earned the condemnation of virtually every medical society, as well as former public health officials and local practitioners. The distress and lack of organization apparent in health circles on Tuesday was a sign that a …

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CDC Workers Walk Out And Demand Kennedy Resign

Axios reports: Current and former employees of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are calling on Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to resign, warning that job cuts and proposed funding reductions will hurt the agency’s ability to protect the public from future health outbreaks. Dozens of current employees at the facility walked out in protest of the cuts and …

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Kennedy Fires Entire CDC Vaccine Advisory Committee

ABC News reports: Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced on Monday he is removing all 17 sitting members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory committee and replacing them with new members. The Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP) makes recommendations on the safety, efficacy and clinical need of vaccines. “Today we are …

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1.7M Eggs Recalled After Salmonella Sickens Dozens

NBC News reports: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are investigating a multistate Salmonella outbreak linked to at least 1.7 million eggs, according to a news release issued on Saturday. The brown cage-free and brown certified organic eggs were distributed by the August Egg Company from Feb. 3 through May 15 to …

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Top CDC Advisor Quits After Changes To Vax Guidance

Reuters reports: Pediatric infectious disease expert Dr. Lakshmi Panagiotakopoulos of the U.S. CDC resigned on Tuesday as co-leader of a working group that advises outside experts on COVID-19 vaccines and is leaving the agency, two sources familiar with the move told Reuters. Panagiotakopoulos said in an email to work group colleagues that her decision to step down was based on …

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Salmonella Outbreak Sickens 45 Across 18 States

The New York Times reports: A salmonella outbreak linked to cucumbers has sickened at least 45 people across 18 states, health officials said Friday and they warned that the number of people infected was likely higher. Companies including Target have issued recalls for products with cucumbers that may be contaminated. The cases have been reported across the Midwest and East …

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CDC Detects New COVID Variant At US Airports

CBS News reports: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s airport screening program has detected multiple cases of the new COVID-19 variant NB.1.8.1, which has been linked to a large surge of the virus in China. Cases linked to the NB.1.8.1 variant have been reported in arriving international travelers at airports in California, Washington state, Virginia and the New York …

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CDC May Not Okay Updated COVID And Flu Vaccines

The New York Times reports: Come this fall, only older Americans and those with chronic health problems may be urged to get the Covid shot — assuming the vaccine is available at all. The advisers are expected to decide on a way forward at a meeting in June. But the debate may have become irrelevant. New requirements for clinical testing …

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HHS Lays Off Nearly All Occupational Safety Workers

CBS News reports: Nearly all of the remaining staff at the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health were laid off Friday, multiple officials and laid-off employees told CBS News, gutting programs ranging from approvals of new safety equipment to firefighter health. Much of the work at NIOSH, an arm of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, had …

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RFK Asks CDC For New Guidance On Treating Measles

CBS News reports: Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will ask the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to develop new guidance for treating measles with drugs and vitamins, an HHS spokesperson said. The move comes as Kennedy has faced criticism during this year’s record measles outbreaks for remarks misleading people into thinking that measles infections are …

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RFK May Pull COVID Vax Recommendation For Kids

Politico reports: HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is weighing pulling the Covid-19 vaccine from the government’s list of recommended immunizations for children, two people familiar with the discussions told POLITICO. The directive under consideration would remove the Covid shot from the childhood vaccine schedule maintained by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and widely used by physicians to …

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CDC To Cease Collecting Consumer Safety Data

Reuters reports: The U.S. consumer product safety agency will stop collecting data on injuries from incidents like car accidents and adverse drug effects due to staff cuts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to an agency email seen by Reuters and a source familiar with the situation. The 47-year-old National Electronic Injury Surveillance System collects data from …

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CDC Official: Texas Measles Cases Are Underreported

NBC News reports: Dr. David Sugerman, a senior scientist leading the CDC’s measles response, said Tuesday at a meeting of the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee that more than 90% of the cases are “related to the Southwest outbreak, driven by transmission in close-knit, undervaccinated communities.” “We do believe that there’s quite a large amount of cases that are not reported …

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CDC Fires Team That Performs Cruise Ship Inspections

CBS News reports: All of the full-time employees in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Vessel Sanitation Program are now off the job, multiple officials tell CBS News, gutting the agency’s ability to investigate outbreaks and conduct health inspections on cruise ships. The steep cuts to the program’s inspectors baffled CDC officials since the small team’s staff is not …

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Kennedy And Zeldin Team Up Against Fluoridation

The Associated Press reports: U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday said he plans to tell the CDC soon to stop recommending fluoridation in communities nationwide. Kennedy also said he’s assembling a task force to focus on the issue. Also on Monday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it is reviewing “new scientific information” on potential health risks …

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CDC Ordered Staff Not To Release Measles Warning

ProPublica reports: Leaders at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ordered staff this week not to release their experts’ assessment that found the risk of catching measles is high in areas near outbreaks where vaccination rates are lagging, according to internal records reviewed by ProPublica. In an aborted plan to roll out the news, the agency would have emphasized …

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HHS Axes Research Into New Antiviral Medications

Nature reports: The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have begun cancelling billions of dollars in funding on research related to the COVID-19 pandemic. SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has killed more than 7 million people globally, including more than 1.2 million people in the United States, and continues to infect …

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Trump Appoints Susan Monarez As CDC Director

“I am proud to announce that Dr. Susan Monarez is my Nominee to serve as the next Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Dr. Monarez brings decades of experience championing Innovation, Transparency, and strong Public Health Systems. She has a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin, and PostDoctoral training in Microbiology and Immunology at Stanford University …

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