May 30, 2025
A New Edition of The New England Journal of Medicine Is Now Available
The New England Journal of Medicine (vol. 392, no. 18, 2025) is available online by subscription only. Articles include:
Public Health
May 29, 2025
The US Is Storing Migrant Children’s DNA in a Criminal Database
(Wired) – Customs and Border Protection has swabbed the DNA of migrant children as young as 4, whose genetic data is uploaded to an FBI-run database that can track them if they commit crimes in the future. THE UNITED STATES … Read More
May 28, 2025
A New Covid Variant Is Rising Fast. Here’s What We Know About NB.1.8.1
(Gizmodo) – A new Omicron offshoot is spreading fast across Australia and Asia, prompting renewed concerns about the covid-19 pandemic. As we enter the colder months in Australia, covid is making headlines again, this time due to the emergence of … Read More
May 27, 2025
COVID vaccines are no longer recommended for healthy children and pregnant women, Kennedy says
(Associated Press) – U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Tuesday announced that COVID-19 vaccines are no longer recommended for healthy children and pregnant women — a move immediately questioned by several public health experts. In a 58-second video … Read More
May 27, 2025
New ‘superbug’ antibiotic to treat sepsis and pneumonia enters last phase of testing
(The Independent) – It is hoped that the drug zosurabalpin will be approved by the end of the decade A new antibiotic that has the potential to save millions of lives has entered its last phase of human testing. Swiss … Read More
May 26, 2025
US measles case count climbs slightly to 1,046 cases, while Indiana’s outbreak ends
(Associated Press) – The U.S. saw a small increase in measles cases this week, an indicator that outbreaks are slowing down, though exposures at a busy airport in Colorado and a Shakira concert in New Jersey are keeping public health … Read More
May 26, 2025
The FDA Plans to Limit Access to Covid Vaccines. Here’s Why That’s Not All Bad.
(MIT Technology Review) – This week, two new leaders at the US Food and Drug Administration announced plans to limit access to covid vaccines, arguing that there is not much evidence to support the value of annual shots in healthy … Read More
May 26, 2025
A New Edition of Journal of Medical Ethics Is Now Available
Journal of Medical Ethics (vol. 51, no. 5, 2025) is available online by subscription only. Articles include:
May 23, 2025
Uncertainty loomed as FDA advisors met to discuss this year’s COVID shot
(Ars Technica) – Expert advisors for the Food and Drug Administration met Thursday to discuss which virus strain this year’s updated COVID-19 vaccines should target. The advisors have been meeting around this time each year for such a strain selection, … Read More
May 23, 2025
Is There Really a Chronic Disease Epidemic? It’s Complicated.
(New York Times) – Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wants to return the nation to a time when he believes Americans were healthier. Not so fast, many researchers say. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary, often says that when his … Read More
May 23, 2025
A New Edition of The New England Journal of Medicine Is Now Available
The New England Journal of Medicine (vol. 392, no. 17, 2025) is available online by subscription only. Articles include:
May 22, 2025
Report: U.S. young men feel lonelier than other age groups
(UPI) – About a fourth of younger men surveyed in the United States feel lonely, which is significantly higher than the national averages for all men and women. Gallup analyzed aggregated data from 2023 and 2024 to determine 25% of … Read More
May 22, 2025
Officials warn of potential measles exposure at Shakira concert at MetLife Stadium
(NBC News) – New Jersey health officials issued a warning about a potential measles exposure during Shakira’s concert at MetLife Stadium last week. On Tuesday, the New Jersey Department of Health announced that a non-New Jersey resident attended the concert while … Read More
May 20, 2025
FDA approves Novavax COVID-19 shot but with unusual restrictions
(Associated Press) – The Food and Drug Administration has issued a long-awaited approval of Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine but with unusual restrictions. Novavax makes the nation’s only traditional protein-based coronavirus vaccine – and until now it had emergency authorization from FDA … Read More
May 20, 2025
Exclusive: Opioid use disorder costs almost $700K per case
(Axios) – Opioid abuse is as much an economic problem as a public health one, according to a comprehensive analysis provided first to Axios that concludes the total average annual cost associated with each case is nearly $700,000. Why it … Read More
May 20, 2025
The world now has its first ever pandemic treaty. Will it make a difference?
(NPR) – Member states of the World Health Organization voted overwhelmingly to adopt the first ever pandemic agreement, a treaty aimed at preventing, preparing for and responding to any future pandemic. After three years of tough negotiations, no country voted … Read More
May 20, 2025
How much worse could America’s measles outbreak get?
(The Economist) – AMERICA’S MEASLES outbreak is alarming for several reasons. What began as a handful of cases in Texas in January has now surpassed 800 across several states, with many more cases probably going unreported. It is the worst … Read More
May 19, 2025
Elon Musk brought ‘the world’s biggest supercomputer’ to Memphis. Residents say they’re choking on its pollution
(CNN) – “This is just the beginning,” xAI said on its website; the company already has plans for a second facility in the city. But for some residents in nearby Boxtown, a majority Black, economically-disadvantaged community that has long endured … Read More
May 19, 2025
How a Great Pro-Life Hope Disappointed His Allies
(Christianity Today) – As surgeon general under Ronald Reagan, C. Everett Koop traveled in evangelical circles. But the partnership was always uneasy. Of the Christian conservatives whom Ronald Reagan appointed to high office after winning the presidency in 1980, none … Read More
May 15, 2025
How Chronic Disease Became the Biggest Scourge in American Health
(Wall Street Journal) – Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has made combating chronic disease a rallying cry as he looks to overhaul the health department and “Make America Healthy Again.” So how healthy is America, historically? … Read More
May 14, 2025
People who stop weight loss drugs return to original weight within year, analysis finds
(The Guardian) – Research raises questions about long-term treatment of and support for people using weight loss drugs People on weight loss drugs regain all the weight they have lost within a year of stopping the medication, analysis has shown. … Read More
May 14, 2025
Women Are Drinking More—and Doctors Are Worried
(Wall Street Journal) – Women are experiencing rising alcohol-related deaths at a faster clip than men, data show At bars and dinner tables across the U.S., women are throwing back more drinks—raising concerns about the health consequences of their alcohol … Read More
May 14, 2025
The Crypto Racket
(Texas Observer) – Public officials at all levels are propping up a Texas Bitcoin mining boom that’s threatening water and energy systems while afflicting locals with noise pollution. Around May 2021, cryptominers migrated en masse to Texas for its cheap … Read More
May 13, 2025
An L.A. Doctor’s House Burned. Now He Treats the Fires’ Effects in Neighbors.
(New York Times) – A new clinic, opened by a pulmonologist who lost his home in the Palisades blaze, is addressing the health issues developing among people exposed to the fires. Just three weeks after the blaze tore through neighborhoods … Read More
May 13, 2025
Your Gut Microbes Might Encourage Criminal Behavior
(MIT Technology Review) – Microbes can produce compounds that affect the way neurons work. They also influence the functioning of the immune system, which can have knock-on effects on the brain. And they seem to be able to communicate with … Read More
