Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

elizabethcooney.bsky.social @elizabethcooney.bsky.social · 1d

“What it really means is it is impossible to rapidly disseminate public health science for action,” former editor-in-chief Charlotte Kent told @chelseacirruzzo.bsky.social

www.statnews.com/2025/10/11/c...

Deep cuts made to CDC's flagship MMWR publication, a cornerstone of public health

CDC staff behind the agency’s flagship publication have been fired amid drastic cuts to the HHS promised by the White House due to the government shutdown, according to five people familiar with the s...

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elizabethcooney.bsky.social @elizabethcooney.bsky.social · 1d

“Calling this a budget issue is a lie. It’s an abuse of power — unethical, unlawful, and profoundly dangerous,” a high-ranking CDC official told me.

www.statnews.com/2025/10/11/c...

‘It’s a massacre’: CDC battered by government shutdown firings

The White House’s mass firing of CDC staff on Friday has decimated offices related to injury prevention, respiratory disease surveillance, and chronic disease, according to four people familiar with t...

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O. Rose Broderick @rosebroderick.bsky.social · 18d

Trump is wrong, doctors say. People who are pregnant should not just "tough it out" when they have a fever

Great story from @elizabethcooney.bsky.social @theresagaff.bsky.social and Annalisa Merelli re: the scientific consensus on autism, leucavorin, and Tylenol

www.statnews.com/2025/09/24/t...

Trump’s ‘tough it out’ to pregnant women meets wave of opposition by medical experts

Trump says no, you shouldn’t take Tylenol during pregnancy and yes, you should try a drug for cancer care to treat kids with autism. Doctors disagree.

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elizabethcooney.bsky.social @elizabethcooney.bsky.social · 18d

Don’t miss this important find from @rosebroderick.bsky.social at @statnews.com

www.statnews.com/2025/09/23/r...

Trump’s Tylenol warning cited a Harvard dean’s research. But a judge called his shifting conclusions ‘unreliable’

A Harvard dean whose work was cited as justification for curtailing Tylenol use provided what a judge called 'unreliable' expert testimony against the drug’s maker

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elizabethcooney.bsky.social @elizabethcooney.bsky.social · 20d

“Health care’s dirty little secret”: from @tarabannow.bsky.social at @statnews.com

www.statnews.com/2025/09/22/h...

Hospitals get dinged for reporting too many infections. In some cases, the solution is not to test

A STAT Investigation: To avoid fines for reporting excessive hospital-acquired infections, some facilities are discouraging testing.

www.statnews.com

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elizabethcooney.bsky.social @elizabethcooney.bsky.social · 22d

Nobel laureate Drew Weissman tells @matthewherper.bsky.social at @statnews.com “It’s just not true.”

www.statnews.com/2025/09/20/d...

Winner of mRNA Nobel Prize says ACIP member’s claim that Covid vaccines persist is “absolutely impossible”

In a Q&A with STAT, Nobel winner Drew Weissman addressed concerns raised about Covid shots at a recent meeting of federal vaccine advisers.

www.statnews.com

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elizabethcooney.bsky.social @elizabethcooney.bsky.social · 22d

Two tumultuous days. @chelseacirruzzo.bsky.social. @elaineywchen.bsky.social, ans @lizzylawrence.bsky.social report

www.statnews.com/2025/09/19/w...

In a chaotic meeting, RFK Jr.’s handpicked advisers begin altering the childhood vaccine schedule

Kennedy says he wants to restore trust in vaccines. His hand-picked ACIP panel raised many doubts, and outside experts were left baffled and frustrated.

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elizabethcooney.bsky.social @elizabethcooney.bsky.social · 23d

More breaking news our of Atlanta, from @lizzylawrence.bsky.social and @chelseacirruzzo.bsky.social
at @statnews.com

www.statnews.com/2025/09/19/a...

Federal vaccine panel remade by RFK Jr. votes to maintains insurance coverage for Covid shots

The panel's decision would preserve broad insurance coverage for Covid-19 shots, even though some panelists questioned their benefits and safety.

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elizabethcooney.bsky.social @elizabethcooney.bsky.social · 23d

That was quick: @rosebroderick.bsky.social has the news on @statnews.com

www.statnews.com/2025/09/19/c...

CDC reverses telework pause that sparked complaints over its impact on workers with disabilities

The CDC has rescinded a policy issued on Monday that paused remote work for employees, including those with disabilities

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elizabethcooney.bsky.social @elizabethcooney.bsky.social · 23d

And more breaking news, from @aniloza.bsky.social at @statnews.com

www.statnews.com/2025/09/19/c...

Key federal vaccine panel tables vote on delaying newborn hepatitis B shot

A CDC advisory panel voted Friday to postpone a vote on whether to delay infants’ first hepatitis B vaccine — temporarily alleviating health experts' fears.

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elizabethcooney.bsky.social @elizabethcooney.bsky.social · 23d

Breaking, from @chelseacirruzzo.bsky.social ar @stat

www.statnews.com/2025/09/19/m...

Federal advisory committee restricts access to MMRV shot by some low-income children

A CDC advisory committee has voted to restrict access to the MMRV shot by some low-income children, though separate MMR and varicella shots will still be available.

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elizabethcooney.bsky.social @elizabethcooney.bsky.social · 24d

Next up, from @danielpayne.bsky.social at @statnews.com:

www.statnews.com/2025/09/18/c...

Cassidy invites RFK Jr. to testify before Senate health panel

The Senate health committee has invited health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to testify before the panel amid allegations of the politicization of the CDC.

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elizabethcooney.bsky.social @elizabethcooney.bsky.social · 24d

Coming next week, from @aniloza.bsky.social and @elaineywchen.bsky.social at @statnews.com

www.statnews.com/2025/09/18/c...

Key federal vaccine panel considers delay to newborn hepatitis B shots, risking virus’ resurgence

Experts fear that delaying the shot will lead to more people with chronic liver infections and complications.

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elizabethcooney.bsky.social @elizabethcooney.bsky.social · 24d

Breaking, from @chelseacirruzzo.bsky.social and @matthewherper.bsky.social at @statnews.com

www.statnews.com/2025/09/18/c...

Federal vaccine adviser says former CDC officials can’t be trusted unless they agree to ‘public debate’

The chair of a key vaccine committee that advises the CDC will strike a confrontational tone at meeting of the panel, according to ia copy of his prepared remarks.

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elizabethcooney.bsky.social @elizabethcooney.bsky.social · 25d

Takeaways from @danielpayne.bsky.social, @isabellacueto.bsky.social, and the @statnews.com team: politics, secrecy over science, and changing vaccine recs

www.statnews.com/2025/09/17/m...

Three key takeaways from the Senate hearing on CDC director’s firing and RFK Jr.’s vaccine agenda

WASHINGTON — A Wednesday Senate hearing aimed to answer questions about the exodus of top leaders from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last

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Reposted

Lizzy Lawrence @lizzylawrence.bsky.social · 25d

The CDC is not well, @elizabethcooney.bsky.social writes, based on an account from two of its former leaders at a Senate hearing on Wednesday.
www.statnews.com/2025/09/17/m...

Fear and politics pervade Kennedy’s CDC, former leaders testify

In a climate of fear CDC scientists are withdrawing names from papers, and local and global health agencies are losing confidence.

www.statnews.com

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elizabethcooney.bsky.social @elizabethcooney.bsky.social · 25d

News from a tense hearing, reported by @danielpayne.bsky.social and @isabellacueto.bsky.social at @statnews.com

www.statnews.com/2025/09/17/m...

Ousted CDC director says Kennedy plans to change pediatric vaccine schedule

Ousted CDC director Susan Monarez told lawmakers that her boss, health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., told her he plans to change the childhood vaccine schedule this month.

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Reposted

Jason Ukman @jasonukman.bsky.social · 25d

"The nation’s top health agency is not well, according to a portrait that emerged in testimony Wednesday by two of its former leaders."

@elizabethcooney.bsky.social on the state of affairs at the CDC.

www.statnews.com/2025/09/17/m...

Fear and politics pervade Kennedy’s CDC, former leaders testify

In a climate of fear CDC scientists are withdrawing names from papers, and local and global health agencies are losing confidence.

www.statnews.com

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Reposted

Daniel Payne @danielpayne.bsky.social · 25d

Fear and politics pervade Kennedy’s CDC, former leaders testify

@elizabethcooney.bsky.social reporting

www.statnews.com/2025/09/17/m...

Fear and politics pervade Kennedy’s CDC, former leaders testify

In a climate of fear CDC scientists are withdrawing names from papers, and local and global health agencies are losing confidence.

www.statnews.com

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elizabethcooney.bsky.social @elizabethcooney.bsky.social · 26d

Supplements and other health and wellness products are on the list. New from @sarah-todd.bsky.social and @isabellacueto.bsky.social at @statnews.com

www.statnews.com/2025/09/16/c...

Surgeon General nominee Casey Means discloses financial ties to supplement industry

Casey Means, nominated for surgeon general, earned hundreds of thousands of dollars promoting supplements, per new financial disclosure statements.

www.statnews.com

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elizabethcooney.bsky.social @elizabethcooney.bsky.social · 26d

Powerful exclusive from @danielpayne.bsky.social at @statnews.com

www.statnews.com/2025/09/16/c...

CDC has been ‘censored’ and ‘politicized’ under RFK Jr., former officials plan to say

Two former top CDC officials plan to deliver fiery testimony about how RFK Jr. has undermined the agency.

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elizabethcooney.bsky.social @elizabethcooney.bsky.social · Sep 12

“It is a cruel irony that just days after a gunman sprayed over 500 bullets across the CDC campus, the government fired over 150 violence and injury prevention specialists at the CDC,” former CDC official Tom Simon told me. My story at @statnews.com

www.statnews.com/2025/09/12/g...

As U.S. faces deadly week, gun violence experts lament end of prevention research

Amid deadly shootings, CDC has fired experts and shut down research on preventing gun violence. Expert calls it a "cruel irony."

www.statnews.com

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elizabethcooney.bsky.social @elizabethcooney.bsky.social · Sep 12

@danielpayne.bsky.social at @statnews.com on the latest:

www.statnews.com/2025/09/12/v...

HHS to have Rensselaer investigate question of autism-vaccine link

A much-investigated question about autism, dismissed in many studies, is getting a surge of new federal research money.

www.statnews.com

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Reposted

Jonathan Wosen @jonathanwosen.bsky.social · Sep 10

If you run a life science lab where research has either significantly slowed or shut down completely due to Trump administration policies, I’d like to hear your story. I'm a biotech and life sciences reporter for @statnews.com, and you can reach me at [email protected] #journorequest

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Reposted

STAT @statnews.com · Sep 9

As STAT turns 10, a look at our milestone stories: Purdue Pharma secrets, UnitedHealth denials, hepatitis in prisons, Covid pandemic coverage, and more.

Explore 10 times STAT coverage reverberated through health and medicine
www.statnews.com/2025/09/09/s...
#STAT10

10 times STAT coverage reverberated through health and medicine

In its first decade, STAT has led the way in charting seismic events in health and medicine. To mark our 10-year anniversary, take a look back at 10 of our most impactful stories.

www.statnews.com

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