Richard M. Carpiano, PhD, MPH
@rmcarpiano.medsky.social
13K followers 5.4K following 5.2K posts

Professor, University of California, Riverside School of Public Policy. Faculty Director, Science to Policy (S2P). Public health scientist & sociologist keen on population health & community issues. Sometimes in the news, often for troubling topics. 🇺🇸 🇨🇦 .. more

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Medicine 20%
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rmcarpiano.medsky.social
Welcome new followers! About me beyond my profile: I post on a range of public health, sociological, & policy topics in my expertise areas (e.g., vaccinations, misinformation, health disparities) & other stuff I find important, intriguing, or fun/funny. Journalists: happy to chat (part of my job).
govpritzker.illinois.gov
Reporting live from Chicago, there’s no “hellscape” I’d rather be in.

rmcarpiano.medsky.social
And the thing is that the Danish study wasn't really even looking into Tylenol/acetaminophen. Their hypothesis was about how pain/stressful events may foster some neurodevelopmental problems.

rmcarpiano.medsky.social
As I detailed above, the scientific evidence to justify your suit is super weak and won't hold up well to scrutiny.

rmcarpiano.medsky.social
You ain't kidding. Sure I could've just QT'd that OP w/ simply "False claim" and moved on, but crafting that tread to explain why his claim is BS is time I'll never get back and nothing me in 2004 working on my dissertation would've envisioned I'd be publicly commenting on/refuting now. SMH.

rmcarpiano.medsky.social
💯 I didn't grow up in a country music listening home, so I had to discover him on my own too, but even before that, with his TV appearances and such (even on Sesame Street), it was clear to me at an early age that the guy was a pop culture icon and embodied cool and black attire was his trademark.

rmcarpiano.medsky.social
4/4

Sources:

Graphs in my OP:

US Circumcision trends:

-graph above: www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/he...
-further data post 2000: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32716676/more
-more recent data showing decline 2012-2022: jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

US autism prevalence: www.cdc.gov/autism/data-...

rmcarpiano.medsky.social
3/
Likely explanation if an assoc. even exists (as noted in letter above): circumcision proxying parent's greater conscientiousness & thus interaction w/ health care providers to be diagnosed, not bc of Tylenol for circum. pain.

rmcarpiano.medsky.social
2/ RFK Jr. is likely citing a problematic Danish study testing circum. pain & autism that had a letter published by critics rightfully citing study flaws (e.g., small #'s of autism cases among circumcised).

Study: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...

Letter: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
www.cdc.gov

rmcarpiano.medsky.social
RFK Jr.'s confirmation bias strikes again...

FYI: US circumcision rates declining for decades (1 example here) while autism prevalence has increased (likely bc of diagnostic changes & ⬆️ surveillance). Plus, prior circum-autism findings highly problematic... 1/
Graph showing rates of circumcision performed on male newborn infants discharged from short-stay hospitals in the US 1979-2010. The line trends  downward (and at points flat) from ~65% in 1979 to ~60% in 2010 and the trend since 2000 has gone from ~63% to ~60%. Graph showing rise in autism prevalence per 1000 children in US among boys and girls from 2002 to 2022. Trend for boys is higher at 2002 and shows stronger increase over entire period (from ~11% to ~50%) than does the trend for girls (<5% to just under 15%).

rmcarpiano.medsky.social
WTH?! Cash oozed cool w/ dark edginess and wrote songs about violent criminals that oddly made them sympathetic figures. And when did anyone uncool ever had the nickname "The Man in Black?" And, unlike Dylan, he was sincere. Gift link: www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
pftompkins.bsky.social
I guess if you don’t know dick about shit you could think Johnny Cash seems “deeply uncool” but anyway glad newborn babies are getting to write opinion columns, good for those lil cuties
wsj.com
Compared to Dylan and Springsteen, country-music legend Johnny Cash can seem deeply uncool. It took time for me to appreciate his profound, plainspoken strength, writes Jon Fasman.
ericcolumbus.bsky.social
Ingrassia seemed like such a winner before this new allegation, I guess you never can tell
In May, Trump nominated Ingrassia, who received his law degree in 2022, to head the Office of Special Counsel. After he drew publicity for ties to white supremacist Nick Fuentes and Andrew Tate — an influencer who has been
charged in Britain with rape and human trafficking, which he denies - Ingrassia's July nomination hearing was indefinitely delayed.
It was a rare instance of Senate Republicans pushing back on a Trump nominee.
Ingrassia has shared conspiracy theories about 9/11 and praised far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. A podcast that he co-hosted called for martial law and secession after the 2020 election if legal efforts to overturn the election didn't succeed. He has advocated for some people who rioted at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
On his Substack, Ingrassia, who interned for the first Trump White House, dubs himself
"President Trump's favorite writer" because
Trump shared his comments almost 100 times last year on social media. A month into Trump's term this year, Ingrassia was reassigned out of the Department of Justice, where he was appointed White House liaison, after he clashed with DOJ's chief of staff. ABC News reported that Ingrassia had been telling Trump appointees that he was looking for
"exceptional loyalty" to the president, which was perceived as an inappropriate injection of politics into the law enforcement agency.
Last month, he was singled out in a lawsuit that former top FBI career officials filed against the government alleging he asked political questions to an FBI official as part of an effort to determine loyalty to Trump.

pftompkins.bsky.social
I guess if you don’t know dick about shit you could think Johnny Cash seems “deeply uncool” but anyway glad newborn babies are getting to write opinion columns, good for those lil cuties
wsj.com
Compared to Dylan and Springsteen, country-music legend Johnny Cash can seem deeply uncool. It took time for me to appreciate his profound, plainspoken strength, writes Jon Fasman.
Essay | Can We Finally Give Johnny Cash His Due?
Compared to Dylan and Springsteen, the country-music legend can seem deeply uncool. It took time for me to appreciate his profound, plainspoken strength.
on.wsj.com

rmcarpiano.medsky.social
Seemed to be fair q's and the YT link shows journalist's interviews w/ other cand's. Also, any savvy politico knows how to redirect undesirable q's and spin it to what they want to talk abt. That's media training 101 that even I/my postdoc program learned in 1 day seminars w/ comms consultants.
thedailyshow.com
The following is REAL footage from Portland, 2025. Viewer discretion is advised.
crampell.bsky.social
Immigrants have been awarded 40% of the Nobel Prizes won by Americans in chemistry, medicine and physics since 2000. nfap.com/research/new...

rmcarpiano.medsky.social
Hmmm... I had to watch this interview to judge given clickbait spin & how women get greater scrutiny. Thoughts: considering how CA (& thus the gov.) are often targeted/accused of this/that in nat'l media, Gov. has to be ready to handle confrontation. This won't cut it.

Interview link in the story.
Katie Porter threatens to walk out of TV interview
“I don't want to have an unhappy experience with you, and I don't want this all on camera,” Porter said to the reporter.
www.politico.com

rmcarpiano.medsky.social
I just found it illuminating:
-Of good lists I'm on, funny, flattering names
-Block lists mostly ppl blocking anyone who follows accts they dislike. Nice teaching case abt info bubbles
-among blocks, 1 self-ID'd acad. I can't recall engaging w/. Per old quote, guess reason must've been low stakes

rmcarpiano.medsky.social
🛟
sarahgollust.bsky.social
Just published in @amjpublichealth.bsky.social: a collective analysis of the power ecosystem that jeopardizes public health and produces inequity, titled “Why Building Power is Key to Protecting Academic Public Health and Advancing Health Equity”
We are angered and disheartened by the lack of progress our fields have made over the last 20 years and dismayed by the dismantling of health equity efforts happening in real time. In response, we are determined to reimagine academic public health and drive social change. We believe public health scholars need to share and build power with communities facing inequities now more than ever.

rmcarpiano.medsky.social
Wow, you aren't kidding. Funny to see all accts that blocked me. Few I've engaged w/ to my memory. Bc my own blocking is 99% ppl I interacted w/ or who reply to my posts to troll, I wonder how many followed then blocked me or just saw my post in their TL & blocked. Oh well. Can't please everyone.

rmcarpiano.medsky.social
Oh really? Thank you for letting me know.

rmcarpiano.medsky.social
"It’s not surprising to encounter a grown-up with fond memories of Chuck E. Cheese."

Am I an outlier? I doubt it. And per the description in this review, the author is way too overjoyed about Chuck's Arcade, so I can only conclude he's projecting.
Chuck E. Cheese wants to grow up. What it's like inside the new, adult-focused Chuck's Arcade
Chuck's Arcade at the Brea Mall promises retro gaming and attempts to appeal to a more grown-up audience. Is it worth a trip?
www.latimes.com

rmcarpiano.medsky.social
What's up with the algorithm? Last two days, I have suddenly received a ton of new followers. Legit accounts and nothing I have posted of late brought them to me. 🤷🏼
a man in an orange shirt is talking in front of a computer
ALT: a man in an orange shirt is talking in front of a computer
media.tenor.com