Bénédicte C
@benecal.bsky.social
Biosciences & Tech policy
Post about research, innovation, public health, politics & policy making, regulation, disinfo
She/Her/Antifacist
Post about research, innovation, public health, politics & policy making, regulation, disinfo
She/Her/Antifacist
Pinned
Whopper of the Week: Healthcare for Trans Kids is Medicine, Not Ideology | Defend Public Health
Kennedy wants to ban gender affirming care for children. He says transgender care “fails to meet professionally recognized standards.” He called gender-affirming care “malpractice.” The reality is tha...
www.defendpublichealth.org
RFK Jr is not a doctor and has no professional standards. That does not stop him from blaming doctors while he bullies hospitals and clinics into banning medical care for trans kids.
www.defendpublichealth.org/opinion/whop...
www.defendpublichealth.org/opinion/whop...
Reposted by Bénédicte C
Rep. Delia Ramirez to DHS officials: "I have as much respect for you as I do for the last white men who put on masks to terrorize communities of color. I have no respect for the inheritors of the Klanhood and the slave patrol. Those activities were criminal and so are yours."
February 10, 2026 at 5:11 PM
Rep. Delia Ramirez to DHS officials: "I have as much respect for you as I do for the last white men who put on masks to terrorize communities of color. I have no respect for the inheritors of the Klanhood and the slave patrol. Those activities were criminal and so are yours."
Reposted by Bénédicte C
open.substack.com/pub/pauloffi...
RFK Jr.s' latest attack on the world's children.
RFK Jr.s' latest attack on the world's children.
RFK Jr’s War on the World’s Children
RFK Jr. has just withdrawn any future U.S. support from a program that has saved more than 20 million lives in resource-poor countries
open.substack.com
February 10, 2026 at 12:04 PM
open.substack.com/pub/pauloffi...
RFK Jr.s' latest attack on the world's children.
RFK Jr.s' latest attack on the world's children.
Reposted by Bénédicte C
Good morning ppl! The girls are realizing that they are killing théir support base and are trying to walk back théir grift. www.pbs.org/newshour/hea...
Dr. Mehmet Oz urges public to take the measles vaccine as U.S. cases rise
“Take the vaccine, please,” said Dr. Mehmet Oz, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator. “We have a solution for our problem.”
www.pbs.org
February 10, 2026 at 12:05 PM
Good morning ppl! The girls are realizing that they are killing théir support base and are trying to walk back théir grift. www.pbs.org/newshour/hea...
Reposted by Bénédicte C
2/12 There is a reason why Putin, Musk, Trump, Vance, Thiel, and Xi all spend fortunes to attack Brussels.
They do not hate the EU because it fails.
They hate it because of its potential.
Our unity is their nightmare
They do not hate the EU because it fails.
They hate it because of its potential.
Our unity is their nightmare
February 10, 2026 at 8:31 AM
2/12 There is a reason why Putin, Musk, Trump, Vance, Thiel, and Xi all spend fortunes to attack Brussels.
They do not hate the EU because it fails.
They hate it because of its potential.
Our unity is their nightmare
They do not hate the EU because it fails.
They hate it because of its potential.
Our unity is their nightmare
Reposted by Bénédicte C
AOC on DHS Warehouses: I think every American should be alarmed. They are building—and have built—a black box system that disappears people, both immigrants and U.S. citizens alike.
February 10, 2026 at 1:30 AM
AOC on DHS Warehouses: I think every American should be alarmed. They are building—and have built—a black box system that disappears people, both immigrants and U.S. citizens alike.
Reposted by Bénédicte C
Three members of Congress and the governor of Hawai'i, a medical doctor who responded to the measles outbreak in Samoa, are calling for RFK Jr's resignation. Emails now reveal he lied under oath about his antivax role in those 83 deaths.
RFK Jr misled Senate during confirmation, Congress members and Hawaii governor say
Newly revealed emails undermine Kennedy’s testimony about 2019 Samoa trip ahead of deadly measles outbreak
www.theguardian.com
February 10, 2026 at 12:25 AM
Three members of Congress and the governor of Hawai'i, a medical doctor who responded to the measles outbreak in Samoa, are calling for RFK Jr's resignation. Emails now reveal he lied under oath about his antivax role in those 83 deaths.
Reposted by Bénédicte C
HORRIFYING -
Dismantling USAID & cancelling >80% of aid caused ~750,000 deaths by mid-2025
🧸Most were children
⌛️ Many died within the first year
😰 Preventable deaths were mainly from:
- HIV, TB, malaria
- Maternal & fetal deaths
- Malnutrition
news.westernu.ca/2026/01/u-s-...
Dismantling USAID & cancelling >80% of aid caused ~750,000 deaths by mid-2025
🧸Most were children
⌛️ Many died within the first year
😰 Preventable deaths were mainly from:
- HIV, TB, malaria
- Maternal & fetal deaths
- Malnutrition
news.westernu.ca/2026/01/u-s-...
Expert insight: U.S. withdrawal from WHO could affect global health - Western News
History professor Mitchell L. Hammond explains how the U.S. withdrawal from the World Health Organization could affect global health and disease threats.
news.westernu.ca
February 10, 2026 at 1:04 AM
HORRIFYING -
Dismantling USAID & cancelling >80% of aid caused ~750,000 deaths by mid-2025
🧸Most were children
⌛️ Many died within the first year
😰 Preventable deaths were mainly from:
- HIV, TB, malaria
- Maternal & fetal deaths
- Malnutrition
news.westernu.ca/2026/01/u-s-...
Dismantling USAID & cancelling >80% of aid caused ~750,000 deaths by mid-2025
🧸Most were children
⌛️ Many died within the first year
😰 Preventable deaths were mainly from:
- HIV, TB, malaria
- Maternal & fetal deaths
- Malnutrition
news.westernu.ca/2026/01/u-s-...
Reposted by Bénédicte C
Hi, I'm a horror writer and while I am content and indeed happy to be frequently surpassed by other writers, I would appreciate it if reality stopped trying to compete with me.
www.reuters.com/investigatio...
www.reuters.com/investigatio...
As AI enters the operating room, reports arise of botched surgeries and misidentified body parts
Medical device makers have been rushing to add AI to their products. While proponents say the new technology will revolutionize medicine, regulators are receiving a rising number of claims of patient ...
www.reuters.com
February 9, 2026 at 6:44 PM
Hi, I'm a horror writer and while I am content and indeed happy to be frequently surpassed by other writers, I would appreciate it if reality stopped trying to compete with me.
www.reuters.com/investigatio...
www.reuters.com/investigatio...
Reposted by Bénédicte C
⚠️ Despite all the hype, chatbots still make terrible doctors. Out today is the largest user study of language models for medical self-diagnosis. We found that chatbots provide inaccurate and inconsistent answers, and that people are better off using online searches or their own judgment.
February 9, 2026 at 5:08 PM
⚠️ Despite all the hype, chatbots still make terrible doctors. Out today is the largest user study of language models for medical self-diagnosis. We found that chatbots provide inaccurate and inconsistent answers, and that people are better off using online searches or their own judgment.
Reposted by Bénédicte C
We won't let this go. The UK cracked down on access to gender affirming care and trans youth suicides then the government covered it up. This also came amidst a massive push for anti trans policies more broadly among British political parties.
www.erininthemorning.com/p/trans-yout...
www.erininthemorning.com/p/trans-yout...
Trans Youth Suicides Skyrocketed In UK After Care Drawdown; Government Covers It Up
A Freedom of Information request to the National Child Mortality Database reveals that 22 trans children under 18 died by suicide in England in 2021-22 alone.
www.erininthemorning.com
February 9, 2026 at 6:40 PM
We won't let this go. The UK cracked down on access to gender affirming care and trans youth suicides then the government covered it up. This also came amidst a massive push for anti trans policies more broadly among British political parties.
www.erininthemorning.com/p/trans-yout...
www.erininthemorning.com/p/trans-yout...
Reposted by Bénédicte C
8/ For more on what kids are experiencing inside the Dilley detention center, read the full story by reporter @micarosenberg.bsky.social:
The Kids Trump Sent to ICE’s Dilley Detention Center
ProPublica went inside the immigrant detention center for families in Dilley, Texas. Children held there told us about the anguish of being ripped from their lives in the United States and the fear of...
www.propublica.org
February 9, 2026 at 12:43 PM
8/ For more on what kids are experiencing inside the Dilley detention center, read the full story by reporter @micarosenberg.bsky.social:
The tech industry's motto is "No Innovation without Representation" as if it didn't buy its representation already.
"We are technologists and policy entrepreneurs working to advance a more perfect union between technology and the American republic."
"We are technologists and policy entrepreneurs working to advance a more perfect union between technology and the American republic."
February 9, 2026 at 4:35 PM
The tech industry's motto is "No Innovation without Representation" as if it didn't buy its representation already.
"We are technologists and policy entrepreneurs working to advance a more perfect union between technology and the American republic."
"We are technologists and policy entrepreneurs working to advance a more perfect union between technology and the American republic."
Reposted by Bénédicte C
FUN FACT!
The folks surrounding the Abundance movement have been funding a right wing science focused think tank called the Foundation for American Innovation (FAI). Their shiny idea submitted to OSTP was to test children and only select the top of 3rd graders to participate in STEM training.
The folks surrounding the Abundance movement have been funding a right wing science focused think tank called the Foundation for American Innovation (FAI). Their shiny idea submitted to OSTP was to test children and only select the top of 3rd graders to participate in STEM training.
Ezra Klein's Abundance movement is getting some backup: A new political group is urging Democrats to embrace "pro-growth," deregulatory policies with an eye toward 2028, according to plans first shared with Axios.
Exclusive: Centrist Dems strike back with new group
It's the latest effort by moderate Democrats to shape national politics and expand their influence.
www.axios.com
February 9, 2026 at 3:55 PM
FUN FACT!
The folks surrounding the Abundance movement have been funding a right wing science focused think tank called the Foundation for American Innovation (FAI). Their shiny idea submitted to OSTP was to test children and only select the top of 3rd graders to participate in STEM training.
The folks surrounding the Abundance movement have been funding a right wing science focused think tank called the Foundation for American Innovation (FAI). Their shiny idea submitted to OSTP was to test children and only select the top of 3rd graders to participate in STEM training.
DNA origami vaccine platforms to make more effective HIV and flu vaccines...
Cool idea!
www.scripps.edu/news-and-eve...
Cool idea!
www.scripps.edu/news-and-eve...
How “invisible” vaccine scaffolding boosts HIV immune response
www.scripps.edu
February 9, 2026 at 4:15 PM
DNA origami vaccine platforms to make more effective HIV and flu vaccines...
Cool idea!
www.scripps.edu/news-and-eve...
Cool idea!
www.scripps.edu/news-and-eve...
Reposted by Bénédicte C
I don't have a publicist, therefore I am the publicist. New website for my forthcoming book. Please especially check out the Author Q&A at the end of the page (Why did i write the book? Who's it for?. Journos, pod-casters, museums can find my contact info & how to obtain a bound review copy. 1/
Book - Migration and the Origins of American Citizenship — Anna O. Law
www.annaolaw.com
February 9, 2026 at 3:02 PM
I don't have a publicist, therefore I am the publicist. New website for my forthcoming book. Please especially check out the Author Q&A at the end of the page (Why did i write the book? Who's it for?. Journos, pod-casters, museums can find my contact info & how to obtain a bound review copy. 1/
Reposted by Bénédicte C
The current regime took a week to abolish USAID, which is three times as old and was not in the news every day for brutalizing children
“We cannot just abolish ICE!”
Bestie, you are older than ICE.
Bestie, you are older than ICE.
February 8, 2026 at 3:59 PM
The current regime took a week to abolish USAID, which is three times as old and was not in the news every day for brutalizing children
Reposted by Bénédicte C
Latest KFF poll on US confidence in vaccines, fed agencies, new vax sched., & RFK Jr.
Lots of info. E.g.:
-large majorities confident in MMR, Polio, Hep B, & flu vax safety; parents less so for these & COVID vax but not Hep B.
-<1/2 confident in feds making child vax rec's (but how abt states?)
🛟😷
Lots of info. E.g.:
-large majorities confident in MMR, Polio, Hep B, & flu vax safety; parents less so for these & COVID vax but not Hep B.
-<1/2 confident in feds making child vax rec's (but how abt states?)
🛟😷
KFF Tracking Poll on Health Information and Trust: Trust in the CDC and Views of Federal Childhood Vaccine Schedule Changes | KFF
Weeks after the Trump administration reduced the number of childhood vaccine recommended for routine use, public trust in the CDC is at its lowest since the COVID-19 pandemic, and less than half are c...
www.kff.org
February 9, 2026 at 11:41 AM
Latest KFF poll on US confidence in vaccines, fed agencies, new vax sched., & RFK Jr.
Lots of info. E.g.:
-large majorities confident in MMR, Polio, Hep B, & flu vax safety; parents less so for these & COVID vax but not Hep B.
-<1/2 confident in feds making child vax rec's (but how abt states?)
🛟😷
Lots of info. E.g.:
-large majorities confident in MMR, Polio, Hep B, & flu vax safety; parents less so for these & COVID vax but not Hep B.
-<1/2 confident in feds making child vax rec's (but how abt states?)
🛟😷
Reposted by Bénédicte C
So far, 757,314 people have died as a direct result of the Trump regime policies. Primarily children with HIV/AIDS, which could have been prevented if USAID hadn't been shut down.
#genocide
healthpolicy-watch.news/the-human-co...
#genocide
healthpolicy-watch.news/the-human-co...
One Year Later: The Effect Of US 'Chainsaw' On Global Health - Health Policy Watch
One year ago today (20 January), the Trump administration exploded the global health sector by immediately “pausing” all aid for 90 days – and dispensing with
healthpolicy-watch.news
February 9, 2026 at 6:03 AM
So far, 757,314 people have died as a direct result of the Trump regime policies. Primarily children with HIV/AIDS, which could have been prevented if USAID hadn't been shut down.
#genocide
healthpolicy-watch.news/the-human-co...
#genocide
healthpolicy-watch.news/the-human-co...
Reposted by Bénédicte C
Kerryman who is married, living and working legally in the United States for >20 years has been incarcerated by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) since September 2025.
Profoundly disturbing report by Karlin Lillington @klillington.bsky.social
www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...
Profoundly disturbing report by Karlin Lillington @klillington.bsky.social
www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...
‘Absolute hell’: Irish man with valid US work permit held by Ice since September
Seamus Culleton has been in a detention facility in Texas for nearly five months despite having no criminal record
www.irishtimes.com
February 9, 2026 at 6:36 AM
Kerryman who is married, living and working legally in the United States for >20 years has been incarcerated by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) since September 2025.
Profoundly disturbing report by Karlin Lillington @klillington.bsky.social
www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...
Profoundly disturbing report by Karlin Lillington @klillington.bsky.social
www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...
Reposted by Bénédicte C
"More than 70% of US household COVID spread started with a child, study suggests"
Published: June 3, 2023
"A study published in JAMA Network Open suggests that 70.4% of nearly 850,000 US household COVID-19 transmissions originated with a child."
Published: June 3, 2023
"A study published in JAMA Network Open suggests that 70.4% of nearly 850,000 US household COVID-19 transmissions originated with a child."
More than 70% of US household COVID spread started with a child, study suggests
www.cidrap.umn.edu
February 8, 2026 at 1:25 AM
"More than 70% of US household COVID spread started with a child, study suggests"
Published: June 3, 2023
"A study published in JAMA Network Open suggests that 70.4% of nearly 850,000 US household COVID-19 transmissions originated with a child."
Published: June 3, 2023
"A study published in JAMA Network Open suggests that 70.4% of nearly 850,000 US household COVID-19 transmissions originated with a child."
Reposted by Bénédicte C
Despite the administration's efforts, public trust in CDC hasn't improved. Any increase in trust seems to be more associated with politics rather policies than based on scientific evidence or their physicians' recommendations.
#vaccination #immunization #publichealth
#vaccination #immunization #publichealth
KFF Tracking Poll on Health Information and Trust: Trust in the CDC and Views of Federal Childhood Vaccine Schedule Changes | KFF
Weeks after the Trump administration reduced the number of childhood vaccine recommended for routine use, public trust in the CDC is at its lowest since the COVID-19 pandemic, and less than half are c...
www.kff.org
February 8, 2026 at 8:12 PM
Despite the administration's efforts, public trust in CDC hasn't improved. Any increase in trust seems to be more associated with politics rather policies than based on scientific evidence or their physicians' recommendations.
#vaccination #immunization #publichealth
#vaccination #immunization #publichealth
Reposted by Bénédicte C
The Illinois Department of Public Health sidestepped the federal government this week by independently joining the WHO’s Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN). It is the second state to do so, after California joined the network last month. trib.al/i2YAAVj
Individual States Join World Health Organization After Trump Drops It
Illinois is the latest state to take this step.
trib.al
February 8, 2026 at 8:21 PM
The Illinois Department of Public Health sidestepped the federal government this week by independently joining the WHO’s Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN). It is the second state to do so, after California joined the network last month. trib.al/i2YAAVj
Reposted by Bénédicte C
For the first time since Texas criminalized abortion in 2021, the state’s medical regulator is instructing doctors on when they can legally terminate a pregnancy to protect the life of the patient.
After Years of Silence, Texas Medical Board Issues Training for Doctors on How to Legally Provide Abortions
The course includes examples of when abortion is permitted to protect the life of the patient, but many experts say the complications women face in pregnancy are impossible to capture in a brief prese...
www.propublica.org
February 8, 2026 at 9:00 PM
For the first time since Texas criminalized abortion in 2021, the state’s medical regulator is instructing doctors on when they can legally terminate a pregnancy to protect the life of the patient.
Reposted by Bénédicte C
Trump cut over $1 billion in grants for gun violence prevention, research, and other public safety programs.
Researchers are looking to states and private funders to help insulate the field from federal volatility. But will it be enough to sustain work that was already underfunded? thetr.ac/4wYGQ
Researchers are looking to states and private funders to help insulate the field from federal volatility. But will it be enough to sustain work that was already underfunded? thetr.ac/4wYGQ
February 8, 2026 at 9:11 PM
Trump cut over $1 billion in grants for gun violence prevention, research, and other public safety programs.
Researchers are looking to states and private funders to help insulate the field from federal volatility. But will it be enough to sustain work that was already underfunded? thetr.ac/4wYGQ
Researchers are looking to states and private funders to help insulate the field from federal volatility. But will it be enough to sustain work that was already underfunded? thetr.ac/4wYGQ
Reposted by Bénédicte C
