Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

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Matt Wynia @mattwynia.bsky.social · 3d

"The CDC is now two distinct agencies—a house divided against itself. There are the career officers...Then there’s a small coterie...who control major policies...and its social media...So, now when we hear from the CDC, we have to ask “which CDC” is speaking? open.substack.com/pub/insideme...

There are now two CDC's.

Can the agency survive?

open.substack.com

Opinion | Mr. President, May We Interest You in a Naked Bike Ride?

Matt Wynia @mattwynia.bsky.social · 4d

I love this: "National Guard troops could help Portland, if they rented office space."
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/04/o...

Their parents never got them vaccinated. As young adults, they faced a choice.

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Matt Wynia @mattwynia.bsky.social · 4d

“My respiratory system has never been the same,”… “she spent “a lot of time” being angry about her parents’ decision. But…they thought they were just doing what was best for her. “It is such a complicated thing to hold, because it was a choice that hurt me”

www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

Falling vaccination rates around the country mean more will grow up without protection from debilitating diseases until they are old enough to decide for themselves, typically at age 18.

www.washingtonpost.com

Matt Wynia @mattwynia.bsky.social · 5d

If correct this is terrifying, since democracy, and arguably civilization itself, depends on a basic level of mutual trust and recognition of our shared human values across ideological and political divides. We are in this country, and on this planet, together.
www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Shutdown Lays Bare America’s Latest Crisis: A Total Breakdown in Trust

Past shutdowns have been about one thing. This one feels like it is about everything.

www.wsj.com

Matt Wynia @mattwynia.bsky.social · 6d

“…scientific marvels…are the fruit of…the same tireless, single-minded effort every elite athlete understands. The fringe science appearing in young men’s online social media feeds, however, requires none of that effort.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/03/o...

Opinion | Why Young Men Are Losing Faith in Science

Opinion | My Equity Research Is Being Censored. I Knew This Day Was Coming.

Matt Wynia @mattwynia.bsky.social · 8d

It's hard, if not impossible, to do good work in public health if you are required to ignore basic facts about disparities in health outcomes among different groups, such as the 11.4 yr life expectancy gap between Black and non-Black Chicagoans.
www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/seco...

Ending DEI in public health research and practice is harmful

www.medpagetoday.com

'We Are Exhausted, Frustrated, and Sad': Docs Vent During Meeting With Senator

Matt Wynia @mattwynia.bsky.social · 10d

“We took such a hit during COVID and now to be hit [again] as a pediatrician, it's hard."
www.medpagetoday.com/publichealth...

Providers voiced concerns about erosion of trust between doctors and patients

www.medpagetoday.com

Matt Wynia @mattwynia.bsky.social · 11d

With rapid changes in social norms lately, including many leaders now ignoring hard earned lessons about scientific racism and eugenics, this made me wonder if I’ve been too worried about AI setting norms and biases in concrete. This could be a plus, if AI helps us retain the lessons of history.

Matt Wynia @mattwynia.bsky.social · 11d

AI-generated “efficiency gains might be especially seductive for commercial IRBs not connected to academic institutions, which in 2021 reviewed nearly half of studies involving new drugs.”
www.science.org/content/arti...

Ethicists flirt with AI to review human research

Large language models could help reduce backlog of study proposals, but critics are wary of entrusting ethics to machines

www.science.org

Matt Wynia @mattwynia.bsky.social · 11d

I do not think this chart shows what she thinks it shows…

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias.bsky.social · 11d

Incredible pairing of text and chart

Reposted by Matt Wynia

Autistic Book🇨🇦 🍁🇺🇦 @autisticbook.bsky.social · 11d

I am an autistic person. That day felt like a mafia hit. This did not just happen in a vacuum. RFK has targeted the autistic community for years. Victimizing kids most vulnerable who can’t fight back makes him lots of money.

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Matt Wynia @mattwynia.bsky.social · 13d

“…the charge of hypocrisy is useful only for judging people, not for judging ideas”

So yes, leftist cancel culture was bad. So what? That doesn’t make right wing attacks on free speech OK.

Remember your kindergarten ethics, people.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

The Emptiness of Attacking Critics for Their Hypocrisy

It’s hard to defend crackdowns on free speech. It’s easier to simply claim everyone’s doing it.

www.theatlantic.com

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Matt Wynia @mattwynia.bsky.social · 13d

Out now: our research on using surrogates for informed consent in ICU patients - several interesting findings, including that all groups agree research coordinators, not PIs, should conduct the consent process...
authors.elsevier.com/c/1lqx52p-lG...

authors.elsevier.com

Matt Wynia @mattwynia.bsky.social · 14d

“Many…on the right still spend a lot of time complaining that their speech rights…were violated by the left in recent years. Instead of merely airing grievances, they might consider doing something useful…pressuring allied lawmakers to better protect speech”
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

What Republicans Can Do If They Really Want to Protect Free Speech

The best way to defend Americans’ expressive rights is to pass laws.

www.theatlantic.com

Matt Wynia @mattwynia.bsky.social · 15d

Of course.
Leaders in health care should donate all external payments from industry to charity. Only then will they have credibility. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/23/h...

Harvard Dean Was Paid $150,000 as an Expert Witness in Tylenol Lawsuits

Here is how we know that vaccines do not cause autism

Matt Wynia @mattwynia.bsky.social · 16d

Re-upping this seems like a good idea today...

www.statnews.com/2025/02/03/v... via @statnews.com

Vaccines do not cause autism. You’ve almost certainly read that before — but often without a full explanation of how we know it to be true. Here's how we know.

Trump’s escalating attacks on vaccines shock public health leaders

Matt Wynia @mattwynia.bsky.social · 16d

It's so important to cool the temperature of political discourse and not panic at every ill-advised policy choice they make. It's so important not to reach straight for accusations of intentional harm.

But it's so hard when then they do stuff like this.
wapo.st/4nnE8xc

Trump promoted long-debunked claims that vaccines can cause autism as he called for changes to the childhood immunization schedule sought by anti-vaccine activists.

wapo.st

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Matt Wynia @mattwynia.bsky.social · 16d

And so, the steady stream of direct attacks on the integrity of US federal science infrastructure goes on...

Holly Fernandez Lynch @hollylynchez.bsky.social · 17d

This is bonkers. FDA is going to change leucovorin's label based on a lit review with data on 40 patients w/ cerebral folate deficiency and comparisons to "known natural history."

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

FDA brings back GSK's leucovorin drug that RFK Jr. touted as autism treatment

The Trump administration is touting leucovorin as a treatment for autism.

As medical AI use grows, industry payments to providers remain opaque

Matt Wynia @mattwynia.bsky.social · 16d

“AI devices often come to market with limited testing, so research funding could, in principle, help fill critical evidence gaps. But without transparency, those payments risk blurring into marketing rather than science,” www.statnews.com/2025/09/22/a... via @statnews.com

As the use of medical AI grows, industry payments to providers remain opaque.

Opinion | Jimmy Kimmel and How the Right Is Overplaying Its Hand

Matt Wynia @mattwynia.bsky.social · 18d

Great convo today: “… if the theory of the case is that no one really believes in …values of equality and inclusion … if that’s your theory, then you’re going to be surprised when…. in fact, many tens of millions of Americans believe these things sincerely…”
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/20/o...

Opinion | The Fallout From Charlie Kirk’s Killing Reveals Two Truths of Trumpism

Matt Wynia @mattwynia.bsky.social · 18d

“…these two psychological reflexes — to disavow blame and project it completely onto the polluting other — transform trans people, a tiny, embattled and increasingly isolated minority in the United States, into a biological threat to the national body politic.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/19/o...

What Is the H-1B Visa Program, and How Is Trump Changing It?

Matt Wynia @mattwynia.bsky.social · 18d

So, rather than hiring a highly skilled worker, employers will need to hire a less skilled one and try to train them up.

Isn’t that the exact criticism they have of affirmative action?
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/20/u...

Sept. 19, 2025: Advocacy Update spotlight on extension of enhanced premium tax credits

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Matt Wynia @mattwynia.bsky.social · 20d

Without the ACA subsidies, next year CBO says “4.2m people would lose coverage, and many more would face steep premium hikes—for example, $2,600 more annually for a family of four earning $64,000 and nearly $17,500 more for a 60-year-old couple earning $80,000.”
www.ama-assn.org/health-care-...

90+ physician organizations urge extension of enhanced premium tax credits and more in the latest Advocacy Update spotlight.

www.ama-assn.org

Matt Wynia @mattwynia.bsky.social · 21d

Physician Stress Returns to Peak Pandemic Levels and “55% of healthcare workers said they will search job openings, interview for a new position, or switch to a new role in the next 12 months.”

www.medpagetoday.com/publichealth...

Physician Stress Returns to Peak Pandemic Levels, Survey Shows

The healthcare landscape in the U.S. 'has been reshaped by significant changes'

www.medpagetoday.com