STAT

STAT+: In its flagship journal, the CDC keeps publishing papers after firing scientists who made the research possible

Before it became a national scandal, the lead-poisoning-from-applesauce case was just two little kids with concerning blood test results in Hickory, N.C. A state inspector drove out with local health officials in June 2023 to try to find the source.

He powered up his X-ray fluorescence analyzer — like a cross between a laser gun and a power tool — which emitted a beam that dislodges electrons, coaxing out chemical fingerprints, and pointed it at surface after surface. Doors, door jambs, walls, couches, windowsills, blinds, toys, siding strips, 150 or 200 shots in all.

There was a bit of lead paint, but hardly enough to explain blood lead levels of over 10 micrograms per deciliter. There was a lead-containing figurine, brought back as a souvenir from abroad, but it was high on a shelf, beyond the 1- and 3-year-old’s reach. When he got his other samples back from the lab — water from the tap, sand from the play pit, a dust wipe from the father’s shoes — those were negative, too. “In the meantime,” said Alan Honeycutt, a regional environmental health specialist at the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, “both children’s blood lead had gone higher.”

To him, that pointed toward something in their diets  — and it was his colleague at the local level who suggested the parents keep a food log. Within 72 hours, the mother called to say there was something she’d forgotten to mention: the applesauce packets her kids ate every day.

So began an investigation that would reveal 566 lead-poisoned children across 44 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C., and would eventually get the adulterated applesauce off shelves. But in late April, when the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a paper on how that nationwide sleuthing went down, its fine print left a key detail out. At least six of the authors who’d worked at the CDC had been laid off earlier that month, when their entire division was slashed by the Trump administration’s cuts. In a way, the paper was a record of what had been lost, of what might not happen if a food product were poisoning kids right now. 

Continue to STAT+ to read the full story…

2 weeks 4 days ago

Health, Politics, CDC, HHS, Public Health

Health | NOW Grenada

Nigerian healthcare professionals to join Grenada’s healthcare system

Grenada has signed an agreement with the Government of Nigeria that will see this country’s health system have Nigerian healthcare specialists offering their services

3 weeks 6 days ago

Health, Politics, linda straker, nigeria, philip telesford

STAT

STAT+: Trump nominates Casey Means, entrepreneurial doctor and MAHA leader, for surgeon general

The health entrepreneur and “Make America Healthy Again” leader Casey Means has been nominated to be the U.S. surgeon general after President Trump pulled his prior nominee suddenly on Wednesday. 

Means, an M.D. and author who runs a holistic wellness blog and co-founded the health tech company Levels, is the sister of Calley Means, an adviser to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Both Meanses have become key influencers in the MAHA world, with Casey lending her medical training and knowledge to the cause. 

Trump’s original nominee to the post of surgeon general was Janette Nesheiwat, a medical doctor and Fox News contributor. The White House withdrew her nomination a day before Nesheiwat was scheduled to appear before a key Senate committee. She came under fire in recent weeks for previous comments she’d made online in support of the Covid vaccine and masking during the pandemic. CBS News also reported that Nesheiwat received her medical degree from a school in the Caribbean, not, as she claimed, the University of Arkansas School of Medicine.

Continue to STAT+ to read the full story…

1 month 4 days ago

Health, Politics, chronic disease, Donald Trump, Politics, RFK Jr., STAT+, White House

Health – Demerara Waves Online News- Guyana

Nursing assistant wanted for alleged claims about Adriana Younge’s post-mortem; health minister mulls legal action for claims implicating him

A Ministry of Health nursing assistant is wanted by the police for allegedly creating public mischief and attempting to pervert and obstruct the course of justice by claiming that she was present at the post-mortem examination of the body of 11-year-old Adriana Younge. A woman’s voice is heard on the recording claiming that “Frank” told ...

A Ministry of Health nursing assistant is wanted by the police for allegedly creating public mischief and attempting to pervert and obstruct the course of justice by claiming that she was present at the post-mortem examination of the body of 11-year-old Adriana Younge. A woman’s voice is heard on the recording claiming that “Frank” told ...

1 month 6 days ago

Crime, Health, News, Politics, Adriana Younge, allegations, Ministry of Health, nursing assistant, post mortem examination, public mischief, wanted

Health | NOW Grenada

PM on first official visit to Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

“During the official visit, Prime Minister Mitchell is scheduled to hold high-level discussions with President Nicolas Maduro Moros to discuss key areas of interest”

1 month 1 week ago

Agriculture/Fisheries, Business, Health, Politics, PRESS RELEASE, Travel/Tourism, andy williams, bolivarian republic of venezuela, dickon mitchell, joseph andall, venezuela. nicolas maduro moros

Health – Demerara Waves Online News- Guyana

More US forensic pathologists expected for Adriana Younge’s postmortem

Two forensic pathologists from the United States (US) are due in Guyana to conduct the autopsy on the body of 11-year-old Adriana Younge, which was found in a pool at Double Day Hotel, Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo. The Ministry of Health has added Dr Glenn A. Rudner, a forensic and anatomic pathologist affiliated with Mount ...

Two forensic pathologists from the United States (US) are due in Guyana to conduct the autopsy on the body of 11-year-old Adriana Younge, which was found in a pool at Double Day Hotel, Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo. The Ministry of Health has added Dr Glenn A. Rudner, a forensic and anatomic pathologist affiliated with Mount ...

1 month 2 weeks ago

Crime, Health, News, Politics, Adriana Younge, autopsy, forensic pathologists, Gary L Collins, Glenn A Rudner, postmortem, Shubhakar Karra Paul, transparency

STAT

HHS starts layoffs of thousands of workers across its agencies

Layoff notices began arriving early Tuesday for thousands of employees of the sprawling Department of Health and Human Services and its subsidiary agencies, with as many 10,000 workers potentially expected to be hit by the cuts, including some of the country’s top hea

Layoff notices began arriving early Tuesday for thousands of employees of the sprawling Department of Health and Human Services and its subsidiary agencies, with as many 10,000 workers potentially expected to be hit by the cuts, including some of the country’s top health officials.

The range of job losses across institutes and offices reflected the breadth of what HHS does and the role it plays in the U.S., in both the obvious ways and less appreciated ones. The cuts and reorganizations affected people who help approve new medicines, track emerging pathogens, and uncover the secrets held in our DNA. But they also reached those developing safer tobacco policies, trying to reduce injuries, and protecting people who rely on Medicare and Medicaid — as well as the staff who made the agencies operate day to day and aimed to communicate health updates, new recommendations, and policy shifts to the public. 

Read the rest…

2 months 1 week ago

Breaking News, Politics, CDC, FDA, HHS, Public Health, RFK Jr.

Health – Demerara Waves Online News- Guyana

Guyana pledges “preferential” treatment to US

President Irfaan Ali on Thursday pledged to afford the United States (US) special treatment in exchange for Washington’s support for its defence and other areas. Speaking at a news conference he shared with US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio at State House, Main Street, Georgetown, Dr Ali said they discussed the impact that the imposition ...

President Irfaan Ali on Thursday pledged to afford the United States (US) special treatment in exchange for Washington’s support for its defence and other areas. Speaking at a news conference he shared with US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio at State House, Main Street, Georgetown, Dr Ali said they discussed the impact that the imposition ...

2 months 2 weeks ago

Business, Defence, Diplomacy, Extractive Industry, Health, Natural Resources, News, Oil & Gas, Politics, security, Guyana, President Irfaan Ali, U.S. defence support, U.S. preferential treatment, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio

Health | NOW Grenada

Minister Telesford chairs executive board meeting of CARPHA

“This annual one-day meeting, hosted in a different Caricom country each year, serves as a platform for dialogue on policies aimed at addressing health threats and risks”

2 months 2 weeks ago

Health, Politics, PRESS RELEASE, caribbean public health agency, caricom, carpha, gis, lisa indar, philip telesford

Health | NOW Grenada

Dr Mitchell recovering from blackout episode

On Tuesday, Emmalin Pierre, NNP Political Leader and Opposition Leader in Parliament updated that Dr Mitchell was in “great spirit and he is well”

View the full post Dr Mitchell recovering from blackout episode on NOW Grenada.

On Tuesday, Emmalin Pierre, NNP Political Leader and Opposition Leader in Parliament updated that Dr Mitchell was in “great spirit and he is well”

View the full post Dr Mitchell recovering from blackout episode on NOW Grenada.

2 months 3 weeks ago

Health, Politics, dickon mitchell, emmalin pierre, keith mitchell, linda straker, new national party, nnp

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