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The drug was first detected in illegally manufactured opioids in North America in 2022The animal sedative medetomidine is increasingly showing up in the U.S. illegal drug supply, according to three reports released Thursday. Medetomidineopens in a new tab or window, which is used to sedate pets and is somewhat similar to xylazineopens in a new tab or window, was first detected in illegally manufactured opioids in North America in 2022. Investigators say the drug is being mixed in with other illicit drugs, mainly fentanylopens in a new tab or window, the synthetic opioid behind most overdose deaths. On Thursday, the...

A majority of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's work group on COVID-19 vaccines now supports ending the agency's pandemic-era recommendation for virtually all Americans to get vaccinated against the virus each year, officials said Tuesday. Instead of the agency's longstanding "universal" recommendation, most of the CDC's advisers and health officials favor shifting to guidance based on people's individual risk of more severe disease. While a final decision has not yet been made, this could mean that only adults ages 65 years and older would still be recommended to get at least two doses every year, under a policy...

ransomnote: The transcript below contains RFK Jr's remarks made in the first 12 minutes of the recording. Full video is 30 minutes in length.Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. : I'm going to go over some of the key numbers from the report.Overall, the autism is increasing in prevalence at an alarming rate. The study tests 8-year-olds who were born in 2014. And by the way, these studies are two years later than they should be. And one of the things that we're going to do as we move this function to the Administration For A Healthy America to the chronic...

A new letter from Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., puts federal health agencies on notice that he plans to subpoena unredacted records withheld by the Biden administration on potential adverse effects of the COVID-19 vaccines. “It appears that even in the waning days of the Biden administration, your agencies will remain defiant in providing the public with complete information about the COVID-19 vaccines,” writes Johnson, incoming chairman of the Senate’s Permanent Select Subcommittee on Investigations, in the Dec. 5 letter shared with The Daily Signal. “If it becomes necessary to subpoena these and other requested records in the next Congress when...

Dr. Tom Shimabukuro heads the CDC’s Immunization Safety Office... Records from a top official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are missing, the CDC’s parent agency has informed a U.S. senator. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) officials told Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) in March that “they are having difficulty locating records,” Johnson said on April 9. More recently, HHS officials said that Dr. Tom Shimabukuro’s records “remain lost and, potentially, removed from HHS’s email system altogether,” Johnson added.

What to know H5 bird flu is widespread in wild birds worldwide and is causing outbreaks in poultry and U.S. dairy cows with several recent human cases in U.S. dairy and poultry workers. While the current public health risk is low, CDC is watching the situation carefully and working with states to monitor people with animal exposures. CDC is using its flu surveillance systems to monitor for H5 bird flu activity in people.

While Kennedy does not have the authority to order communities to halt water fluoridation, he can instruct the CDC to withdraw its recommendation supporting the practice. Additionally, Kennedy can collaborate with the EPA to review and potentially revise the federally allowed levels of fluoride in drinking water. These moves could significantly influence local and state decisions on fluoridation policies nationwide.

On 1 April, thousands of workers at HHS and agencies like the CDC were let go, leaving those left to piece together the cuts and mourn the research that can’t go forward...

Dr. Marty Makary has been confirmed as the new head of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Makary, a Johns Hopkins University surgeon and researcher, was confirmed by the Senate with a 56-44 vote. During his Senate hearing, Makary said "common sense" should be used in health care alongside science. - While he is generally supportive of vaccines, in the past Makary has opposed blanket vaccine mandates for people other than health care workers. -He has previously made headlines for his comments during the COVID-19 pandemic, which included looking at natural immunity and questioning the requirement for booster shots in...

A drug-resistant fungus is on the rise in American hospitals, targeting patients who already reeling from illness. New cases have been identified in Georgia and Florida hospitals... Candida auris has been in the U.S. since 2016, but cases have increased annually through 2023, the most recent year for which the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have data. ... We’ve had four people at one time on and off, over the past few months, and in years past, it was unusual to have one or even two people with Candida Auris in our hospital,” Dr. Timothy Connelly at Memorial...

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stands at a crossroads. After years of pandemic fallout, opioid deaths, and declining public trust, the agency needs bold, decisive leadership. What it doesn’t require is another physician at the helm. In recent years, the CDC has almost exclusively been led by physicians, clinicians whose primary training, instincts, and oath revolve around caring for individual patients. But medicine and public health, though deeply related, are fundamentally different. Medicine treats individuals. Public health protects populations. Leading the CDC is less about diagnosis and more about infrastructure, logistics, and prevention. It is a...

Recent studies have illuminated the emergence of vaccine-induced acute pancreatitis, notably associated with COVID-19 vaccinations, presenting diverse mechanisms ranging from direct viral-mediated injury to autoimmune reactions. Understanding this link is pivotal for public health, yet challenges persist in identifying and managing cases post-vaccination.

The Trump administration withdrew the nomination of former Florida Rep. David Weldon (R) to head the CDC earlier this month, with the former lawmaker saying the reason was the lack of sufficient support among Republicans to secure his confirmation. President Trump chose Susan Monarez, a longtime federal employee and current acting CDC director, as his new pick. Monarez has served as acting CDC director since Jan. 23, 2025. Prior to this, she served as deputy director at the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H). Before entering government work, she was a science and technology policy fellow with the American...

Secretary of Health and Human Services RFK Jr. attempted to calm the MAHA masses after new CDC director nominee Susan Monarez was attacked online for messages tweeted by a previous director. In a Tuesday X post, RFK Jr. urged, “X posts that erroneously attribute Biden-era tweets supporting masks, lockdowns, vaccine mandates, etc. to my @CDCgov Director nominee, Susan Monarez, have understandably provoked agita within the MAHA movement.” “I handpicked Susan for this job because she is a longtime champion of MAHA values, and a caring, compassionate and brilliant microbiologist and a tech wizard who will reorient CDC toward public health...

@btysonmd (Brian Tyson, MD) MAHA is officially over. Talk about being FO by the powers that may be. Lesson learned. Never trust the government for anything!!!! @SecKennedy (@HHSgov Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.) X posts that erroneously attribute Biden-era tweets supporting masks, lockdowns, vaccine mandates, etc. to my @CDCgov Director nominee, Susan Monarez, have understandably provoked agita within the MAHA movement. I handpicked Susan for this job because she is a longtime champion of MAHA values, and a caring, compassionate and brilliant microbiologist and a tech wizard who will reorient CDC toward public health and gold-standard science. I’m so grateful...

President Donald Trump has selected Susan Monarez as his new nominee to head the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Monarez, a scientist whose previous work looked at using artificial intelligence to improve health, has already been serving as acting director. The White House abruptly withdrew Trump's first pick, Dr. Dave Weldon, a Republican former congressman from Florida, just before he was scheduled for a confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Labor, Education and Pensions Committee three weeks ago.

President Trump on Monday selected Dr. Susan Monarez, the acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for the permanent role, replacing David Weldon, whose nomination was withdrawn because of senators' opposition. Monarez has worked in federal government since 2006. Until her appointment to the Trump administration on Jan. 23, she was deputy director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health in the Department of Health and Human Services. Previously she worked in the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the U.S. National Security Council and U.S. Department of Homeland Security. "Dr. Monarez brings decades of experience...

Florida's controversial surgeon general, Dr. Joseph Ladapo, and a former Texas Republican congressman, Dr. Michael Burgess, are each being backed by some of President Trump's allies to be the next head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The White House is searching for a replacement after the nomination of Dr. Dave Weldon, a former Florida congressman, was abruptly pulled last week. White House officials have said internally that they are trying to "get it right" with their next pick, multiple administration officials said, seeking to address concerns about a prolonged vacancy at the agency or the prospect of...

There’s a demand for alternative schedules. Many new parents feel overwhelmed by the number of vaccines given to young babies today; 24 doses are given in the first year alone. When parents realize the medical establishment is trying to push unnecessary vaccines on them, they begin to question the entire process. The result is that parents simply want to vaccinate more carefully, and be smarter about it, instead of blindly following the system. There’s a Well-Planned Alternative The alternative schedule [I outline in The Vaccine Book] is designed to provide infants with only the vaccines that protect against diseases that...

Burgess, 74, is a Texas physician who retired from Congress in January after 22 years. During the pandemic, he described vaccines to Congress as "safe and effective tools that have been proven to protect Americans from preventable, life-threatening diseases," and spoke about the need to confront vaccine hesitancy in the country. The White House is considering former Republican Representative Michael Burgess to run the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after withdrawing the nomination of vaccine critic Dave Weldon last week, according to three sources familiar with the matter. Before being appointed, Kennedy pledged to Senator Bill Cassidy, a...