Dorothy Novick MD

What a great moment to be shortening well visits to 15 minutes. So much for shared decision making.

bsky.app/profile/mega...

“Honest communication has to include what we don’t really know, because that builds trust” #PAS2025

Trump Administration Abruptly Cuts Billions From State Health Services States have been told that they can no longer use grants that were funding infectious disease management and addiction services.

“In Texas, public health officials have received orders to stop work supported by three grants that helped fund the response to the widening measles outbreak there….”

www.nytimes.com/2025/03/26/h...

A month has passed since the CDC indefinitely postponed its ACIP meetings, grinding the vaccine review and approval process to a halt.

Meanwhile, in Texas … 2 dead from measles and 36 hospitalized

U.S. Terminates Funding for Polio, H.I.V., Malaria and Nutrition Programs Around the World (Gift Article) Here are some of the 5,800 contracts the Trump administration formally canceled this week in a wave of terse emails.

“People will die,” said @ckyobutungi.bsky.social, executive director of the African Population and Health Research Center, “but we will never know, because even the programs to count the dead are cut.”

nyti.ms/41yWNgN

Immunization Schedules Make sure your patients stay up to date on recommended vaccines using these schedules.

Web archive of Childhood and Adult vaccine recommendations from the CDC. Just in case.
web.archive.org/web/20250122...

AAP urges CDC to reschedule crucial vaccine committee meeting Leaders at the AAP are calling on federal officials to reschedule a vaccine advisory committee meeting hosted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after the meeting was abruptly postponed...

No ACIP meetings —> no votes —> no vaccines

publications.aap.org/aapnews/news...

Answers to questions from friends and family:

Yes, I can find STI guidance elsewhere — but it will be static and therefore not based on latest evidence, trends, resistance patterns.

Yes, I can still give vaccines, for now — but insurance only pays for those that the CDC recommends

Agree. And we thought Covid was bad ….

Blocked.

Like the Alt National Park Service, we will need an Alt CDC. Anyone? I

Yea! Other great accounts to follow @meganranney.bsky.social @celinegounder.com @joanalker1.bsky.social @erictopol.bsky.social @drsimpsonhsr.bsky.social

Oh just the entire global medical and scientific community falling to its knees

Trump officials pause health agencies’ communications, citing review The agencies are charged with making decisions that touch the lives of every American and are the source of crucial information to health-care providers.

A flash back to providing health care during COVID w/o reliable communications from the CDC. Except now there are none.

As health care providers, sharing information has never been more crucial. #resist

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

Hoping it can be a place a resistance — or at least solace?

This plays out every day in my pediatric practice. Flu vaccine now refused more often than accepted, and routine childhood vaccines following suit.

On a more positive note — these are more often hesitaters than refusers. Still open to discussion, often change their minds.

The Dangers of Federal School Vouchers: H.R. 9462 and Its Impact on Public Education | First Focus on Children A look at the potential consequences of H.R. 9462, the Educational Choice for Children Act of 2024, which proposes a federal school voucher program. Learn about its impact on public education funding, tax implications, and discrimination concerns.

Private school vouchers are a failed policy. Instead of focusing on private school vouchers, lawmakers should consider solutions that advance opportunity for 90% of students who attend public schools.
firstfocus.org/update/the-d...

The violence against ppl who are homeless is constant and terrifying. 36% of adults who were homeless in CA reported exp physical assault during this episode, 9.8% exp sexual assault. Our paper in JAMA IM
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Whether RFK Jr prefers fresh vegetables over fast food is not relevant. It does not make him legitimate or make his plans less dangerous.

PREACH

Powerful and devastating, from the heart of a 16yo girl …

Generally I use presence/absence of tenderness on palpation — but in this case those yellow vesicles do the job

Seems ACIP members are appointed for 4 years, so maybe not so easy to sweep them all out?

#pedsky #medsky
The American Academy of Pediatrics is collecting stories from physicians about patients we have cared for with vaccine preventable diseases to help in their advocacy against RFK’s confirmation.
Please share your stories to patientstories@aap.org

Please sign Committee to Protect Health Care’s letter urging Senate to reject RFK Jr appointment: committeetoprotect.org/stop-rfk-jr/

"So most of all, I want us all to take a breath. "

It's going to be a long road. It is prudent that we do not so easily and quickly surrender our agency to the chaos and chaos-makers.

Global health experts sound alarm over RFK Jr., citing Samoa outbreak Experts and officials said a 2019 measles outbreak in Samoa, which came after a visit by Kennedy, exemplified the dangers of his rhetoric.

“Global measles cases surged by more than 20 percent to an estimated 10.3 million last year, the WHO and the CDC said Thursday. About 107,500 people, mostly young children, died”

www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/1...

Wow, am I glad to see you all.

Now as in Feb 2020, the determination of healthcare providers when their patients are at risk is truly inspiring. And now as in 2020, we will need each other.

(If only I could figure how to recreate connections from the other place)