From @jeremyfaust.bsky.social
“Doctors and scientists quickly said the data didn't support the president's claim, but emergency room orders for Tylenol, or acetaminophen, for pregnant patients went down 10% in the months that followed”
28 scientists say political pressure to remove a chapter on climate science in a manual for judges is a troubling turn for other disciplines, too. @defendpublichealth.bsky.social @standupforscience.bsky.social
sciencepolitics.org/2026/03/02/a...
Since we no longer seem to have a federal food monitor
@defendpublichealth.bsky.social
pix11.com/news/local-n...
A DOJ lawyer argued in court today that RFK Jr. has the absolute authority to recommend (hypothetically) that people get a shot *of* measles instead of *against* measles during a hearing for the lawsuit filed against RFK Jr. by the AAP and APHA.
The good side is seeking a preliminary injunction…
@defendpublichealth.bsky.social A history of our community public health buildings and the architecture of public health. circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov/2026/03/05/d...
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We're up over 3,000 letters sent.
Can we get more than 5,000 letters sent to Senators opposing Casey Means' nomination for Surgeon General?
Please sign and send a letter to your Senators now by clicking below!
actionnetwork.org/letters/oppo...
@defendpublichealth.bsky.social
Dr. William Jenkins
Dr. William Carter Jenkins was an epidemiologist at the CDC who fought tirelessly for ending discrimination and structural racism in science and healthcare. He led early efforts to end the Tuskegee Experiment. He is a public health hero
If we learned anything from yesterday’s hearing it’s that Casey Means is not fit to be surgeon general. Please sign
This week's whopper is about RFK Jr's nostalgia for the 1960s when few Americans had any chronic diseases, (according to him.) It's an easy to refute, thanks to the yearly surveys that the National Health Services have been publishing since 1957. Thank goodness for government funded survey data!
Casey Means is a crank-charlatan and should be wholly rejected by the Senate as Trump's nominee for Surgeon General.
Tell your Senators to reject Casey Means: actionnetwork.org/letters/oppo...
@defendpublichealth.bsky.social
While we would love to continue sharing our opinions on the Casey Means hearing for Surgeon General, we have day jobs we have to get back to! But we leave you with this statement from DPH:
Casey's previous statements that Hep B vaccines are a crime & her inability to say vaccines save lives, don't square for many senators. Her focus is on crafting the best immunization schedule & shared clinical-decision making. The surgeon general should beable to state their position on vaccines!
Josh Hawley is asking about the AI data centers and their impact on health- thought-provoking and something that needs to be studied. And Hawley actually used the phrase "correlation does not equal causation" correctly
YES!!!!!
She suggests she needs to see the research! We'd say any legitimate doctor could answer this question unequivocally.
Casey has waxed poetic on research on metabolic disease but refuses to respond to questions about research on vaccines or other topics that are in the purview of the surgeon general. She continues to evade the question of whether flu vaccines save lives because she wants to get this job.
We are struck that Casey Means isn't speaking more about what she plans to do as Surgeon General and is spending time sharing research and passion projects that, while maybe interesting, are outside the purview of the Surgeon General.
Casey Means is not familiar with the Hep B study in Guini-Biseau that would withhold Hep B vaccine from half the trial. She believes withholding vaccines from children is not ok, especially if the standard of care is to give the Hep B vaccine. (This is what Guini-Biseau stated yesterday!)
Means claims she wants to get to the root causes of poor health in the U.S.
I submit to the BlueSky record @defendpublichealth.bsky.social’s report “Improving the Health of Americans Together” (IHAT), which provides a framework for that based on scientific evidence.
Casey Means wants to focus on what we eat & how it affects health. Very reasonable & an expected goal from the Surgeon General; however, there is so much more to our health that needs to be addressed (vaccines, substance use, cancer) But she hasn't shared her plan for anything other than food.
Focusing on the role of the Surgeon General, Sen Kim, notes that a licensed physician typically holds this position. Currently, Casey Means has an inactive medical license & won't reactivate it for this role. The Surgeon General is also head of the comission core, & that requires an active license.
Sen Collins is asking Casey Means about her use of illicit substances (Psilocybin) as we have a substance use problem in this country. Collins wanted to know if Means stands by her endorsement in her book. It is a swing and a miss for this topic because opioid overdose deaths remain high
Hot Mic moment, not sure who said it, but what was said "she read the compliant, she (Casey Means) is playing dumb."
It seems Casey Means hasn't disclosed all her product endorsements, and Sen. Murphy is suggesting she is hiding the fact that she has relationships with these companies. Casey Means is suggesting Murphy's staff did something to manipulate these claims. WHAT?
What age should a child get a smart phone, should they be allowed in schools, and are they (and social media) contributing to a mental health crisis in the US? Casey Means suggests that the evidence is pointing in this link and it is something she wants to look into more
Sen. Baldwin is pointing out Casey Means conflicts of interest in supplements and other endorsements and how they don't inspire confidence in someone wanting to be the Surgeon General. Yep- it is suspect for sure.
Most people would agree that ultra-processed foods are bad for our health. However, when they are cheaper than whole foods we have an issue; when they are just missing from specific communities, we have a problem. We can talk all we want about needing whole foods, but what's the action and how?
The FDA physician being mentioned, Dr. Tracey Hoeg, is a sports medicine doc. We have never understood how she is qualified to be the Acting Director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.
Side effects from a pill or vaccine do NOT mean something is wrong with the medicine or vaccine. People's bodies respond to things differently but that doesn't mean they are harmful. This is a literacy issue around public health and medicine.
