June 15, 2025 — The previously unquestioned American leadership in science is evaporating. Groundbreaking medical research is stopping abruptly. Research institutes at NIH are disappearing. As this unfolds, the response of many people in supposed roles of scientific leadership has been to duck and take cover. Tell us when it’s over and we can get back to work. Yes, […]
May 23, 2025 — The new MAHA (Making America Healthy Again) report on the health of American children is out and, in a word, things are terrible. In the words of the report, “it presents the stark reality of American children’s declining health.” We have a whole generation at risk because of toxic chemicals, ultra-processed food, unnecessary medical treatments, […]
May 15, 2025 — Who needs 164 pages of nutrition mumbo jumbo? The U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, yesterday told the House Appropriations Committee he will be releasing a four-page document that sounds a lot like U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Dummies. He says it will be done by August: “We have until January, […]
May 5, 2025 — The first ever estimates of the economic impact of cuts to U.S. government-funded research are out from economists at American University in Washington. The current administration has already frozen billions of dollars in research funding. The president’s budget proposal last week called for cutting funding to the National Science Foundation by more than half. The […]
April 29, 2025 — Is this a grand finale? Or a requiem? In The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology yesterday, a new 21-year analysis of outcomes from the Diabetes Prevention Program memorialized an epic study. Even after 21 years, the Diabetes Prevention Program yielded a 24% reduction in the cumulative risk of developing type 2 diabetes, along with detailed outcomes […]
April 25, 2025 — It’s back. Weight talk about the U.S. President has returned, with reporters judging whether President Donald Trump’s reduced weight came “the hard way” or with “help.” The Daily Beast writes: “In the White House, there are whispers that the new slimline Trump used a little pharmaceutical help to lose 20 lbs since his last presidential […]
April 17, 2025 — The author of some of the most compelling scientific research on ultra-processed foods, Kevin Hall, is leaving NIH because of censorship of his science at the agency. “I experienced censorship in the reporting of our research because of agency concerns that it did not appear to fully support preconceived narratives of my agency’s leadership about […]
April 13, 2025 — “Political cynicism is rising in many democracies throughout the world.” Explaining this, Ariel Hasell, Audrey Halversen, and Brian Weeks ascribe it to the influence of social media and demonstrate it with data from the 2020 U.S. presidential election. The trouble is that when cynicism proliferates, everything seems like B.S. So this week when Education Secretary […]
April 11, 2025 — It’s hard to miss the headlines about wild gyrations in financial markets and tariff policies that have been coming in and out of view. We’re doing our best to stay out of those crosscurrents which threaten to become riptides. But the threat to place “a major tariff on pharmaceuticals” is hard to ignore, simply because […]
April 9, 2025 — As everyone digests the news that CMS has chosen not to expand coverage of obesity medicines under Medicare and Medicaid “at this time,” it is becoming clear the door is not closed. HHS told Bndpoints News: “CMS may consider future policy options for obesity medications pending further review of both the potential benefits of these […]
