Former Aide to Anthony Fauci Indicted for Concealing COVID-19 Records
On Apr. 16, 2026, a federal grand jury in Maryland indicted David M. Morens on charges that he conspired to conceal government records from the public during the COVID-19 pandemic. Morens, 78, served as senior adviser to the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) from 2006 to 2022, working directly […]
West Virginia Vaccine Mandate Upheld by U.S. Fourth Circuit
On Apr. 8, 2026, a federal appeals court found that West Virginia’s compulsory school vaccination law does not violate the First Amendment, despite the state not offering a religious exemption. In a 2-1 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reversed a preliminary injunction that had temporarily allowed a virtual school student […]
Study Finds All Major Pharmaceutical Companies Implicated in Bribery Schemes
A study published in February 2026 in the Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics is the first to compile decades of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) enforcement records into a single analysis. Researchers Kohler, Khan, and Bowra reviewed OECD Working Group on Bribery reports from 1999 through early 2025 and found that virtually […]
Tech Company Agrees to $15 Million Settlement in COVID-19 Shot Bias Claim
An unidentified technology company has agreed to pay $15 million to resolve a federal investigation into alleged discrimination tied to COVID-19 shot exemption requests, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The matter was investigated by the EEOC’s Phoenix District Office and focused on the company’s handling of employee requests for religious accommodation during […]
CDC’s Childhood Vaccine Schedule Changes Blocked by Massachusetts Court
A federal judge in the United States District Court for Massachusetts blocked a January 2026 memorandum that overhauled the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) childhood vaccine schedule. The court also stayed the appointment of thirteen members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and invalidated votes taken by the committee while the […]
Novartis Settles With Estate of Henrietta Lacks Over Stolen Cervical Cancer Cells
Novartis has reached a settlement with the estate of Henrietta Lacks over the use of the HeLa cell line, a line of human cells derived from tissue removed from Lacks during medical treatment for cervical cancer without her knowledge or consent. Terms of the settlement were not publicly disclosed.1 The settlement resolves claims that pharmaceutical […]