Vaccine Safety Signals Were Detected Early. Why Did Regulators Wait So Long to Act?
We examine the timeline of vaccine safety signal detection and regulatory response using publicly available data from the United States Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the United Kingdom Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, and the European Medicines Agency. We walk through how pharmacovigilance systems work, what happens when […]
Moderna Secures CEPI Funding for mRNA Bird Flu Vaccine After U.S. Cancels Funding
Moderna secured new funding from an international organization for its experimental mRNA bird flu vaccine after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) pulled back approximately $700 million in previously committed funding last year. The biotechnology company said that it will receive up to $54.3 million from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations […]
Female Physicians Experience Increasing Rates of Isolation, Burnout and Suicide Risk
The societal aftershocks of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to surface in ways that extend beyond infection and mortality statistics, with one sector in particular yet to rebound after carrying much of the pandemic’s burden: U.S. health care. A large national study published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings now adds social isolation as a measurable and consequential […]
Use of Vaccination Metrics in Physician Payment Programs Discouraged by CMS
A new State Health Official (SHO) letter from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)—the federal agency that oversees Medicaid and sets quality and payment standards for state health programs nationwide—provides new federal guidance that challenges a long-standing federal policy financially incentivizing physicians to vaccinate their patients, particularly children.1 CMS announced on Dec. 30, […]
AAP and Other Medical Groups Sue Secretary of Health and Human Services
Large medical groups including the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) have sued U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. in response to recent changes to federal vaccine policy, including removal of the COVID shot from the federally recommended childhood vaccine schedule for healthy children The AAP, American College of Physicians, Infectious […]
Epigenetics
Why do some people pop a pill or get a shot with no ill effects, yet others are left with lifelong side effects or even die? A growing field called epigenetics may offer clues. It’s how your unique life exposures flip genetic switches on or off, turning safe treatments risky for some. More than two […]