Newsroom | Defend Public Health

Health care workers under 65 must be vaccinated against Covid

DPH member Judith Feinberg and cooauthor Judy Stone explain that while the discussion around HHS secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s changes to Covid vaccine recommendations have focused on the exclusion of pregnant women and infants and the restrictions on anyone under age 65 without an underlying condition getting the vaccine, this conversation has left out a key group: health care workers under 65.

The nation

John Roberts Is a Threat to the Health of Every American

Trump administration health officials have received much criticism, and deserved it. But, as DPH Coordinating Committee member Gregg Gonsalves points out, the man who has enabled all this -- the termination of research grants, mass firings at CDC, NIH and other agencies, and more -- is Chief Justice John Roberts, who has acted to empower the administration in its most destructive acts.

defend public health

Senate Must Reject Casey Means as Surgeon General, Defend Public Health Says

With her confirmation hearing scheduled for this morning, Defend Public Health is urging the Senate to reject the nomination of Casey Means as U.S. Surgeon General. Means is a “health influencer” without discernible qualifications to be Surgeon General and who seems to make most of her living peddling unproven products and tests sold by companies led by herself and her brother, Calley Means.

The Killing Smog of Donora, Pennsylvania: A Halloween Reminder from the Past

The Trump administration is peeling back Environmental Protection Agency regulations, firing its staff, and canceling its research funding. This week, Kathleen Shoop, PhD, author and expert on the Donora Smog, paints a picture of this deadly environmental disaster during Halloween week of 1948, and its role in the passage of the Clean Air Acts.

Researchers, Healthcare Workers Group Organizes Opposition to Trump-RFK Jr.’s Destruction of U.S. Public Health System

In this interview heard on dozens of public and community radio stations across the U.S., DPH Coordinating Committee member Gregg Gonsalves discusses how the organization came to be, our current effort to build state teams, and why his history with ACT UP and the Treatment Action Group gives him hope that we'll get through this dark period and emerge into something better.

RFK Jr's Whopper of the Week

Whopper of the Week: RFK Jr. Makes Up Spooky Stories about Old Men Being More Virile than Teens

American fertility rates, like those of most countries, have been dropping since about 1960 for
many reasons related to broad social, economic, technological and demographic changes. At a White House press conference in October, Health and Human Services Secretary Kennedy told Americans that our fertility rate was a national security threat, that teenage boys are less virile than 65-year-old men, and that the root cause of the problem is endocrine disruptors. But Kennedy’s claims are not fact based: data about sperm count does not even exist for teenage boys and the scientific consensus has long been that the quality of sperm declines as men age. In short, Kennedy tried to tie one of his favorite themes, that chemicals are poisoning our youth, to an insidious right-wing conspiracy theory that dropping fertility rates are leading to a decline in American power.

RFK Jr's Whopper of the Week

Whopper of the Week: RFK Jr.’s Claims of “Immune Overload” is Nonsense and Ignores How the Immune System Works

RFK Jr does not want the CDC to recommend newborns be vaccinated against the Hepatitis B virus (HBV). HBV infection early in life, especially as a baby, puts a person at a high risk of developing a chronic lifelong liver infection, which in a quarter of cases can lead to fatal liver failure or cancer. The hepatitis B vaccine for newborns is safe and effective; and it gives durable lifelong protection against a serious infection that children can encounter during birth, and throughout their lifetime in their families and communities.

By loosening standards, the FDA isn’t doing rare-disease patients any favors

DPH members Reshma Ramachandran and Holly Fernandez Lynch explain why recent loosening of FDA standards for drug approval could create dangers, especially for those with rare diseases. This is occurring as Trump administration decimation of federal health agencies sets back rare disease research.

DPH at No Kings in Boston

Defend Public Health at No Kings

Local Defend Public Health members joined the October 18 No Kings protests in states across the country, spreading the word about both our network and the need to stand up to the attacks on public health. Here's a small sampling of the dozens of pictures our members sent in.

RFK Jr. spreads false vaccine claims, exposing children to diseases like polio

DPH members Donna Gaffney and Teri Mills take on HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s false statements on vaccines and his decimation of research funded by the National Institutes of Health, drawing a stark comparison between RFK Jr. and his uncle, President John F. Kennedy.

RFK Jr's Whopper of the Week

Whopper of the Week: RFK Jr. Frightens Parents with False Claims about COVID Vaccine Dangers

COVID-19 vaccines are safe for children. But Secretary Kennedy has repeatedly claimed that the vaccines are deadly and should not be given to kids because of their “profound risks”. Kennedy wildly exaggerates the frequency and severity of risks associated with COVID vaccines. He has tried and failed to find any documented pediatric deaths due to the vaccines. Kennedy wants to sow doubt about pediatric COVID-19 vaccines to justify policies that would severely limit the ability of parents to vaccinate their children.

The Hill

Trump's shutdown firings at CDC cause whiplash, despair: What to know

The Hill covers the chaos at the CDC with layoffs implemented and partially rescinded over the weekend including quotes from Coordinating Committee Member Gregg Gonsalves and others on the impacts on staff and the agency's functioning.