Newsroom | Defend Public Health

Policy by Tweet: How RFK Jr. Broke 60 Years of Vaccine Decision-Making Process

DPH member Aimee Pugh Bernard and colleagues examine RFK Jr's decision to reduce recommendations for COVID-19 vaccines, done via a social media post that "overrode decades of rigorous vaccine decision-making processes and likely dismantled vaccine access for millions."

LA times

‘MAHA moms,’ psilocybin therapy, anti-vaxxers: L.A.’s wellness movement’s path to the White House

An in-depth look at Casey Means, Trump's highly problematic surgeon general nominee, featuring comments from epidemiologist and DPH member Jessica Malaty Rivera.

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Nurses and Public Health Advocates Join to Strongly Oppose New U.S. Surgeon General Nomination

National Nurses United (NNU) and Defend Public Health (DPH) are joining together to condemn the nomination of Casey Means for U.S. surgeon general, saying her unscientific, anti-vaccine rhetoric poses a serious threat to public health.

defend public health

Defend Public Health Launches Campaign to Fight Medicaid Cuts

As the House of Representatives pushes ahead with drastic cuts to Medicaid, Defend Public Health has launched a campaign to stop these cuts that could cost millions of Americans their health coverage and lead to many thousands of preventable deaths every year.

common dreams

Bobby Kennedy Jr. Makes Eugenics Great Again at Health and Human Services

DPH member Dr. Paul Josephson writes a barnburner of an article about the history of eugenics and how this type of thought is currently impacting United States public health policy.

Academic medical researchers face the reality of federal cuts

Researchers discuss the devastating impact of cuts to NIH medical research funding, with comments from DPH member Perry N. Halkitis, dean of the Rutgers University School of Public Health.

'Slashed and burned': Cincinnati doctors condemn NIH funding cuts

DPH member Dr. Judith Feinberg speaks to the Cincinnati Enquirer about the impact of devastating cuts to federal funding.

Science is under attack. So I’m taking RFK Jr. to court

DPH member Dr. Brittany Charlton writes about the elimination of her grant funding related to LGBTQ+ health research, and why she is taking Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to court over it.

RFK Jr. Promotes Public Health Malpractice

DPH member Jacqueline H. Wolf, professor emeritus of social medicine at Ohio University. asks: Do we now have an HHS Secretary hell-bent on declaring who is unworthy of government health insurance, thereby committing public health malpractice?

Trump’s ‘fear factor’: Scientists go silent as funding cuts escalate

"The fear factor" is rampant among scientists in the wake of firings and grant cancellations, but some -- including DPH coordinating committee member Gregg Gonsalves -- are speaking out.

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Defend Public Health Launches New Website

As the destructive effects of Trump administration attacks on public health and medical research continue to grow, Defend Public Health has launched its first website at defendpublichealth.org.

Nursing Clio

RFK’s ideas about “wellness farms” for young people are eugenic and unconstitutional

DPH member Kylie Smith connects HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s proposal of "wellness farms" for youth with substance abuse or other issues to the long, disturbing history of eugenic policies.