NEWSROOM Search Type - Any -NewsOpinionPress Release Topics - Any -ClimateDisability JusticeHealth Care & InsuranceInfectious DiseaseInstitutional DefenseInternationalSexual & Reproductive HealthSocial HealthWhopper of the Week News Dec 03, 2025 RFK Jr. Furthers Agenda With Pick of Covid-Critical HHS Adviser Bloomberg Law reports on the appointment of Martin Kulldorff as Chief Science Officer for the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), with comments from Defending Public Health Coordinating Committee Member Gregg Gonsalves and others on how RFK Jr continues to reshape the American health system by appointing high profile anti-vaccine advocates. Opinion Dec 03, 2025 Whopper of the Week: RFK Wants You to Fortify Your Immune System So He Can Deprive You of Modern Medicine RFK Jr. believes that with a healthy diet, exercise, and the avoidance of environmental toxins and stresses alone, an individual can prevent disease. While these are good health practices, they are not an excuse for RFK Jr. to deny the known benefits of infectious disease prevention strategies like vaccines, antiseptics, antibiotics, and social distancing . If RFK’s misguided beliefs become policy they will make us sicker and increase rates of acute and chronic diseases and death. News Dec 01, 2025 Trump Gutted AIDS Health Care at the Worst Possible Time This roundup of the massive damage the Trump administration has done to HIV/AIDS care and prevention around the world includes comments from a variety of perspectives, including DPH Coordinating Committee member and longtime AIDS activist Gregg Gonsalves. News Nov 29, 2025 What Is A “Professional Degree” And Why Does It Matter? As Congress and the administration move to limit student aid for nurses and other health professionals, Forbes quotes several DPH members, including Nebraskan Russ Francis, APRN, about the likely damage: “This decision devalues the extensive education and critical expertise of the very providers who are the backbone of our healthcare system. The impact will be felt most acutely in rural and underserved areas, where NPs and PAs [nurse practitioners and physician assistants] are often the primary—and sometimes only—access point to high-quality care." Opinion Nov 26, 2025 Whopper of the Week: RFK Jr. Has Plainly Stated His Belief in the Falsehoods of AIDS Denialism In June 2023, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told New York Magazine, "There are much better candidates than HIV for what causes AIDS." This is blatantly false, contradicted by mountains of data and real-world experience. Though Kennedy's kept his recent wording more vague, his actions as HHS Secretary suggest that this anti-science nonsense, which has already killed hundreds of thousands, may well be influencing government policy on HIV/AIDS. News Nov 21, 2025 RFK Jr.'s CDC Blasted After Updating Website To Include Debunked Theory About Vaccines This roundup of blistering reactions from the medical and public health community to the CDC's dishonest web page on vaccines and autism features comments posted by DPH Coordinating Committee member Elizabeth Jacobs on Bluesky. Among other things, she calls this RFK Jr.-inspired action "absolutely disgusting." News Nov 21, 2025 DPH - MI in the news! In Michigan, public health professionals on DPH's state team asked the governor to act to protect public health against federal attacks, earning coverage on WLNS-TV in the state capitol of Lansing. News Nov 20, 2025 America’s most basic HIV protections are in danger as a decade of progress unravels In this roundup of the destruction that the Trump administration has inflicted on HIV research and prevention, DPH member Perry Halkitis comments, “All of the energy and all of the excitement we’ve had about bringing an end to the AIDS epidemic … that has just completely had the wind taken out of its sails.” News Nov 20, 2025 Cassidy: CDC’s Revamped Autism Page Fuels Doubt, Hurts Disease Prevention In a story quoting numerous experts denouncing new CDC disinformation on vaccines and autism, DPH Coordinating Committee member Elizabeth Jacobs pulls no punches, saying, “Every single American should be horrified. This is going to harm people. Babies are going to die because of this." Press Release Nov 20, 2025 RFK Jr. Puts Stake Through Heart of CDC Credibility Health experts with Defend Public Health unequivocally condemned the addition of a page entitled “Vaccines and Autism” to the website of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, saying that it sadly proves that official statements from this once-respected agency, which HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. now controls, can no longer be trusted to provide reliable and accurate information. News Nov 19, 2025 Oregon grandparents share lived experiences to promote vaccinations for preventable illnesses Grandparents for Vaccines is a nationwide nonprofit that aims to educate the current generation of parents about vaccine-preventable diseases. Launched in September, the group has produced videos of grandparents describing what it was like to endure or witness their friends, classmates and relatives battle illnesses such as polio, measles and pertussis before vaccines for them existed. Teri Mills is a founding member of Grandparents for Vaccines and a retired public health nurse who was named "Oregon Nurse of the Year" in 2019 by the Oregon Nurse Foundation. She is also a member of Defend Public Health. Opinion Nov 19, 2025 The US is on track to lose its measles elimination status in months. RFK needs to go. Measles has resurged in the U.S., and DPH Coordinating Committee members James Alwine and Elizabeth Jacobs zero in HHS Secretary Kennedy's role: "Over the past two decades, Kennedy has heavily influenced the anti-vaccine movement. Now as HHS Secretary, his position of power is furthering his influence. By encouraging doubt in science and medicine, many parents become confused and afraid to vaccinate their children, while others develop passionate distrust and join his movement." Pagination Previous page Previous … Page 3 Current page 4 Page 5 Page 6 … Next page Next
News Dec 03, 2025 RFK Jr. Furthers Agenda With Pick of Covid-Critical HHS Adviser Bloomberg Law reports on the appointment of Martin Kulldorff as Chief Science Officer for the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), with comments from Defending Public Health Coordinating Committee Member Gregg Gonsalves and others on how RFK Jr continues to reshape the American health system by appointing high profile anti-vaccine advocates.
Opinion Dec 03, 2025 Whopper of the Week: RFK Wants You to Fortify Your Immune System So He Can Deprive You of Modern Medicine RFK Jr. believes that with a healthy diet, exercise, and the avoidance of environmental toxins and stresses alone, an individual can prevent disease. While these are good health practices, they are not an excuse for RFK Jr. to deny the known benefits of infectious disease prevention strategies like vaccines, antiseptics, antibiotics, and social distancing . If RFK’s misguided beliefs become policy they will make us sicker and increase rates of acute and chronic diseases and death.
News Dec 01, 2025 Trump Gutted AIDS Health Care at the Worst Possible Time This roundup of the massive damage the Trump administration has done to HIV/AIDS care and prevention around the world includes comments from a variety of perspectives, including DPH Coordinating Committee member and longtime AIDS activist Gregg Gonsalves.
News Nov 29, 2025 What Is A “Professional Degree” And Why Does It Matter? As Congress and the administration move to limit student aid for nurses and other health professionals, Forbes quotes several DPH members, including Nebraskan Russ Francis, APRN, about the likely damage: “This decision devalues the extensive education and critical expertise of the very providers who are the backbone of our healthcare system. The impact will be felt most acutely in rural and underserved areas, where NPs and PAs [nurse practitioners and physician assistants] are often the primary—and sometimes only—access point to high-quality care."
Opinion Nov 26, 2025 Whopper of the Week: RFK Jr. Has Plainly Stated His Belief in the Falsehoods of AIDS Denialism In June 2023, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told New York Magazine, "There are much better candidates than HIV for what causes AIDS." This is blatantly false, contradicted by mountains of data and real-world experience. Though Kennedy's kept his recent wording more vague, his actions as HHS Secretary suggest that this anti-science nonsense, which has already killed hundreds of thousands, may well be influencing government policy on HIV/AIDS.
News Nov 21, 2025 RFK Jr.'s CDC Blasted After Updating Website To Include Debunked Theory About Vaccines This roundup of blistering reactions from the medical and public health community to the CDC's dishonest web page on vaccines and autism features comments posted by DPH Coordinating Committee member Elizabeth Jacobs on Bluesky. Among other things, she calls this RFK Jr.-inspired action "absolutely disgusting."
News Nov 21, 2025 DPH - MI in the news! In Michigan, public health professionals on DPH's state team asked the governor to act to protect public health against federal attacks, earning coverage on WLNS-TV in the state capitol of Lansing.
News Nov 20, 2025 America’s most basic HIV protections are in danger as a decade of progress unravels In this roundup of the destruction that the Trump administration has inflicted on HIV research and prevention, DPH member Perry Halkitis comments, “All of the energy and all of the excitement we’ve had about bringing an end to the AIDS epidemic … that has just completely had the wind taken out of its sails.”
News Nov 20, 2025 Cassidy: CDC’s Revamped Autism Page Fuels Doubt, Hurts Disease Prevention In a story quoting numerous experts denouncing new CDC disinformation on vaccines and autism, DPH Coordinating Committee member Elizabeth Jacobs pulls no punches, saying, “Every single American should be horrified. This is going to harm people. Babies are going to die because of this."
Press Release Nov 20, 2025 RFK Jr. Puts Stake Through Heart of CDC Credibility Health experts with Defend Public Health unequivocally condemned the addition of a page entitled “Vaccines and Autism” to the website of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, saying that it sadly proves that official statements from this once-respected agency, which HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. now controls, can no longer be trusted to provide reliable and accurate information.
News Nov 19, 2025 Oregon grandparents share lived experiences to promote vaccinations for preventable illnesses Grandparents for Vaccines is a nationwide nonprofit that aims to educate the current generation of parents about vaccine-preventable diseases. Launched in September, the group has produced videos of grandparents describing what it was like to endure or witness their friends, classmates and relatives battle illnesses such as polio, measles and pertussis before vaccines for them existed. Teri Mills is a founding member of Grandparents for Vaccines and a retired public health nurse who was named "Oregon Nurse of the Year" in 2019 by the Oregon Nurse Foundation. She is also a member of Defend Public Health.
Opinion Nov 19, 2025 The US is on track to lose its measles elimination status in months. RFK needs to go. Measles has resurged in the U.S., and DPH Coordinating Committee members James Alwine and Elizabeth Jacobs zero in HHS Secretary Kennedy's role: "Over the past two decades, Kennedy has heavily influenced the anti-vaccine movement. Now as HHS Secretary, his position of power is furthering his influence. By encouraging doubt in science and medicine, many parents become confused and afraid to vaccinate their children, while others develop passionate distrust and join his movement."