They Were Promised New Septic Tanks. Trump Called It ‘Illegal DEI.’, May 11, 2026

 Bernard Mokam, The New York Times ; They Were Promised New Septic Tanks. Trump Called It ‘Illegal DEI.’

The Justice Department ended a deal that had helped fund a solution to the sewage crisis in rural Alabama. “Almost like we are starting all over again,” one activist said.

"It is a plight that has long plagued residents across Alabama’s Black Belt, a stretch of largely rural counties so named for its dark soil and history of slavery. Cotton flourished in the region for the same reasons that conventional septic tanks fail there: The soil is dense and holds onto water. Today there are more than 50,000 people in the region who pipe raw sewage into open trenches and pits.

Now, a seeming solution to the public health problem has been stymied by an unlikely force: the Trump administration’s war on diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

Three years ago, the Biden administration concluded in its first-ever environmental justice investigation that Alabama officials had failed to adequately address the sanitation crisis disproportionately affecting the Black residents of Lowndes County. The state agreed to an interim agreement that unlocked millions of dollars in federal funding to provide homeowners with septic tanks that could handle the difficult soil.

But soon after President Trump returned to office last year, the Justice Department ended the settlement, calling it “illegal DEI.”

The administration also scuttled a separate $14 million E.P.A. grant that had been earmarked to install new systems and provide work force training across Lowndes, Hale and Wilcox Counties.

Community activists fear the region may be doomed to enduring wastewater challenges forever."

Hantavirus misinformation runs rampant as the US is unequipped to respond to infectious disease health scare; The Guardian, May 8, 2026

Melody Schreiber, The Guardian ; Hantavirus misinformation runs rampant as the US is unequipped to respond to infectious disease health scare

The US’s withdrawal from the WHO – and cuts to the country’s health system – stymie officials’ response

"The outbreak of hantavirus on the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius illuminates major gaps in the US public health system – a worrying sign for stopping this outbreak quickly and preparing for a potential pandemic of a more widespread pathogen in coming years, experts say.

Passengers and their close contacts are at risk of hantavirus and need to follow public health guidance, but the danger for most people is near zero, officials and scientists say. Experts expect more cases in this outbreak to be identified, but they are emphatic that a hantavirus pandemic is highly unlikely."

Measles Is Back. What Comes Next Will Be Worse.; The New York Times, April 25, 2026

The Editorial Board, The New York Times; Measles Is Back. What Comes Next Will Be Worse

"The resurgence of measles — a terrible disease that can swell the brain and cause permanent disabilities or death — is alarming enough on its own. There have been more than 1,700 cases reported in the United States already this year, up from about 70 per year in the early 2000s. Three children died last year.

The rise of measles may also be a harbinger of something even worse, public officials say. “Measles is basically a canary in the coal mine for our entire system,” says Dr. Scott Harris, the state health officer in Alabama’s Department of Public Health. “When it surges like this, it signals that our vaccination programs are starting to fail, and that other diseases won’t be far behind.” Already, cases of whooping cough have surged, too. And after two Florida children died of Hib, a bacterial infection, epidemiologists worry that disease is resurgent.

The most maddening aspect of this situation is that it was almost certainly avoidable. It stems in large part from a yearslong scare campaign by vaccine conspiracists including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who now serves as President Trump’s secretary of health and human services."

Social Media Isn’t Just Speech. It’s Also a Defective, Hazardous Product.; The New York Times, March 14, 2026

Tim Wu, The New York Times ; Social Media Isn’t Just Speech. It’s Also a Defective, Hazardous Product.

"For two decades now, social media companies have been virtually untouchable, profitably floating above accusations that they normalize propaganda, addict children and degrade our character. Legally and politically, platforms like Facebook, Instagram and YouTube have been protected by an idea that they and others have promoted: that they are not just innovative technologies but also speech platforms, so that imposing any limits on them would amount to both censorship and a drag on technological progress.

That protection is finally starting to weaken, thanks to a growing realization that social media is also a matter of public health. Seen this way, social media appears as something less newfangled and more familiar: a defective, hazardous product. The current trial of Meta’s Instagram and Google’s YouTube in Los Angeles Superior Court, in which a 20-year-old woman has accused the platforms of designing their products in ways that harmed her mental and physical health, is the clearest sign of this shift.

The case, in which closing arguments were made on Thursday, is the first of many lawsuits brought by thousands of young people, school districts and state attorneys general against companies like Meta, Google, Snap and TikTok. The plaintiffs in these cases do not accuse the companies merely of serving up bad content to young people; they argue that the very design of social media is intentionally engineered to create compulsions and habits of overuse, regardless of the content provided."

‘It’s the most urgent public health issue’: Dr Rangan Chatterjee on screen time, mental health – and banning social media until 18; The Guardian, February 16, 2026

Emine Saner, The Guardian; ‘It’s the most urgent public health issue’: Dr Rangan Chatterjee on screen time, mental health – and banning social media until 18 

"Chatterjee believes that “the widespread adoption of screens into our children’s lives is the most urgent public health issue of our time”. He was never very political, he says. He is the affable host of a successful health podcast, Feel Better, Live More, and his books strike an optimistic, inspiring tone – but on this issue he is passionate, his frustration obvious. “I think successive governments have been very weak here, and they are failing a whole generation of children. I think they’ve already failed a generation of children.”"

Honoring Alex Pretti’s Moral Courage and the Cost of Caring; The Hastings Center for Bioethics, February 17, 2026

Connie M. Ulrich, Mary D. Naylor and Martha A. Q. Curley , The Hastings Center for Bioethics; Honoring Alex Pretti’s Moral Courage and the Cost of Caring

"The death of Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse who was killed last month in an anti-immigration protest in Minneapolis, is, first and foremost, a devastating loss for his loved ones. But it has also shaken the nursing profession to the core. 

People often encounter nurses at the bedside when they  are ill or someone close to them is ill. But nurses also have a long history of advocating for social justice in their communities, speaking out against unjust policies, challenging unsafe practices, and advancing public health reforms.

The 2025 Code of Ethics for Nurses reflects this activism. It calls on all nurses to be civically engaged and to work toward policies and systems that have positive ends for the communities in which we live and work. Alex met this call. 

Alex used his ICU training to help someone in need; it was second nature to him and reflected his primary obligation as a registered nurse to protect the rights and well-being of patients, families, and communities. He lost his life because he helped a woman during a protest against federal immigration action in Minneapolis. Pretti stepped in front of the woman, who was on the ground, to protect her from being pepper sprayed by U.S. Border Patrol agents. Agents then pinned Pretti to the ground and shot him.

Nurses are no strangers to conflict and moral turmoil. They take a professional and ethical oath to care for anyone — victim or perpetrator — regardless of their identity or ideological belief. But Alex’s death exposes a stark and troubling reality for every nurse and healthcare provider: Immigration enforcement agents are now occupying spaces that should be protected in hospitals, waiting rooms, lobbies, and clinics. These are places where patients must feel safe and trust that they will receive care without discrimination and be protected from intimidation. 

The presence of immigration enforcement agents in these places is creating profound moral distress and a climate of deep fear for all those who deliver care and for the people who need it most within these buildings. Nurses and other healthcare providers are caught in the age-old dilemma between what is ethical and what is legal: They question what they ought to do when faced with immigration enforcement agents standing outside hospital rooms and observing the care they are ethically and professionally obligated to protect.

When nurses and other healthcare providers cannot meet their ethical duties to protect the rights and welfare of their patients, this distress can intensify into a deeper wound with lingering residue of regret and a searing violation of their sense of integrity. 

For their part, patients may withhold critical health information, become afraid to ask questions, and mistrust health professionals when immigration enforcement agents are present. Patients who are immigrants are most vulnerable to these harms, but other patients may also experience them. The harms – to healthcare providers and patients – can ultimately compromise ethical decision-making, patient-and family-centered care, and the overall quality of care that all patients deserve, and healthcare providers are trained to deliver.

The patients and families cared for by Alex will always remember him. Nurses will remember Alex’s sacrifice – that his caring extended beyond the walls of his hospital to the stranger he protected in his community. 

Nurses can honor Alex’s moral courage through our individual and professional resolve. We must say no more to the infiltration of immigration enforcement into healthcare spaces that were previously off limits to them. We must speak out on re-establishing “safe zones,” hospital-wide policies that limit enforcement access, and confidential reporting mechanisms that reflect the humanity of the nursing profession towards those we took an oath to serve. 

May a better and more humane world prevail, reminding each of us that moral courage carries risk, but it also helps us rise to the occasion when change and moral repair are needed most. We are at that moment.

Connie M. Ulrich, PhD, RN, is a registered nurse and professor of nursing and of medical ethics and health policy at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing and a Hastings Center Fellow. LinkedIn: connieulrich1, X: @cm_ulrich

Mary D. Naylor, PhD, RN, is a registered nurse and professor of gerontology and nursing at Penn’s School of Nursing. LinkedIn: Mary_Naylor,  X: @MaryDNaylor

Martha A.Q. Curley, PhD, RN, is a registered nurse and professor of pediatric nursing at Penn’s School of Nursing.LinkedIn: Martha-a-q-curley, X: maqcurley, Bluesky: @maqc.bsky.social"

Trump Administration to Cut $600 Million in Health Funding From Four States; The New York Times, February 9, 2026

Apoorva Mandavilli , The New York Times; Trump Administration to Cut $600 Million in Health Funding From Four States

The states, all led by Democrats, used the grants to support a wide variety of functions, including H.I.V. prevention and surveillance.

"The Trump administration plans to rescind $600 million in public health funds from four states led by Democrats because it finds the grants “inconsistent with agency priorities,” according to documents reviewed by The New York Times.

The programs slated to be cut are in California, Colorado, Illinois and Minnesota. They include grants to state and local public health departments as well as to some nongovernmental organizations. A list of the cuts was shared with relevant congressional committees on Monday.

The funds are administered through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They include grants given to states for a variety of purposes, including hiring staffs, modernizing data systems and managing disease outbreaks. Some programs are aimed at the needs of specific communities.

Some of the cuts will be finalized this week and others over the coming weeks, totaling roughly $600 million. The figure was first reported by The New York Post."

For Trump, there’s Columbus Day and Victory Day, but no World Aids Day; The Guardian, November 27, 2025

Lucy Campbell, The Guardian ; For Trump, there’s Columbus Day and Victory Day, but no World Aids Day

[Kip Currier: Not recognizing December 1st's World AIDS Day is another clear indication of what Trump 2.0 values and prioritizes and what it doesn't.

Ask yourself why Trump wouldn't continue acknowledging this public health and humanitarian effort that began in 1988.

As an interesting side note, Trump's mentor Roy Cohn -- who, as the BBC noted in 2024, taught Trump to "attack, counterattack and never apologise" -- passed away from AIDS in 1986 at the age of 59. 

Seeing the examples cited in this Guardian article of topics Trump has commemorated makes the administration's explanation even more unconvincing.]

[Excerpt]

"For the first time since 1988 the US government said it will no longer commemorate World Aids Day, which honors those who have lost their lives to the disease, celebrates efforts to combat the epidemic and raises awareness.

“An awareness day is not a strategy,” a state department spokesperson, Tommy Pigott, told the New York Times.

However, since returning to office Donald Trump has signed multiple proclamations for awareness days – and awareness weeks and awareness months – on topics that are apparently more to his liking. They include:"

Trump Administration Will No Longer Commemorate World AIDS Day; The New York Times, November 26, 2025

Apoorva Mandavilli, The New York Times; Trump Administration Will No Longer Commemorate World AIDS Day

[Kip Currier: How disconcerting it is to see the Trump 2.0 administration make this policy change from years of recognizing December 1st's World AIDS Day, particularly when many other proclamations have been issued this year for "World Autism Awareness Day, National Manufacturing Day and World Intellectual Property Day", as reported in the New York Times article.]

[Excerpt]

"Every year since 1988, the United States has marked Dec. 1 as World AIDS Day, when people mourn those who died of the disease, honor efforts to contain the epidemic and raise awareness among the general public.

Not this year.

The State Department this month instructed employees and grantees not to use funds from the United States government to commemorate the day. The directive is part of a broader policy “to refrain from messaging on any commemorative days, including World AIDS Day,” according to an email viewed by The New York Times.

Employees and grantees may still “tout the work” being done through various programs “to counter this dangerous disease and other infectious diseases around the world,” the email said. And they may attend events related to the commemoration.

But they should “refrain from publicly promoting World AIDS Day through any communication channels, including social media, media engagements, speeches or other public-facing messaging."...

So far this year, the White House has issued proclamations for dozens of other observances, including World Autism Awareness Day, National Manufacturing Day and World Intellectual Property Day.

The Trump administration froze foreign aid early in the year, derailing many public health programs dedicated to fighting H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS. Modeling studies have suggested that cuts by the United States and other countries could result in 10 million additional H.I.V. infections, including one million among children, and three million additional deaths over the next five years.

To some activists, the administration’s decision was a painful reminder of the early days of the epidemic, when H.I.V. was neglected as a public health crisis...

World AIDS Day is when the State Department sends data to Congress from the President’s Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief, known as PEPFAR, which provides money for H.I.V. programs worldwide. The program’s budget was sharply cut back earlier this year, and the administration is reported to be planning to end it."

CDC changes website to promote debunked vaccines-autism link; Axios, November 20, 2025

Maya Goldman , Axios; CDC changes website to promote debunked vaccines-autism link

"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated its website to promote the widely debunked claim that vaccines may cause autism. 

Why it matters: Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has repeatedly linked vaccines to autism, and now the public health agency he oversees is publicly reversing its position to reflect that belief. 

Multiple studies over decades have disproven links between childhood vaccines and developing autism. 

State of play: The agency's webpage on vaccines and autism, updated Wednesday, now says the statement that vaccines don't cause autism "is not an evidence-based claim because studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism."

"Studies supporting a link have been ignored by health authorities," the website continues. 

HHS in September released plans to contract with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to research connections between vaccines and autism. 

Career scientists at the agency were not consulted about the changes and were caught off guard by them, the Washington Post reported.

The CDC site previously said studies showed there was no connection between receiving vaccines and developing autism."

‘Public health is in trouble,’ says high-ranking CDC leader who resigned in protest; PBS News, August 28, 2025

Amna Nawaz, Aznar Merchant , PBS News; ‘Public health is in trouble,’ says high-ranking CDC leader who resigned in protest

"Amna Nawaz:

• So let's just start with your decision. Why did you feel the need to resign?

• Dr. Debra Houry:

  It was such a tough decision. I love the CDC. The work we do is so important.

  But I had just felt we had reached a tipping point when it came to our science and our data and being able to do the work we needed to do. I was concerned about the future of CDC and my ability to be a leader at the CDC and to do what was needed to be done on the inside. I thought my voice and the voice of my colleagues that also resigned with me would be more powerful on the outside.

• Amna Nawaz:

  What does reaching that tipping point, as you put it, mean to you?

  You saw Dr. Monarez's lawyers reference the unscientific and reckless directives. What does that mean to you?

  • Dr. Debra Houry:

    Yes, so we have an immunization committee meeting coming up in a few weeks. And many of us, myself included, were concerned about some of the recommendations might walk back vaccines in our country.

    To me, that's one of the tipping points. I think another tipping point is just the loss of Dr. Monarez. We hadn't had a CDC director for several months. When she came on board, she brought scientific rigor and some new ideas around public comment and how to really make sure data drove the decisions.

    When she had done some of these changes, she was brought to the secretary's office for discussion. And, at that point, I became concerned that she wouldn't be able to implement changes that were needed at CDC, and without that leadership, it would just leave us vulnerable again. And I thought that was the point to say, enough is enough and to really raise that Bat Signal that public health and CDC is in trouble.

    
    

    • Amna Nawaz:

      You have also said previously that her firing makes it easier for Secretary Kennedy's appointees to change vaccine recommendations. You just mentioned fearing a walk-back in some of those vaccine policies.

      What does that mean specifically? What could we see ahead?

    • Dr. Debra Houry:

      So, if we don't have a CDC director, and if there's not an acting CDC director, then the secretary would sign recommendations like he did for the last ACIP, or vaccine committee, meeting.

      So things like the COVID vaccine or hepatitis B vaccine, they could choose to change ages on it or the populations that have access to it. I'm just concerned about changing vaccine access in our country and that we need to focus more on the safety and effectiveness of vaccines, shared decision-making around vaccines, and not talking about misinformation around vaccines.

      
      

      • Amna Nawaz:

        And changes to things like the hepatitis B vaccine, are those conversations you were a part of during your time there? Those are being discussed?

      • Dr. Debra Houry:

        So I know that the work groups have been asked to look at hepatitis B. They're in the middle of pulling a systematic review together right now.

        So I would imagine that means they will be discussed. My concern is, we have pulled evidence reviews together before for the ACIP meetings, that we had one that was pulled down and not discussed. I think it's really important when we do work at CDC for our data, our science and our evidence reviews to be publicly posted, so the public can also review them and understand.

        And, to me, that is transparency and something we were trying to move towards, particularly with the secretary's commitment to radical transparency. That would mean having publicly available data and documents."

Man develops rare condition after ChatGPT query over stopping eating salt; The Guardian, August 12, 2025

Dan Milmo , The Guardian; Man develops rare condition after ChatGPT query over stopping eating salt

"A US medical journal has warned against using ChatGPT for health information after a man developed a rare condition following an interaction with the chatbot about removing table salt from his diet.

An article in the Annals of Internal Medicine reported a case in which a 60-year-old man developed bromism, also known as bromide toxicity, after consulting ChatGPT."

Measles cases are surging in Europe and the US. This is what the anti-vax conspiracy theory has brought us; The Guardian, July 14, 2025

Zoe Williams , The Guardian; Measles cases are surging in Europe and the US. This is what the anti-vax conspiracy theory has brought us

"The effects of the MMR controversy, specifically, are revealing themselves now, nearly 30 years later: measles cases in Europe are at the highest levels in 25 years; in the US, cases are at a 33-year-high; last week it was reported that a child in Liverpool had died having contracted measles. It’s unknown whether the child was vaccinated (no vaccine can guarantee complete immunity) and it doesn’t matter – it wouldn’t make it any less tragic if that child’s parents had been caught in the swirl of misinformation, or any more tragic if they hadn’t. And it wouldn’t be germane anyway: everybody is better protected when everybody is vaccinated. This is never a decision you are making just for yourself.

It’s probably the most depressing conspiracy theory there is, not because the impacts are so much graver than some cranks who believe the Earth to be flat, but because vaccination is the most concrete proof of how much we rely on one another’s care and rationality. That’s true beyond disease – we also need each other for democracy, science, culture, civic life and everything – but in no other area can you see that, count it and put it on a graph."