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Cam Newton Backs Aaron Rodgers, Claiming NFL ‘Players, Coaches and Executives’ Used Fake Covid Vaccine Cards
It escaped vast attention last week when Aaron Rodgers suggested during his appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” that NFL people got past league COVID-19 protocols by obtaining “fake” vaccination cards. And now, former quarterback Cam Newton is joining that chorus.
Newton, appearing on his “4th & 1” podcast on Monday, addressed the 2021 NFL protocols that required all team employees — players, coaches, staff, everyone — to get Covid-19 shots so as to avoid stringent frequent testing in order to enter team facilities.
All coaches were forced to take the shots or not work. Players who did not have their shots indeed had to submit to daily testing and had to wear a mask within the team facility and practice distancing guidelines during meals, meetings and workouts.
“If we’re being honest,” Newton said on his podcast, “Going back to 2020, there were multiple players, coaches, and executives that fraudulently got their COVID shot. Yes, I said it.” That allegation supports what Rodgers said last week in the middle of what was mostly a viral criticism of Anthony Fauci’s testimony in front of the United States Senate.
Influenza Vaccination Rates Among Children Have Not Recovered Since COVID-19 Pandemic, Study Shows
Influenza vaccination coverage among children and adolescents rose steadily in the years leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic, but that progress has since reversed, according to a new retrospective cohort study published in JAMA Network Open.
Researchers from the City University of New York Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, working with Montefiore Medical Group (MMG), found that overall coverage rose from 49.1% in the 2017-2018 season to a peak of 56.5% in 2019-2020, before declining to 43.6% by the 2022-2023 season—a drop of 12.9 percentage points from the pandemic-era high.
The findings add to a growing body of evidence that pediatric vaccination broadly has yet to recover from pandemic-related disruptions and, in some respects, continues to worsen.
Supercharged by Social Media, the GLP-1 Boom Is Warping Teen Psyches
In 2024, Amelia Cate Prosser remembers feeling as if GLP-1 drugs were suddenly everywhere: stashed in her friends’ parents’ refrigerators, glorified on the red carpet and dominating the cafeteria conversations at her private all-girls high school in Melbourne. But it was on social media where the noise was — and continues to be — the loudest.
The teen says she could hardly open an app without being bombarded with posts and advertisements about weight-loss injections. Impeccably sculpted models in sports bras warning that sometimes “effort alone isn’t enough” crowded her feeds; so did before-and-after images glamorizing other young women’s rapidly transformed physiques. (Were they AI-generated? Hard to know.)
It was around that time that Prosser, now 17, says she developed anorexia and, later, bulimia. “My friends and people I know, we’ve all lost track of what a normal, healthy, especially female body looks like,” says Prosser, who’d used a fake birthday to sign up for adult social media accounts, instead of the more restrictive teen ones. “Whether we say it out loud or not, it’s a very known thing that we all would like to look like that.”
Pediatrics Group Recommends Flu Vaccine for All Children 6 Months and Older
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that all children 6 months and older without any medical contraindications receive the 2026-27 flu vaccine as soon as it’s available. “The good news is flu vaccines have been thoroughly studied,” Kristina A. Bryant, MD, a member of AAP’s Committee on Infectious Diseases (COID) said in a press release.
“We know they are safe in children and they can prevent not just hospitalizations and death but every year they prevent a substantial number of illnesses that result in trips to the doctor’s office,” she added. “We want to keep kids healthy and going to school and parents healthy and going to work. Flu vaccines can help us accomplish that.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has yet to share influenza vaccine recommendations for the upcoming season. The AAP also recommends flu vaccination for pregnant and breastfeeding women because it protects both mother and baby from illness. This aligns with what the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists advises for pregnant women in its immunization schedule.
Higher Doses of Common Fertility Drug Linked to Pregnancy Risks
About 1 in 6 people experience infertility, with irregular or absent ovulation among the most common causes. The drug clomiphene citrate has long been a mainstay of fertility treatment, but a growing body of University of Adelaide research is raising safety concerns about higher cumulative doses.
In a new study published in BMJ Open, researchers found that high doses of clomiphene citrate — accumulated over multiple fertility treatment cycles — could increase the risk of pregnancy loss.
Conducted in partnership with Boston University and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the study analyzed 21,004 IVF embryo transfer cycles in the United States. It found that women receiving cumulative doses of 500–749 mg of clomiphene citrate had a 12% higher risk of miscarriage, while women who received 750–999 mg had a 38% higher risk of miscarriage.
Ozempic Teeth, Muscle Loss: Some of the Buzziest GLP-1 Side Effects
GLP-1 drugs, used for type 2 diabetes and weight loss, have been touted for their many benefits, but it’s their side effects that often make headlines, especially those with compelling monikers like “Ozempic teeth.” Here, we list some of the most common — and most commonly discussed — side effects with GLP-1 receptor agonists like semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy), ranging from the run-of-the-mill gastrointestinal (GI) effects to more serious risks like eye complications.
These three GI symptoms are some of the most commonly reported adverse effects with GLP-1 drugs, and that’s no surprise. These events have been evident since initial FDA approvals for type 2 diabetes, showing up consistently in clinical trials and systematic reviews alike.
Endocrinologists have long noted that patients taking GLP-1 drugs stand to lose lean muscle mass alongside weight. Studies have suggested that eating more protein may help offset some of that loss. Patients have reported a number of oral health issues while taking GLP-1 agonists, including dry mouth, sensitivity, and gum inflammation. Experts told MedPage Today this tends to stem from dehydration issues that the drugs can bring on.
