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CDC Shooter Believed COVID Vaccine Made Him Suicidal, His Father Tells Police
A Georgia man who opened fire on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) headquarters, shooting dozens of rounds into the sprawling complex and killing a police officer, had blamed the COVID-19 vaccine for making him depressed and suicidal, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press on Saturday.
The 30-year-old shooter also tried to get into the CDC’s headquarters in Atlanta but was stopped by guards before driving to a pharmacy across the street and opening fire late Friday afternoon, the official said. He was armed with five guns, including at least one long gun, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the investigation.
DeKalb County Police Officer David Rose was mortally wounded while responding.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., whose skepticism of vaccines has been a cornerstone of his career, voiced support for CDC employees Saturday. But some laid-off CDC employees said Kennedy shares responsibility for the violence and should resign.
Vinay Prasad’s Comeback to FDA Sparks Debate Over Regulatory Direction
In a stunning reversal, Dr. Vinay Prasad is returning to his role as director of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), just days after his resignation.
The abrupt departure of the controversial figure, who had been a vocal critic of the biopharmaceutical industry and certain FDA approval pathways, sent ripples through the biotech world.
Now, his reappointment at the FDA’s request brings a new layer of uncertainty and raises questions about the future of vaccine and gene therapy regulation. In May, FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary named Dr. Vinay Prasad the next director of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER). Dr. Prasad had stepped down on July 30.
MAHA Official Reportedly Fired Following Messy Rollout of mRNA Vaccine Policy Pivot
An official overseeing implementation of the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) agenda at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has been fired following the awkward rollout of a pivot away from mRNA vaccines, according to the pharmaceutical trade publication Endpoints News.
Gray Delany, head of MAHA implementation at HHS, has been let go, according to the report. Delany now describes himself as the “former director of MAHA implementation” at HHS on X.
The action caps days of confusion over the Trump administration’s position on federal mRNA contracts and apparent tension between HHS and the White House on pharmaceutical policy. The messy announcement prompted Trump advisor Steve Bannon to call for a “whole new comms” at HHS, according to Endpoints.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced on Aug. 5 that HHS was winding down the mRNA portfolio of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, the research and development arm of the pandemic response office. HHS said it was pivoting to other platforms it described as “evidence-based, ethically grounded solutions,” including whole-virus vaccines. The 22 stalled projects totaled nearly $500 million, HHS said.
Kennedy’s MAHA Strategy Will Not Be Released to the Public Immediately
Farmers, food manufacturers, chemical companies, anti-vaccine activists and MAHA moms — all waiting anxiously for the release of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s strategy for “making children healthy again” — will have to wait a bit longer.
The White House said Monday that it expected the Make America Healthy Again Commission, which President Donald Trump created in February to revamp the nation’s food supply and chronic health outcomes, to send the strategy to the president Tuesday, as required by an executive order.
However, spokesperson Kush Desai added that it will take more time to coordinate officials’ schedules to release the report to the public. The upcoming MAHA policy recommendations are expected to suggest a restructuring of the government’s response to childhood chronic diseases and will have wide-ranging implications for food, farm and health policy.
Industry groups and Kennedy devotees have lobbied heavily to affect what’s in the closely watched document and had expected its public release would coincide with the executive order’s deadline for sending the strategy to Trump, as was the case with an earlier report assessing the health risks facing children in May.
HHS, FDA and USDA Address the Health Risks of Ultra-Processed Foods
Under the leadership of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) are accelerating federal efforts to address the growing concerns around ultra-processed foods and the current epidemic of diet-related chronic disease that is plaguing America.
The agencies are announcing a joint Request for Information (RFI) to gather information and data to help establish a federally recognized uniform definition for ultra-processed foods — a critical step in providing increased transparency to consumers about the foods they eat.
Currently, there is no single authoritative definition for ultra-processed foods for the U.S. food supply. Creating a uniform federal definition will serve as a key deliverable on the heels of the recently published Make Our Children Healthy Again Assessment, which recognizes that the overconsumption of ultra-processed foods is one of the driving factors of the childhood chronic disease crisis.
It is estimated that approximately 70% of packaged products in the U.S. food supply are foods often considered ultra-processed, and that children get over 60% of their calories from such foods. Dozens of scientific studies have found links between the consumption of foods often considered ultra-processed with numerous adverse health outcomes, including cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes, cancer, obesity and neurological disorders. Helping to address overconsumption of ultra-processed foods is a key element to Make America Healthy Again.
