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Chair Cassidy Commits to Deliver President Trump’s Mission of Radical Transparency, Invites Secretary Kennedy to Speak With Committee to Respond
U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions reported:
U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, highlighted the importance of delivering President Trump and Secretary Kennedy’s mission to restore radical transparency at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to protect children’s health.
This comes after the HELP Committee held a hearing with former CDC officials Susan Monarez, Ph.D., and Debra Houry, M.D., about the recent high-profile departures from the agency. To deliver on the President’s mission of radical transparency, the Committee is inviting the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and HHS officials to respond by speaking with Committee members.
“I want President Trump to have the best CDC in our nation’s history. I want to work with the President to fulfill his campaign promise to reform the CDC and Make America Healthy Again,” said Dr. Cassidy. “Fortunately, we have a President who has called for radical transparency in government. And it’s with this mandate from President Trump that the HELP Committee is conducting this oversight.”
“Because President Trump has called for radical transparency, I am inviting Secretary Kennedy to speak with the Committee to share his side of the story,” continued Dr. Cassidy. “This is how we fulfill the President’s mandate — giving Americans the full picture so they can judge for themselves.”
MAHA Moment? NYC Council Bill Would Ban Fluoride in Drinking Water
City & State New York reported:
A new City Council bill seeks to ban fluoride from New York City drinking water, ending what the bill’s two council supporters called “forced medication” of an entire population. It’s also aligned with a movement to de-fluoridate water that has a federal champion in U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The bill would require the city to provide free fluoride supplements to anyone who requests them.
Democratic Council Member James Gennaro, the lead sponsor of the legislation, said that he hasn’t always been skeptical of the benefits of fluoride in drinking water — something dentists maintain is beneficial to children’s oral health and cavity prevention because it hardens tooth enamel.
But despite studies that point to those benefits, he’s grown interested in the research that questions whether Americans are getting too much fluoride and potential health risks that could come with overexposure. If a fluoride ban did pass in New York City (unlikely), it would have some close company. Fluoride is not added to the drinking water in Nassau or Suffolk counties.
One analysis published by the National Institutes of Health in January looking at many different studies found that higher levels of fluoride exposure in children was associated with lower I.Q. scores. That effect started at an exposure level of 1.5 milligrams per liter, which is double what New York City adds to drinking water.
Surgeon General Nominee Casey Means Discloses Financial Ties to Supplement Industry
New financial disclosures from surgeon general nominee Casey Means show that she’s made hundreds of thousands of dollars promoting supplements and other health and wellness products, details likely to invite new scrutiny about potential conflicts of interest for the author and entrepreneur.
Means, a close ally of health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the sister of White House adviser Calley Means, has not yet been scheduled to appear before Congress for her confirmation hearing. But a filing dated Sept. 10 and posted by the Office of Government Ethics suggests her nomination cleared conflict-of-interest checks within the federal government.
The supplements industry has ties with several members of the Trump administration, including Medicaid director Mehmet Oz and health adviser Calley Means. An AP investigation this summer found that Casey Means had repeatedly failed to disclose her partnerships with supplements companies and other businesses promoted in her newsletter, social media accounts, and elsewhere.
California Moves to Distance Itself From CDC on Vaccines, Considers Creating Its Own Agency
California’s Democratic leaders on Wednesday announced a series of efforts to distance the state from President Donald Trump’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as the state and federal government continue to clash over vaccines and science.
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday signed legislation that allows the state to set future immunization guidance on credible, independent medical organizations instead of the CDC. Those organizations could include but are not limited to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the American Academy of Family Physicians.
Also on Wednesday, the governor and the California Department of Public Health, along with other West Coast governors, rolled out vaccine recommendations for the upcoming winter, countering advice from the CDC. The recommendations include the COVID-19 shot, flu shot, and RSV vaccine.
Separately from Newsom’s announcement Wednesday, labor groups and some California lawmakers announced an effort to try to establish their own CDC and foundation to fund medical research. The proposal specifically would involve borrowing $23 billion in bonds. The legislation, known as Senate Bill 607, would first need to pass the state Legislature before giving voters the final say on the November ballot in 2026.
