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Conflicting Information Continues in Measles-Associated Death of Pennsylvania Newborn
Dueling narratives on whether measles was at fault for the death of a newborn in Pennsylvania intensified over the weekend.
The baby died of a lacerated spleen, according to the coroner in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, the epicenter of the largest current measles outbreak in the United States. But there’s disagreement on whether a measles infection acquired before birth caused the infant’s organ to become inflamed, resulting in the fatal injury.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, maintains the baby wouldn’t have died if the mother had been vaccinated and therefore protected from measles. The state’s health secretary, Debra Bogen, MD, said on X that she “thoroughly reviewed the case investigation information.”
But Lancaster County Coroner Stephen Diamantoni, MD, told NBC affiliate WGAL that, according to his office’s forensic pathologist, measles was not a factor, as the newborn’s spleen was “neither enlarged nor inflamed.”
CDC Leaves Pennsylvania Deaths off National Measles Tally After Vaccine Spat Between RFK Jr., Gov. Shapiro
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has pointedly omitted two measles-associated deaths in Lancaster County from national reporting.
As of Monday, the CDC’s data shows zero deaths from measles in 2026.
This contradicts the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s confirmation last week that two unvaccinated people with the disease had died, marking the first measles deaths in the state in 35 years.
In a note posted to the CDC measles outbreak tracker, federal health officials said they are still reviewing the cases and claimed “available information does not establish whether measles caused or contributed to the deaths or whether the individuals died from other causes while infected with measles.” The message reflects an ongoing dispute between the Pennsylvania and national government, which spilled onto social media last Tuesday.
MAHA Has Arrived in Iowa — and Big Ag Is Reeling
There’s something in the water in Iowa. And Republican Zach Lahn has centered his gubernatorial campaign around it. Lahn is taking aim at fertilizers, pesticides and other farm chemicals seeping into drinking water supplies — and the agrochemical giants that make them. He believes Big Ag and Big Chemical are to blame for the state’s high cancer rates, a top issue for voters here.
Once unimaginable for a politician of either party in Iowa, Lahn’s campaign is putting the state’s Republicans in the same bind that has bedeviled the Trump administration during its second term: stuck between the demands of Make America Healthy Again activists and the interests of agricultural and chemical companies that hold deep sway with the party.
“Many people in the primary said, ‘You can’t win an election in the Republican primary talking about the big agricultural conglomerates that are extorting our farmers, talking about clean water, and how we need to lower our cancer rates,’” Lahn said in a stump speech earlier this month at the Iowa State Fair, where the farm industry’s influence loomed large, in the form of corporate sponsorships, expansive exhibits and free swag.
JD Vance Calls on EPA to Independently Investigate Response to East Palestine Train Derailment
Vice President JD Vance has called on the Environmental Protection Agency and the Inspector General to conduct an independent investigation into the response to the East Palestine train derailment. Vance posted a letter to his X account Aug 28, alleging the Biden-Harris Administration withheld public risks from the community.
“The response to the derailment, subsequent controlled release and combustion of hazardous materials, environmental contamination and prolonged concerns regarding air, soil, water, and public health warrant continued scrutiny and oversight to ensure appropriate accountability and uniform future actions. Documents recently made public underscore our concerns,” Vance wrote.
Vance did not specify which documents he is referring to. However, a report recently obtained by NewsNation revealed elevated levels of carcinogenic compounds in village soil and water. NewsNation reported that those results, gathered by Stephen Petty — who had been hired by lawyers in the $600 million class-action lawsuit as their testing expert — were not released, even to their own clients.
‘Let Data Reign’: Trump Stands Firmly Behind Controversial Data Centers
President Donald Trump on Monday stressed his strong support for controversial data centers, a key issue ahead of midterm elections, with the president urging communities to “let Data Reign.” “The only reason that communities throughout the U.S.A. should not want Data Centers is if they want to end up being backwards and poor. If they want to be successful and rich, with far lower taxes and jobs all over the place, let Data Reign,” Trump wrote in a social media post on Monday morning.
The president has long emphasized the importance of artificial intelligence advancement, repeatedly expressing his desire for the U.S. to beat China in the global AI race. “If we kill the Golden Goose, you will only have yourselves to blame. China could not be happier with this anti Data Center movement. Actually, they can’t believe it is happening!” Trump wrote.
Data centers provide the computing power necessary to process large amounts of data, such as the kind needed to run AI systems. They typically house thousands of computer servers and require tremendous amounts of land, water for cooling, and energy, potentially straining local power grids, while employing few workers long-term, relative to their size.
Trump EPA Is Manipulating Safety Data Around a Highly Toxic Flame Retardant, Advocates Allege
The Environmental Protection Agency is manipulating safety data around a highly toxic flame retardant deployed across the US economy, public health advocates allege.
The chemical, TBBPA, has been found in dust in US homes and in consumer goods at combined levels that independent research has found may present a danger to the public, and especially small children.
The agency is considering restrictions for the flame retardant, and advocates say the fight is the latest example of the Trump administration teaming up with the industry to downplay the risks of a highly toxic and profitable chemical.
While European agencies and international cancer organizations have found that TBBPA is, or is probably, a carcinogen, the EPA in its new draft risk assessment used what public health groups say is a highly unusual approach to conclude that it is not carcinogenic at levels it suggests the US public and children are exposed to.
Trump Administration Sued for Approving ‘Forever Chemical’ Pesticide Trifludimoxazin
Center for Food Safety reported:
Center for Food Safety, Center for Biological Diversity, and Pesticide Action & Agroecology Network North America have sued the Trump administration over the registration of trifludimoxazin, a potent PFAS pesticide that breaks down into long-lived, PFAS byproducts. PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a class of chemicals characterized by ultra-strong carbon-fluorine bonds that are highly resistant to breakdown. Trifludimoxazin takes years to decades to fully decompose.
The groups’ lawsuit was filed Friday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved the use of trifludimoxazin on many crops, including corn, wheat, oats, soybeans, oranges, apples, peanuts and almonds, despite acknowledging the chemical’s potential harms to wildlife and human health.
“Trifludimoxazin is a likely human carcinogen that belongs to a family of weed-killers that also causes reproductive harm, birth defects and neurological deficits in animal studies,” said Bill Freese, science director at Center for Food Safety. “As if the health threats weren’t enough, this incredibly potent herbicide can drift to stunt crops and wild plants hundreds of yards from a sprayed field, while runoff threatens wetland plants,” he added. “Potent biocides like this have no business on the American landscape.”
US FDA Approves Updated Covid Vaccines for 2026-27 Season
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Moderna, Novavax-Sanofi and Pfizer-BioNTech’s updated COVID vaccines, the companies said on Aug 27, after an advisory panel recommended that the shots should target the dominant XFG variant.
Four COVID shots had been approved for use in the United States: Moderna’s mNEXSPIKE and Spikevax, Pfizer-BioNTech’s Comirnaty — all three mRNA-based vaccines — and Novavax-Sanofi’s protein-based shot that takes longer to manufacture.
All manufacturers previously said they could make the updated shot in time for the 2026-27 immunization season.
In May, eight of the committee’s nine experts voted in favor of targeting the XFG variant for the 2026-27 campaign.
