Login
RFK Jr. Takes Step Toward Electromagnetic Radiation Rules
The Washington Examiner reported:
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took the first step toward implementing regulations or health warnings for cellphones, wifi, and other technologies based on fringe concerns that electromagnetic radiation could cause health problems.
Kennedy and his department are asking for public feedback on the health effects of electromagnetic fields, radiofrequency radiation, and wireless radiation exposure to update policy guidance as part of the Make America Healthy Again agenda.
Pennsylvania Asks for CDC Help on Measles Outbreak, Demands Agency Recognize Measles Deaths: Reuters
The Pennsylvania health department said it was requesting emergency support from the US CDC as it grapples with one of the country’s largest and most deadly measles outbreaks, according to a document reviewed by Reuters on Thursday. The request comes on condition that the federal agency recognize four measles-associated deaths reported by the state, raising the stakes in a dispute with the Trump administration.
The state’s measles outbreak has become the focus of a standoff between U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Governor Josh Shapiro, a Democrat. Kennedy has cast doubt on whether deaths reported in U.S. measles outbreaks since he took office were due to the virus or another cause, and instructed the CDC not to include the Pennsylvania fatalities in a national tally.
Disease experts say the move represented highly unusual interference by a health secretary in the determination by state health officials and could minimize the risks of measles in the eyes of the public. Kennedy has accused Shapiro of politicizing the outbreak in his state and of failing to request federal help. CDC officials were not immediately available for comment.
Dr. Nicole Saphier, Trump’s Surgeon General Pick, Faces Senate Questions Over Her Vaccine Stance
Dr. Nicole Saphier, President Donald Trump’s third surgeon general nominee, was grilled at her confirmation hearing Wednesday about her stance on childhood vaccines, voicing support for immunization as she seeks to serve in an administration that has moved to make sweeping changes to vaccine guidance.
Saphier, a radiologist and former Fox News Channel contributor, faced tough questioning about her views on the safety of childhood vaccines by Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., who pressed her to declare whether she believed there was a link between vaccines and autism — which widespread scientific consensus has concluded doesn’t exist, yet which the Trump administration has repeatedly pushed to revisit.
“I do not believe childhood vaccines cause autism,” Saphier said. She also said “the MMR vaccine is our greatest tool for combating measles,” in response to a question by Cassidy over whether parents should give children that shot, which stands for measles, mumps and rubella, and which the president recently ordered be spaced out.
US Senate Panel Approves Bill to Bar Government Officials From Pressuring Networks on Free Speech
The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee approved legislation on Wednesday to bar government officials from pressuring private companies to censor speech, citing threats from the Trump administration against late-night talk shows as evidence of efforts to stifle free expression. The measure would allow citizens to sue federal employees who pressure private companies into suppressing speech protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees free expression.
Both Republicans and Democrats on the committee said the bill was needed to curb government overreach. The committee approved the bill 18-10. It must still pass the full Senate, where it is unclear when it may be taken up, and the U.S. House of Representatives to become law.
Senator Maria Cantwell, the top Democrat on the panel, said the bill, if it had been in effect, would have allowed Disney-owned ABC’s late-night show host Jimmy Kimmel to file suit after Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr last year pressured station owners to stop airing Kimmel’s show following remarks about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Senate Commerce Committee chair Ted Cruz cited actions by the administration of then-President Joe Biden that he said were intended to pressure private companies to censor speech protected by the First Amendment. He said the Biden administration sought to pressure Big Tech firms into “canceling Americans who spoke out against vaccine mandates and election fraud.”
U.S. Health Officials Move Quickly to Deploy Medical A.I. Despite Concerns
The Trump administration is accelerating efforts to make artificial intelligence an integral part of medical care in the United States, throwing the resources and support of the federal government into projects that deploy A.I. agents to diagnose and prescribe treatments to patients.
The multifront effort at the Department of Health and Human Services has raised concerns among some officials over the past few months that change is moving too quickly, with inadequate evidence of the technology’s safety and effectiveness, according to people who have been involved in the discussions. They also worry about outsized influence of Silicon Valley investors that have previously played little role in federal health policy.
Vinod Khosla, a billionaire Silicon Valley venture capitalist whose son has a health care A.I. company, has been particularly influential in conversations with top health department officials, according to people close to the matter.
The EPA May Soon Deploy AI to Regulate Toxic Chemicals. It’s Not Telling the Public.
The Christian Science Monitor reported:
The Trump administration is moving to deploy custom artificial intelligence products to speed up approvals for new applications of toxic chemicals and pesticides. But it has failed to share details of these AI tools with the public as required by both federal law and the administration’s own regulations, a Monitor review has found.
The new AI products for chemicals and pesticides are part of a larger push by Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin, who has declared “Make America the AI Capital of the World” to be a core pillar of the agency’s mission. However, they are not listed in the EPA’s most recent public registry of “current and planned uses” of AI.
The online directory is mandated by Congress to ensure the public can provide feedback on proposed AI tools before they are rolled out and assess whether the government is protecting personal privacy, civil rights, and public safety as it deploys powerful new technologies.
