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South Carolina Bill Would Mandate Warnings for COVID-Vaccine
A South Carolina Senate Medical Affairs subcommittee heard more than an hour of conflicting testimony Tuesday on a bill that would require health care providers to give patients a verbal and written warning before administering the COVID-19 vaccine.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Tom Corbin, would require providers to inform patients that the vaccine is “novel,” that it “may be contaminated by the presence of fragments of bacterial plasmid DNA encapsulated in a lipid nanoparticle delivery vehicle,” and that long-term effects are unknown.
“It doesn’t try to remove the vaccine. It doesn’t do any penalties. It’s simply informing the public that the vaccine may be contaminated and you should take it at your own risk,” said Sen. Corbin, R-Greenville.
The amended version of the proposal changed the wording from stating the vaccine is contaminated to may be contaminated. Supporters of the bill say it’s meant to give patients more information and ensure consumers are aware of concerns some researchers have raised about DNA fragments detected during vaccine manufacturing.
Calley Means Returns to Kennedy’s Side as Senior Adviser
Mr. Means, who co-founded a wellness company, has emerged as one of the most prominent voices in the Make America Healthy Again movement. Calley Means, a health care entrepreneur and key adviser to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is back in the federal health department. The directory for the Department of Health and Human Services now lists Mr. Means as a senior adviser. Andrew Nixon, a representative for the department, confirmed to The New York Times on Tuesday that Mr. Means had been hired, and said he would support food and nutrition policy in his new role.
Mr. Means previously served as a special government employee, a temporary position limited to a 130-day term. He said last month that he had vacated the role. Mr. Means has exerted wide influence in moving forward Mr. Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda, emerging as one of the loudest — and most assertive — voices in the movement. He coordinated a major government report that painted a bleak picture of the state of American children’s health.
Lately, he has been championing upcoming reforms to federal dietary guidelines, among other initiatives he says can help combat chronic disease. He posted an image of a food pyramid on social media last month, labeling it “one of the deadliest documents in American history.”
He is a fixture on panels and podcasts, touting what he views as Mr. Kennedy’s accomplishments and casting the American health apparatus as broken and corrupt. Mr. Means frequently decries American medicine as a “sick-care” system that pressures patients onto a pharmaceutical “treadmill” and prioritizes profits over prevention.
Mr. Means declined to comment for this article.
Bill Would Force VA to Reveal Secret List of Toxic Exposure Illnesses
Lawmakers want the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to stop keeping veterans in the dark about which toxic exposure illnesses the federal agency is quietly studying behind closed doors.
U.S. Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Ranking Member Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) introduced the Presumptive Clear Legal Assessment and Review of Illnesses from Toxic Exposure Yields, or CLARITY Act, in early November. If passed it would require the VA to establish a public website to educate veterans exposed to toxins on processes the agency uses to determine which conditions are correlated with military toxic exposures. The website would theoretically be updated if the VA adds or removes exposures or conditions, and would provide veterans input as such a website currently doesn’t exist.
“This measure guarantees essential information to veterans suffering from toxic exposure-related illnesses,” Blumenthal said in a statement. “They need and deserve to know whether their specific condition qualifies for PACT Act presumptive care and benefits. This is especially critical as the VA is reportedly rolling back coverage of conditions without scientific evidence.”
RFK Jr. Says New Dietary Guidelines Coming Soon: ‘We’re Ending the War on Saturated Fats’
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Monday that new dietary guidelines are expected to be released next month that will end the “war on saturated fats.” Speaking at the Food Allergy Fund Leadership Forum, Kennedy discussed the actions the Food and Drug Administration has taken under his leadership, including incentivizing a reduction in petroleum-based food dyes and increasing oversight into infant formula.
“We’re ending the war on saturated fats in this country. So, we’re going to publish dietary guidelines that are going to stress the importance of protein and saturated fats. And those will come out, I think, next month. And I think that will really revolutionize the food system in the country, the food culture in this country,” Kennedy said.
The Hill’s sister company NewsNation reported last month that Kennedy planned to introduce new dietary guidelines recommending more consumption of butter, cheese, milk and red meat. This goes against current thinking that high consumption of saturated fats raises levels of bad cholesterol and increases the risk of heart disease.
AMA Delegates Consider Becoming ‘Public-Facing Megaphone’ on Vaccines
Should the American Medical Association (AMA) establish its own vaccine advisory committee or focus instead on restoring the original CDC committee? Members took up that debate during a small committee session at the AMA House of Delegates interim meeting. In June, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., ousted all 17 members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and replaced them with people whose vaccine skepticism aligned with his own.
Dave Cundiff, M.D., MPH, a delegate for the American Association of Public Health Physicians (AAPHP), helped author a draft policy statement calling for the AMA to convene key stakeholders to develop evidence-based vaccine recommendations.
But not all delegates were comfortable with the resolution, which directs the AMA to “establish itself as a trusted, centralized source and public-facing megaphone for science-based vaccine guidance.” Cundiff said he hoped it could be adopted, but would also accept referral to the Board of Trustees.
‘They’re Playing Games’: Illinois Lawmakers Press Trump Administration Over Stalled Lead-Pipe Funding
Lead pipes are ubiquitous. At this point, no state has gotten rid of all of its toxic lead service lines, which pipe drinking water to homes and businesses. But some cities like Chicago, New York City, and Detroit have more lead plumbing than others, and replacing it can cost tens of thousands of dollars. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Biden-era infrastructure law, promised $15 billion for lead pipe replacements across the country to be disbursed over five years.
But in a letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sent earlier this week, a group of Illinois congressional delegates allege that $3 billion appropriated for lead pipe replacements nationwide for the fiscal year that ended in September has not reached communities yet. They warn that the delay is a “dangerous politicization” that puts children and families at risk.
“Federal resources are not partisan tools — they are vital lifelines intended to serve all Americans,” the letter notes. “Using federal funds as leverage against communities based on political considerations represents a dangerous abuse of power that undermines public trust and puts lives at risk.”
