"Casey Means, Trump’s nominee for surgeon general, faced senators’ questions about her stance on vaccines, pesticides and RFK Jr.’s agenda."
The enforcement of environmental laws suffered a dramatic collapse during the Trump administration’s first year, several studies have found. Even the most serious violations, typically referred to the Department of Justice, are left unpursued because of DOJ staffing declines. The latest Backgrounder has the details, a look at the administration’s rationale for the decline and the implications for the environment and public health.
"The Food and Drug Administration has reversed course and agreed to review Moderna’s application for the first mRNA-based flu vaccine under a revised approach, company and federal officials said Wednesday."
"National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya will also temporarily become acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an administration official said Wednesday."
"Casey Means, nominated for U.S. surgeon general, left her surgical residency over seven years ago. She authored "Good Energy" and promotes metabolic health. Her confirmation was delayed after childbirth. A Washington Post review found she earned over $536,000 from wellness partnerships. Some experts worry her policies may lack evidence."
A chemical found in widely used epoxy resins is an endocrine disruptor that remains largely unregulated, despite its ubiquity. That was the subject of a prizewinning explanatory reporting series that focused on the lesser-known bisphenol known as BADGE, and how it might affect artisan woodworkers, construction workers and many others. SEJournal talks with reporter Meg Wilcox (pictured) in this Inside Story Q&A.
"Donald Trump’s aggressive rollback of environmental protections directly contradicts the promises of his “make America healthy again” campaign, according to new research."
"South Carolina's measles outbreak continues to grow, with a total of 876 confirmed cases, which is the biggest outbreak the U.S. has seen in decades. But there are some positive signs in this current outbreak."
"The Trump Administration has created an exclusion for new experimental reactors being built at sites around the U.S. from a major environmental law. The law would have required them to disclose how their construction and operation might harm the environment, and it also typically required a written, public assessment of the possible consequences of a nuclear accident."
"South Carolina is battling the country’s largest measles outbreak since the disease was eliminated from the United States more than a quarter-century ago, with more than 840 cases overwhelmingly in unvaccinated children and adults."
