Gary Schwitzer
@garyschw.bsky.social
Health care journalist for 50 years, now retired except for his Substack. Published HealthNewsReview.org for 16 years. Helping people improve their critical thinking about health care.
From STAT News' morning newsletter: www.statnews.com/2025/11/10/h...
New research finds no link between Tylenol use during pregnancy and autism, despite Trump's claims
And other health stories from the Morning Rounds newsletter
www.statnews.com
November 10, 2025 at 4:22 PM
From STAT News' morning newsletter: www.statnews.com/2025/11/10/h...
The seamier side of the FDA. Questions about who benefits most from some agency decisions: political favors or public health? garyschwitzer.substack.com/p/the-seamie...?
November 10, 2025 at 1:04 PM
The seamier side of the FDA. Questions about who benefits most from some agency decisions: political favors or public health? garyschwitzer.substack.com/p/the-seamie...?
Behind-the-scenes ugliness in the competitive GLP-1 drug market. Lawsuits, dogfight over market dominance, pay-per-click advertising. garyschwitzer.substack.com/p/ugliness-i...
Ugliness in the competitive GLP-1 drug market
A couple of recent stories by STAT News pull back the curtain on some of the behind-the-scenes shenanigans by drug companies competing over the seemingly boundless GLP-1 market.
garyschwitzer.substack.com
November 5, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Behind-the-scenes ugliness in the competitive GLP-1 drug market. Lawsuits, dogfight over market dominance, pay-per-click advertising. garyschwitzer.substack.com/p/ugliness-i...
Big Boost for Big Myth: New Report Pushing Debunked Vaccine-Autism Link Gets Millions of Views on X open.substack.com/pub/newsguar...
Claim Dismissed as ‘Mountain of Garbage’ Links Vaccines to Autism
NewsGuard spoke to experts who dismissed a widely-promoted new report claiming to link vaccines to autism as based on misinterpreted data
open.substack.com
November 4, 2025 at 9:34 PM
Big Boost for Big Myth: New Report Pushing Debunked Vaccine-Autism Link Gets Millions of Views on X open.substack.com/pub/newsguar...
“An agency beset by all kinds of tumult in recent months. Observers characterized the spate of dismissals, policy reversals & controversies in all kinds of ways: Soap opera. Unpredictable. In total disarray. And, potentially, unprincipled.” www.statnews.com/2025/11/04/f...
Experts worry FDA’s credibility is being shredded by scandal and 'soap opera'
Experts worry that the FDA’s credibility is being shredded by scandal and "soap opera."
www.statnews.com
November 4, 2025 at 2:26 PM
“An agency beset by all kinds of tumult in recent months. Observers characterized the spate of dismissals, policy reversals & controversies in all kinds of ways: Soap opera. Unpredictable. In total disarray. And, potentially, unprincipled.” www.statnews.com/2025/11/04/f...
Many are asking “Where’s the advantage in Medicare Advantage plans?” in this open enrollment period, as premiums & quality questions rise, while access/choice and pace of enrollment drops. garyschwitzer.substack.com/p/red-flags-...
Red flags rising for Medicare Advantage plans
Open enrollment time opens new questions about the supposed "advantage"
garyschwitzer.substack.com
November 4, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Many are asking “Where’s the advantage in Medicare Advantage plans?” in this open enrollment period, as premiums & quality questions rise, while access/choice and pace of enrollment drops. garyschwitzer.substack.com/p/red-flags-...
A leading candidate for the worst Surgeon General nominee ever. www.newsguardrealitycheck.com/p/five-healt...
Five Health Hoaxes Pushed by Trump’s Surgeon General Nominee
Casey Means, Trump’s pick for Surgeon General, has advanced five provably false health claims since 2024, including that vaccines cause autism
www.newsguardrealitycheck.com
October 30, 2025 at 11:58 AM
A leading candidate for the worst Surgeon General nominee ever. www.newsguardrealitycheck.com/p/five-healt...
A Surgeon Gen. nominee who gets $$$ from firms selling herbal remedies, algae/fiber/basil seed supplements, probiotics, phytonutrients, prenatal vitamins & hubby has tobacco investments!!! www.statnews.com/2025/09/16/c...
Surgeon general nominee Casey Means discloses financial ties to supplement industry
Surgeon general nominee Casey Means earned hundreds of thousands of dollars promoting supplements, per new financial disclosure statements.
www.statnews.com
October 30, 2025 at 1:19 AM
A Surgeon Gen. nominee who gets $$$ from firms selling herbal remedies, algae/fiber/basil seed supplements, probiotics, phytonutrients, prenatal vitamins & hubby has tobacco investments!!! www.statnews.com/2025/09/16/c...
The FDA already has all the info needed to fill drug facts boxes - the same evidence that companies provide when they apply for drug approval. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
Opinion | ‘Dancing patients’ aren’t the biggest problem with drug ads
Let’s create a nutrition facts box for prescription medications.
www.washingtonpost.com
October 17, 2025 at 12:23 PM
The FDA already has all the info needed to fill drug facts boxes - the same evidence that companies provide when they apply for drug approval. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
“The alliance, spanning states where roughly 1 in 3 Americans live, underscores the increasing fragmentation of a public health system that has been upended by HHS Secretary RFK Jr.” www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...
Democratic governors form state public health alliance to counter RFK Jr.
The Governors Public Health Alliance would counter federal health agencies under President Donald Trump as an independent hub to monitor diseases and prepare for emergencies.
www.washingtonpost.com
October 16, 2025 at 3:54 PM
“The alliance, spanning states where roughly 1 in 3 Americans live, underscores the increasing fragmentation of a public health system that has been upended by HHS Secretary RFK Jr.” www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...
“While many foundations say that their commitment to science journalism will continue, there is a feeling of apprehension among some reporters and editorial leaders.” undark.org/2025/10/15/s...
Will Science Journalism Funders Step Up or Retreat?
Amid Trump-era funding turmoil, foundations are finding themselves pulled in many directions to fill in the gaps.
undark.org
October 16, 2025 at 3:23 PM
“While many foundations say that their commitment to science journalism will continue, there is a feeling of apprehension among some reporters and editorial leaders.” undark.org/2025/10/15/s...
Let’s stop referring to “the media.” It is inaccurate. There is no such monolith - no such homogeneous entity. garyschwitzer.substack.com/p/lets-stop-...
October 15, 2025 at 12:10 PM
Let’s stop referring to “the media.” It is inaccurate. There is no such monolith - no such homogeneous entity. garyschwitzer.substack.com/p/lets-stop-...
“What we’re seeing here is, ‘We believe this and we’re going to find the evidence to support that.’ That’s just inherently wrong in terms of how a scientific agency like the FDA operates.” www.statnews.com/2025/10/14/f...
Inside FDA, career staffers describe how political pressure is influencing their work
Current and former FDA staff said the level of involvement of political officials in nitty-gritty regulatory matters is unprecedented.
www.statnews.com
October 14, 2025 at 2:08 PM
“What we’re seeing here is, ‘We believe this and we’re going to find the evidence to support that.’ That’s just inherently wrong in terms of how a scientific agency like the FDA operates.” www.statnews.com/2025/10/14/f...
I'll keep writing about the hypocritical “tenets of Gold Standard Science” that federal health folks brag about. “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." Try to fool me with every action you take - well, my momma didn’t raise no fool. garyschwitzer.substack.com/p/gold-stand...
October 13, 2025 at 6:42 PM
I'll keep writing about the hypocritical “tenets of Gold Standard Science” that federal health folks brag about. “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." Try to fool me with every action you take - well, my momma didn’t raise no fool. garyschwitzer.substack.com/p/gold-stand...
If this is the “Gold Standard Science” touted by an Executive Order to restore trust to American health policy, it’s doing just the opposite. Trust is looking more battered, broken and rusty by the day. garyschwitzer.substack.com/p/gold-stand...
October 13, 2025 at 11:11 AM
If this is the “Gold Standard Science” touted by an Executive Order to restore trust to American health policy, it’s doing just the opposite. Trust is looking more battered, broken and rusty by the day. garyschwitzer.substack.com/p/gold-stand...
RFK Jr. "is dead wrong" claiming vaccines are ineffective. They "have saved lives, reduced severe impairments like paralysis, brain damage, & hearing loss, and saved us billions of dollars. Enough of the dangerous deceptions on vaccines." www.statnews.com/2025/10/10/m...
RFK Jr. says vaccines don’t save lives. He’s wrong
Now RFK Jr. is claiming vaccines don’t actually save lives. Here’s the math to show what he gets wrong.
www.statnews.com
October 10, 2025 at 8:51 PM
RFK Jr. "is dead wrong" claiming vaccines are ineffective. They "have saved lives, reduced severe impairments like paralysis, brain damage, & hearing loss, and saved us billions of dollars. Enough of the dangerous deceptions on vaccines." www.statnews.com/2025/10/10/m...
“He picks things that seem designed to get clicks on the internet. He gravitates toward magical-seeming, spectacular explanations like Tylenol and circumcision,” said Peter Hotez. www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/outl...
'Absurd': Hotez responds to RFK Jr. claims of autism-circumcision link
RFK Jr.'s statements about autism are “increasingly untethered to reality,” says Peter Hotez.
www.houstonchronicle.com
October 10, 2025 at 12:18 PM
“He picks things that seem designed to get clicks on the internet. He gravitates toward magical-seeming, spectacular explanations like Tylenol and circumcision,” said Peter Hotez. www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/outl...
How numbers help patients more than vague terms. Lessons for physicians, patients, journalists or anyone who communicates about health care. garyschwitzer.substack.com/p/how-number...
October 8, 2025 at 11:28 AM
How numbers help patients more than vague terms. Lessons for physicians, patients, journalists or anyone who communicates about health care. garyschwitzer.substack.com/p/how-number...
6 former Surgeons General said, "We took an oath to declare dangers when we found them. We’re doing that again today." www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
Opinion | Six surgeons general: It’s our duty to warn the nation about RFK Jr.
We took an oath to declare dangers when we found them. We’re doing that again today.
www.washingtonpost.com
October 7, 2025 at 8:01 PM
6 former Surgeons General said, "We took an oath to declare dangers when we found them. We’re doing that again today." www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
It’s Think Before You Pink time again. Not all fundraising promotions are the same - or legit. Some do more for companies & their products than for “the cause.” open.substack.com/pub/garyschw...
October 6, 2025 at 12:12 PM
It’s Think Before You Pink time again. Not all fundraising promotions are the same - or legit. Some do more for companies & their products than for “the cause.” open.substack.com/pub/garyschw...
Trump called it “one of the biggest medical announcements that this office has ever made.” But experts questioned whether the moves will change the status quo much. www.statnews.com/2025/09/30/w...
Will the White House drug-pricing deal lower costs for Americans? Experts are skeptical
Will the White House drug-pricing deal lower costs for Americans? Experts are skeptical.
www.statnews.com
October 2, 2025 at 10:42 AM
Trump called it “one of the biggest medical announcements that this office has ever made.” But experts questioned whether the moves will change the status quo much. www.statnews.com/2025/09/30/w...
Time to turn the Tylenol temperature down. Social media’s wild claims of a “liberal” pregnant woman dying of overdose, mass hospitalizations and organ failures. garyschwitzer.substack.com/p/turn-the-t...
October 1, 2025 at 11:54 AM
Time to turn the Tylenol temperature down. Social media’s wild claims of a “liberal” pregnant woman dying of overdose, mass hospitalizations and organ failures. garyschwitzer.substack.com/p/turn-the-t...
Trump health follies: fake video on "historic new health care system," a post promoting hemp-derived CBD, his FDA banning a dye that hasn't been used for decades & FDA Commissioner double-talk on acetaminophen & autism. garyschwitzer.substack.com/p/the-trump-...
September 29, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Trump health follies: fake video on "historic new health care system," a post promoting hemp-derived CBD, his FDA banning a dye that hasn't been used for decades & FDA Commissioner double-talk on acetaminophen & autism. garyschwitzer.substack.com/p/the-trump-...
Regulators in Europe have issued new statements backing the safety of Tylenol use in pregnancy, effectively repudiating claims from the Trump administration that the medicine can cause autism in children. www.statnews.com/2025/09/23/t...
Countering Trump, European health officials stress that acetaminophen is safe to use during pregnancy
Regulators in Europe have issued new statements backing the safety of Tylenol use in pregnancy, effectively repudiating claims from the Trump administration.
www.statnews.com
September 23, 2025 at 8:42 PM
Regulators in Europe have issued new statements backing the safety of Tylenol use in pregnancy, effectively repudiating claims from the Trump administration that the medicine can cause autism in children. www.statnews.com/2025/09/23/t...
Collection of quotes from & about this strange event: "At times, I had to remind myself that, no, this was not a Saturday Night Live skit." garyschwitzer.substack.com/p/a-strange-...
A strange Presidential autism news conference
“the saddest display of a lack of evidence, rumors, recycling old myths, lousy advice, outright lies, and dangerous advice"
garyschwitzer.substack.com
September 23, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Collection of quotes from & about this strange event: "At times, I had to remind myself that, no, this was not a Saturday Night Live skit." garyschwitzer.substack.com/p/a-strange-...