Theresa Gaffney
LightNews LightNews
theresagaff.bsky.social
Theresa Gaffney
@theresagaff.bsky.social
1.1K followers 280 following 77 posts
reporter, newsletter writer, & Guild member at STAT
theresa.gaffney@statnews.com
Signal: theresagaff.97

she / her
Posts Replies Media Videos
Pinned
theresagaff.bsky.social
Theresa Gaffney @theresagaff.bsky.social · Dec 23
I wrote about gender-affirming surgery — what it means to the people that get it, its evolution as a professional specialty in the U.S., and how the incoming administration could put all of that at risk: www.statnews.com/2024/12/23/g...
A 19-year-old patient wearing ripped jeans and loosely tied work boots sits in a chair in the doctor's office. One foot is propped up resting on his knee. He has a spiral notebook and mechanical pencil in his lap. An excerpt from the story: “'In the case of an emerging field like this, where there weren’t a lot of road maps on how to do things and there was so much room for improvement, you have somehow to have a lot of creativity,' she recalled. Trinidad was a small 'Santa Fe Trail' type of town, Bowers said, where she and Biber were the only surgeons of any kind for miles. The people stepping off the Greyhound bus were almost always alone, Bowers remembers. They were usually older, retired, single or divorced, and had lived much of their lives in the closet. After finally coming out as trans, they were often estranged from their families. Insurance wouldn’t cover the procedure, so they always paid in cash. Afterward, they left town without knowing whether any other doctor might understand the procedure enough to be able to address potential future complications. They prepared for the long recovery alone.
Reposted by Theresa Gaffney
esqueer.net
UMass abruptly canceled bottom surgery appointments for hundreds of patients with no explanation. Some had surgery dates booked a year in advance, others were scheduled to get revisions done.

www.wgbh.org/news/health/...
‘I’m crushed’: Transgender patients left in limbo after UMass Memorial canceled their surgeries
Some people had waited nearly a year for their appointments with a preeminent surgeon. Now, they don’t know what to do.
www.wgbh.org
February 11, 2026 at 9:57 PM
Reposted by Theresa Gaffney
lizzylawrence.bsky.social
Scoop: Top FDA official Vinay Prasad overruled the agency’s reviewers when he refused to accept Moderna’s application for a new influenza vaccine, STAT has learned.
www.statnews.com/2026/02/11/m...
Prasad overruled FDA staff to reject Moderna's flu vaccine application
The rejection is the latest instance of Vinay Prasad overruling career FDA scientists to place vaccines under harsher scrutiny.
www.statnews.com
February 11, 2026 at 3:34 PM
Reposted by Theresa Gaffney
statnews.com
A Christian group announces a potentially landmark legal settlement that the ACLU says could establish new federal protections for harm reduction services. www.statnews.com/2026/02/10/n...
Landmark settlement could create new protections for harm reduction under disability law
A Christian group announces a potentially landmark legal settlement that the ACLU says could establish new federal protections for harm reduction services.
www.statnews.com
February 10, 2026 at 7:58 PM
theresagaff.bsky.social
“I don’t know that this is going to be the straw that breaks the camel’s back in any one scenario,” one expert told me re: the latest ASPS and AMA statements on gender-affirming surgery. “The pressure [medical institutions] are already facing is substantial.” www.statnews.com/2026/02/10/m...
Did the AMA change its position on surgery for transgender minors?
The statements largely echo existing practices, but come as political pressure on transgender care grows.
www.statnews.com
February 10, 2026 at 3:10 PM
theresagaff.bsky.social
"So you’re a bear in the forest, and you’re hungry." www.statnews.com/2026/02/06/m...
The push to turn Big Food into the new Big Tobacco
Can the anti-tobacco playbook work against ultra-processed food?
www.statnews.com
February 6, 2026 at 5:41 PM
theresagaff.bsky.social
I tallied all the hospitals and health systems that have stopped providing gender-affirming care to young people in the last year (so you don't have to)

This includes nine that have stopped providing hormones and puberty blockers since the beginning of the year. www.statnews.com/2026/02/05/h...
Amid federal pressure, more hospitals stop gender-affirming care for minors
A STAT analysis found more than 40 hospitals have paused or ceased to offer some gender-affirming care to young people since President Trump took office
www.statnews.com
February 5, 2026 at 10:01 PM
theresagaff.bsky.social
The plastic surgeons society now recommends delaying gender-affirming procedures until age 19. Daniel and I wrote about it, including how the group made ethical considerations for surgeries on cisgender vs. transgender adolescents. www.statnews.com/2026/02/03/g...
Plastic surgeons society recommends delaying gender-affirming procedures until age 19
The American Society of Plastic Surgeons recommended that gender-affirming surgeries be delayed until a patient is at least 19 years old
www.statnews.com
February 3, 2026 at 8:30 PM
Reposted by Theresa Gaffney
jaspar.bsky.social
STAT actually has a little bureau here in the Twin Cities. I’m glad my colleague @mmolteni.bsky.social was able to get out and cover this health care worker’s vigil www.statnews.com/2026/01/26/a...
Alex Pretti remembered by health care workers at a Minneapolis vigil as a ‘standup guy’
Health care workers brought flowers and wreaths, lit candles, and draped stethoscopes over a wooden cross as a makeshift memorial to nurse Alex Pretti
www.statnews.com
January 26, 2026 at 4:14 PM
theresagaff.bsky.social
Endometriosis can often take 5-10 painful years to diagnose. But recently, at least a dozen companies have begun working to make that process simpler. And there's hope their work could eventually lead to better treatment for the complicated, common disease: www.statnews.com/2026/01/26/e...
Endometriosis often takes years to diagnose. Startups want to change that
At least a dozen biotech companies are developing tools to diagnose endometriosis more easily.
www.statnews.com
January 26, 2026 at 3:21 PM
Reposted by Theresa Gaffney
isabellacueto.bsky.social
Nearly half of Trump-appointed experts involved in shaping the new dietary guidelines have financial ties to meat and dairy industries.

Exclusive with @sarah-todd.bsky.social and @elizabethcooney.bsky.social -->

www.statnews.com/2026/01/07/n...
Panel behind new dietary guidelines had financial ties to beef, dairy industries
The industry connections of an advisory panel for the new dietary guidelines are notable, especially in light Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s criticism of corporate influence.
www.statnews.com
January 7, 2026 at 7:49 PM
Reposted by Theresa Gaffney
lizzylawrence.bsky.social
The FDA is easing regulation for wearable devices and AI-enabled clinical decision support tools. Commissioner Makary intro'd the news at #CES2026, telling attendees the FDA will "get out of the way" and "promote AI." Read our news analysis:
www.statnews.com/2026/01/06/f...
FDA announces sweeping changes to oversight of wearables, AI-enabled devices
The FDA will ease regulation of digital health products, aiming to deregulate AI and promote its widespread use.
www.statnews.com
January 6, 2026 at 9:01 PM
theresagaff.bsky.social
19 states are suing HHS over last week's gender-affirming care crackdown — particularly Kennedy's declaration. Chelsea has the details: www.statnews.com/2025/12/24/g...
Nineteen states, D.C. sue HHS over gender-affirming care crackdown
Democratic-led states and D.C. have sued HHS, calling an RFK Jr. declaration that rejected gender-affirming care an overreach of its authority.
www.statnews.com
December 24, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Reposted by Theresa Gaffney
ericmgarcia.bsky.social
NEW: Many Democratic Senators said they hadn't seen Marjorie Taylor Greene's anti-trans bill and didn't say if it would fail. The only one who gave a hard commitment? Greene's fellow Georgian Raphael Warnock.
www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...
Democratic senators balk on vote against Marjorie Taylor Greene’s anti-trans bill
The bill would need seven Democratic senators to join Republicans
www.independent.co.uk
December 19, 2025 at 7:25 PM
theresagaff.bsky.social
We updated this story with some insights from lawyers and policy experts on whether or not CMS has the legal authority to do this, what challenges to the rules may look like, and when those challenges can happen. Take a read:
December 18, 2025 at 8:35 PM
theresagaff.bsky.social
BREAKING: Trump admin officially proposes new CMS rules to restrict trans health care for young people, including one that would change the conditions for hospitals to participate in Medicare/Medicaid by barring those that offer gender-affirming care to minors.
www.statnews.com/2025/12/18/t...
In major effort to end gender-affirming care, Trump administration takes aim at hospitals
The Trump administration intends to make its most forceful attempt yet at restricting gender-affirming care for transgender youth in the U.S.
www.statnews.com
December 18, 2025 at 2:54 PM
theresagaff.bsky.social
Marjorie Taylor Greene's bill prohibiting gender-affirming care for young trans people has passed the House. Story updated:
theresagaff.bsky.social Theresa Gaffney @theresagaff.bsky.social · Dec 17
Republicans in Congress are making a renewed push before the end of the year to pass major federal restrictions to gender-affirming care for trans minors. There will likely be one vote today, and more to come before the end of the week: www.statnews.com/2025/12/17/h...
House set to vote on bills to ban gender-affirming care for young people
It's the latest effort by GOP lawmakers and President Trump to restrict care for transgender youth.
www.statnews.com
December 17, 2025 at 11:55 PM
Reposted by Theresa Gaffney
melodyschreiber.com
The House is planning to vote on two bills to ban gender-affirming health care for children. I followed a doctor and a nurse as they visited lawmakers yesterday to urge them to vote no:
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Health workers decry hasty House bills to ban gender-affirming care for children: ‘They hurt people’
Two bills mark the first time Congress has voted over national care bans and an escalation of anti-trans rhetoric
www.theguardian.com
December 17, 2025 at 5:03 PM
theresagaff.bsky.social
Republicans in Congress are making a renewed push before the end of the year to pass major federal restrictions to gender-affirming care for trans minors. There will likely be one vote today, and more to come before the end of the week: www.statnews.com/2025/12/17/h...
House set to vote on bills to ban gender-affirming care for young people
It's the latest effort by GOP lawmakers and President Trump to restrict care for transgender youth.
www.statnews.com
December 17, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Reposted by Theresa Gaffney
jasonmast.bsky.social
Amid talk of a brain drain, some scientists leave U.S. behind www.statnews.com/2025/12/17/r...
Amid talk of a brain drain, some scientists leave U.S. behind
“A large part of what we loved about the United States is no longer there”: Amid talk of a brain drain, some scientists leave the U.S. behind.
www.statnews.com
December 17, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Reposted by Theresa Gaffney
oriion.bsky.social
The FDA is interested in changing testosterone’s label as a drug with a higher risk of abuse and physical dependence, to help cisgender men more easily access it.

What about trans men, you ask? Well, the FDA didn't, but we did!
There’s a testosterone crisis, the FDA says — for cisgender men
The government disapproves of the hormone for transgender people but is enthusiastic about what it could do for cisgender men.
19thnews.org
December 12, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Reposted by Theresa Gaffney
mmolteni.bsky.social
This week's installments to our American Science, Shattered series @statnews.com include a check-in with scientists, federal workers, policy experts, and patients whose stories we brought you earlier this year.

www.statnews.com/2025/12/11/a...
Postscripts from the frontlines of Trump's attacks on science: no simple happy endings
Stories from the frontlines of Trump's attack on science: Follow-ups from a year of struggles in Part 7 of our series "American Science, Shattered."
www.statnews.com
December 11, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Reposted by Theresa Gaffney
juliekliegman.com
A look from @theresagaff.bsky.social at how early-career trans and nonbinary researchers are dealing with lost funding and more generally ~the state of things~
Early-career trans researchers reconsider their futures amid lost funding and fear
The chaos created by the freezing and termination of billions of dollars of research grants has left trans academics especially vulnerable.
www.statnews.com
December 10, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Reposted by Theresa Gaffney
aniloza.bsky.social
Sharing an identity w/ study participants, health equity awards, widely read papers — all positives in the past

But this year, they're being weaponized against trans researchers

@theresagaff.bsky.social w/ the next part of American Science, Shattered

www.statnews.com/2025/12/09/h...
Early-career trans researchers reconsider their futures amid lost funding and fear
The chaos created by the freezing and termination of billions of dollars of research grants has left trans academics especially vulnerable.
www.statnews.com
December 9, 2025 at 2:46 PM
theresagaff.bsky.social
If you've kept up with STAT's reporting this year, you know how big an impact federal funding cuts have had on research. But trans scholars in particular have had to pivot research topics, delay job searches and career advancements, limit travel — and at times have been fearful for their own safety.
December 9, 2025 at 4:19 PM
theresagaff.bsky.social
There are five great stories up for this series so far, all recounting the experiences of real people whose work and lives have been impacted by the Trump administration's interference. As one scientist told Anil: "I think everyone has their own horror story." Take a look.
December 8, 2025 at 3:31 PM