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amymaxmen.bsky.social
Amy Maxmen, PhD
@amymaxmen.bsky.social
29K followers 2.3K following 500 posts
Award-winning public health reporter at KFF Health News. Bylines at Nature, New York Times, National Geographic & more. AmyM@kff.org Signal: AmyMaxmen.25 www.amymaxmen.com & https://kffhealthnews.org/news/author/amy-maxmen
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amymaxmen.bsky.social
Feel the magic ✨💫
November 4, 2025 at 3:41 PM
amymaxmen.bsky.social
Gates' redirected approach to climate change makes sense IMO. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/28/c...

The US is cutting aid while the planet keeps getting hotter. People need immediate solutions for floods, heat, fires. I wish it were mitigation & adaptation but if my house was underwater...
October 28, 2025 at 6:44 PM
amymaxmen.bsky.social
They do nothing rule out the *MANY* other factors that come into play here. Their conclusion is that this is worth studying epidemiologically (they haven't.)

I call it an idea paper since it's just a quick & dirty exercise that researchers might do to formulate a hypothesis. IDK why it's published.
These ecological analyses identified positive correlations between autism/ASD prevalence and indicators of both prenatal and very early life paracetamol exposures. If these patterns are confirmed in formal epidemiologic studies, the use of paracetamol during pregnancy and at the time of circumcision may help to explain autism/ASD prevalence variations between the sexes, among countries, and within U.S. states and ethnic groups.
October 9, 2025 at 9:04 PM
amymaxmen.bsky.social
There simply isn't data showing how much Tylenol children take early in life. So the researchers thought, gee, maybe we can assume that parents give their baby boys Tylenol after circumcision. It's a hell of a leap! They say so (in nerdspeak.)
It is important to acknowledge that this analysis has numerous and significant limitations. First and foremost, correlation is not causation and as such no causal inference is intended. Homogeneity of exposure and prevalence assessment methodologies among the studies has been assumed, but each may be subject to misclassification, confounding and bias. The change in autism/ASD prevalence, circumcision prevalence and paracetamol usage rates over time may not have been adequately addressed. Circumcision rates are presented as a proxy for an early male neonatal exposure to paracetamol. However, this assumption is not without significant limitations. The timeline for the actual implementation of child pain management protocols and the utilization of paracetamol with circumcision is not known. Additionally, pain management guidelines suggest that paracetamol alone is not sufficient to manage circumcision pain so a nerve block or local anesthesia may also be administered, which may be confounding factors.
October 9, 2025 at 9:04 PM
amymaxmen.bsky.social
Arriving in a Blackhawk helicopter and more, ICE raids an apartment building in Chicago.

"It was scary, because I had never had a gun in my face," said one resident.

"We're under siege. We're being invaded by our own military."

abc7chicago.com/post/ice-chi...
Citizen app video captured the chaotic scene, and neighbors say there were dozens of ICE agents. "As I got to my unit to stick my key in the door, I was grabbed by an officer. And, I said, 'What's going on? What's going on?' He never actually told me. He said I was being detained.," said Alicia Brooks. Neighbors like Eboni Watson say they ducked for cover as they heard several flash bangs. "They was terrified. The kids was crying. People was screaming. They looked very distraught. I was out there crying when I seen the little girl come around the corner, because they was bringing the kids down, too, had them zip tied to each other," Watson said. "That's all I kept asking. What is the morality? Where's the human? One of them literally laughed. He was standing right here. He said, 'f*** them kids.'"
October 3, 2025 at 12:32 PM
amymaxmen.bsky.social
The headline on the actual piece, not for social is great, and so is the piece.
September 29, 2025 at 12:33 PM
amymaxmen.bsky.social
For weeks, we've heard speculation about a big autism report. Instead, Trump just gave a speech that could endanger mothers and developing fetuses, since fevers are dangerous. And he showed his cards on vaccines.

Here's a few bits of the transcript:
September 23, 2025 at 2:47 AM
amymaxmen.bsky.social
🗒️Ebola update: 48 cases & 31 deaths in Kasai Congo.
~1000 contacts monitored to stop chains of transmission
-Tests turned around in <6hrs (fast!)
-523 healthworkers & contacts vaccinated

Luckily, DRC has become mighty at Ebola response at at time when US funds & assistance is underwater.
From WHO:
Brazzaville — Response to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is accelerating, with a range of control measures being scaled up leading to quicker detection of the virus, early start of treatment and care, contact tracing, as well as vaccine rollout. Two weeks since the declaration of the outbreak on 4 September 2025, over 90% of contacts of confirmed cases are being monitored and followed up, from just 19% a fortnight ago. Monitoring of contacts is important for—among other measures—rapid detection, prompt isolation and quick initiation of treatment when Ebola symptoms appear. A total of 943 contacts are being followed up in Bulape health zone, the current epicentre of the outbreak. The goal is to disrupt the chain of transmission in the community. Sixteen patients are receiving treatment at Bulape treatment centre, where a 34-bed treatment centre has been set up with clinical care experts and therapeutics deployed to improve treatment. The first two patients to recover from Ebola were discharged on 15 September. Laboratory testing of samples is now being conducted on site in Bulape. Sample testing turnaround time has also significantly improved, with results now obtained within 4—6 hours, down from 4—5 days previously when samples would be shipped to Kinshasa To reduce community transmission as well as safeguard the health workers who are at most risk, a total of 523 frontline health workers in Bulape health zone and contacts have been vaccinated as of 16 September. Six teams are carrying out the vaccination. Around 45,000 additional doses of the Ervebo vaccines have been approved and an initial consignment of 2000 doses has been delivered. “While we’re witnessing important improvements in the response, we’re still in the early days of the outbreak. A determined action is vital to consolidate these positive steps, gain ground against the virus, end its spread and protect the population,” said Dr Mohamed Janabi, World Healt… Brazzaville — Response to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is accelerating, with a range of control measures being scaled up leading to quicker detection of the virus, early start of treatment and care, contact tracing, as well as vaccine rollout. Two weeks since the declaration of the outbreak on 4 September 2025, over 90% of contacts of confirmed cases are being monitored and followed up, from just 19% a fortnight ago. Monitoring of contacts is important for—among other measures—rapid detection, prompt isolation and quick initiation of treatment when Ebola symptoms appear. A total of 943 contacts are being followed up in Bulape health zone, the current epicentre of the outbreak. The goal is to disrupt the chain of transmission in the community. Sixteen patients are receiving treatment at Bulape treatment centre, where a 34-bed treatment centre has been set up with clinical care experts and therapeutics deployed to improve treatment. The first two patients to recover from Ebola were discharged on 15 September. Laboratory testing of samples is now being conducted on site in Bulape. Sample testing turnaround time has also significantly improved, with results now obtained within 4—6 hours, down from 4—5 days previously when samples would be shipped to Kinshasa To reduce community transmission as well as safeguard the health workers who are at most risk, a total of 523 frontline health workers in Bulape health zone and contacts have been vaccinated as of 16 September. Six teams are carrying out the vaccination. Around 45,000 additional doses of the Ervebo vaccines have been approved and an initial consignment of 2000 doses has been delivered. “While we’re witnessing important improvements in the response, we’re still in the early days of the outbreak. A determined action is vital to consolidate these positive steps, gain ground against the virus, end its spread and protect the population,” said Dr Mohamed Janabi, World Healt…
September 18, 2025 at 3:09 PM
amymaxmen.bsky.social
Here's the vitamin A example, from my investigation into the measles outbreak. I found his study with AI, *read it* and then searched PubMed to add context. AI tools aren't nearly as thorough as PubMed, IMO. kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
"While CDC scientists held their tongues, Kennedy exaggerated the power of nutrition and vitamin A while furthering mistrust in vaccines. “We’re providing vitamin A,” Kennedy said in an interview on Fox News. “There are many studies, some showing 87% effectiveness,” he claimed, “against serious disease and death.” The studies Kennedy referenced were conducted in low-income countries where children are malnourished. Evidence suggests that vitamin A supplementation is seldom useful against measles in the United States, because deficiency is exceedingly rare."
September 10, 2025 at 1:08 PM
amymaxmen.bsky.social
Two scientists who have long sounded the alarm on the anti-vaccine and climate denial movements have a timely new book.

By @peterhotezmdphd.bsky.social @michaelmann.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
There are five primary, interconnected forces behind the assault on science and reason. We call them the “five Ps”: the plutocrats, the petrostates, the pros (eg paid promoters of anti-science), the propagandists and – with important exceptions – the media. Together they have generated a perfect storm of antiscientific disinformation that now threatens humanity.
September 9, 2025 at 6:03 PM
amymaxmen.bsky.social
Here's the literature review -- note the authors' conclusion. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
Our analysis demonstrated evidence consistent with an association between exposure to acetaminophen during pregnancy and offspring with NDDs, including ASD and ADHD, though observational limitations preclude definitive causation. This analysis, using the Navigation Guide methodology, synthesizes evidence from several population studies and supports an association between prenatal acetaminophen exposure and increased NDD incidence, including ADHD, ASD, and other NDDs. While population-level trends in NDD rates have risen, potentially due to several factors including improved diagnostics and external exposures, further research is needed to confirm these associations and determine causality and mechanisms. A causal relationship is plausible because of the consistency of the results and appropriate control for bias in the large majority of the epidemiological studies, as well as acetaminophen’s biological effects on the developing fetus in experimental studies. Further, a potential causal relationship is consistent with temporal trends—as acetaminophen has become the recommended pain reliever for pregnant mothers, the rates of ADHD and ASD have increased > 20-fold over the past decades[6–108]. While this association warrants caution, untreated maternal fever and pain pose risks such as neural tube defects and preterm birth, necessitating a balanced approach. We recommend judicious acetaminophen use—lowest effective dose, shortest duration—under medical guidance, tailored to individual risk–benefit assessments, rather than a broad limitation.
September 6, 2025 at 2:10 PM
amymaxmen.bsky.social
The CDC has been decapitated. In my latest newsletter, I wrote about how most of the agency's division directors are gone.

RFK's stated priorities for the CDC directly contradict his actions.

Newsletter @kffhealthnews.org @healthbeat.org healthbeat.beehiiv.com/p/the-cdc-as...
The director of the CDC’s chronic diseases center is gone. So are the heads of the centers on HIV, viral hepatitis, and tuberculosis; on birth defects and disabilities; on public health infrastructure; and on occupational health and safety. So are the directors of the CDC’s office of science, office of health equity, and the office handling Freedom of Information requests. These leaders have been laid off by HHS or pressured to leave. Amid an outbreak of measles, HHS fired CDC scientists who specialize in respiratory diseases and infectious diseases. In June, Kennedy fired all the scientists who advise the CDC on vaccines and replaced them with researchers who lack relevant credentials and have spread misinformation. And even after the Covid pandemic exposed the critical need for data modernization at the CDC, the agency’s information center is now gutted, and funds for disease surveillance are cut. “CDC offices already have been closed and work has already ceased,” warned Fleming and other members of the advisory committee in a letter to Congress, obtained by KFF Health News. “Resources already appropriated by you for FY25 are not reaching states and localities, resulting in significant and ongoing disruption” of programs, it added. Such realities fly in the face of a new editorial from Kennedy, which explains the changes by arguing that the agency was overly bureaucratic, politicized, and “corroded” by “mission creep.” Kennedy lists priorities for the CDC moving forward: strengthening infrastructure to detect and respond to outbreaks; modernizing data systems; investing in the public health workforce; applying gold-standard science to vaccine recommendations; and empowering state and local health departments. Each of these stated priorities is contradicted by the drastic measures above, and cuts to public health funding more broadly.
September 5, 2025 at 12:24 PM
amymaxmen.bsky.social
NIH whistleblowers say HHS manipulated the grant review process to undermine vaccines. @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2025/09/04/h...
"The agency then added layers of political review to the grant-making process that would rule out any research at odds with Mr. Kennedy’s “scientifically unsupported position that vaccines caused harm, including autism in children,” the complaints say. Even as it cut some vaccine research, the complaints said, the health department awarded $500 million in May to a universal vaccine project that many scientists said relied on badly outdated technology. "
September 4, 2025 at 6:16 PM
amymaxmen.bsky.social
Luckily, the WHO is providing press briefings. I no longer expect the same from the CDC.
"WHO Africa Briefing Please join us for a World Health Organization (WHO) Africa press briefing. The briefing is to provide an update on the outbreak of a suspected viral haemorrhagic fever in Kasai Province and the outcome of the ongoing investigations and immediate response measures. Health authorities, with support from WHO and partners, are mobilizing rapid response teams and emergency health supplies and equipment to quickly scale up disease surveillance, laboratory testing, infection prevention and control in health facilities, engaging communities to curb spread of infection. WHO experts will share the latest information, outline priority actions in epidemiology, laboratory, case management, and risk communication, and take your questions."
September 4, 2025 at 12:49 PM
amymaxmen.bsky.social
8/ Frontline public health officials are the heroes of this story. Their struggles are growing due to budget cuts & the amplification of misinformation at the highest levels of gov’t.

Here’s an email I obtained from a West Texas public health director, sent to her weary staff amid the outbreak.
“The future is uncertain, and I know this is an unsettling time for many of us,” she wrote. “Every day we show up and do our jobs is an act of resilience.”
August 25, 2025 at 12:35 PM
amymaxmen.bsky.social
2/ I FOIA’d health departments to learn about the response to measles.

These documents show that in early Feb, West Texas health officials warned the outbreak was far larger than numbers suggested. They asked to speak with CDC scientists. Nearly a month would pass.
www.cbsnews.com/news/measles...
A bar chart shows the number of confirmed cases in Texas over time.
August 25, 2025 at 12:35 PM
amymaxmen.bsky.social
Bluesky speaks out against laws that could breach user privacy.

ht @marynmck.bsky.social
bsky.social/about/blog/0...
"Our Concerns About Mississippi’s Approach While we share the goal of protecting young people online, we have concerns about this law’s implementation: Broad scope: The law requires age verification for all users, not just those accessing age-restricted content, which affects the ability of everyone in Mississippi to use Bluesky. Barriers to innovation: The compliance requirements disadvantage newer and smaller platforms like Bluesky, which do not have the luxury of big teams to build the necessary tooling. The law makes it harder for people to engage in free expression and chills the opportunity to communicate in new ways. Privacy implications: The law requires collecting and storing sensitive personal information from all users, including detailed tracking of minors. What We’re Doing Starting today, if you access Bluesky from a Mississippi IP address, you’ll see a message explaining why the app isn’t available. This block will remain in place while the courts decide whether the law will stand."
August 24, 2025 at 3:55 PM
amymaxmen.bsky.social
What happens when the highest leaders in office spread misinformation about vaccines killing people, stolen elections, etc?

A lot of people believe it. And it makes them furious enough to risk their lives in revenge.

My heart goes out to public health workers rn. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/09/u...
"Mr. Kennedy has previously called the C.D.C. a “cesspool of corruption” and a fascist enterprise. He has accused the agency’s scientists of ignoring vaccine harms to children, comparing it to the Catholic Church’s coverup of child sex abuse. He has also disparaged the Covid-19 vaccine, calling it the “deadliest” vaccine ever made."
August 10, 2025 at 2:03 PM
amymaxmen.bsky.social
Until today, climate.gov provided the public with data on climate trends over time (right image)

Today, climate.gov does not (left image). Click on the tab for trends & the page says "access denied access denied."

The public has paid for this information.
Homepage of climate.gov on June 23 on the wayback machine. It allows the public to look at trends in sea ice, CO2, glaciers and greenhouse gases over time. Climate.gov no longer posts trends, and instead has an update note saying that the page must be compliant with Executive Orders. If you click on trends on the new page for climate.gov, the link goes to a page saying, access denied.
June 24, 2025 at 5:45 PM
amymaxmen.bsky.social
I'm lucky to have met brilliant young people from Burma on my last reporting trip in 2019. One of them is in the US now on a visa, working hard, studying hard, and involved in student groups that say things like this:
Hello Guys, I know you and we have a stressful past week. Some of you is still in distress because you have lost your family members in this disaster back in home.Deeply condolence from me and all the students from CUNY Burmese . This situation made me realize one thing that how bless we are studying in the most prestige colleges and being in safe environment. Let's use this as the most beneficial way and not take for granted. Whatever filed you are studying , give it all the best you can so that in future we can help our country and educate the upcoming generations. I know all of us try hard ,study hard but whenever you feel lazy to study , just remember that we have a duty and future nurses, doctors, filmmakers,Finance specialists , Politicians ,Lawayers ,IT specialists and every others subjects that we in are all which will gonna be a part of good future for every aspects of our country.
June 5, 2025 at 2:52 PM
amymaxmen.bsky.social
Men in military gear refused to show a warrant or identify themselves to the owner of the business. They implied they were arresting the gardener for drunk driving.

He doesn't know how to drive.

I miss reading about ticks & beavers in the Berkshire news. theberkshireedge.com/stalked-and-...
According to Stiner, she noticed a blacked-out SUV sitting in their private parking lot several hours before the gardener arrived for work. As soon as the man arrived at their location, several other cars pulled up and additional agents emerged. By the end, there were up to eight agents in up to four cars. Shafiroff arrived on site after the incident was already in progress and immediately began taping the activity. As her video reveals, she insistently asked them to identify themselves and to show a warrant. Their only concession to her requests was to show a little police badge which Shafiroff said looked like something you could buy online. “The intimidation level was what was most disturbing,” Shafiroff said. “They were covered up in masks, hoods, and vests, and no ID’s. They did not behave like police officers. Police officers are respectful. They know people have rights. These guys were like thugs.” At one point, the man took out of his pocket a little red card provided by an immigrant aid organization that listed his rights with instructions on how to respond to federal agents. According to Stiner, the agents showed no interest, brushed it aside, and insisted that the man had no identification. The agents implied, as shown in the video, that the man was being arrested for drunk driving. The Berkshire Edge has since heard from a relative that the man does not know how to drive, has no car, and his only means of transportation is his bicycle.
June 3, 2025 at 12:04 PM
amymaxmen.bsky.social
Not far off. The WHO has finally evolved beyond droplets, while the CDC lags behind. More on this in my piece about airborne science that @oonazenda.bsky.social illustrated beautifully kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
A cartoon that illustrates figures in a model created by the WHO to illustrate airborne risks.
May 22, 2025 at 5:31 PM
amymaxmen.bsky.social
🎯If you read one thing about the Pandemic Treaty, let it be this by Ebere Okereke @thinkglobalhealth.org

www.thinkglobalhealth.org/article/pand...
"Global health governance is always a reflection of the broader political environment. Today, that environment is tense and fragmented. But pandemics will not wait for a better geopolitical moment. We need to act now. As African global health professionals, we are calling not for charity but for justice—for a pandemic treaty that recognizes the shared vulnerability of all nations and demands shared responsibility. A weak treaty is not a neutral outcome. It is an active choice to preserve the status quo—a status quo that has already cost millions of lives."
May 22, 2025 at 12:24 PM
amymaxmen.bsky.social
Bill Gates on Elon Musk: "The world’s richest man has been involved in the deaths of the world’s poorest children."

From the Bill Gates Q&A with @dwallacewells.bsky.social @nytimes.com

www.nytimes.com/2025/05/08/m...
For a long period there, the world could look to you and Melinda and the foundation as icons of a certain set of values and a model of what to do with great wealth. Then we had Effective Altruism, which was even more aggressive about leveraging each dollar for maximum humanitarian impact, though many of those figures went on to obsess over different sets of questions, like the welfare of the planet’s chickens or multiplanetary humans of the 23rd century. Now it’s like, Who’s the world’s richest man? Elon Musk. And he’s not giving much away, if anything, to the needs of the world’s poor. Well, he’s the one who cut the U.S.A.I.D. budget. He put it in the wood chipper, because he didn’t go to a party that weekend. Technically he’s still attached to the Giving Pledge, but I haven’t seen evidence that he’s actually committed to it. The Giving Pledge — an unusual aspect of it that you can wait until you die and still fulfill it. So who knows? He could go on to be a great philanthropist. In the meantime, the world’s richest man has been involved in the deaths of the world’s poorest children.
May 8, 2025 at 5:58 PM
amymaxmen.bsky.social
I reported this story just as groups were getting termination notices. They spoke about what that meant to the people who need them for food, healthcare & housing.

“So goes Mississippi, so goes the rest of the United States," said Deja Abdul-Haqq, at My Brother’s Keeper. " We are all in trouble.”
A program manager outside of a mobile clinic that will have to curb services because of funding cuts.
May 6, 2025 at 11:51 AM