Review from non-profit finds range of scenarios of firms simultaneously lobbying for and against Pfas regulations

Some top US lobbying firms are simultaneously working both sides of the Pfas “forever chemicals” issue, raising serious conflict of interest questions and concerns that their activity is slowing states’ efforts to rein in the public health threat.

The review of six states’ lobbying records conducted by the non-profit F-Minus found a range of scenarios in which firms lobbied both sides. Most common Pfas are linked to cancer.

The lobbying firm Holland & Knight works for the American Chemistry Council, which represents the nation’s largest Pfas makers, and aggressively opposes most regulations. Simultaneously, Holland & Knight lobbies for the American Cancer Society.

As the U.S. flu season winds down, health officials say the flu vaccine didn’t work very well, with one of its worst effectiveness rates in more than a decade.

A new strain that dominated the early winter was not well matched to the vaccine, leading to an intense early onslaught of flu.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday posted data that showed a continued decline in doctor’s office and hospital visits for flu symptoms through last week. The number of states reporting high flu activity dropped to 16, many of them in a belt stretching from Colorado to Virginia.

Experts warn younger people not to dismiss symptoms such as rectal bleeding as diagnoses rise for those under 50+

Colorectal cancer is now the leading cause of cancer death in the US for people under 50, according to a new analysis from the American Cancer Society, prompting both experts and those in that age group with the disease to warn others to take certain symptoms seriously.

Becca Lynch, who works in cyber security in Denver, Colorado, was diagnosed with advanced colon cancer last year, when she was just 29. At first, she assumed her symptoms couldn’t be anything serious: “I chalked it up to stress,” she said.

Now, she is careful to describe her symptoms in great detail, not because they’re fun to talk about, but because she doesn’t want other people to miss the signs.

The MIT professor who has been appointed by Robert F Kennedy Jr to review the safety of Covid-19 vaccines has failed to meet basic scientific standards in his own research on the topic, according to more than a dozen scientists and public health experts.

Retsef Levi, an operations management professor, is a member of the US health department’s vaccine advisory committee (ACIP) which is meeting later this month and – many experts fear – could seek to rollback recommendations on who should receive Covid-19 vaccines.

Levi, who holds Israeli and American citizenship, has claimed that Covid-19 vaccines are the “most failing medical product in the history of medical products”, despite a body of research that has shown they are safe and effective. A modeling study published in 2022 in the prestigious medical journal The Lancet estimated that Covid-19 vaccines saved nearly 20 million lives in the first year they were available.

Medical data from 100m people shows risk 122% higher for amphetamine users, 96% higher for cocaine and 37% higher for cannabis

Recreational drugs can more than double the risk of stroke, with some of the most concerning impacts seen among younger people, a major review suggests.

Scientists analysed medical data from more than 100 million people and found that the risk of stroke was 122% higher for amphetamine users and 96% higher for cocaine users compared with those who did not take the drugs.

Cannabis users were also at greater risk, suffering 37% more strokes than non-users, the review found, though researchers saw no evidence that opioids, a highly addictive painkiller, added to a person’s risk of stroke.

Most of America “springs forward” Sunday for daylight saving time. Losing that hour of sleep can do more than leave you tired and cranky the next day; it also could harm your health.

Darker mornings and more evening light knock your body clock out of whack — which means daylight saving time can usher in sleep trouble for weeks or longer. Studies have even found an uptick in heart attacks and strokes right after the March time change.

Novo Nordisk has agreed to sell its blockbuster Wegovy and Ozempic drugs through U.S. telehealth company Hims & Hers' platform, the Danish drugmaker said on Monday, ending a legal dispute that erupted last month.

The deal marks ‌a turnaround from February, when Novo sued Hims over a $49 compounded alternative to its Wegovy weight-loss pill.

Novo is grappling with telehealth firms offering cheaper compounded copycat versions of its obesity treatments.

I've pulled some excerpts from the article:

Experts say cultural expectations around manhood deter men from getting help

Researchers and health advocates say many men delay seeking care, even when symptoms appear — a trend the federal government says it hopes to reverse by developing a strategy focused on improving men’s and boys’ health.

Recent data from Statistics Canada show men are experiencing distinct health challenges, including higher rates of suicide, substance abuse, and premature or preventable death.

“Too often, the message men and boys hear is to tough it out, to stay quiet and to deal with it alone,” Minister of Women and Gender Equality Rechie Valdez said at the news conference in February.

Health Canada says the strategy, set to be released later this year, aims to foster “supportive and safe environments, challenge harmful stereotypes, reduce stigma, and encourage men of all ages to seek help when they need it.”

A common thread in some of the statistics mirrors Bouchard’s story; waiting for care. About 65 per cent of men waited at least six days before seeking help for symptoms, according to a September 2025 report released by Movember, a men’s health advocacy organization. And nearly one in 10 delay care for more than two years, according to the results.

Timothy Caulfield, a professor in the faculty of law and the school of public health at the University of Alberta, says many of the health challenges facing men are increasingly being linked to messaging from the so-called “manosphere” — an umbrella term used to describe online communities and content its critics say promote misogynistic and harmful views .

“Many of these harms … are closely tethered to the embrace of traditional masculine norms,” said Caulfield. “There is a crisis of health for men, which has been around for a long time, and the manosphere which is exploiting the existence of this crisis, is only making it worse.”

“I think the biggest thing that can be done is normalising the conversation about this,” he said. “That comes from encouraging men to speak to other men.”

Kuhl agrees.

“We…need to understand that men want to talk about [their health issues], but they want to talk about it with people who can use their language … their understanding of what’s going on in their bodies and minds,” said Kuhl.

He says those conversations should also include reframing how masculinity — a word often paired with “toxic” — is seen and understood.

“We can talk about how ‘providing for my family’ means [that] I stay healthy,” said Kuhl. “It means then I take courage rather than fear and say, ‘I’m going to talk to somebody about it,’ and hopefully I’ll find a doctor who understands what it means to talk to a man.”

He adds, emphasizing the positive aspects of masculinity, such as the desire to provide and care for a family, is crucial to that reframing. Kuhl also encourages family doctors to engage boys and men earlier in the health-care system — not just when they’re already in crisis.

Health advocates say addressing men’s health could also have broader public health benefits as well.

Caulfield points to research showing that “individuals who embrace traditional masculine norms are less likely to adopt public health behaviours” such as getting vaccinated.

“[They’re] less likely to do even things like wearing sunscreen or eating healthy because those things aren’t framed as being manly,” said Caulfield. “So it really does have a broad public health component that needs to be addressed.”

He hopes the federal strategy will reinforce the message that being a man includes taking the necessary steps to stay healthy, so men can support and be present for their families.

Review of FDA records by the Environmental Working Group reveals firms are exploiting rule to send new chemicals in food system

More than 100 substances widely used in common US foods, supplements and beverages underwent no health and safety review by the US Food and Drug Administration, a new analysis of federal records finds.

The review of FDA records by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) non-profit reveals that diverse products across the food pyramid, such as Capri Sun drinks, Kettle and Fire organic broth, Acme smoked fish, and Quaker Oats snack bars, use a range of substances that have not undergone review by regulators.

Companies are using the generally recognized as safe (GRAS) rule that was developed in 1958 to allow ingredients such as salt or white vinegar to be used without a burdensome and needless review process.

Vinay Prasad to leave in April after decisions involving vaccine reviews and specialty drugs for rare diseases

The Food and Drug Administration’s embattled vaccine chief, Dr Vinay Prasad, is once again leaving the agency – the second time in less than a year that he’s departed after decisions involving the review of vaccinations and specialty drugs for rare diseases.

FDA commissioner Marty Makary announced the news to FDA staff in an email late Friday, saying Prasad would depart at the end of April. Makary said Prasad would return to his academic job at the University of California, San Francisco.

Prasad’s latest ouster follows a string of high-profile controversies involving the FDA’s review of vaccines, gene therapies and biotech drugs in which companies have criticized the agency for reversing itself, in some cases calling for new trials of products previously greenlighted by regulators.

The Millers are part of a new surge of American nurses, doctors, and other health care workers moving to Canada, and specifically British Columbia, where more than 1,000 U.S.-trained nurses have been approved to work since April.

Many nurses have felt the draw of Canada's progressive politics, friendly reputation, and universal health care system, which stands in contrast to what they see as authoritarian policies under Trump along with deep cuts to funding for public health, insurance, and medical research.

Additionally, some nurses were incensed last year when the Trump administration said it would reclassify nursing as a nonprofessional degree, which would impose strict federal limits on the loans nursing students could receive.

Canada is poised to capitalize. Two of its most populous provinces, Ontario and British Columbia, have streamlined the licensing process for American nurses since Trump returned to the White House. British Columbia also launched a $5 million advertising campaign last year to recruit nurses from California, Oregon, and Washington state.

Cheap semaglutide, the drug in Ozempic and Wegovy, could help millions with diabetes and obesity in 160 countries

Weight-loss jabs such as Wegovy and Ozempic could be made for just $3 a month, according to new analysis, potentially making the treatment available to millions in poorer countries as patents expire.

More than a billion people live with obesity worldwide, with rates rising fast in lower-income nations as they shift to westernised diets and more sedentary lifestyles.

The World Health Organization designated semaglutide – sold to treat obesity under the brand name Wegovy, and diabetes under the brand name Ozempic – as an essential medicine in September last year.

Trump told pregnant women in September 2025 to avoid Tylenol because taking it would increase their babies' risk of autism: "Taking Tylenol is not good — I'll say it: It's not good."

Doctors and scientists quickly said the data didn't support the president's claim, but emergency room orders for Tylenol, or acetaminophen, for pregnant patients went down 10% in the months that followed, according to a new study in The Lancet. There was no change in the acetaminophen orders for comparable women who weren't pregnant.

"It happened overnight," says Dr. Jeremy Faust, an emergency physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston who led the study. The president's words "had an immediate impact on how much Tylenol or acetaminophen was being ordered in emergency departments."

“A Texas Democratic congressmember warns there are at least 14 active measles cases at Camp East Montana, a hastily constructed tent camp in El Paso where more than 3,000 immigrants are imprisoned. Another 112 people are being isolated. The ICE jail has recently had outbreaks of COVID-19 and tuberculosis and is rife with reports of inadequate medical care. Democratic U.S. Congressmember Veronica Escobar warns the outbreaks threaten the greater El Paso community, yet she has never seen guards wearing masks to prevent the spread of highly infectious diseases. “

Research found that participants who were expert bird watchers showed "differences in both brain structure and brain activity."

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