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Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ordered the new head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to remove two measles deaths from the Pennsylvania tally, in an effort to fudge the numbers lower. Last Friday, the CDC held off on its annual Friday measles update, waiting instead until Sunday, when it removed the Pennsylvania fatalities, adding a note that read, “At this time, available information does not establish whether measles caused or contributed to the (Pennsylvania) deaths or whether the individuals died from other causes while infected with measles.”The change was made at Kennedy’s personal request, three sources familiar with the conversation told Reuters.This decision came days after Kennedy and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro traded barbs online, with Shapiro accusing Kennedy of stoking fear and spreading misinformation by claiming that the measles vaccine contained “fetal tissue,” and that the disease could be cured with “chicken soup and vitamin A.”“Before [RFK Jr.] held his current position, measles was virtually eliminated in the United States,” Shapiro wrote on X last week. “As recently as 2024, there were only 285 cases of measles across the entire country over 12 months. This year, in just 8 months, there are nearly 400 cases of measles across 29 counties in Pennsylvania alone—and nearly 3,000 cases across the country.... The correlation is clear: Secretary Kennedy has stoked confusion amongst parents and others—and the result has been less protection from measles and more cases.”Even still, newly appointed CDC head Erica Schwartz removed the deaths from the measles tally in Pennsylvania at RFK Jr.’s behest, completely delegitimizing the findings of the state health care apparatus. Former American Public Health Association chief executive Georges Benjamin called that move “unheard of.” “The secretary had no business ​interfering in the normal process,” he said. “He has an anti-vaccine agenda and he’s using this to play out his anti-vaccine agenda.”As Shapiro noted, measles is virtually entirely preventable due to the development of the MMR vaccine, an acronym for “measles, mumps, and rubella.” RFK Jr. of course loathes this vaccine, and his rhetoric against it has surely contributed to the resurgence of the disease—and the deaths which he ordered erased from the database.The CDC denied Reuters’s reporting and the legitimacy of Pennsylvania’s measles count, writing to The New Republic: “CDC has a responsibility to ensure its reporting accurately distinguishes between what is known and what remains unconfirmed. The information currently posted reflects the best available information and our commitment to transparency and telling the American people the truth—a foundational principle of the Trump Administration.”This story has been updated.

As part of our ongoing series on artificial intelligence, we speak with researcher Shreya Johri, who says AI has the power to revolutionize the field of medicine, particularly in diagnosing patients. Johri is a postdoctoral fellow at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and completed her Ph.D. at Harvard Medical School in 2025. She discusses ways that new technology is improving patient care, but she says AI must be treated like an additional tool and not be given control over patient care. “Doctors have to be responsible, have to take the responsibility of this, until we are more confident we have frameworks developed that can deploy these AI models in a more responsible way,” she says.

First-year college women are particularly at risk for being sexually assaulted. Campus intervention programs can help decrease that risk.

These apps and software programs could provide access to lifesaving screening – if researchers can find a way to remove the baked-in bias.

Data reporting by Melissa Lewis The Wonderful Company is the top sprayer of the herbicide glyphosate in California, according to records analyzed by Mother Jones as part of its searchable database of Top 100 users in the state. The company used 328,000 pounds in 2023, the latest year pesticide records are available—about 68 percent more […]

Los trabajadores de la salud quienes están luchando por un contrato sindical en Vermont han acudido a la mesa de negociaciones no solo con sus propias demandas de plantillas suficientes y salarios justos, sino también con una petición algo inusual: una planteada en solidaridad con trabajadores lecheros en el estado. Quieren que su empleador, el Centro Médico de la Universidad de Vermont, se una al programa “Leche con Dignidad”.

China has approved a slew of brain-computer interface devices this year, in a bid to compete with Elon Musk’s Neuralink.

Officials say the moratorium announced by the mayor of New York City is the most sweeping of its kind.