Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Meta Removes Some Covid Misinfo Policies, Triggering Concerns
ABC News: Health Experts Worry As Meta Rolls Back Some COVID Misinformation Policies
Public health experts fear that Meta's decision to roll back some of its COVID-19 misinformation measures will lead to more disinformation about the virus, treatments for it and vaccines. The company announced the changes on Friday after it asked its independent oversight advisory board whether it should continue its COVID-19 misinformation policy for Facebook and Instagram or take a "less restrictive approach." (Kekatos, 6/19)
NBC News: YouTube Removes Video Of RFK Jr. And Jordan Peterson For Misinformation
YouTube said Monday that it had removed a video of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaking with podcast host Jordan Peterson for spreading what the company said was vaccine misinformation. The decision is the latest challenge for Kennedy as he seeks to find support for a Democratic presidential run after years as an anti-vaccine crusader. The video was removed amid a broader tug-of-war online between vaccine conspiracy theorists and prominent doctors. (Ingram and Goggin, 6/19)
CNN: Peter Hotez Says He Was 'Stalked' In Front Of Home After Joe Rogan Twitter Exchange About Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
A prominent vaccine scientist said he was accosted outside of his home after a Twitter exchange with podcaster Joe Rogan, who challenged him to debate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. over the weekend. “I just was stalked in front of my home by a couple of antivaxers taunting me to debate RFKJr.,” Houston-based scientist Peter Hotez tweeted Sunday. (Maruf, 6/19)
KFF Health News: Doctor Lands In The Doghouse After Giving Covid Vaccine Waivers Too Freely
A Tennessee doctor has lost his medical license for issuing covid-19 vaccine waivers to patients he never met in at least three states. One, it turned out, was a dog named Charlie Kraus. Robert Coble, 76, of Goodspring, Tennessee, agreed to surrender his license in a May settlement with the Tennessee Department of Health that was announced by the agency on June 15. (Kelman, 6/16)
More on the spread of covid —
CIDRAP: Gestational Diabetes, Pediatric Type 2 Diabetes Increased During Pandemic
More pregnant women were diagnosed with gestational diabetes during the pandemic, and more kids received a type 2 diagnosis, according to new research presented this week at ENDO 2023, the Endocrine Society's annual meeting in Chicago. (Soucheray, 6/16)
St. Louis Public Radio: Wash U Study Finds Organ Donations From COVID Patients Safe
Kidneys donated from deceased patients who tested positive for COVID-19 are safe to transplant and don’t pass the infection on to recipients, according to a study from researchers at Washington University. (Fentem, 6/16)
The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer: Long COVID-19 Can Make You Thirsty - A First Look At The Data Showing Us What Scientists Have Learned
Scientists are now sharing a first look at the data they had collected from adults with long COVID-19 and they found some interesting patterns. Among them, thirst is a common complaint among long haulers. The national study followed nearly 10,000 patients for six months. It included those who had received a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis within 30 days of entering the study and patients who started the study never having been infected with the virus. The findings were published May 25 in the Journal of the American Medical Association. (Kroen, 6/19)
Los Angeles Times: Could Fourth Of July Trigger Summer COVID-19 Spike? What L.A. County Data Show
Summer has been a fraught and cautious time in the pandemic era, with travel and gatherings for holidays and vacation fueling COVID-19 spikes each of the last three years. Could the fourth time be the charm? (Lin II and Money, 6/19)
