Viewpoints: FDA’s Approach On Fluoride Supplements Is Unwise; GLP-1s Are Too Hard For Many To Access
Opinion writers discuss these public health issues.
Stat:
The FDA’s Plan On Fluoride Supplements Is Bad Science
One of the most important lessons from the Covid-19 experience is that absolutes in scientific discourse are the exception. Science evolves as both controlled clinical research and real-world evidence show us how to use health care technologies to better advance the human condition. (Peter J. Pitts, 8/1)
Stat:
The U.S. Needs A Revolution To Harness The Potential Of GLP-1s For Weight Loss
The introduction of the GLP-1 class of medications for weight loss has, to date, been one of the rockiest rollouts of a major medical advance in the United States. This is unfortunate, to say the least. Americans are among the most overweight people on the planet, and obesity leads to all manner of life-threatening ills — type 2 diabetes, serious cardiovascular events like heart attacks and strokes, numerous cancers, and sleep apnea, to name a few. (Gavin Hart, 8/1)
New England Journal of Medicine:
The Path Forward For Vaccine Policy In The United States
The federal government has upended the U.S. vaccine policymaking process. The ACIP cannot be replaced, but it may be possible to limit the damage. In this vacuum, it is urgent that other organizations step forward to reassert an evidence-based, expert approach to vaccine recommendations to bring the nation back from the precipice of uncontrolled spread of infectious diseases and needless deaths. Families are counting on us. (Helen Y. Chu, Noel T. Brewer, Edwin J. Asturias, Oliver Brooks, Sybil Cineas, Denise J. Jamieson, Mini Kamboj, and Lin H. Chen, 7/30)
The New York Times:
We’re About To Find Out If Kennedy Is Serious
A month into his new job as health and human services secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. explained his view of America’s health woes to the Fox News host Sean Hannity: “We are poisoning ourselves, and it’s coming from principally these ultraprocessed foods.” (Helena Bottemiller Evich, 7/31)
Stat:
Vinay Prasad Is Divisive, Opinionated — And Usually Right
After news came out that Vinay Prasad would be leaving the Food and Drug Administration, my colleague John M. Mandrola, a cardiologist and contributor to Sensible Medicine, wrote, “Mainly, I am sad.” I join him in being sad. I am also unsurprised — this administration acted exactly how I expected it would, with cowardice and short-sightedness — and angry. (Adam Cifu, 7/31)
The Baltimore Sun:
Climate: EPA Rejects The Science, Ignores The Heat.
“There is unequivocal evidence that Earth is warming at an unprecedented rate. Human activity is the principal cause.” Those two sentences are lifted verbatim from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s science website. You know, the folks who flew astronauts to the moon? But better check it out soon. It surely won’t be long before the Trump administration gets around to planting its own flag on NASA’s outpost of reason and removing the offending facts. (Jensen, 7/31)
