By The Defender Staff
US Health Department Withdraws Vaccine Advisory Panel Charter
U.S. News & World Report reported:
The U.S. health department has withdrawn an April charter renewal for a key vaccine advisory panel that laid out new membership rules and direction, citing an administrative error, according to a Federal Register notice issued on Monday. The Department of Health and Human Services said the withdrawal was the result of not having met the timing requirements for such changes under federal law.
U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had issued a new charter for the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on vaccine use in the country, on April 6. The advisory panel had been a key piece of Kennedy’s broader effort to reshape U.S. vaccine policy.
Last year, he removed and replaced all 17 independent experts who previously served on the panel. The new charter followed a March 16 decision by Boston-based U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy as part of a court case seeking to overturn some of Kennedy’s vaccine-related changes. The charter expanded the role of the panel to include a focus on vaccine risks, vaccine safety evidence and what qualified individuals for membership.
Children’s Mental Health Visits Have Shot Up, Research Shows
A study of insurance claims for 1.8 million children found that the number of families raising mental health issues at visits to general practitioners rose sharply over a decade, with anxiety by far the fastest-growing complaint.
The study, which was published on Monday in the journal JAMA Network Open, found that the number of pediatric visits rose to 9.7 percent in 2023 from 5.7 percent in 2014. The study included all insurance claims for children from ages 1 to 18 in Massachusetts, for a total of more than 1.8 million children.
Visits were counted as mental health visits if a diagnostic code was included in the claim, either because the child or the family raised the issue or because the child screened positive for mental health symptoms during the visit. Visits for anxiety rose by more than 250 percent during that period, to 6.1 percent in 2023 from 1.7 percent in 2014.
Minnesota Passes Legislation Aimed at Protecting Children From Social Media Addiction
Governor Tim Walz is expected to sign into law a bill designed to protect children on social media. The bipartisan legislation mandates parental consent for kids under 16 to open accounts and restricts addictive features like infinite scrolling, and auto-play videos for users aged 15 and under.
Republican Representative Peggy Scott (Andover) authored the bill. “This bill Is going to do a lot to protect our kids and there’s a lot more going forward that we can do,” Scott says. “I think this is an excellent start.” The bill would also require platforms to strip away certain “addictive” features for any users under 16, such as push notifications, interfaces that allow kids to just “scroll” indefinitely, video auto-play, and awards for using the platform.
The bill also says that no advertising can be targeted at these users either.
“I’m so gratified that it’s such a bipartisan effort that everyone in this chamber cares deeply about our kids, and what they’re exposed to. And we want the best lives for them,” adds Scott.
Mamavation Finds PFAS-Laden Pesticides in Driscoll’s Strawberries
Mamavation tested organic and conventional strawberries from Driscoll’s for 500+ types of pesticides at our EPA-certified laboratory and found PFAS-laden pesticides, also known as “forever pesticides,” in conventional strawberries. What does this mean, and what should your family do when shopping to ensure your own safety?
You’ve trusted Mamavation to bring you other investigations like sourdough breads tested for glyphosate, cooking oils tested for phthalates, and safest teas tested for PFAS, “forever chemicals.” Now join us for our latest investigation on Driscoll’s strawberries and pesticide residue. Mamavation sent two boxes of Driscoll’s strawberries from a grocery store in Southern California to our EPA-certified laboratory, requesting testing for 500+ pesticides on Monday, May 4th, 2026.
The results were a bit shocking. According to our laboratory, Driscoll’s conventional strawberries contained residues of 12 different pesticides at levels prohibited in the European Union, Taiwan, Chile, Korea & Russia. 8 of those pesticides are considered PFAS “forever chemicals,” meaning they are extremely persistent and highly toxic. These pesticides are also known as “forever pesticides.”
Kids Keep Getting Stuck in Hospitals, Even After Being Cleared for Discharge
Overwhelmed by the demands of caregiving, Quette dialed 911 when she found her teenage son downstairs in their kitchen struggling to breathe. He had rolled his wheelchair to the oven to keep himself warm as he tried to regulate his temperature, she recalled, and was drenched in sweat from an apparent infection.
In that moment, Quette knew that she and her son’s grandmother could no longer meet his medical needs on their own at their Illinois home just outside St. Louis. He had become paralyzed when he was shot in 2023, and, despite their efforts, they struggled to take care of him. But she never imagined that her quick call for help that day would turn into a months-long hospital stay for her son — even after he was well enough to be discharged.
Antibiotic No Help for Young Kids’ Acute Wheezing
A course of azithromycin for preschoolers who presented to the emergency department (ED) with wheezing didn’t improve their symptoms, the AZ-SWED trial showed.
Among children, ages 18-59 months, the 5-day sum of scores on the Asthma Flare-up Diary for Young Children (ADYC) did not differ significantly compared with placebo in either those who initially tested positive for pathogenic bacteria or those who tested negative. ADYC scores range from 5-35 points, with higher scores indicating more severe symptoms.
While the trial was stopped early for futility — reducing the statistical power of the trial — it was sufficient to show that “a moderate or large true effect is implausible,” Richard M. Ruddy, MD, of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, reported at the American Thoracic Society annual meeting in Orlando. The findings were published simultaneously in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The post US Health Department Withdraws Vaccine Advisory Panel Charter + More appeared first on Children’s Health Defense.
IPAK-EDU is grateful to The Defender as this piece was originally published there and is included in this news feed with mutual agreement. Read More
Leave a Reply