APRIL 2025 NEWS

Featured topic: political developments

On Science-Based Medicine,

David Gorski posted:

“How bad is it? RFK Jr.’s extinction-level threat to science-based federal health policy and public health is here.”

Jonathan Howard posted:

“Drs. Jay Bhattacharya, Marty Makary, and a cruel April Fool’s Day.” “The Trump Administration has fired four leaders and thousands of employees at the National Institutes of Health…Scientists weren’t fired because they were incompetent. They were fired for their beliefs.”

David Weinberg posted:

“The tragic termination of the Diabetes Prevention Program Outcomes Study.” “An invaluable resource is being starved to death with no scientific or ethical justification…The deconstruction of DPPOS seems particularly ironic considering current Health and Human Services secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s assertion that current research priorities are insufficiently addressing chronic illness.”

On Beyond the Noise, Paul Offit posted:

“Senator Cassidy: please save our children!” “RFK Jr.’s reign of terror on vaccines is just beginning.”
“Giving infectious diseases a break.” “While RFK Jr. is giving ‘infectious diseases a break for a while,’ his policies will only allow these infections to flourish. If viruses and bacteria had a lobby in Congress, they could find no bigger advocate than RFK Jr.”

Edzard Ernst posted:

“Trump’s war on academia – TIME TO MOUNT AN EFFECTIVE RESISTANCE!” “They want to control who teaches and what they teach; who is educated and who isn’t; what is news and what is ‘fake-news’; what is truth and what is not. This is not just an attack on academia but also an assault on the First Amendment as well as an unacceptable over-reach and a destruction of the very fabric of society.”

April 1 – Andrea Love (ImmunoLogic) wrote “Gutting the US Centers for Disease Control & Prevention will cause irreparable harm.” “I want to be very, explicitly, clear — for anyone who still thinks the MAHA movement cares about health in any way, shape or form: This will not improve public health. This will worsen health outcomes. The fallout will last for generations—if we are able to reverse any of this. And this will spread well beyond the US. This will have global impact.”

April 1 – Sheryl Stolberg and others (New York Times) reported “Mass layoffs hit health agencies that track disease and regulate food.” “Outside experts and former officials said the loss of expertise was immeasurable.”

April 1 – Stephanie Nolen (New York Times) published “Millions of women will lose access to contraception as a result of Trump aid cuts.” “This policy change has attracted little attention amid the wholesale dismantling of American foreign aid, but it stands to have enormous implications, including more maternal deaths and an overall increase in poverty. It derails an effort that had brought long-acting contraceptives to women in some of the poorest and most isolated parts of the world in recent years.”

April 1 – David Lim (Politico) published “The health industry is starting to express alarms about RFK Jr.” “’While we support improving FDA efficiency to deliver more affordable generic and biosimilar medicines to patients faster, many of the reported cuts appear to do the opposite,’ said John Murphy, CEO of the Association for Accessible Medicines…Biotechnology Innovation Organization CEO John Crowley said the loss of leadership at the FDA could erode scientific standards and impact the development of new medicines…The American Medical Manufacturers Association…warned that job cuts at the National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory will give an edge to foreign competitors, like China. The National Health Council, whose members include AdvaMed as well as trade groups representing drugmakers and insurers as well as numerous health industry companies and patient groups, also opposed the job cuts, saying they will reduce accessibility and affordability of health care.”

April 6 – Carolyn Johnson (Washington Post) wrote “NIH scientists have a cancer breakthrough. Layoffs are delaying it.” “A big step forward in cancer therapy has been slowed by layoffs and new restrictions at the National Institutes of Health, where it was developed.”

April 7 – Anumita Kaur (Washington Post) wrote “RFK Jr. tells CDC to change its guidance on fluoride in drinking water.” “John Swartzberg, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley’s School of Public Health, said a shift in the longtime fluoridation guidance would be disastrous. ‘We will have a lot more people with dental disease than we have now, a lot more dental caries, or cavities…It’ll impact everybody, but mostly those people who do not have access to dental care.’…Community water fluoridation has reduced cavities by about 25 percent in children and adults, according to the CDC, though recent research suggests the benefit could be smaller. The CDC lists the practice as one of the greatest public health achievements of the 20th century…’The growing distrust of credible, time-tested, evidence-based science is disheartening,’ Brett Kessler, president of the American Dental Association, said…‘The myths that fluoridated water is harmful and no longer necessary to prevent dental disease is troublesome. When government officials, like Secretary Kennedy, stand behind the commentary of misinformation and distrust peer-reviewed research, it is injurious to public health’.” For more on fluoride, see the article Overview of complementary and alternative medicine (antifluoridation section).

April 9 – Deborah Blum (New York Times) wrote “The return of the great American stomachache.” “Since President Trump’s inauguration, his administration has been chipping away — sometimes quietly, sometimes with great fanfare — at food safety programs. In March, two Department of Agriculture advisory committees that had provided guidance on fighting microbial contamination of food as well as meat inspection protocols were shut down. The agency also expanded the ability of some meat processors to speed up production lines, making it more difficult to carry out careful inspections. The administration also delayed a rule that would have required both manufacturers and grocery companies to quickly investigate food contamination and pull risky products from sale…While Mr. Kennedy has loudly promised a better regulation of food additives, he’s quietly undermining the ability to do that work. As an example, the latest round of cuts decimated the staff of a laboratory dedicated to testing for bacteria and toxic substances in food, such as heavy metal contamination.”

April 13 – Apoorva Mandavilli (New York Times) published “The many ways Kennedy is already undermining vaccines.” “The health secretary has chipped away at the idea that immunizing children against measles and other diseases is a public health good.”

April 16 – Carolyn Johnson (Washington Post) wrote “Women, minorities fired in purge of NIH science review boards.” “Thirty-eight of 43 experts cut last month from the boards that review the science and research that happens in laboratories at the National Institutes of Health are female, Black or Hispanic, according to an analysis by the chairs of a dozen of the boards. The scientists, with expertise in fields that include mental health, cancer and infectious disease, typically serve five-year terms and were not given a reason for their dismissal.”

April 18 – Rob Stein (NPR) reported “'Lab Leak,' a flashy page on the virus' origins, replaces government COVID sites.” “The White House has taken down some government websites providing COVID-19 information and replaced them with a new boldly styled page dedicated to the controversial theory that the pandemic was caused by the virus leaking from a Chinese government laboratory… ‘Every one of the five pieces of evidence supporting the lab leak hypothesis … is factually incorrect, embellished, or presented in a misleading way,’ [virologist Angela] Rasmussen wrote in an email. ‘But making evidence-based arguments in good faith about the pandemic's origin is not the purpose of this document. This is pure propaganda, intended to justify the systematic devastation of the federal government, particularly programs devoted to public health and biomedical research,’ Rasmussen added. Other scientists said the web site doesn't follow the existing body of scientific evidence on the issue. That evidence does not support ‘any of the many, often contradictory, lab leak scenarios that have been proposed,’ Michael Worobey, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Arizona, in an email to NPR.”

April 20 – As reported in Consumer Health Digest, laws have been signed in Idaho and Arkansas allowing over-the-counter sales of ivermectin. “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved ivermectin only for the treatment of specific parasitic diseases. Nevertheless, right-wing influencers are promoting the drug for unproven uses, including against cancer and autism…Similar legislation is pending in at least six other states…”

April 25 – Glenn Kessler (Washington Post) wrote “RFK Jr.’s absurd statistic on the spike in chronic diseases in the U.S.” “Contrary to Kennedy’s claim, the percentage of Americans with chronic diseases has not increased 20 times over the past six decades. A survey from 1962 puts the percentage of Americans with chronic diseases at 44.5 percent, not the absurdly low number of 3 percent touted by Kennedy. Moreover, it’s foolhardy to make such comparisons over so many decades. The definition of chronic diseases has evolved. At the same time, detection has improved, so it’s also possible the 44.5 percent figure from the early 1960s is too low. Many people in the 1960s had undiagnosed cancer or high blood pressure that eventually killed them.”

April 26 – An editorial in The Lancet was entitled “Supporting medical science in the USA.” “The Lancet stands with CHEST and the other medical journals that are being intimidated by the Trump administration. The harassment of journals comes amid wider radical dismantling of the USA's scientific infrastructure…one of the intents of authoritarian governments is to destroy independent science at government institutions and to silence academia. Science becomes a tool of state sponsored propaganda. Kennedy's actions at HHS are merely one piece in President Trump's overall plans to remake the global order, which threatens the USA's role as the leader in science and global health…Science and medicine in the USA are being violently dismembered while the world watches.”

April 27 – Ed Pilkington (The Guardian) posted “Trump golf club to host speaker who markets bleach as health treatment.” “Andreas Kalcker, prominent peddler of chlorine dioxide remedy, to appear at ‘Truth Seekers Conference’ in Miami…Kalcker’s appearance at Thursday’s conference is the latest indication that potentially dangerous alternative health approaches are being emboldened and are proliferating during Trump’s second term in the White House.”

April 27 – Sharon Alfonsi (CBS News) wrote “Scientists fear Trump administration cuts to NIH could impact the health of Americans for generations.” “You can't run an organization as complicated as NIH without a support system. Doctors and nurses and scientists can't function without a lot of other resources. They need an entire support infrastructure. And that has now been decimated…this is not more efficient. It is infinitely less efficient right now because you can't get anything done… A survey of 1,600 scientists and graduate students reported 75% are considering leaving the U.S. to work.”

April 29 - Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Christina Jewett (New York Times) wrote “Kennedy advises new parents to 'do your own research' on vaccines.” “…he also suggested the measles shot was unsafe and repeatedly made false statements that cast doubt on the benefits of vaccination and the independence of the Food and Drug Administration…Dr. Peter Hotez of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, said Mr. Kennedy was being disingenuous. ‘He says that — doing your own research — knowing full well that when a parent does their own research, they are now mostly downloading an onslaught of disinformation — a lot of it from the health and wellness, nutritional supplement influencer industry trying to peddle alternatives’.”

April 29 – Adriel Bettelheim (Axios) reported “Scientists mobilize to counter vaccine misinformation.” “A group of public health experts and scientists is mobilizing to counter vaccine misinformation from federal agencies, in an effort backed by Walmart heiress Christy Walton that could eventually produce independent product evaluations and clinical guidelines…The newly formed Vaccine Integrity Project aims to start meeting with medical associations, state health officials, insurers, pharmacies and others next month on steps such as establishing a network of subject matter experts to conduct science-based reviews of vaccines.”

April 30 – Lauren Weber and others (Washington Post) wrote “RFK Jr. will order placebo testing for new vaccines, alarming health experts.” “Vaccine and public health experts said the statement from HHS is a combination of misinformation and exaggeration or misrepresentation of scientific studies…’They obviously don’t understand how vaccines are approved and how one obtains safety data,’ said Michael Osterholm, a University of Minnesota infectious-disease expert who advised President Joe Biden’s transition team, adding that the change threatened the existence of coronavirus vaccines.”

April 30 – Yasmeen Hamadeh (Daily Beast) reported “RFK Jr. makes wild claim fluoride is making kids ‘stupider’.” Kennedy cited a study from the National Toxicology Program (NTP). “The study noted that its conclusions don’t apply to the level of fluoride in drinking water in the U.S… The methodology behind the NTP’s study was also notably criticized by the American Dental Association, which claimed it relied on ‘unorthodox research methods, flawed analyses, lack of clarity, failure to follow the norms of peer review, and lack of transparency’.”

Other topics

On Science-Based Medicine,

Marc Crislip:

Discussed an article on paradoxes in acupuncture.

Scott Gavura:

Wrote:”Making waves or just noise? A look at shockwave therapy.” “Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy (ESWT) is commonly offered as part of rehabilitation programs. Introduced in the 1980’s it is a non-invasive treatment used for a wide number of musculoskeletal disorders… It’s expensive and potentially painful, but the benefits have not been clearly established…How ESWT works remains unclear. Its benefits maybe driven more by placebo, hype and hope than by a true physiological effect. Until there is better evidence, clinicians and patients alike should look at ESWT cautiously.”

Steven Novella:

Posted “Self-treating with serious drugs on the rise.”

Edzard Ernst:

Wrote “PP353, the new ‘wonder drug’ for chronic low back pain? I DOUBT IT!” “PP353 is a specifically formulated combination of linezolid, iohexol and a thermosensitive gel that is injected into the degenerate lumbar disc…Here are some of my concerns: 1. The manufacturer has, as far as I can see, not published the findings in a peer-reviewed journal…4. The assumption that many cases of cLBP are caused by a disc infection is a well-known theory, but it remains largely unproven.5. As we discussed only recently, antibiotics have not been shown to be effective for cLBP.”
Posted “Wet cupping therapy or acupuncture for migraine? A randomized controlled trial.” “Apart from all other flaws of this trial, it did not control for placebo effects. Both WCT and acupuncture are invasive treatments that are bound to cause sizeable placebo responses…In view of this fundamental limitation of the study, its conclusions should be re-written as follows: Both of these applications were similarly effective in producing sizeable placebo effects which in turn improved disability status and pain intensity in patients with migraine. For migraine patients, this means that neither of these therapies are likely to be the best available option.”
Wrote “The scandal of animals traded for traditional medicine.” An article concerning animal trade in Ghana was discussed. “All I want to add here is the fact that there is not a shred of evidence that animal parts in SCAM [so-called alternative medicine] have any positive health effects. It is high time that this barbaric and useless trade stops!”
Posted “Stress management and relaxation for hypertension.” ““This is a rigorous and important review. Its findings are eminently plausible: just like stress would increase blood pressure, so does relaxation decrease it. The problem, as I see it, might be compliance. Stressed people tend to be chronically pressed for time, and relaxation techniques take considerably more time than simply swallowing an antihypertensive pill.”
Discussed “Legal and ethical challenges of so-called alternative medicine.” “In my view, the ethical issues in and around SCAM are central to most of the problems we discuss on this blog. They are nonetheless strangely neglected by SCAM professionals, SCAM users, SCAM researchers and almost everyone else. Why? I have come to the conclusion that this is because addressing them adequately would more or less prevent the practice of SCAM – just think of the thorny issue of informed consent. Arguably, fully informed consent for a SCAM therapy is impossible or would chase away even the most enthusiastic patient.”
Wrote “Beyond the 'detox myth': a corpus-assisted discourse study of science and pseudoscience online.” “The findings of this CADS can hardly surprise anyone who has been following this blog. We have often discussed the problem of pseudo-scientific language and the confusion it creates. Likewise, we have repeatedly dealt with the ‘detox myth’ and how it is being used by advocates of SCAM [so-called alternative medicine]. What is new is the finding that only 10% of the discourse seems to come from people who debunk the ‘detox myth’. This is, of course, disappointing but not really surprising considering how much virtually the entire SCAM business relies on it. So, to make it clear yet again: A toxin is a substance that is poisonous to our body. No ‘detox’ method from the realm of SCAM has been shown to remove a toxin from the human body.”
Wrote “Is shiatsu an effective therapy for menstrual pain? Probably not!” “Because there are so few studies of shiatsu, every new trial is potentially valuable. The present study, however, is a disappointment in this respect. It did not make the slightest attempt to control for any type of bias. Its findings are thus entirely meaningless. Most likely, they have little or nothing at all to do with the treatments administered but are due to placebo effects, natural history of the condition, selection bias, etc. My suggestion, therefore, differs dramatically from that of the authors: if you suffer from dysmenorrhea – or, indeed, any other condition – you are well advised to avoid implausible and unproven treatments and opt for one of the many therapies that are supported by sound evidence.”

On McGill Office for Science and Society:

Simran Dhir:

Posted “Is creatine the secret to a longer life?” “A closer look at if taking creatine supplements can be beneficial for older adults.” “Creatine supplements combined with exercise thus have the potential to improve certain negative outcomes associated with sarcopenia, but this condition is still just treated using resistance- based exercises and protein rich diets. Dosage inconsistencies, indirect measures of physical abilities and rigid study exclusion criteria (including exclusions based on sex and disease states) have led to an incomplete picture of the efficacy of these compounds and the widescale impact of this as a therapeutic intervention remains to be seen.”

Jonathan Jarry:

Wrote “Gut worms for immunity.” “Take-home message: Helminthic therapy is the voluntary infection of your gut by a parasitic worm in an effort to treat a disease related to your immune system, like asthma or lupus. It is based on the theory that the human immune system evolved at a time when every human was infected with worms, and that increased sanitation is causing autoimmune diseases. Studies of helminthic therapy done in animals look promising, but the few trials done in humans have contradictory results, with no application having been approved yet. Scientists are now testing molecules made by the worms to see if they could be beneficial to people with autoimmune conditions while avoiding the risks and ickiness of ingesting worm eggs.”

Joe Schwarcz:

Posted “The unscientific crusade against seed oils. “…There is no evidence that seed oils as part of the diet influence blood markers of inflammation. The issue with seed oils is not that they are inherently unhealthy, but that they are extensively used in ultra-processed foods that can be deemed unhealthy because they are high in sugar, salt and fat. That fat is in indeed in the form of seed oils, but that doesn’t mean replacing them with saturated fat, as found in butter or beef tallow, makes the food healthier. Quite the opposite.”
Posted “The ups and downs of intermittent fasting” (video with transcript). “Numerous studies have shown that these regimens can lead to weight loss but there is some controversy about why that happens and about whether there are benefits other than weigh loss such as enhancement of cognitive function and extension of lifespan…What is our takeaway here? Any message that says what you eat doesn’t matter is misguided even if it offers a successful weight-loss scheme. Dietary advice should start with urging people to eat more vegetables, fruits and whole grains.” In a related story, Trisha Pasricha (Washington Post) wrote “What the science says about intermittent fasting.” “The data are mixed on whether intermittent fasting can help you lose weight. As a doctor, here’s my advice: Try the Mediterranean diet instead.”
Wrote “A taste for jujubes.” “Not the candy, but the fruit that is purported to have some health benefits.” The fruit is also known as the red or Chinese date. “Jujubes are said to calm the mind, relieve mental tension, cure insomnia, treat forgetfulness, boost immunity, fight cancer, protect the liver and improve digestion. Such diverse claims immediately raise suspicion because historically there is no single substance that has been shown to have a clinical benefit in so many distinct conditions.”
Posted “Tik Tok is crazy for methylene blue, but not for the right reason.” “But why methylene blue has emerged as a dietary supplement, with claims of marvellous effects, is a mystery given that there is a lack of supporting evidence. Some laboratory studies using cell cultures have shown that the chemical can detangle the cluster of proteins that characterizes Alzheimer’s disease, but early expectations that it can therefore serve as a treatment for the disease have not been met. Neither are there clinical studies that demonstrate methylene blue having an effect on memory, cognition, longevity, sleep, skin aging or enhanced energy, as claimed by proponents. There are, however, risks…Anyone taking SSRIs [selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors] should stay away from methylene blue. So should others until there is clinical evidence of benefit.”

April – Vindsata and others published “Online marketing of alternative medicine for heart failure: an assessment of Amazon.com” (Am J Med. 2025 Apr;138(4):750-752 Abstract). “We identified 111 products, most of which lacked safety information. They included, on average, 8.2 ingredients…Given the popularity of complementary and alternative medicine and their easy accessibility through online retailing, and the fact that prior studies suggest a minority of patients discuss use with their providers, further study is needed to evaluate the extent of and the potential for both undiagnosed drug-drug interactions and replacement of guideline-directed medical treatment for heart failure with unapproved products.”

April 25 – Nick Tiller (Skeptical Inquirer) wrote “Five things you should know before buying fish oil supplements.”

Additions to previous months

September 24, 2024 - Dani Blum (New York Times) wrote “Is green tea really ‘Nature’s Ozempic’?” “Some researchers have theorized that green tea might stimulate GLP-1, in part because studies have found green tea extract can lower blood sugar in diabetic mice. But there have been only a few small studies in humans, and the results are inconclusive…Any effect green tea might have on GLP-1 is likely to be small, experts said. Any food or drink can increase GLP-1 levels slightly, Dr. [Jyotsna] Ghosh said. But GLP-1 levels in the bloodstream dip minutes after you eat or drink something…”

October – As noted in Consumer Health Digest, “Scholars from Western Sydney University’s law school have argued restricting patients’ access to unproven stem cell therapies is warranted because of ethical violations in global marketing by unscrupulous clinics that both undermine informed consent and endanger patients. [Langford L, Foong P. Unproven stem cell therapies: An evaluation of patients’ capacity to give informed consent. Griffith Law Review, 33(1):58-88, 2024]” Paper.

January 31, 2025 – Mauro Proença (American Council on Science and Health) wrote “Carnivore Diet: potential cause of heart problems.” “The Carnivore Diet might appeal to those craving simplicity or a contrarian narrative, but its foundation crumbles under the weight of evidence-based nutrition. Decades of research consistently show that balanced diets rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains support heart health and longevity. While its proponents revel in anecdotes and conspiracies, the real question isn’t ‘Is this sustainable?’ but rather, ‘Is this survivable?’ When it comes to health, the key is moderation and variety rather than extremism.”

February 6 – McClean and Lucke-Wold published “Evaluating foot reflexology as a proposed treatment for sensorineural hearing loss: A critical review” (World J Clin Cases. Feb 6, 2025; 13(4): 99500 Paper). “However, the biological plausibility and clinical efficacy of foot reflexology in addressing SNHL lack empirical support…The physiological mechanisms proposed by reflexology do not align with our current understanding of neuroanatomy and neurophysiology.”

March – Carles and others published “Presence of sibutramine and sildenafil in weight loss dietary supplements: a case series with analytical and clinical investigation” (Clin Toxicol (Phila). 2025 Mar;63(3):193-195) Abstract). Twelve weight-loss supplements were analyzed, and all were found to contain the two drugs. “Both sibutramine and sildenafil were withdrawn from the market due to cardiovascular risks. As such, the unregulated use of these products pose a serious risk to public health, particularly in individuals with underlying cardiovascular disease.”

March 15 – Scragg reviewed “Clinical trials of vitamin D supplementation and cardiovascular disease” (J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2025 Jun;250:106733 Paper). “Overall, the current evidence indicates that vitamin D does not prevent CVD.”

March 31 – Richard Fausset (New York Times) wrote “Why the right still embraces ivermectin.” “Five years after the pandemic began, interest in the anti-parasitic drug is rising again as right-wing influencers promote it — and spread misinformation about it.”

March 31 – Sara Reardon (Science) reported “Are terminations of NIH grants wasting billions of dollars?” “DOGE argues killing grants saves money, but a Science analysis suggests more than $1.4 billion in sunk research costs may produce few results.”

PREVIOUS NEWS PAGES