Category: health

Video: TedX talk by Gigi Foster in Australia, October 2024

Two Chinese nationals have been charged with smuggling a plant pathogen into the US for research at a University of Michigan laboratory, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on 3 June. The couple has also been charged with making false statements and visa fraud. They were arrested in connection with allegations related to secretly transporting the fungus Fusarium graminearum, which federal prosecutors claim is classified in the scientific literature as ‘a potential agroterrorism weapon’, although experts Chemistry World spoke to…

Attitudes towards psychedelics are evolving, with growing evidence supporting their potential to treat a range of mental health conditions including anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and addiction. In 2023, Australia became the first country in the world to approve psychedelics to treat specific mental health conditions. A handful of other countries are also moving in that direction. Drugs such as LSD and psilocybin stimulate neurons to grow new branches and make more synaptic connections, which is thought to be behind…

Biden administration policy-makers hated you more than you knew. From the start of the Covid pandemic, I warned that the feds were vilifying anyone who failed to kowtow to the latest commands. In October 2023, I wrote: “Federal bureaucrats heaved together a bunch of letters to contrive an ominous new acronym for the latest peril to domestic tranquility. The result: AGAAVE—’anti-government, anti-authority violent extremism’—which looks like a typo for a sugar substitute. The FBI vastly expanded the supposed AGAAVE peril by…

Jerusalem – Dozens of Palestinians were killed and hundreds more injured today, 1 June, as they waited for food at the newly created Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution centres in Rafah and close to the Netzarim Corridor, according to the Ministry of Health. Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) teams joined the mass casualty response in Nasser hospital, Khan Younis. Patients told MSF they were shot from all sides by drones, helicopters, boats, tanks and Israeli soldiers on the ground. “Today’s…

As part of the expansion of their ground operations, Israeli forces have issued widescale evacuation orders, further limiting people’s access to medical care and MSF’s ability to provide it. On 19 May, for example, an evacuation order covering almost the entire eastern part of Khan Younis, at the edge of Nasser hospital, forced people to immediately move towards Al-Mawasi area. The Site Management Cluster estimates that over 138,900 people were forcibly displaced between 15-20 May. The intensified Israeli bombardments and evacuation…

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is operating without an acting director, multiple health officials confirm to CBS News, leaving the agency responsible for defending the U.S. against emerging pandemics and responding to health emergencies without a clear chain of command. A leadership vacuum atop the CDC is unprecedented. Under previous administrations, including the first term of President Trump, officials made sure either to immediately appoint their pick for the position or decide during the transition on whom would assume the top…

Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) shares sank Tuesday, the first day of trading since the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Friday announced a lawsuit accusing the pharmacy chain of dispensing “millions of unlawful prescriptions” that had no legitimate medical purpose. The suit alleges that Walgreens pressured its pharmacists to fill prescriptions quickly, leading to opioids and other medications being given out for prescriptions that had “clear red flags” indicating they were “highly likely to be unlawful.” The U.S. Department of Justice…

The Justice Department, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the State of Illinois today announced a settlement with the City of Cahokia Heights, Illinois, resolving violations of the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) and the Illinois Environmental Protection Act resulting from the city’s failure to properly operate its sanitary sewer system. The settlement requires that Cahokia Heights pay a $30,000 civil penalty and implement an estimated $30 million in extensive compliance measures. The complaint against Cahokia Heights alleges that on…

The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a federal order requiring the testing of the nation’s milk supply amid increasing concerns over bird flu. The influenza virus has been raising alarm since it was detected in a Texas cow back in March. Since then, the virus has spread to over 710 dairy herds across 15 states, with California reporting the highest number of infections. At least 58 people have been infected with bird flu, including one child living in the San Francisco…

The video, seen below, shows a shooter assassinating UnitedHealthcare CEO, Brian Thompson, outside a Manhattan hotel. The manhunt for the shooter is still underway 3 days later. News outlets have been irresponsibly posting images of a suspect wearing similar clothing, but who can be seen to be wearing a different jacket and carrying a dark backpack. The shooter’s backpack is clearly light-colored, and his jacket has no pockets just below the shoulders, while the same is not true of the…

As the investigation into a masked gunman who stalked and killed the head of one of the largest U.S. health insurers moved into its third day Friday, possible leads emerged about his travel before the shooting and a message scrawled on ammunition found at the crime scene. UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was killed in a dawn ambush Wednesday as he walked from his midtown hotel to the company’s annual investor conference across the street, blocks from tourist draws such as…

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a challenge to a 2021 Connecticut law that eliminated the state’s longstanding religious exemption from childhood immunization requirements for schools, colleges and day care facilities. The justices did not comment in leaving in place a federal appeals court ruling that upheld the contentious law. A lower court judge had earlier dismissed the lawsuit challenging the law, which drew protests at the state Capitol. Connecticut law requires students to receive certain immunizations…

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. health officials warned parents to avoid powdered infant formula sold by a Texas dairy producer, because a dangerous bacteria was found in one of the company’s products. The Food and Drug Administration issued the alert Friday on Crecelac Infant Powdered Goat Milk Infant Formula, after a sample collected from a Texas store tested positive for cronobacter, which can cause deadly infections in babies. The same bacteria sparked recalls and shortages of infant formula in 2022 after…