Showing posts with label U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Show all posts
Showing posts with label U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Show all posts

Saturday, August 01, 2026

Over 21 million Americans used marijuana daily or near-daily in 2025 and other addictions

Bad news! For how long has this been going on? A nation on high! 😊

How many individuals kick their habit eventually? I bet quite a few.

On a positive note: Adolescent use of marijuana seems to be trending downward since 2021. Similar substance use disorders. (see infographics below).

"... This week the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration released the results from its latest National Survey on Drug Use and Health. These showed that around 21.4 million Americans used marijuana daily or near-daily last year. Compare that to the 19.9 million Americans who smoked daily and the 17.2 million who drank alcohol at least 20 days a month.

Can a country built on whiskey, beer, and tobacco thrive when it becomes a nation fueled by weed? ..."

Breitbart Business Digest


2025 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) Releases "Conducted annually, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) provides nationally representative data on the use of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs; substance use disorders; mental health conditions; suicidal thoughts and behavior; and receipt of substance use and mental health treatment among the civilian, noninstitutionalized population aged 12 or older in the United States. NSDUH estimates allow researchers, clinicians, policymakers, and the general public to better understand and improve the nation’s behavioral health. These reports and detailed tables present national estimates from the 2025 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH)."

The source of the charts below.











Wednesday, July 29, 2026

Trump administration formally bans gain-of-function research Stopping High-Risk Life Sciences Research

Good news! Bravo! What took so long! 

We know since the SARS-CoV-2/Covid-19 global pandemic what gain of function research can do! I have criticized this gain of function research on my blog since about the outbreak.

That the US federal government funded gain of function research e.g. at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China was a huge political scandal that was swept under the rug by news media and others! Anthony Fauci was guilty as well!

"... This policy stops dangerous gain-of-function research that has the potential to threaten lives, disrupt communities, strain public health systems, and undermine America’s economic and national security if not properly restricted and controlled. ...

The policy change comes after President Donald Trump signed an executive order last year that banned federal funding for gain-of-function research in countries like China, which is believed to be at the heart of the COVID-19 lab leak in Wuhan. ..."

Trump administration formally bans gain-of-function research | Just The News "The State and Health and Human Services departments claim that although biomedical research has produced lifesaving vaccines and medical breakthroughs, it must never come at the expense of public safety or national security."

Sunday, July 26, 2026

US Department of Health and Human Services Restores Individual-Based Civil Rights, Says It Will No Longer 'Sort People by Race'

Good news! Bravo President Trump! 

Yes, get rid of DEI, identity ideology, disparate impact demagoguery and the like!

Racism against white individuals must end!

"The Department of Health and Human Services announced Thursday [7/23/2026] that it would enforce civil rights based on equal protection under federal law and no longer “sort people by race.”

The HHS Office for Civil Rights announced a final rule updating its regulations to implement Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The department says the new rule aligns department policy strictly with the Civil Rights Act as well as Supreme Court precedent.

“HHS will not pressure doctors, hospitals, universities, or state agencies to sort people by race to satisfy a statistic,” said Paula M. Stannard, director of the HHS Office for Civil Rights, in a public statement. “This rule restores common sense and true equality to Title VI enforcement.”

Civil rights laws protect Americans as individuals,” Stannard said.

The agency explained it will continue to take enforcement action to combat intentional discrimination in health care based on race, color, and national origin. It will also continue to investigate complaints and conduct compliance reviews as evidence of discrimination. ..."

"Today [7/23/2026], the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR), announced a final rule updating its regulations implementing Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to end disparate-impact liability.
The rule returns HHS enforcement to Title VI’s statutory command: no person may be excluded from participation in, denied benefits, or subjected to intentional discrimination under an HHS-funded program based on race, color, or national origin. ..."

HHS Restores Individual-Based Civil Rights, Says It Will No Longer 'Sort People by Race' - The Daily Signal

Tuesday, January 06, 2026

The U.S. is dropping universal recommendations for certain childhood vaccines including Covid-19 and flu shots, new childhood immunization schedule to recommend 10, rather than 17, shots for children.

Good news! Bravo! Are all these childhood vaccinations really necessary for all children?

Which kids really need Covid-19 and flu shots? Both are fairly harmless to most children. For a kid to be infected with a cold or a flu is perhaps an important training for the developing immune system.

It appears the medical-pharmaceutical industry complex in the US managed to increase/inflate the number recommended childhood vaccinations dramatically over the decades. Good business!

To recommend 17 vaccinations for all children seems to be insane! That is on average one vaccination per child per year.

If it is true that even multiple vaccinations were applied simultaneously at an very early age of a child, then this seems almost reckless. What do we know how harmless this combination is?

According to Google search on recommended childhood vaccinations before 1980 (less than 10 vaccines): "Key Vaccines Recommended Before 1980:
Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis (DTP): A combination vaccine for these three serious bacterial diseases, given in a single shot.
Polio (IPV/OPV): Both the injected (IPV) and oral (OPV) forms were used to prevent paralysis from the poliovirus.
Measles (MMR): The measles vaccine became available in 1963, followed by mumps (1967) and rubella (1969) vaccines, which were combined into the MMR vaccine by 1971.
Smallpox: Routinely given in the early 1960s, but its use was discontinued in the U.S. by 1972 as the disease neared global eradication."

During my childhood in the Federal Republic Germany in the 1960s/1970s I estimate I was not vaccinated with more than half a dozen different vaccines. According to a Google search for recommended childhood vaccination in West Germany before 1990 (less than 10 vaccines): "West Germany (FRG):
BCG: Recommended but voluntary; uptake was very low and almost ceased between 1975-1977.
Measles: Recommended generally, with the MMR vaccine approved in 1980, but remained generally recommended, not mandatory.
DTP/Polio: Recommended vaccines, with schedules for these diseases established." 

"The CDC now recommends kids be vaccinated against 11 diseases, down from 17. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the policy shift strengthens “transparency and informed consent.” The new guidelines, set to take effect immediately, are designed to align the U.S. schedule more closely with Denmark’s. Public-health experts criticized the move for circumventing the government’s usual vaccine recommendation procedures and pushed back, citing differences between the U.S. and Denmark in population size, healthcare systems and disease strains."

"... The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has updated the childhood immunization schedule to recommend 10, rather than 17, shots for children.

Trump signed a directive on Dec. 5 ordering the agency to examine best practices from “peer, developed nations” on their childhood vaccination schedules. Following the review, HHS Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill signed a memorandum updating the U.S. schedule on Monday. ...

No vaccine is being banned or removed,” the official said. “Every vaccine currently recommended by the CDC remains available, fully covered by insurance, without cost sharing. No family will lose access to vaccines.” ...

The new order groups vaccines in the children’s immunization schedule into three categories: immunizations recommended for all children, immunizations recommended for certain high-risk groups or populations, and immunizations based on shared clinical decision making for all children. ..."


"... Vaccines cut from the schedule include hepatitis A, hepatitis B, meningococcal disease, rotavirus, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus, ... These vaccines will be recommended only for high-risk groups or after consultation with a health care provider. ..."

The Wall Street Journal What's news


Wednesday, December 24, 2025

US HHS Secretary John F. Kennedy Jr. ‘deeply committed to ending animal experimentation’

Good news! Bravo! The right news for Christmas 2025!

At the end of the first quarter of the 21st century, research on substitutes like organoids has so far advanced that animal experimentation can certainly be significantly reduced if not largely phased out over time.

Scientists, who claim this would be a disaster are fools if not worse!

"In his strongest condemnation yet of animal research, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said over the weekend that his department, which oversees several science agencies, is “deeply committed to ending animal experimentation.” He also called for an end to the importation of monkeys for scientific studies, claimed the federally funded National Primate Research Centers (NPRCs) are driven by profit, and floated the idea of moving research monkeys to sanctuaries. The remarks, made Saturday on a Fox News program hosted by the daughter-in-law of President Donald Trump, have sent shock waves through the biomedical community.

“What a disaster [???] this would be for not only infectious disease, but also neuroscience, behavior, reproductive biology, and transplant research,” says JoAnne Flynn, a microbiologist at the University of Pittsburgh who uses nonhuman primates to study tuberculosis. ..."

Kennedy ‘deeply committed to ending animal experimentation’ | Science | AAAS


John F. Kennedy Jr.


Wednesday, November 19, 2025

“The process at HHS has moved ‘from evidence-based decision-making to decision-based evidence-making.’” Really!

Suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome requires intensive care by a good doctor!

HHS = US Department of Health and Human Services

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health thought it relevant to cite following quote:
"“The process at HHS has moved ‘from evidence-based decision-making to decision-based evidence-making.’” Daniel Jernigan, 30-year veteran of CDC who resigned in August", the former director of the CDC's National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases.

Good riddance of this man!

Global Health NOW: Lenacapavir Rollout Reaches Africa; and The Perils of Migrating While Pregnant




Tuesday, June 17, 2025

US Department of Health and Human Services to Require Placebo-Controlled Trials for New Vaccines. Really!

What! Previously, there were no placebo testing in place for new vaccines! Shocking!

"The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced it will enact a new policy requiring placebo-controlled trials for all new vaccines.

The Washington Post reported on May 1 that HHS sent the outlet a statement that said, in part, “All new vaccines will undergo safety testing in placebo-controlled trials prior to licensure—a radical departure from past practices.” ..."

HHS to Require Placebo-Controlled Trials for New Vaccines

Wednesday, April 23, 2025

RFK Jr. announces ban on all petroleum-based synthetic food dyes (total 8), including red dye No. 40. Really!

I have my serious doubts about this measure! Synthetic food coloring has been blamed for all sorts of things for several decades! How much of this is medieval superstition?

What will be used as substitutes? Natural food colors? How natural and how healthy? What is the environmental impact?

Notice also the alarmism and hysteria combined with this announcement, i.e. the claimed negative effects on children. RFK Jr. is cited  as “These poisonous compounds offer no nutritional benefit and pose real, measurable dangers to our children’s health and development. That era is coming to an end. ..."

Apparently, RFK Jr. did not have the patience to wait for more research results! "Partnering with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to conduct comprehensive research on how food additives impact children’s health and development."

According to Google search no other Western country has banned so many synthetic food dyes. Most Western countries have banned only one or two such dyes.

"... Authorizing four new natural color additives in the coming weeks, while also accelerating the review and approval of others. ..."

RFK Jr. announces ban on all petroleum-based synthetic food dyes, including red dye No. 40. Here's what health experts have said about them.

Wednesday, May 10, 2023

US National Institutes of Health reinstates grant to EcoHealth Alliance for more controversial coronavirus research in China

Why is any of this research conducted in a totalitarian dictatorship and at a research institute that is also possibly involved in the development of biological weapons?

The lab leak hypothesis is still the best explanation!

There is also a strong suspicion that this research was done in circumvention of stricter U.S. regulations!!!

This is insane and irresponsible!

"The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has reinstated a grant to a highly scrutinized research organization that studies bat coronaviruses — but the agency has placed several stipulations on the scope of the research and on the organization’s accounting practices.

The move caps a years-long saga that has thrust the EcoHealth Alliance, a small non-profit organization in New York City, into the political fray for its collaborations with the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in China. In April 2020, after then-US-president Donald Trump hinted that SARS-CoV-2 originated in a WIV laboratory, the NIH terminated EcoHealth’s grant. ...
Researchers who spoke to Nature applaud the renewal [???], adding that this type of research is essential to avert the next pandemic. ..."

NIH reinstates grant for controversial coronavirus research EcoHealth Alliance lost funding during the Trump administration, but can now proceed with its research — under extensive restrictions.