Hosts Miles Baker and Dr Rob Davidson kick off today’s show talking about HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr.’s return to the anti-vaccine movement he helped build. He will be headlining the sold-out Children’s Health Defense conference, which is the same organization he chaired for eight years and was paid roughly half a million dollars a year to lead. Sharing the stage with him: Andrew Wakefield, author of the retracted study that falsely linked the MMR vaccine to autism, along with Senators Ron Johnson and Rand Paul.
We then discuss reporting on the Trump administration’s fast-tracked push to embed AI into medical diagnosis and treatment. That includes new Medicare billing codes that would pay AI companies for clinical services. Rob, a practicing physician, explains why the “art of medicine” resists being reduced to an algorithm, and why speed without safeguards is the real problem, not AI in healthcare itself.
Next: a fourth Pennsylvania resident has died from measles-related causes, but the death doesn’t show up in official CDC counts. We unpack the agency’s quiet decision to change how it tracks measles deaths. What does it mean when public health data gets adjusted to fit a preferred narrative? They also note the near-total public silence from newly installed CDC Director Erica Schwartz as the country heads into flu, RSV, and COVID season.
We have a Surgeon General nominee with Dr. Nicole Sapphire. Her financial disclosures reveal investments in tobacco, sugary beverage, and pharmaceutical companies. These are the same industries that RFK Jr has spent years attacking.
Finally, Pennsylvania State House candidate Hadley Haas joins the show. A Pittsburgh mother whose two sons were born deaf, Haas talks about her decades-long fight for hearing-impairment awareness and insurance access, Pennsylvania’s wave of rural hospital closures and the private equity forces behind them, the fight to codify abortion rights in the state constitution, and why her race in the 44th House District is one of the top targets for Democrats hoping to build a governing trifecta in Harrisburg.
LINKS
The Washington Post: RFK Jr. uses military aircraft as he campaigns for GOP in midterms
US General Services Administration: City Pair Program
The Hill: RFK Jr. to headline Children’s Health Defense conference in DC
Children’s Health Defense: CHD in DC
Wikipedia: Children’s Health Defense
ars TECHNICA: RFK Jr. headlines sold-out anti-vaccine conference alongside Andrew Wakefield
The New York Times: U.S. Health Officials Move Quickly to Deploy Medical A.I. Despite Concerns
The Hill: Pennsylvania reports teen as fourth measles death amid feud with RFK Jr.
The Guardian: Trump administration changes how it counts measles deaths amid Pennsylvania outbreak
The Hill: Trump surgeon general nominee discloses tobacco, pharma investments
The Guardian: US surgeon general nominee made $270,000 from supplement company
NPR: Senators question Trump’s picks for top health positions, including surgeon general
The Washington Post: Sen. Cassidy says measles surge will be administration’s ‘terrible legacy’
Roll Call: Surgeon general nominee won’t renounce RFK Jr. vaccine decisions
Hadley Haas’ social media ad
Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania: More Hospital Closures Likely Without Increased Support
Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health: These Pennsylvania Hospitals Could Close Due to Medicaid Cuts, Study Says
Hadley Haas on Instagram: @hadleyforpa
Hadley Haas on Facebook: Hadley Haas for PA
Join the fight at committeetoprotect.org.
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