Thread by @angie_rasmussen

Giving infectious disease research a break, as promised by the MAHA agenda.

Let's break down what exactly this Executive Order is *really* saying. Fortunately, I speak fluent anti-vax grifterese & can translate.

whitehouse.gov/presidential-a…

There's this background section about the terrible epidemic of chronic disease & they are VERY worried about children.

Note the diseases they focus on? Autism spectrum disorders, obesity, & ADD/ADHD = vaccines did it.

"increased prescriptions" = evidence-based medicine is bad

What are the solutions?

"fresh thinking" = non-scientific

"over-reliance on medication & treatments" = replacing vaccines and drugs with supplements

"food & drug quality & safety" = vaccines are unsafe, so let's legalize raw milk instead

"restore the integrity of the scientific process" = replace legitimate scientists with pseudoscientific quacks

"protecting expert recommendations from inappropriate influence" = removing experts because expertise is a conflict & replacing them with anti-vax scammers

Now let's get to the policy.

First up, (a) here is actually proposing to defund much of the NIH's research portfolio and creating a mechanism to deny funding based on "conflicts of interest", "skewing outcomes", or "perpetuating distrust" ie expertise in a subject MAHA opposes

Next, more explicitly NIH will not fund research that doesn't focus on "root causes". Here are some "root causes" according to MAHA: vaccines, approved medications, processed food, lifestyle choices (don't use drugs or have sex for fun, unless you're the HHS Secretary, I guess)

This seems okay—I've got no objection to supporting farmers or fresh food—but it really means let's deregulate food safety, put moo flu-loaded raw milk in every fridge, and blame obese people for bringing it on themselves

"Expanded treatment options" = alternative therapies and supplements instead of approved medications

"flexibility for health care coverage" = insurers will not cover existing evidence-based treatments and will subsidize supplement sellers instead

Then we've got the full list of everyone who will stand to profit from this. Got to make sure all the principals get their fair share of this redistribution of taxpayer dollars from the people to their pockets!

"absorption of toxic material" = vaccines & drugs

"medical treatments" = vaccines & drugs

"Government policies" = evidence-based health recommendations

"corporate influence or cronyism" = LOL, look who's talking. This refers to medical consensus among experts

"over-utilization of medication" = vaccines & drugs

"certain chemicals" = vaccine adjuvants

"chronic inflammation" = catch all for chronic illness because this is so vague it can't be defined so it can be whatever you want in terms of evidence

No more anti-depressants, anxiolytics, ADHD medications, or GLP-1 agonists (Ozempic, Mounjaro, etc) for anyone! Unclear if that last category would also apply to treating type 2 diabetes, which is also a chronic disease.

Instead of weight loss drugs or evidence-based treatments for mental health, let's send all the fat, sad, neurodivergent kids to wellness camps where they can heal on a steady diet of snake oil these people are selling.

Pretty rich to hear this about transparency from an administration that is systematically deleting publicly funded health data from government websites. Of course, that's so it can be replaced with new "integrity"-having MAHA data, which is what is meant by "methodological rigor"

"ending Federal practices that exacerbate the health crisis or unsuccessfully attempt to address it" = bye, bye NIAID, NCI, most of CDC's ID epi portfolio, & any other agency that isn't jumping on board the anti-vax gravy train

"expert input" = the anti-vax industrial complex

We'll see how this plays out but from what I can see, this is laying the groundwork for a bunch of very bad ideas:

-defunding evidence-based research
-suspending vaccine access for unnecessary safety studies
-replacing medicine w/ supplements
-discrediting scientists

Just watch. This is going to be all about replacing actual science with pseudoscience and millions will suffer as a result. But Team MAHA will not, because they'll be taking the benefits of gutting American science & health straight to the goddamn bank.