Christina Jewett

@by-cjewett.bsky.social

Journalist covering the F.D.A. for The New York Times. Loves: The outdoors, a juicy investigation, spicy food & my most of all, my boys.

@by-cjewett.bsky.social

NEW: Ken Paxton's office is investigating pediatricians for vaccinating children. He alleged a sprawling profit-driven conspiracy.

Pediatricians say the accusations are an attempt at intimidation.

🎁 www.nytimes.com/2026/10/05/h...

nytimes.comTexas Pediatricians Face Paxton Investigations for Vaccinating Children (Gift Article)Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general and Republican Senate candidate, has alleged a sprawling profit-driven conspiracy. Pediatricians say the accusations are an attempt at intimidation.
@nbcnews.comReposted by @by-cjewett.bsky.social

FCC Chair Brendan Carr says that new pro-Trump TV ads paid for with government funds don’t “merit any sort of FCC review.”

@sherylnyt.bsky.socialReposted by @by-cjewett.bsky.social

Idea for a White House commission to control NIH grant approvals seems dead for now. Weekend stories created an uproar on the Hill. Bhattacharya and Vought are trying to sing kumbaya. w/ @by-cjewett.bsky.social

www.nytimes.com/2026/09/23/u...

nytimes.comTrump Backtracks on Plan for New Controls on N.I.H. Grants (Gift Article)Democrats and Republicans in Congress opposed the creation of a commission with the power to veto federal research awards.
@by-cjewett.bsky.social

"R.F.K. Jr. has completely destroyed any possibility that the public could be confident that any action H.H.S. takes on these issues — childhood vaccines and ketamine — will be based on the public interest, rather than R.F.K. Jr.’s gratitude to .. this gift giver.”

@by-cjewett.bsky.social

@sherylnyt.bsky.social and I also found that he accepted $270K in gifts, including free housing in DC and a flight to Fiji, from Gavin de Becker, a friend and security expert who wrote an anti-vax book and two book forewords on ketamine.
@kathleenclark.bsky.social, an ethics expert, weighed in -- >

@by-cjewett.bsky.social

🧵NEW: Kennedy drew $4 million in book advances from Tony Lyons, a publisher who also runs MAHA groups that accept $$ from health companies with business before HHS.

The advances were set the month when Kennedy dropped his presidential bid to back Trump:

www.nytimes.com/2026/09/23/u...

nytimes.comKennedy Drew $4 Million in Book Advances From Publisher Who Also Monetized MAHA (Gift Article)A new disclosure also shows $210,000 in consulting fees paid to Cheryl Hines, the health secretary’s wife, by one of several MAHA-affiliated groups capitalizing from his agenda.
@by-cjewett.bsky.social

NEW: @SecKennedy assured the members of his anti-vaccine nonprofit that they have a 'friend at the White House.' He spoke after someone who said the polio vaccine was a "fraud" and before Andrew Wakefield, the discredited MMR critic.
w / @teddyrosenbluth.bsky.social

www.nytimes.com/2026/09/17/h...

nytimes.comRFK Jr. Assures Vaccine Skeptics They Have a ‘Friend at the White House’ (Gift Article)The health secretary spoke at a conference featuring misinformation about vaccines, including a claim that the success of the polio vaccines was a “fraud.”
@by-cjewett.bsky.social

NEW: Top HHS officials are pushing forward on medical AI, talking about how much to pay AI Doctors that could diagnose & prescribe to patients.

Inside government, concerns arose about the outsized influence of billionaire Silicon Valley investors.

www.nytimes.com/2026/09/14/h...

nytimes.comU.S. Health Officials Move Quickly to Deploy Medical A.I. Despite Concerns (Gift Article)Federal projects are rolling out A.I. agents that offer therapy and prescribe medicine, raising concerns about safety and the influence of venture capital investors.
@by-cjewett.bsky.social

NEW: The Trump administration delayed a rule last year requiring traceback records in 24 hours. It could have sped up the effort to pinpoint the source of the contamination.

The case count is up to 24,500 suspected and confirmed cases.

🎁 www.nytimes.com/2026/08/15/h...

nytimes.comHow Cyclospora Evaded the U.S. Food Safety System to Sicken Thousands (Gift Article)The Trump administration delayed a rule last year that could have sped up the effort to pinpoint the source of the contamination. Critics charge that food safety oversight has eroded overall.
@by-cjewett.bsky.social

All this talk about the early, terrifying days of Covid .. and I couldn't help but look back at a project I worked on at the time. We memorialized the lives of people who ran into the burning building. Time well spent and worth a moment of yours:

www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

theguardian.comLost on the frontline: US healthcare workers who died fighting Covid-19More than 3,500 Americans in the healthcare system have died fighting Covid-19. We count them and investigate why
@by-cjewett.bsky.social

NEW: More and more uninsured patients are showing up in hospital emergency rooms and clinics, having lost their coverage under the Affordable Care Act.

via
@reedabelson.bsky.social

www.nytimes.com/2026/07/30/b...

nytimes.comAfter Obamacare Cuts, Hospitals Are Treating More Uninsured Patients (Gift Article)More people who lost coverage after congressional Republicans ended enhanced federal subsidies are now seeking care in emergency rooms and unable to pay bills.
@by-cjewett.bsky.social

NEW: A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel recommended broader use of six unproven peptides, raising concerns that wellness and telehealth companies could adopt a once-obscure pathway to bring unapproved drugs to the commercial market.

GIFT: www.nytimes.com/2026/07/24/u...

nytimes.comF.D.A. Panel’s Vote on Peptides Raises Concerns About a Prescribing Boom (Gift Article)The committee endorsed broader use of the peptides in lightly regulated compounding pharmacies that have grown into a multibillion-dollar business.
@by-cjewett.bsky.social

Amazing work by the stellar @laurenweberhp.bsky.social "Your favorite local restaurant or hair salon is subject to more inspections and oversight than the medspa down the street selling peptide injections."

Alicia Ault@aliciaault.bsky.social

"Several local authorities said in interviews that they feel powerless to fully protect consumers." Gift link to this @washingtonpost.com story on the wild west of peptides by @laurenweberhp.bsky.social #drugsafety #regulation #wellness #aging #longevity #healthlaw

wapo.stPeptide boom has states scrambling to protect consumers, Post investigation findsThe Post surveyed states’ pharmacy, medical and nursing boards to reveal the gaping regulatory holes for medspas and peptides.
@by-cjewett.bsky.social

NEW: A panel of advisers to the FDA, several of them sellers of experimental peptides, dismissed the concerns of the agency’s scientists on Thursday, voting in favor of allowing broad production of poorly understood peptide treatments.

www.nytimes.com/2026/07/23/h...

nytimes.comA Peptide Showdown: F.D.A. Scientists May Clash With R.F.K.’s Agenda (Gift Article)Agency scientists are advising against allowing widespread use of several peptide injections. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary, has said people should be free to experiment.
Older posts