Sheryl Gay Stolberg

@sherylnyt.bsky.social

Covering RFK Jr., MAHA, health policy & politics for @nytimes. Former Congress & White House Correspondent (Bush & Obama). Peloton aficionado, amateur painter, dog lover, mom. Tips: [email protected]

@sherylnyt.bsky.social

NEW: RFK is planning a major vaccine injury initiative, including more research, a clinic at NIH, and a new billing code so doctors can be reimbursed for filing reports of side effects. Experts say more research is needed. But they're wary.
www.nytimes.com/2026/10/07/u...

nytimes.comRFK Jr. Plans Vaccine Injury Initiative, Drawing Wary Eye From Experts (Gift Article)Vaccine safety experts say more research into the side effects would be welcome yet question whether the health secretary’s effort will be grounded in science.
@sherylnyt.bsky.social

Kennedy made a quiet, unannounced visit to the NIH yesterday to discuss vaccine safety research. It was his first visit there as secretary. No press. The entire Bethesda campus was encouraged to telework. An email warned of "increased traffic and security," without saying why.

@sherylnyt.bsky.social

My take on yesterday's MAHA Summit: There are now two MAHAs: Corporate, Trump-aligned MAHA and grassroots MAHA, which is being courted by Democrats like @abdulelsayed.bsky.social. He just announced his "Build a Healthier America" agenda. BAHA?

www.nytimes.com/2026/09/29/h...

nytimes.comA.I. Is ‘Better Informed’ Than Doctors, Kennedy Tells Industry-Backed MAHA Summit (Gift Article)The health secretary, Vice President JD Vance and other top officials addressed a conference sponsored by corporations, including A.I. companies and others with business before the government.
@sherylnyt.bsky.social

RFK Jr. says AI can offer patients “a second opinion that is much better informed than any doctor in the country” and has the power to “free us from medical tyranny.”

He spoke at an industry-backed MAHA Summit, whose sponsors included AI companies.

www.nytimes.com/2026/09/29/h...

nytimes.comA.I. Is ‘Better Informed’ Than Doctors, Kennedy Tells Industry-Backed MAHA SummitThe health secretary, Vice President JD Vance and other top officials addressed a conference sponsored by corporations, including A.I. companies and others with business before the government.
@sherylnyt.bsky.social

BIG MAHA SUMMIT today at Waldorf-Astoria. Vance and RFK Jr. will speak. I was denied a press credential due to. “limited space. “Here I am getting turned away. I’m 5 feet tall. I don’t take up that much space.

@sherylnyt.bsky.social

RFK Jr. took $4 million in book advances and $270,000 in gifts from close allies working to advance his agenda. His wife received $210,000 in consulting fees from a MAHA group. Ethics experts are troubled. w/ @by-cjewett.bsky.social Jewett

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

nytimes.comRFK Jr. 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.
@sherylnyt.bsky.social

Every woman in America should mourn the loss of Gloria Steinem. She paved the way for all of us -- to hold jobs, to stay at home with kids, to not have kids at all, to be whatever we wanted to be. @kitseelye.bsky.social

www.nytimes.com/2026/09/03/u...

nytimes.comGloria Steinem, Personification of the Feminist Movement, Dies at 92 (Gift Article)She challenged sexist assumptions, helping women develop a sense of self-worth and gain a measure of equality at work, at home and in society at large.
@sherylnyt.bsky.social

Okay, so I'm revising my manuscript for a book on public health and politics. I'm reading "The New Public Health," by Hibbert Hill, published in 1913. "Who keeps infectious disease going?" Hill asks. Answer: WOMEN!!!

@sherylnyt.bsky.social

The Trump administration bowed to industry in delaying a food safety rule. That made it harder for public health agencies to stop the spread of Cyclospora. 14,000 cases. 740 hospitalizations. 2 deaths. @by-cjewett.bsky.social & Julie Creswell

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.
@sherylnyt.bsky.social

What do Bobby Kennedy Jr., his son Bobby Kennedy III, and Rand Paul have in common?

They each wrote a book criticizing Tony Fauci, and they share the same publisher, Skyhorse, founded by a close RFK Jr. adviser who also runs the MAHA PAC.

www.nytimes.com/2026/08/03/u...

nytimes.comSpotlight on Fauci Said to Boost Book Sales for Kennedy and His Publisher (Gift Article)Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., his son, and Senator Rand Paul have all written books criticizing Dr. Anthony S. Fauci. All were published by a company led by a close Kennedy adviser.
@sherylnyt.bsky.social

New White House plan reimagines American science — more $$ for AI, less for universities and the “life sciences.” Written by Trump’s science adviser, who is a Silicon Valley tech guy, not a scientist.

www.nytimes.com/2026/07/22/u...

nytimes.comTrump’s Plan for Science: More Money for A.I., Less for UniversitiesMichael Kratsios, President Trump’s science adviser, proposed overhauling how the government funds research. Democrats said Mr. Trump’s actions had weakened science.
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