RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.city-journal.org/article/maha-rfk-jr-mental-illness-health

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” Commission released its initial report in late May, billing it as the “foundation” for a national policy strategy. Meant to assess chronic disease trends—including rising youth mental-health diagnoses and treatment—the report instead marked the movement’s first major setback. The 73-page document, with 522 citations, drew swift backlash for numerous references that were misrepresented, misattributed, or simply false. With citations to nonexistent studies and dead hyperlinks, the report also showed signs of possible AI-generated content. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed the obvious and embarrassing flaws as “formatting issues,” but nonpartisans weren’t convinced.

The MAHA movement draws support from a diverse coalition: critics of corporate influence and overmedicated living; academics alarmed by pervasive social-media use; skeptics of vaccines and mainstream science; those disillusioned by government cover-ups during Covid-19; advocates of environmental regulation; and, not least, mothers who might otherwise lean progressive but oppose a public-health model that pathologizes issues better addressed through personal responsibility.

Mental health—in particular, youth mental health—has been a MAHA priority. A key sign of the movement’s traction has been its success in prompting others to admit that the current approach isn’t working. In May, the New York Times published an essay by psychiatrist Awais Aftab, pointedly titled “Harm from Antidepressants Is Real. Let’s Not Cede the Conversation to Kennedy.” Earlier, the Times had called out Kennedy for claiming that “15 percent of American youth are now on Adderall or some other A.D.H.D. medications,” but ultimately conceded that the figure is 12.9 percent and acknowledged rising rates of both stimulant prescriptions and psychotherapy. It also noted that these trends have not improved outcomes for low-income or black youth, or for adults with “serious psychological distress.”

https://www.aol.com/lifestyle/synthetic-molecule-targets-kills-breast-000700149.html

Scientists have developed a new molecule that can deliver powerful immune-activating treatment directly to cancer cells, marking an important advancement in cancer therapy. Traditionally, one major obstacle in fighting cancer is overcoming the tumor’s ability to suppress the body’s immune response.

Now, researchers at Stanford University have created an innovative treatment capable of turning immunologically inactive tumors into targets the immune system can attack.

A Novel Approach to Immunotherapy

Current cancer treatments often involve injecting immune-activating substances directly into tumors. However, not all cancers are easily reachable. To overcome this challenge, the Stanford team combined two crucial elements into a single synthetic molecule, PIP-CpG. One part of the molecule, PIP, identifies and binds specifically to integrins—proteins commonly found on cancer cells. The other part, CpG, acts as an immunostimulant by activating Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9).

Idit Sagiv-Barfi  and Ronald Levy  pioneered a potential cancer therapy by injecting two immune-boosting agents directly into solid tumors. 

When administered intravenously, the innovative PIP-CpG molecule efficiently reaches multiple cancer sites throughout the body. By directly targeting tumor sites, this treatment ensures that the immune-stimulating drug accumulates precisely where it’s needed most.

Effective Tumor Targeting and Immune Activation

The research team tested this therapy in mice suffering from aggressive breast cancer. After receiving just three doses, six out of nine mice survived significantly longer than untreated mice. Even more promisingly, three of these mice appeared completely cured, showing no tumor recurrence over several months. Impressively, a single dose was sufficient for complete tumor elimination in half of the tested mice.

Jennifer Cochran, PhD, Shriram Chair of the Department of Bioengineering at Stanford, was enthusiastic about these remarkable results. “We essentially cured some animals with just a few injections,” she said. “It was pretty astonishing.”

When researchers examined the treated tumors, they observed a drastic transformation. Previously dominated by cells suppressing immune activity, the tumors became filled with activated immune cells, including CD8+ T cells, CD4+ T cells, and B cells. This shift mirrors the results usually seen only with direct tumor injections.

Overcoming Limitations of Previous Therapies

https://pjmedia.com/benbartee/2025/06/27/rfk-jr-axes-all-funding-for-bill-gates-global-vaccine-alliance-n4941219

Whereas the general modus operandi in legacy media is to smear RFK Jr. as an “anti-vaxxer” within the first sentence, the Washington Post courteously waited until the second paragraph to label RFK Jr. a “vaccine misinformation” spreader on its way to condemning him for cutting federal funding to Bill Gates’ global “vaccine alliance,” GAVI.

Via Washington Post (emphasis added):

The United States will halt its contributions to Gavi, the global alliance that works to expand access to vaccines for children in some of the world’s poorest countries, said Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Wednesday — a move that public health experts said would have deadly consequences.

Kennedy, who has a history of spreading vaccine misinformation, announced the decision in video remarks made to a Gavi summit in Brussels, during which he accused the group of neglecting “the key issue of vaccine safety.”…

In his remarks, Kennedy cited a study linking the DTP vaccine — for diphtheria,a highly contagious bacterial infection that kills 5 to 10 percent of those affected, as well as tetanus and pertussis — to increased child mortality. Kennedy also said Gavi should “consider the best science available,” and “re-earn the public trust.”

The Bezos paper didn’t actually cite or quote the DTP study referenced by Kennedy, so I went and found it.

https://www.city-journal.org/article/mental-illness-certified-community-behavioral-health-clinics-funding-grants

The Department of Justice is brainstorming ways to clear homeless encampments and increase involuntary hospitalization, focusing on people with serious mental illness. Fortunately, the federal government already has a resource for people with such conditions: Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics. CCBHCs serve as one-stop shops for people with serious mental illness, providing coordinated physical and specialty behavioral health services. As part of their congressional mandate, the clinics turn no one away, regardless of ability to pay. 

But according to an April 10 document leaked to the media, the White House was considering defunding grants for the CCBHC program. This would have eliminated a crucial lifeline for the seriously mentally ill. 

CCBHCs have been a bipartisan effort. In 2014, Congress and President Obama established the clinics under an eight-state Medicaid demonstration project that launched three years later. In 2020, Congress and President Trump adopted the CARES Act, which expanded the demonstration and provided grant funding for additional CCBHCs. Today, nearly 500 CCBHCs serve 3 million patients across 46 states.

https://issuesinsights.com/2025/05/19/medicaid-end-it-dont-mend-it/

As soon as Republicans mentioned cutting spending on Medicaid as part of their “reconciliation” bill, the usual suspects started rolling out their standard talking points. They’re cutting health care for the poor to pay for tax cuts for the rich! Millions will lose coverage! The disabled will suffer! Oh, the humanity!

Well, if the GOP is going to be accused of destroying Medicaid when all they are proposing is a minor haircut, why not go all out and scrap this hopelessly flawed, fraud-riddled, budget-busting disaster of a program and start over from scratch?

First, let’s dispense with the claim of “devastating” cuts to Medicaid. The House reconciliation bill would reduce Medicaid spending by $625 billion. That might sound like a lot, but it’s stretched out over 10 years, at a time when Medicaid is on track to spend $8.6 trillion. Medicaid spending will still go up every year under the House bill, just a tiny bit more slowly.

What Republicans should really be talking about is giving Medicaid the USAID treatment. Shut it down and start over from scratch.

Let’s line up the reasons.

It was sold on a lie. The original claim made in the mid-1960s was that the federal government and the states would split the cost of Medicaid. But that happened only once: in the program’s first year. Ever since, the federal share has grown while the states’ shares have shrunk. By 2005, states were paying only 42% of Medicaid’s bills. In 2022, the state share dipped below 30%.

Over the past 60 years, states have pressured federal lawmakers to make a multitude of exceptions to the 50-50 split, which lawmakers were only too happy to provide because there is no cap on federal Medicaid spending.