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Flynn Murphy

@flynnmurphy.bsky.social
70 followers 183 following 21 posts

Journalist covering the politics of science and medicine in China and the region. Repost not endorsement. Tips: flynnmurphy at protonmail dot com Latest: muckrack.com/flynn-murphy

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Reposted by Flynn Murphy
Nikkei Asia (Official) @asia.nikkei.com · 09/09/2026
China's tobacco monopoly flexes financial muscle in shoring up banks asia.nikkei.com/business/finance/ch…
asia.nikkei.com
China's tobacco monopoly flexes financial muscle in shoring up banks
Cigarette maker again serves as 'cash printing press' to supplement finance ministry
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Reposted by Flynn Murphy
Jonathan Jarry @jonathanjarry.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
This is a story about the interstitium, a “new” “organ” discovered in 2018. It’s also a story about a pathologist in love with Buddhism and mysticism, and how his mother talked to dead people. Sometimes science gets distorted by the scientist himself. My latest for @mcgilloss.bsky.social.
mcgill.ca
The Organ That “Proved” That Everything Is Connected
Science is elastic. Its findings can be stretched to sell useless gadgets and to sow mistrust. Often, this distortion of the truth is done outside of academia by merchants of doubt, spiritual influenc...
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Reposted by Flynn Murphy
Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him) 🦠🤧🧬📑🦟🧀 @mackayim.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
First #H5N1 bird flu detection confirmed in Australian dolphin "The state's chief veterinary officer Dr Skye Fruean said it was expected the dolphin had "eaten a bird or interacted closely with a wild bird". "We know that dolphins are highly susceptible" www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08...
abc.net.au
First H5N1 bird flu detection confirmed in Australian dolphin
South Australian authorities confirm the country's first H5N1 bird flu in a common dolphin, which was found dead on the Fleurieu Peninsula.
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Reposted by Flynn Murphy
Timothy McBride @mcbridetd.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Canada Hires U.S. Scholars From Harvard and Other Top Universities www.nytimes.com/2026/08/27/w...
nytimes.com
Canada Hires U.S. Scholars From Harvard and Other Top Universities
A crackdown on American academia by the Trump administration has handed Canadian universities a rare opportunity to lure some top researchers north.
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Flynn Murphy @flynnmurphy.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
AI giant Anthropic wanted 'massive' data centre capacity in NSW, emails reveal www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08...
abc.net.au
Internal emails expose scale of Anthropic's Australian AI plans
The US tech giant behind popular AI chatbot Claude wanted to meet with the NSW government earlier this year about locating up to five gigawatts of data centres in the state, the ABC can reveal.
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Reposted by Flynn Murphy
Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 @helenbranswell.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Public comments about a proposal that would make science funding decisions open to political influence are removed from the record, but not by the submitters. A number mentioned that OMB Director Russell Vought's family has benefited from federally funded research. www.statnews.com/2026/08/25/r...
statnews.com
Comments on OMB research rule mysteriously removed from federal website
Some comments on a proposed OMB research rule have been mysteriously removed from a public-facing government webpage.
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Reposted by Flynn Murphy
Scientific American @sciam.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
On Earth, life may have emerged not once, but twice. A new study pinpoints ancient genetic differences between our planet’s earliest organisms, bacteria and archaea, which hint at a common origin from a single, deep-sea source that was itself not yet truly alive.
scientificamerican.com
Life’s ‘last universal common ancestor’ may predate life itself
A groundbreaking study hints at a hazy boundary between “life” and “non-life,” as well as two distinct origins of biology on Earth
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Reposted by Flynn Murphy
Mun-Keat Looi @munkeatlooi.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Chuffed that the BMJ has 9 nominations in the Medical Journalism Awards shortlist! Including both @jennifer Richardson and myself in the Editor category! Congrats to my colleagues and so many friends who are also nominated mjauk.org/the-mja-2026...
mjauk.org
The MJA 2026 Awards shortlist is here! - Medical Journalists’ Association
We are delighted to announce the finalists for our 2026 Medical Journalists’ Association Awards. As ever, the MJA Awards recognise outstanding reporting across medicine, health and science. Our independent...
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Reposted by Flynn Murphy
petersuber @petersuber.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy · 19/08/2026
"Self‑censorship, more stress, tougher recruiting – we asked US researchers how the #Trump administration’s science policies have affected them." […] [Original post on fediscience.org]
Bar chart on survey responses to the question, "How are scientists adjusting the way they work during the Trump administration?"
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Reposted by Flynn Murphy
Timothy McBride @mcbridetd.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Trump administration sued over visa time limit that would affect grad students, postdocs www.statnews.com/2026/08/18/d...
statnews.com
Trump administration sued over visa time limit that would affect grad students, postdocs
DHS was sued Tuesday over a sweeping policy change that would limit how long foreign students and scholars can remain in the U.S.
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Reposted by Flynn Murphy
Timothy McBride @mcbridetd.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
China Hunts for Scientific Talent. The U.S. Is Making It Easier www.nytimes.com/2026/08/17/b...
nytimes.com
As China Hunts for Scientific Talent, the US Makes It Easier
Young researchers have long come to the U.S. for academic training, but a combination of Chinese money and U.S. restrictions is shifting the balance.
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Reposted by Flynn Murphy
𝙉𝙋𝘾 𝙊𝙗𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙚𝙧 @npcobserver.com · 15/08/2026
📣 The National People’s Congress has released an official (but non-binding) English translation of the Ecological and Environmental Code [生态环境法典], which entered into force on August 15, 2026. npcobserver.com/wp-content/u...
npcobserver.com
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Flynn Murphy @flynnmurphy.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
//How did we end up here? Through a market failure... An antibiotic is a rare product whose value rises the less it is used. The best new drugs must be held in reserve to preserve their potency, which means minimal sales and no way to earn back substantial research costs// www.ft.com/content/5924...
ft.com
The west has given China the keys to the medicine cabinet
The US and Europe led the antibiotic era but then outsourced the means to sustain it
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Reposted by Flynn Murphy
Stephen McDonell @stephenmcdonell.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Whistleblower freed in #Australia... www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08...
abc.net.au
'Beautiful day to be free': Jailed whistleblower David McBride released on parole
The former military lawyer was convicted in 2024 for stealing and sharing top-secret defence material with journalists.
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Reposted by Flynn Murphy
Nikkei Asia (Official) @asia.nikkei.com · 12/08/2026
OPINION: Chinese diplomats must stop telling Thais what to think and do Meddling to improve perceptions of China abroad cannot obscure 'gray Chinese' in Thailand trib.al/BpmjBzA
trib.al
Chinese diplomats must stop telling Thais what to think and do
Meddling to improve perceptions of China abroad cannot obscure 'gray Chinese' in Thailand
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Reposted by Flynn Murphy
Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him) 🦠🤧🧬📑🦟🧀 @mackayim.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
"Victoria will need 10,000 doses to meet its vaccine target, and plans to work with the federal government to secure them." www.abc.net.au/news/science...
abc.net.au
Phillip Island penguins to be vaccinated for bird flu
The targeted vaccination of 5,000 penguins is claimed to be the largest wild bird vaccination program undertaken globally.
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Reposted by Flynn Murphy
Javi Ibarrondo @jibarrondo.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
pubs.acs.org/anmafm/artic... 🧪
pubs.acs.org
Immunization with Virus-Like Particles Displaying Ara h 2-Derived Peptides to Mitigate Peanut Allergy
Abstract. Peanut allergy is caused by aberrant IgE-driven immune responses to a well-defined set of peptide sequences within allergenic proteins. Oral and
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Reposted by Flynn Murphy
Nature @nature.com · 12/08/2026
This controversial surgery for Alzheimer's patients aims to improve drainage of fluid from the brain. What do we know about it? go.nature.com/4wV6hjX
go.nature.com
A controversial Alzheimer’s surgery is said to reverse symptoms — here’s what scientists know
Jaw-dropping patient videos and miraculous testimonials ignited a frenzy in China over a technique that aims to improve drainage from the brain. Now it is entering trials worldwide.
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Flynn Murphy @flynnmurphy.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
//Former Chinese premier Zhu Rongji, who earned a reputation as an economic reformer, has died. He was 97.// www.scmp.com/news/china/p...
scmp.com
Breaking | Chinese economic reformer Zhu Rongji dies aged 97
Zhu, who rose to become premier, spearheaded China’s entry into the WTO.
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Reposted by Flynn Murphy
China Digital Times @chinadigitaltimes.net · 11/08/2026
Translation: Migrant Worker Jing Shuren On Trial After Two-Year Detention for Reposting Unpaid Wage Complaints "Jing Shuren neither aimed to disturb social order nor did he actually do so; he simply wanted to help people who were owed unpaid wages."
chinadigitaltimes.net
Translation: Migrant Worker Jing Shuren On Trial After Two-Year Detention for Reposting Unpaid Wage Complaints
Late last month, Caixin published an update on the case, prompting commentator and former investigative journalist Chu Chaoxin to post a belated but heartfelt
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Reposted by Flynn Murphy
Nikkei Asia (Official) @asia.nikkei.com · 09/08/2026
Trump's diplomacy is nudging Thailand toward China Bangkok's response to the Cambodia conflict highlights a broader shift across Southeast Asia trib.al/7zrpudb
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Reposted by Flynn Murphy
China Digital Times @chinadigitaltimes.net · 05/08/2026
Translation: “AI Has Determined That My Press Card Is a Fake” "AI hallucinations are nothing new, but this was the first time an AI’s error in judgment had a real, negative impact on my work."
chinadigitaltimes.net
Translation: “AI Has Determined That My Press Card Is a Fake”
The rise of artificial intelligence and the widespread use of domestic and international large language models (LLMs) have had a profound impact, for better
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Reposted by Flynn Murphy
Flo Débarre @flodebarre.eurosky.social · 04/08/2026
Today is the first Tuesday of the month, my (self-imposed) blog posting day -- I wrote about accusations of coverup and conspiracies, thrown without any evidence, in the context of the recent release of private documents by Rand Paul #covidorigin
pandemonium.hypotheses.org
Conspiracies and coverups
There is no evidence for a lab origin of SARS-CoV-2, so commenters default to meta-discourse and accuse scientists of coverups, for which there is no evidence either. So far, available data and scient...
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Flynn Murphy @flynnmurphy.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
//...with the help of computer code written by widely available AI software, they could alter the data produced from computerized scans of physical DNA evidence without leaving any trace they had tampered with the records...//
wsj.com
Exclusive | Security Flaw Placed 30 Years of DNA Evidence at Risk of Hacking
Researchers found that widely used lab machines produced digital DNA files that are vulnerable to tampering.
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Reposted by Flynn Murphy
ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · 03/08/2026
more than 8 percent of all American newspaper journalists work in Manhattan, up from 2 percent in 2005 www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
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Reposted by Flynn Murphy
ProPublica @propublica.org · 02/08/2026
WATCH: ProPublica & @drilledmedia.bsky.social found that oil and gas companies have been funding climate research at prestigious US universities for 30+ years. This research fostered a misperception that climate change could be solved without dramatically curtailing fossil fuels: propub.li/3TTgAGp
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Reposted by Flynn Murphy
Bloomberg News @bloomberg.com · 30/07/2026
DeepSeek is planning to build a massive data center in Inner Mongolia as it ramps up its competition with Silicon Valley
bloom.bg
DeepSeek Is Developing Massive AI Data Center in Inner Mongolia
China’s DeepSeek is planning a massive artificial-intelligence data center in Inner Mongolia, according to people familiar with the matter, an ambitious move in computing infrastructure from the startup that’s shown it can compete with the leading AI models of Silicon Valley.
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Flynn Murphy @flynnmurphy.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
//The Minns government is set to introduce new laws into New South Wales parliament, so that the power NSW police has to require people to provide access to their digital devices… is available during more routine arrests, roadside stops and other lawful detentions.//
sydneycriminallawyers.com.au
NSW Police to Be Given Powers to Access and Download Phone Content on the Beat
The NSW government is introducing laws that would give police officers broad power to compel individuals to provide access to their digital devices for scanning and downloading.
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Reposted by Flynn Murphy
Kai Kupferschmidt @kakape.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Ebola may have been spreading for months in the DRC before anyone recognized it. A new reconstruction suggests the outbreak was already widespread in the gold-mining town of Mongbwalu by January. It wasn’t officially declared until 15 May. Why did no-one raise the alarm? My story for @science.org 🧪
science.org
EXCLUSIVE: Congo’s Ebola epidemic started at least 4 months before it was detected
A remote mining town gripped by fear saw hundreds of suspected cases before the government declared an outbreak, report says
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Reposted by Flynn Murphy
Zach Hensel @zachhensel.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Lots of "lab leak" chatter this week, cherry picking from impolite things written in private during a crisis. So, for some contrast, here's something that was hiding in plain sight for years. It disproves a defamatory conspiracy theory that appeared in @vanityfair.com and the book Viral.
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Reposted by Flynn Murphy
Retraction Watch @retractionwatch.com · 01/08/2026
A lawsuit filed under the U.S. False Claims Act accuses Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley and Informa of perpetrating a decade-long scheme to defraud the government by charging exorbitant article processing charges.
retractionwatch.com
Federal lawsuit accuses four major publishers of extorting article processing charges
iStock A lawsuit filed under the U.S. False Claims Act accuses four major publishers of perpetrating a decade-long scheme to defraud the government by charging exorbitant article processing charges…
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Reposted by Flynn Murphy
Retraction Watch @retractionwatch.com · 23/07/2026
A couple paid more than $800,000 for a gene-editing therapy for their daughter. She died, and it wasn’t made public. An exclusive from us and @science.org.
science.org
Exclusive: Death of girl in Chinese gene-editing trial was never made public
Parents want accountability after study went disastrously wrong, Science and Retraction Watch investigation reveals
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Reposted by Flynn Murphy
Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him) 🦠🤧🧬📑🦟🧀 @mackayim.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
Oopsie (OMFG!)
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Flynn Murphy @flynnmurphy.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
//Many patient groups depend on industry funding. And not all media reporting of patients’ perspectives mention all relevant details about price negotiations.// theconversation.com/how-drug-com...
theconversation.com
How drug companies are playing hardball with Australia’s PBS
International drug companies are threatening to remove medicines from the market if Australia doesn’t offer them a better price. Here’s what’s at stake.
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Reposted by Flynn Murphy
Mun-Keat Looi @munkeatlooi.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Pakistan arrests Afghan doctor during surgery amid visa fallout
buff.ly
Pakistan arrests Afghan doctor during surgery amid visa fallout
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Reposted by Flynn Murphy
Darius Longarino 龙大瑞 @dariuslongarino.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Trans employee wins labor lawsuit against company that fired him for “missing work” after he traveled to Thailand for gender-affirming surgery. Company rejected his request for medical leave citing rule that he must go to a domestic Grade 3 insurance-designated hospital m.thecover.cn/news_details...
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Reposted by Flynn Murphy
Michael W @michaelwood8.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
I posted this 1926 photo last week on Xiaohongshu and someone contacted me to say the Tusi's great granddaughter is now doing a PhD at university in Columbus Ohio and liked the colourised image.
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Reposted by Flynn Murphy
Magdalena Skipper @magdalenaskipper.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
‘Authorship gymnastics’? This is exceptionally worrying if the answer the question posed in the title of this story is true 🧪 #academicSky www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
Did U.S. scrutiny of foreign research drive prominent geneticist to decline authorship?
George Church moved to paper’s acknowledgements section, triggering exodus
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Flynn Murphy @flynnmurphy.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Is this the first case of scientists in America losing credit for their work as a result of growing government scrutiny of international research collaborations? New from me and @jeffreybrainard.bsky.social
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Timothy McBride @mcbridetd.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Scientists overwhelmingly against rule change that would give political appointees say over science grants Hundreds of thousands of scientists, including Nobel laureates, warn changes to how federal grants are approved would greatly damage American science www.scientificamerican.com/article/scie...
scientificamerican.com
Scientists overwhelmingly against rule change that would give political appointees say over science grants
Hundreds of thousands of scientists, including Nobel laureates, warn that changes to the way federal grants are approved would greatly damage American science
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Reposted by Flynn Murphy
Jeffrey Brainard @jeffreybrainard.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
A leading researcher moved from the authors list to the acknowledgements section of a commentary amid growing U.S. restrictions on coauthorships with non-U.S. scholars. #scicomm @flynnmurphy.bsky.social @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
Did U.S. scrutiny of foreign research drive prominent geneticist to decline authorship?
George Church moved to paper’s acknowledgements section, triggering exodus
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Reposted by Flynn Murphy
The BMJ @bmj.com · 01/08/2025
"I knew that if we were in Canada, this is a boy who would easily be treatable . . . and yet we just had to sit there and watch him die." Doctors and aid workers describe watching helplessly as Palestinian children die of starvation and treatable injuries www.bmj.com/content/390/...
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Flynn Murphy @flynnmurphy.bsky.social · 31/07/2025
Trump administration is launching a new private health tracking system with Big Tech's help apnews.com/article/trum...
apnews.com
Trump administration is launching a new private health tracking system with Big Tech's help
The initiative will focus on diabetes and weight management, conversational artificial intelligence that helps patients, and digital tools such as QR codes and apps that register patients for check-in...
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Reposted by Flynn Murphy
Mun-Keat Looi @munkeatlooi.bsky.social · 18/07/2025
Chinese government launches investigation after 233 children poisoned with lead www.bmj.com/content/390/...
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Reposted by Flynn Murphy
What's Happening in China @www.whatshappeninginchina.com · 15/04/2025
Shanghai issues “negative list” to doctors of online behaviours to avoid, amid transparency concerns, by @flynnmurphy.bsky.social www.bmj.com/content/389/...
bmj.com
Shanghai issues “negative list” to doctors of online behaviours to avoid, amid transparency concerns
Shanghai’s municipal health authorities have issued a “negative list” of nine types of online behaviour that doctors should avoid, from unlawful advertising to criticising government policy, in what t...
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Reposted by Flynn Murphy
Mun-Keat Looi @munkeatlooi.bsky.social · 19/04/2025
Fact checking the new COVID.gov website kucharski.substack.com/p/fact-check...
kucharski.substack.com
Fact checking the new COVID.gov website
From public health resource to politically charged claims
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Reposted by Flynn Murphy
mayawang.bsky.social @mayawang.bsky.social · 18/04/2025
Lu Siwei, Chinese human rights lawyer who fled to Laos and sent back to China, is sentenced to 11 months in prison for "illegally crossing the border". Many rights lawyers are now barred from leaving China: ino.to/xOZe4eL
ino.to
四川人权律师卢思位被控“涉嫌偷越国境罪”一案将于2025年4月18日在成都市成华区法院宣判 卢思位获刑11个月
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Dan Diamond @ddiamond.bsky.social · 18/04/2025
FDA “is drawing up plans that would end most of its routine food safety inspections work, multiple federal health officials tell CBS News, and effectively outsource this oversight to state and local authorities.” from the great @alexander-a-tin.bsky.social
cbsnews.com
FDA making plans to end its routine food safety inspections, sources say
Food safety inspections would be left to state and local authorities under the plan being developed by the FDA.
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Mun-Keat Looi @munkeatlooi.bsky.social · 16/04/2025
Gaza: Israel’s hospital attacks leave critically ill patients lying on the street www.bmj.com/content/389/...
bmj.com
Gaza: Israel’s hospital attacks leave critically ill patients lying on the street
An Israeli attack on Al-Ahli Hospital in northern Gaza forced critically ill patients out onto the street, killing at least one patient who relied on oxygen, and destroyed vital equipment, including…
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Reposted by Flynn Murphy
STAT @statnews.com · 11/04/2025
A STAT Special Report Inside U.S. health agencies, workers confront chaos and questions as operations become unglued
buff.ly
Inside U.S. health agencies, workers confront chaos and questions as operations become unglued
The Trump administration’s remaking of HHS — in a matter of weeks — is sparking basic questions about how parts of the agency and those it oversees can continue to function.
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