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Laurie Schowalter

@laurieschowalter.bsky.social
1.2K followers 2.3K following 716 posts

Public health, equity, justice / 🇺🇸🇿🇦

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Reposted by Laurie Schowalter
Stand Up for Science! @standupforscience.net · 08/10/2026
The CDC just re-opened a previously shelved study that would withhold the hepatitis B vaccine from children in Guinea-Bissau, despite decades of evidence showing it is safe and effective. This is a violation of human rights, using “science” to harm some of the most vulnerable people in the world.
Breaking-news graphic featuring a photo of RFK Jr with headline that reads "RFK JR. TO GIVE 1.6M IN CDC FUNDS TO EXPERIMENT ON AFRICAN BABIES IN UNETHICAL TRIAL"
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Ann Telnaes @anntelnaes.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
...and 35 years ago on Oct 11th the Anita Hill/Clarence Thomas hearings began. Nothing has changed.
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Susan Rinkunas @susanrinkunas.com · 06/10/2026
NEW: Trump's HHS just gave nearly $9 million in federal family planning grants to groups with anti-abortion ties. The recipient of a $3 million grant to train family planning providers has a history of discouraging the use of hormonal birth control. read @garnethenderson.com in @autonomynews.co
autonomynews.co
Nearly $9 Million in HHS Grants Go to Groups With Anti-Abortion Ties
Millions in family planning funds are earmarked to create training centers, including one dedicated to infertility. The recipients have links to crisis pregnancy centers, the Heritage Foundation, and ...
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Professa Murray @kalimurray.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
What is failure in impeachment? You know what Russ Vought can’t do when he is sitting an impeachment trial: f**k with the budget. He will busy being under the white hot lines of impeachment.
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BK. Titanji @boghuma.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Appropriated funding for HIV research is currently being held by HHS. Several research programs will stop if these funds are not released including clinical trials. Please take 2 mins to sign this letter and demand congress act to release these funds. savehivfunding.org/organization...
savehivfunding.org
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Lindsey Boylan @lindseyboylan.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
This man is a monster. He seeks out women survivors because he hates them. And he hates them because he hates himself. He has harassed me and other women survivors many times over the years. It must end. He should never have a job anywhere.
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taylr @taylordahlin.com · 28/09/2026
mukhtar ibrahim, founder of the sahan journal, and ubah ali, a former WCCO reporter, have just launched the somali brief, an independent media outlet where somali americans can tell their own stories www.thesomalibrief.com
thesomalibrief.com
The Somali Brief
The Somali Brief is a digital-first media platform covering the stories shaping Somali American life.
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Reposted by Laurie Schowalter
Lauren Donovan Ginsberg @laurenginsberg.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I’m begging parents of sons: ask them what they would do if they saw a text chain appear on their phone like the one at Cornell. What actions would they take? How would they help? Would they know what to do? Please. Talk to them.
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Reposted by Laurie Schowalter
IDSA @idsainfo.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
HIV clinical research infrastructure doesn't happen overnight. IDSA CEO Jeanne Marrazzo, MD, MPH, FIDSA, explains why the networks that have supported decades of HIV research and discovery must be protected.   Watch the full press briefing: bit.ly/4h5UQAp
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Reposted by Laurie Schowalter
Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
So much of schools "responding to rape" is preventing the legal system from doing so. This is a report on seven adults who committed serious felonies for which there is a legal system to remind them and their pals that they are felonies.
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Brona @mostlydelores.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Matthew Ingalls. Jonathan Newell. Winston Lee. Gillio Lopes. Diego Sarabia. Scott Norris. Scott Kretzschmar. These are the names of the seven men named as defendants in a civil complaint filed on Sept. 14 alleging they drugged and gang raped a Cornell student.
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Reposted by Laurie Schowalter
Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Room empties out at the UN as Netanyahu begins his speech.
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GroundUp News @groundup.org.za · 23/09/2026
Gauteng’s e-Panic Button app exposed the names of people who made crime reports, the reports themselves, locations of the people making the report and people accused of committing crimes. Read groundup.org.za/article/gaut... by Joel Cedras
groundup.org.za
How Gauteng’s new panic app exposed your data
Reports about domestic violence and assault, including images and locations, could be accessed by a tech-savvy computer user
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Reposted by Laurie Schowalter
Asawin Suebsaeng @swin24.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
The way to look at this is George bush is trying to help Donald trump retain power on the Hill
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Tess Bridgeman @tessbridgeman.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Read this thread by @rgoodlaw.bsky.social on the Special Rapporteur's conclusion: "reasonable grounds to believe" that the boat strikes "that killed 223 people constituted crimes against humanity of murder" And then read our collection to understand why & what Congress can do about it 👇:
justsecurity.org
Collection: U.S. Lethal Strikes on Suspected Drug Traffickers, Operation Southern Spear, Operation Absolute Resolve
Collection of expert analysis on the legality of the U.S. strike on Venezuelan vessels in the Caribbean, the consequences of the strike, and related issues.
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Gwen Pearson @bug-gwen.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Just encouraging all Mac users to contact Apple and tell them it's BS that Siri and Apple intelligence can no longer be fully disabled in the latest update (OS27). Reports vary by device, but between 10G and 30G of AI garbage models downloading. I just wiped and will be staying with 26 for a while 😡
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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Article is useful in that it shows that a) Trump is directly involved in these decisions, b) sees them in purely personalist terms - he wants to politicize research grants so he can destroy Harvard for daring to defy him
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Hunter Walker @hunterw.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
OK, so, I am making a quick last minute trip to London in mid October. It will be the weekend of the Leeds vs. Arsenal game. I am going but I have run into a serious problem. #MOT #ALAW
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Carolyn E Holmes @carolyneholmes.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Rubio plans to "revoke or reject visas from [those] found to be responsible for...uncompensated land seizures, race-based discrimination and the incitement of violence against minority racial/ethnic groups in South Africa." Easy enough. Since they aren't happening. www.cbsnews.com/news/us-sout...
cbsnews.com
U.S. slaps South Africa with new sanctions due to alleged discrimination against White people
The Trump administration has announced that it will impose travel bans on officials it claims are responsible for discrimination against White people and other minority groups in South Africa.
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ACLU @aclu.org · 16/09/2026
BREAKING: We're suing Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and the National Institutes of Health Director for their ideologically-driven termination and censorship of biomedical research grants. Targeting views the government disagrees with for not aligning with a political agenda is unconstitutional.
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Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
mRNA vaccines vs cancer success —melanoma (Phase 3, RCT, definitive, announced today) —triple negative breast cancer —pancreatic cancer —non-small cell lung cancer —glioblastoma
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Deborah Blum @deborahb.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
If you've wondering how things are going, since the last week of July the FDA has opened 5 new investigations into disease outbreaks involving cylospora, salmonella and two different variants of E.Coli. They haven't yet been able to identify a single product responsible for any of those.
fda.gov
Investigations of Foodborne Illness Outbreaks
The following is a list of outbreak and adverse event investigations primarily being managed by FDA’s CORE Response Teams.
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Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @mayor.nyc.gov · 04/08/2026
This is the story of how a group of perfectly ordinary neighbors took on one of the worst landlords in New York. And won. Introducing, the Union of Pinnacle Tenants: the short film. Watch the full film: youtu.be/h5dvGKI26ZA
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Marcus Low @marcuslowx.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
A brief history of the Thembisa HIV model, by Leigh Johnson. A great overview of one of the most impressive infectious disease models around papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abs…
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Susan Rinkunas @susanrinkunas.com · 16/07/2026
There is precisely one (1) other news story about this huge abortion news from Trump’s AG pick and it’s behind a paywall. Please support @autonomynews.co, which is worker-owned and paywall-free
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Reposted by Laurie Schowalter
Stephen Sandelich @sandelichmd.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Every week without treatment is risk. Low-barrier bup initiation in the ED, same-day prescribing, warm handoffs, no prior auth gatekeeping, cuts dropout and overdose. Withholding MOUD from a teenager isn't protecting them. It's undertreating them.
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Atul Gawande @agawande.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
More signs of resurging HIV after USAID’s closure. African Neonatal Network reported at IMNCH (a global health conference): HIV+ pregnant women ↑50% & those not on antiretrovirals ↑>300%, year-on-year, across 22 hospitals in 5 nations. @vtoxfordnetwork.bsky.social
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Kat Tenbarge @kattenbarge.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
It is truly incredible how some of these male leftists who correctly criticize the police and court system will turn around and say a rape allegation can’t be taken seriously unless it passes through the cops and courts
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Laurie Schowalter @laurieschowalter.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
This is a brutal but essential read and should be shared widely. Vitamin K refusal must be tracked so we can understand the scope of the problem. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2026/07/08/w...
nytimes.com
As Parents Reject Vitamin K Shots, Some Babies Develop Devastating Bleeding
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Reposted by Laurie Schowalter
m @keptsimple.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
lol does this article really not mention that Clarence Thomas was in house counsel for Monsanto, the Roundup manufacturer?
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Lizzy Lawrence @lizzylawrence.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
EXCLUSIVE: Eli Lilly gave compassionate use access to retatrutide, their unapproved powerful obesity drug, to a 79-year-old man in April. The application was arranged by a top doctor at NIH, and cleared by the FDA. www.statnews.com/2026/06/23/e...
statnews.com
Eli Lilly gave extraordinary obesity drug access to a 79-year-old patient. Who was it?
Exclusive: STAT has learned that Eli Lilly and the FDA allowed a 79-year-old to gain extraordinary access to an experimental obesity drug through the agency’s “compassionate use” program.
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Amanda Mull @amandamull.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
Several colleagues and I have a big new feature out today: An inside look at the global peptide trade, a billion-dollar black market in experimental and potentially dangerous drugs that RFK Jr. is pushing to make legal. Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/features/202...
bloomberg.com
The Billion-Dollar Peptides Gold Rush
As black-market drugs go mainstream and legalization is within reach, entrepreneurs, investors and healthcare players are racing to cash in.
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 17/06/2026
NEW: Across Africa, the State Department has demanded access to health data for millions of people as a condition of giving countries billions of dollars in aid needed to address HIV, malaria, tuberculosis and other illnesses.
propublica.org
“Digital Colonialism”: U.S. Demands to Access Africans’ Data Raise Privacy, Sovereignty Concerns
The United States is requiring access to health data as part of lifesaving aid deals with African countries. The U.S. says the data will be aggregated and anonymized, but privacy experts fear the info...
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Judith Butlerian Jihad @pghguy.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
If you are contacted by the FBI you can contact your local federal public defender and also call the NLGs federal anti repression hotline at 212-679-2811. Do not answer questions do not agree to further meetings.
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Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
The mifespristone case shows that the abortion federalism promised by Dobbs was a lie—the goal is to ban abortion everywhere, even if that means forcing pro choice states like New York to enforce abortion bans passed by anti-choice states. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Shield laws are not directly at issue in Louisiana’s case. But Alito’s reference to those laws as part of a “scheme” to undermine Dobbs is a tell that he believes that New York should be compelled to help enforce Louisiana’s ban on abortion. Although the justices who overturned Roe blamed it for fomenting partisan rancor and division, the Dobbs ruling was always going to be worse in that regard, precisely because abortion cannot truly be banned as long as you can cross state lines to get one.
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Ben Collins @bencollins.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
Fascism's a fever you break with shit like what happened in New York last night. Create more excuses to feel things like that together.
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Dimitri Drekonja, MD, MS @dimitridrekonja.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
What I knew about lenalidomide (Revlimid) before this story: -thalidomide cousin -made myeloma go from a fatal to a manageable cancer -VA costs were much less than private sector After story I know: -drug sells for $1k/pill -costs $0.25/pill to make -raised prices 26 times since 2005 Monstrous 🤬
propublica.org
How a 25-Cent Cancer Pill Became a Hundred-Billion-Dollar Business
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Sarah J. Jackson @sjjphd.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Gift link @tressiemcphd.bsky.social on the political level of data centers Winning political strategies can be as simple as pick something that harms people and be against it and then pick something that helps people and be for it. People HATE data centers so…
nytimes.com
Opinion | This Could Be the Winning Issue for Democrats
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Arang Keshavarzian @keshavarziana.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
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TAG - Treatment Action Group @treatmentactiongroup.org · 01/06/2026
Last year, lawmakers cut over $1 trillion in health funding. The worst consequences haven't hit yet but they will. June 1–7, #SevenDaysInJune is a grassroots campaign to fight back before it's too late. We're demanding elected officials protect affordability, research, and public health.
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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
Several people have asked for possible content and structure for comments regarding the proposed OMB regulations. With some suggestions from others, I have posted on example (as a Word document) for downloading). jeremymberg.github.io/jeremyberg.g... I hope this is helpful.
jeremymberg.github.io
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Karl Bode @karlbode.com · 28/05/2026
I've been warning about this moment for two decades over at Techdirt The U.S. is too corrupt to regulate data brokers (and their exploitation and sale of location data) and the check has come due
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Melody Schreiber @melodyschreiber.com · 27/05/2026
NEW: I confirmed with the White House that the US is creating a facility in Kenya to send Americans for Ebola quarantine and treatment. Experts are appalled. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
theguardian.com
US building Ebola quarantine center in Kenya for Americans amid outbreak
Some experts criticize White House approach and say not allowing Americans to return to US hurts treatment efforts
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Health Policy Watch - Global health news reporting @healthpolicywatch.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
A new #WHA79 resolution on steatotic #liver disease could shift liver health from the margins of #hepatology to the centre of the global NCD response. ⚠️The message: the liver is already warning us about the metabolic crisis. INSIDE VIEW: @jvlazarus.bsky.social @isglobal.org 📖⬇️ & 🔁🙏
healthpolicy-watch.news
From Margin To Mainstream: Why Liver Health Should Sit At The Centre Of The Global NCD Response - Health Policy Watch
The 79th World Health Assembly adopted the first-ever resolution on steatotic liver disease (SLD) last week. For those people working outside hepatology, the
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Reposted by Laurie Schowalter
Nanjala @nanjala.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
Remember kids, it’s only corruption when it happens in the global south. If it happens in the US it’s “sparkling investment”.
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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 18/05/2026
An death just like George Floyd: In Dublin, Ireland, Yves Sakila, a Black Irish Congolese man, appears to have been killed by criminal justice system actors who kneeled on his neck moments before he died. Yves Sakila mattered. Black Lives Matter. Details: www.instagram.com/p/DYfk9HWiPx...
Solidarity with the Irish Congolese community. RIP Yves Sakila.
LA COMMUNAUTÉ CONGOLAISE EN DEUIL
R. I. P YVES-SAKILA
C.C.I
Congolese Community in Ireland
Order • Discipline + Unity
C.C.I présente ses sincères condoléances à la famille éplorée et à toute la communauté congolaise.
Que son âme repose en paix.
Tu resteras à jamais dans nos cœurs.
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In our hearts forever,
never forgotten.
C.C.I - Ensemble, restons unis dans la solidarité.
Order • Discipline • Unity
Vigil Tomorrow (19/05) 12pm, Henry Street.Dinar
• IRISH NETWORK AGAINST RACISM
INAR Statement on the death of Mr Yves Sakila: Monday 18 May 2026. Dublin.
The Irish Network Against Racism (INAR) is very concerned about the news that a man, believed to be Mr Yves Sakila, has died from suspected asphyxiation following his apprehension for an alleged shoplifting incident in Arnotts in Dublin on Friday 15 May. Nobody deserves to die for being suspected of shoplifting. Something clearly went terribly wrong. News of the tragedy is doubly shocking as some newspapers have reported that Mr Sakila is said to have "become unresponsive" after Gardai arrived on the scene.
A very disturbing 4m44s video has since emerged which appears to show the man on the ground being subdued by several men, who appear to be security guards and management at Arnotts. One of the men is seen to shift his weight onto his knee to drive it into the neck and head region of the subdued man. The man on the ground is heard shouting in distress as several men are kneeling on his body and the men shout several times for him to "stay down" while holding his neck and pinning his body to the ground with their combined weight. By the end of the 4m44s video we have seen, the man appears motionless. Gardai do not appear to have arrived on the scene at this stage.
Shane O'Curry, Director of INAR said "At INAR we are extremely disturbed by the reports of the incident, and we extend our sincere condolences to the family and friends of Mr Sakila. We are very concerned that this case appears to have the hallmarks of a case of excessive use of force. The death of a black man in such circumstances is extremely worrying, and we urge the authorities to thoroughly investigate all of the circumstances leading to this man's death, in order to ensure minority ethnic community confidence in the criminal justice system."
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Melody Schreiber @melodyschreiber.com · 15/05/2026
Africa CDC is sounding the alarm over an Ebola outbreak in DRC, where 13 of 20 samples tested were positive for Ebola - likely a non-Zaire ebolavirus. So far, there are about 246 suspected cases and 65 deaths.
Call for Urgent Regional Coordination Meeting Following Ebola Virus Disease Outbreak in Ituri Province, DRCThe Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) is closely monitoring the confirmed Ebola Virus Disease outbreak in Ituri province, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and is working with national authorities and partners to support a rapid, coordinated response.

Following consultations with the DRC’s Ministry of Health and National Public Health Institute, preliminary laboratory results from the Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale (INRB) have detected Ebola virus in 13 of 20 samples tested. The results suggest a non-Zaire ebolavirus, with sequencing ongoing to further characterise the strain. Results are expected within the next 24 hours with support from Africa CDC.

As of the latest update, about 246 suspected cases and 65 deaths have been reported, mainly in Mongwalu and Rwampara health zones. Four deaths have been reported among laboratory-confirmed cases. Suspected cases have also been reported in Bunia, pending confirmation.

Africa CDC is concerned about the risk of further spread due to the urban context of Bunia and Rwampara, intense population movement, mining-related mobility in Mongwalu, insecurity in affected areas, gaps in contact listing, infection prevention and control challenges, and the proximity of affected areas to Uganda and South Sudan.In response, Africa CDC is convening an urgent high-level coordination meeting today, 15 May 2026, with health authorities from the DRC, Uganda and South Sudan, together with key partners including the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the United States CDC, the European CDC, China CDC, the Public Health Agency of Canada, Gilead Sciences, Merck & Co., Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Roche, Abbott Laboratories, Cepheid, BioNTech, Moderna, Evotec Biologics, CEPI, Gavi, Médecins Sans Frontières, IFRC, the World Bank, the African Development Bank, Afreximbank, the Gates Foundation, the Wellcome Trust, and other partners. 

The meeting will focus on immediate response priorities, cross-border coordination, surveillance, laboratory support, infection prevention and control, risk communication, safe and dignified burials, and resource mobilisation.
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Sandhya Raman @sandhyawrites.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Scoop: SAMHSA will take down its website for locating providers that can prescribe buprenorphine for treating opioid use disorder next month. news.bloomberglaw.com/health-law-a...
news.bloomberglaw.com
Behavior Health Agency to Take Down Opioid Treatment Provider List
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration plans to remove next month its online tool for locating public access to a common treatment for individuals with an opioid use disorder.
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