JoNel Aleccia

Food & Nutrition reporter @AP. Past: @KHNews, Seattle Times, NBC, more. Send tips/docs:

[Matthew Perrone @AP_FDAwriter]

FDA panel on peptides will include experts who promote the unproven chemicals favored by RFK Jr.

https://t.co/vukQdPbPRH

[JoNel Aleccia @JoNel_Aleccia]

@aawayne @APStylebook noting that no @AP health reporters were consulted about this change.

[Ali Swenson @AliSwenson]

New with @JoNel_Aleccia: RFK Jr. has said diet can "cure" schizophrenia and diabetes, and allow people to lose bipolar disorder diagnoses.

Researchers say he's overstating evidence about the real & promising role that food can play in managing illness.
https://t.co/UlIXrnbryB

[Matthew Perrone @AP_FDAwriter]

The FDA will drop its longtime standard of requiring two rigorous studies to win approval for new drugs, the latest change from Trump administration officials vowing to speed up the availability of certain medical products.
https://t.co/tlFH0ndNO6

[JoNel Aleccia @JoNel_Aleccia]

@EvanAKilgore @EvanAKilgore I'm a reporter with the Associated Press. We're reaching out to families affected by this outbreak. I'm so sorry your nephew is ill. If family members would be willing to speak to me, I'm at [email protected]

[Alex Wayne @aawayne]

NEWS of the hiring sort:

* We've landed @AmandaSeitz, an ace health policy reporter for the Associated Press, to help us cover🙌all of this🙌 in Washington.

She helped nail a big scoop on RFK Jr. ordering CMS to hand over data to deportation officials.
https://t.co/RVtoqOymKC

[JoNel Aleccia @JoNel_Aleccia]

Docs obtained by AP tracked inspection reports from Jan-July. They showed protein and fat residue left on equipment and walls, drains blocked with meat products, staff who didn’t wear protective hairnets and plastic aprons — or wash their hands.
https://t.co/Wm1EdNy2YS

[Alison Young @alisonannyoung]

As Texas battles its largest measles outbreak in decades, the state’s largest school district isn’t enforcing school vaccine rules. Our @Hou_Landing investigation found dozens of schools where the low percentage kindergarteners up-to-date on measles shots poses outbreak risk. 🧵

[Kevin Hall @KevinH_PhD]

After 21 years at my dream job, I’m very sad to announce my early retirement from the National Institutes of Health. My life’s work has been to scientifically study how our food environment affects what we eat, and how what we eat affects our physiology. Lately, I’ve focused on unravelling the reasons why diets high in ultra-processed food are linked to epidemic proportions of chronic diseases such as diabetes and obesity. Our research leads the world on this topic.

Given recent bipartisan goals to prevent diet-related chronic diseases, and new agency leadership professing to prioritize scientific investigation of ultra-processed foods, I had hoped to expand our research program with ambitious plans to more rapidly and efficiently determine how our food is likely making Americans chronically sick.

Unfortunately, recent events have made me question whether NIH continues to be a place where I can freely conduct unbiased science. Specifically, I experienced censorship in the reporting of our research because of agency concerns that it did not appear to fully support preconceived narratives of my agency’s leadership about ultra-processed food addiction.

I was hoping this was an aberration. So, weeks ago I wrote to my agency’s leadership expressing my concerns and requested time to discuss these issues, but I never received a response. Without any reassurance there wouldn’t be continued censorship or meddling in our research, I felt compelled to accept early retirement to preserve health insurance for my family. (Resigning later in protest of any future meddling or censorship would result in losing that benefit.) Due to very tight deadlines to make this decision, I don’t yet have plans for my future career.

The NIH has been a wonderful place because it allows scientists to take risks, form unique collaborations, and do studies difficult to conduct elsewhere. I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished and I’m fortunate to have had such wonderful colleagues and scientific collaborators. I hope to someday return to government service and lead a research program that will continue to provide gold-standard science to make Americans healthy.

[Matthew Perrone @AP_FDAwriter]

Here's what Dr. Peter Marks told me about the decision to block RFK associates from gaining full access to edit vaccine safety data in FDA's VAERS system:
“Because frankly we don’t trust these m——-f———. They’d write over it or erase the whole database.” https://t.co/FwWkhnxer3

[Benjamin Ryan @benryanwriter]

STUDY: "The prevalence of adults with diabetes did not significantly change between 2013 and 2023, but glycemic control among those with diagnosed disease worsened in 2021-2023 after nearly a decade of stability. This trend was most pronounced among young adults. The increase of 1% in mean HbA1c levels and 20% decrease in glycemic control would increase the lifetime risk of cardiovascular events."

[JoNel Aleccia @JoNel_Aleccia]

@RosenthalHealth Deep condolences, Libby. So sorry to hear this.

[Encyclopaedia Britannica @Britannica]

Encyclopædia Britannica will continue to use ‘Gulf of Mexico’ for a few reasons:

-We serve an international audience, a majority of which is outside the U.S.

-The Gulf of Mexico is an international body of water, and the U.S.’s authority to rename it is ambiguous.

🧵⬇️

[The Associated Press @AP]

US eggs prices hit a record high of $4.95 and are likely to keep climbing https://t.co/JXQBuu8sI7

[Meg Kinnard @MegKinnardAP]

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Israel & Hamas agreed to a ceasefire deal, mediators announced today, pausing a devastating 15-month war in the Gaza Strip & raising the possibility of winding down the deadliest & most destructive fighting between the bitter enemies.

https://t.co/wS7DNVZvml

[Oregon State Fire Marshal @OSFM]

We want to clear up any misinformation regarding our deployment to Southern California. Please see our statement below.

[JoNel Aleccia @JoNel_Aleccia]

@benryanwriter Um, yes.

[JoNel Aleccia @JoNel_Aleccia]

@ryanjhaas crazy story and heartbreaking.

[Matthew Perrone @AP_FDAwriter]

Drug reform advocates hailed Oregon as a progressive leader when it became the first in the nation to legalize psilocybin, the compound found in psychedelic mushrooms.

But four years later, voters in a growing list of its cities have banned it.
https://t.co/86P7pWLv44

[Tara Copp @TaraCopp]

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Pete Hegseth, the Army National Guard veteran and Fox News host nominated by Donald Trump to lead the Department of Defense, was flagged as a possible "Insider Threat" by a fellow service member due to a tattoo he has that’s associated with white supremacists. https://t.co/8bUao57HL2