In Reply to: Wake me up, when August ends* posted by mh on August 30, 2026 at 09:00:03
The same for health care
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We’re coming to the end of a summer of food safety crises. As an Aug. 20 New Republic piece flagged, in just one week, “the FDA has discovered salmonella in granola, salad dressing, jalapenos, and animal food; glass in fruit popsicles; and metal in sourdough,” recalling 12 products — “a rate four times higher than the same week a year ago.” Of course, there were also the bouts of diarrhea lettuce and E. Coli blueberries. All the jarring headlines about foodborne illnesses are perhaps the most visible indicator of how our public health has been endangered by the Trump administration. Turns out imposing sweeping staff and budget cuts on the FDA, CDC and HHS may not have been the best idea.
But the broader damage RFK Jr. has done during his tenure as HHS secretary is extraordinary. Below, we take a quick look at some of the massive failures of public health under his watch.