Latest news with #CovidVaccines
The Sun
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
TV doctor Ranj Singh reveals he now suffers from anxiety after being trolled online by shamed GP
TELLY doctor Ranj Singh has revealed his torment at the hands of a shamed GP who has been struck off for trolling him. He was branded a 'paedophile sympathiser'' and 'scum'' by Dr David Cartland over his support for Covid vaccines. 2 2 Dr Ranj, who appeared on ITV's This Morning and Lorraine shows, sued Cartland, 42, last year. He reported him to the General Medical Council over further online abuse. Strictly star Dr Ranj, 46, told a panel: 'I suffer anxiety due to abhorrent things Dr Cartland said about me. This has been a horrific experience.' Cartland, of Redditch, Worcs, claimed that X was a place for 'rigorous debate'. He apologised and admitted: 'I have reacted unwisely online.' He was struck off over fears he 'would behave in a similar way in future'. Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service chairman Claire Lindley said: ''The Tribunal was concerned about the persistent, threatening and abusive harassment of four separate complaints, over a sustained period of time. Dr Cartland has not shown any recognition of the extent of the impact and his conduct demonstrates a blatant disregard for good medical practise. 'Given the marked lack of insight and remediation, the Tribunal was concerned that Dr Cartland would behave in a similar way in future. '' Dr. Ranj Singh took part in Strictly Come Dancing in 2018, making it to week 7 before being eliminated. He qualified as a doctor in 2003 and works as a children's doctor.
Free Malaysia Today
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
EU chief von der Leyen faces no confidence vote
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen faced criticism over centralised decision-making in the 'Pfizergate' scandal during Covid vaccine talks. (AP pic) STRASBOURG : EU chief Ursula von der Leyen faces a confidence vote Thursday that has little chance of succeeding but has exposed frictions between her backers and complaints about her leadership style. European lawmakers will vote on the rare challenge pushed by a far-right faction against the European Commission president at around midday (1000 GMT) in Strasbourg. Addressing parliament this week, von der Leyen dismissed the no-confidence motion as a conspiracy theory-laden attempt to divide Europe, dismissing its supporters as 'anti-vaxxers' and Russian President Vladimir 'Putin apologists'. She urged lawmakers to renew confidence in her commission arguing it was critical for Europe to show unity in the face of an array of challenges, from US trade talks to Russia's war in Ukraine. The no-confidence motion was initiated by Romanian far-right lawmaker Gheorghe Piperea. He accuses von der Leyen of a lack of transparency over text messages she sent to the head of the Pfizer pharmaceutical giant when negotiating Covid vaccines. The commission's failure to release the messages – the focus of multiple court cases – has given weight to critics who accuse its boss of centralised and opaque decision-making. That is also a growing refrain from the commission chief's traditional allies on the left and centre, who have used the vote to air their grievances. Mainstream backing A major complaint is that von der Leyen's centre-right camp has increasingly teamed up with the far-right to further its agenda – most notably to roll back environmental rules. Centrist leader Valerie Hayer told parliament this week that von der Leyen's commission was 'too centralised and sclerotic' before warning that 'nothing can be taken for granted'. 'Pfizergate' aside, Romania's Piperea accuses the commission of interfering in his country's recent presidential election, in which pro-European Nicusor Dan narrowly beat EU critic and nationalist George Simion. That vote came after Romania's constitutional court scrapped an initial ballot over allegations of Russian interference and massive social media promotion of the far-right frontrunner, who was barred from standing again. Piperea's challenge is unlikely to succeed. It has support from some groups on the left and part of the far right – including the party of Hungary's nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban. 'Time to go,' Orban tweeted on Wednesday alongside a photo of von der Leyen. But Piperea's own group, the ECR, is split. Its largest faction, the party of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, said it would back the EU chief. The two largest groups in parliament, the centre-right EPP and the centre-left Socialists and Democrats, have also flatly rejected the challenge, which needs two-thirds of votes cast, representing a majority of all lawmakers to pass.
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Doctors' groups sue Kennedy over Covid shot changes for kids, pregnant people
A coalition of doctors' groups led by the American Academy of Pediatrics filed a lawsuit Monday against Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., arguing that his May announcement that the government would no longer recommend Covid-19 vaccines for healthy pregnant people and children violated longstanding norms governing U.S. immunization policy. The organizations say Kennedy's May 19 'Secretarial Directive' documenting his move to pull the vaccine from the CDC's immunization schedule constitutes a final agency action ripe for challenge, noting that he cited no emergency or specific circumstantial changes to support the move. 'The Secretarial Directive is contrary to the wealth of data and peer-reviewed studies that demonstrate the safety and efficacy of Covid vaccines for children and pregnant women,' the plaintiffs said in the lawsuit. HHS didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Organizations on the challenge include the American College of Physicians, the American Public Health Association and the Infectious Diseases Society of America. The directive, they wrote, has put doctors 'in the untenable position of telling their patients that the country's top-ranking government health official's advice and recommendations are wrong and that we are right.' 'This erodes trust, which is the foundation of a healthy physician-patient relationship and vital to the success of AAP members' medical practices,' they added. Kennedy announced the change in a May 27 video posted to X, in which he was flanked by FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary and NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, both of whom gained notoriety during the Covid pandemic for their opposition to mask and vaccine mandates. The three officials said there wasn't sufficient data to show healthy children and healthy pregnant women benefited from Covid vaccination. 'Most countries have stopped recommending it for children,' Makary said in the video. The administration later distributed a document explaining the decision to lawmakers. The document said studies have shown that women who got the vaccine during pregnancy had higher rates of various complications, but authors of those studies told POLITICO that the administration had misinterpreted their results. The plaintiffs in the case said Kennedy had unlawfully sidelined the CDC and its independent vaccine panel, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which are the federal bodies responsible for the immunization schedule. "The statutory scheme that regulates the vaccine infrastructure in this country demonstrates Congress' repeated policy decision to require that ACIP recommendations, made by a fairly balanced ACIP membership, 51 be the basis for what is put on or taken off of the CDC immunization schedules — not the unilateral decision of a single individual," the plaintiffs wrote. Public and private insurers are largely obligated to cover ACIP-recommended vaccines with no cost-sharing under the Affordable Care Act, and states often tie their daycare and school vaccine requirements to the panel's recommendations. While the CDC ultimately didn't pull the recommendation from the childhood schedule, it did downgrade it to one involving 'shared decisionmaking' — a differentiation the physician groups say has made it harder for providers to counsel patients and for practices to assess insurance coverage. The lawsuit was filed in federal district court in Massachusetts, where a landmark vaccine policy case set national precedent in the early 20th century. The Supreme Court's 1905 Jacobson v. Massachusetts decision upheld states' authority to mandate vaccinations.
Bloomberg
07-07-2025
- Health
- Bloomberg
RFK Jr. Sued by Doctors Over Abrupt Changes to Covid Vaccine Guidance
Organizations representing pediatricians and public health experts sued Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over his decision to unilaterally change government recommendations on Covid shots for healthy children and pregnant women earlier this year. The plaintiffs include large, influential medical bodies such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the American College of Physicians, the American Public Health Association and the Society for Maternal—Fetal Medicine, challenged Kennedy's decision on the basis that it was arbitrary and capricious and violated the legal structure Congress set up for vaccine recommendations. An unidentified pregnant woman also joined the suit, filed Monday.
New York Times
02-07-2025
- Health
- New York Times
Top F.D.A. Official Overrode Scientists on Covid Shots
The Food and Drug Administration's top vaccine official rejected broad uses of two Covid vaccines, citing unknown risks or injuries despite assurances of safety from dozens of staff experts, newly released documents show. The decisions by the official, Dr. Vinay Prasad, the agency's new chief medical and scientific officer, stunned agency veterans. Records show that the F.D.A.'s vaccine staff members had signed off on approving the Novavax vaccine, an alternative to mRNA shots and weeks later on the next-generation of the mRNA Covid shot by Moderna for anyone 12 and older. Dr. Prasad later overruled those recommendations by the end of May and instead advised restricting the use of both Covid vaccines. He wrote in two memos that the threat from the virus had fallen and changed the risk-benefit balance of vaccinating healthy, younger people. The changes for the two vaccines aligned with the agency's broader plan that limited the use of all Covid vaccines to people 65 and older. For those younger than 65, the F.D.A. rolled back eligibility for Covid vaccines to those with a medical condition that would put them at high risk. The new documents offer a window into Dr. Prasad's vision for the agency and his thinking on vaccine policy. The records reveal that F.D.A. staff members concluded that the vaccines were safe and effective based on clinical trials of the shots tested in thousands of people. But Dr. Prasad wrote that there could still be vaccine-related injuries that have yet to be discovered. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
