News Releases

  • HHS Reinstates Task Force on Safer Childhood Vaccines

    Under pressure from anti-vaccine activists, the Department of Health and Human Services has reinstated the Task Force on Safer Childhood Vaccines, claiming that the committee will “improve the safety, quality, and oversight of vaccines administered to American children.” The Task Force was disbanded in 1998. 


  • The Case for Military Intervention to Stop the Gaza Genocide

    Noor⁩ has been warning that France and Saudi Arabia “will hijack momentum for a military intervention and instead call for a ‘stabilisation force’ to effectively perpetuate the conditions of occupation and apartheid.” See video. 


  • NIH Is Sowing “mRNA Distrust”

    The director of the National Institutes of Health, Jay Bhattacharya, stated on Steve Bannon’s podcast that contracts for mRNA research were being canceled because the public lacks trust in the technology. Bhattacharya blames declining uptake of the mRNA Covid-19 boosters on lack of public trust in the technology. But experts say that the public does generally trust mRNA vaccines. In May, a KFF poll found that only 16 percent of Americans do not trust mRNA vaccines, while 52 percent would like more information. Scientist and clinician Ferric Fang calls this an “educational opportunity, not a justification to terminate research. [It’s]…


  • Embargo Against Israel

    Hever has worked with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement and recently testified at the UN Palestine Committee on its behalf. See his speech: “The Nakba Has Never Ended.” He said that a full global military embargo is “the bare minimum required by international law.” He drew parallels with sanctions placed on apartheid South Africa. See a recent report from them on a military embargo against Israel.


  • Encouraging Healthcare Workers to Resist ICE

    Writing in The Nation, social psychiatrist Eric Reinhart urges healthcare workers to resist the expansion of ICE into hospitals, clinics, and nursing homes, as well as the war on medical science and federal health programs for vulnerable U.S. residents. The Trump administration is “transforming medicine into a tool of authoritarian repression,” Reinhart contends. He writes that healthcare workers should engage in resistance training and teach-ins, use disobedient documentation and subversive record-keeping, and help educate community members to create a lay caregiving force. 


  • Mental Health Practitioners in Gaza

    As of late 2024, across Gaza and the West Bank, 800,000 people had received some sort of mental health or psychosocial support for their trauma. For The New Yorker, Mohammed Mhawish chronicled the work of mental health clinicians attempting to offer these services in Gaza. He spoke with the Institute for Public Accuracy about the difficulty of reporting on the story. 


  • Trump and Putin Must Seize the Moment in Alaska

    “The nuclear nonproliferation and arms control regime painstakingly constructed during the 20th century has been systematically and purposefully undermined, increasing the danger that nuclear weapons will be used again. George W. Bush’s decision to exit the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in 2002 undermined the United States and Russia’s working diplomatic relationship and opened the door wider to return to arms racing. This mistake was compounded by the first Trump administration’s abandonment of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty and the Open Skies Treaty. Russia’s invasions of Ukraine, withdrawal from the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty in 2023, and ongoing threats…


  • “Greater Israel” and “Mirage” of “Two State Solution”

    “On the one hand, we have Netanyahu with his ‘Greater Israel,’ which is an old Zionist romantic idea of expanding Israel ‘from the Nile to the Euphrates,’ which has a false biblical claim to it and will draw support from Christian Zionist politicians like Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and Mike Huckabee, the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, and many in the Trump orbit. Moreover, the extremist Israeli settler movement and Netanyahu’s cabinet members [Bezalel] Smotrich and [Itamar] Ben-Gvir love this vision which rallies the far right around Netanyahu.”


  • UN General Assembly: Deploy International Protection Force to Gaza

    “Now that Palestine has formally requested protection forces, the UN General Assembly should move urgently to mandate such a force under a Uniting for Peace resolution. Israel has made clear for the past two years that no amount of pleading, pressure or negotiation will end its atrocities and deliberate starvation in Gaza; only international peacekeeping forces can achieve that.”


  • Israel Targets Journalists in Gaza Ahead of Planned Invasion

    Just minutes before he was killed, al-Sharif said in a post on X that Israel was escalating its bombing of Gaza City. “Relentless bombardment,” he wrote. “For two hours, the Israeli aggression has intensified on Gaza City.” After the killing, a message was posted on his account: “This is my will and my final message. If these words reach you, know that Israel has succeeded in killing me and silencing my voice.” Abed has been highly critical of reporting on the killing.


  • Talks on Tobacco Lawsuit: Set Up for a Sellout?

    While the Justice Department moves ahead to arrange settlement talks with major tobacco firms, critics are speaking out. The following tobacco policy advocates are available for interviews: JEANNETTE NOLTENIUS Noltenius, executive director of the Latino Council on Alcohol and Tobacco, said today: “Too many people have died of tobacco-related diseases for the Justice Department not…

  • Ford-Firestone and Beyond: Car Safety and Broader Issues

    JOAN CLAYBROOK President of Public Citizen, Claybrook said today: “As lawmakers delve into the Ford-Firestone tragedy, a larger issue needs to be addressed: Rollover crashes are dangerous, but they need not be deadly. The federal regulatory agency that oversees the companies has failed the American public. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration — under constant…

  • With Battle Set to Begin in Senate Today, Analysts Assess “Patients’ Bill of Rights”

    With the Senate scheduled to begin debate today on proposals for a patients’ bill of rights, there were news reports this morning that Republican leaders will seek a delay. Meanwhile, some medical policy critics contend that the proposed Senate measures are too narrow in scope. The following policy analysts are available for interviews: QUENTIN YOUNG,…

  • Foreign Policy: Bush’s European Visit, Pentagon Papers, Vieques

    GREGORY PALAST Columnist for the London Observer, Palast said today: “There’s a sense in Europe that Bush is threatening and menacing. He’s not viewed as just a buffoon, as he is by many in the United States. Global warming, Star Wars and the death penalty are very serious issues in Europe. Bush is not viewed…

  • After McVeigh Execution: Feel Any Better Now?

    RICHARD MORAN Professor of sociology and criminology at Mount Holyoke College, Moran is currently working on a book about the death penalty. He has testified at dozens of death penalty sentencing hearings. Moran said today: “McVeigh was unapologetic because, like many murderers, he viewed his killing as evening the score. The death penalty is generally…

  • Death Penalty, Racism, McVeigh, FBI

    BRYAN STEVENSON Executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative and assistant professor at the New York University School of Law, Stevenson is author of the article “Deliberate Indifference: Racial Bias and Administration of Capital Punishment.” He said today: “Attorney General Ashcroft’s claim that there is no racial bias in the federal death penalty is without…

  • Judicial Nominees: How Should the Senate Proceed?

    NATHAN NEWMAN Newman is chair of the Judicial Nominations Committee of the National Lawyers Guild. He said today: “With the changeover in control of the Senate, there is now the chance for a counterbalance to Bush’s attempt to pack the federal courts with right-wing appointees…. The loss by the Republicans of control of the Judiciary…

  • Beyond the Bush Daughters: Alcohol Policies Under Attack

    While many have focused on the specifics of President Bush’s daughter Jenna being charged with underage drinking at an Austin restaurant last week, some specialists in alcohol policies are urging a shift in public focus — to scrutinize key roles of the alcohol industry. The following policy analysts are available for interviews: LAURIE LEIBER Leiber…

  • Education Spending: Beyond the Rhetoric

    This evening, Laura Bush is scheduled to give the keynote address to the Reach Out and Read national conference in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The following analysts on education policy are available for interviews: EDWARD KEALY Executive director of the Committee for Education Funding, a coalition of over 100 educational organizations, Kealy said this afternoon: “The president…

  • Bush on Public Lands: After the Photo-Op

    Today’s newspapers include pictures of President Bush as he spoke about the importance of public lands in front of some of the world’s oldest trees. The following policy critics are available for interviews: CHAD HANSON Executive director of the John Muir Project, Hanson said today: “George W. Bush’s speech from Sequoia National Park rings hollow.…

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