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1 month ago | 
open.substack.com | Maryanne Demasi |Paula Byrne |Mark Jones |Robert DuBroff
By all accounts, Marty Makary’s confirmation hearing to lead the FDA went smoothly. As an experienced surgeon at Johns Hopkins with impeccable credentials, he handled questions with ease. But the real issue was not what the senators asked Makary—it was what they didn’t ask him that was most concerning. They sidestepped the FDA's recent, glaring failures, leaving critical issues unaddressed.
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1 month ago | 
open.substack.com | Maryanne Demasi |Paula Byrne |Mark Jones |Robert DuBroff
Dr Jay Bhattacharya, the Stanford epidemiologist renowned for his criticism of Covid-19 lockdowns, appeared before the Senate Health, Education, Labour, and Pensions (HELP) Committee on 5 March. His nomination to lead the National Institutes of Health (NIH) came under intense scrutiny, with senators grilling him on vaccines, lockdowns, and the agency’s funding priorities. Bhattacharya’s opening statement set the tone.
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2 months ago | 
open.substack.com | Maryanne Demasi |Paula Byrne |Mark Jones |Robert DuBroff
A landmark lawsuit against Merck is underway in a Los Angeles courtroom, marking the company’s first jury trial over claims it misrepresented the safety of its highly profitable Gardasil HPV vaccine. Newly declassified documents in the trial have revealed troubling details about Merck’s failure to conduct key safety tests.
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2 months ago | 
open.substack.com | Maryanne Demasi |Paula Byrne |Mark Jones |Robert DuBroff
Today, the Senate confirmation hearing for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. swiftly devolved into a political battleground, with partisan tensions overshadowing any serious examination of Kennedy’s qualifications. Intended to assess his suitability, the hearing became a spectacle of accusation and counter-accusation, leaving little room for meaningful dialogue. Kennedy, who has long advocated for drug safety and transparency in medical practices, has faced harsh criticism for his outspoken views on vaccines.
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Dec 1, 2024 | 
nytimes.com | Paula Byrne
If "Pride and Prejudice" is the most joyful and life-affirming of Jane Austen's novels, then its great charm surely rests on the slender shoulders of the ineffable Elizabeth "Lizzy" Bennet. Lizzy, along with her four sisters - beautiful Jane, bookish Mary, impressionable Kitty, and Lydia, a shameless flirt - are all on the Georgian marriage market.
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Nov 29, 2024 | 
thetimes.com | Paula Byrne |Graeme Richardson |Laura Hackett |Robbie Millen
Literary feuds, betrayal, murder, “almost murder”, disturbing hallucinations, passionate romance, countryside knee-tremblers, friendship and “overboogie”: bookish types do get up to all sorts. This guide to the best literary non-fiction, a collection for discerning readers, provides enchantment too. In his titanic survey of children’s literature, Sam Leith goes back to the beginning of our existence to investigate the magic of childhood reading. So if you’re sitting comfortably, then we’ll begin.
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Nov 16, 2024 | 
1news.co.nz | Paula Byrne
Literary It-girls, art world intrigue, monarchs and sociopaths... Catch up on 2024’s most illuminating life stories, with Katie Rosseinsky’s edit of the best memoirs and biographies. Literary “It-girls” and their complicated legacies. Candid reflections on lives fractured by devastating injuries. Art world excess. And a deep dive into what it truly means to be a sociopath. This year’s very best biographies and memoirs certainly cover some varied terrain, emotionally and otherwise.
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Nov 14, 2024 | 
inkl.com | Paula Byrne
Literary “It-girls” and their complicated legacies. Candid reflections on lives fractured by devastating injuries. Art world excess. And a deep dive into what it truly means to be a sociopath. This year’s very best biographies and memoirs certainly cover some varied terrain, emotionally and otherwise.
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Nov 12, 2024 | 
lithub.com | Gabrielle Bellot |Paula Byrne
It’s a week after America’s latest, and far from greatest, election, a day that many of us are still processing. I have so much to say, as we all do, and I’ll say it elsewhere soon. But for the moment, let’s do the radical thing of not thinking about it, to the extent that we, especially those of us in the most vulnerable groups, can.
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Oct 13, 2024 | 
open.substack.com | Maryanne Demasi |Paula Byrne |Mark Jones |Robert DuBroff
In a David and Goliath battle, two doctors have won a libel case against a British tabloid and journalist Barney Calman, in what the judge described as “the most significant piece of defamation litigation” he had seen in a very long time.
