WARNING: ARE MUSK, KENNEDY, AND TRUMP IGNORING THE GRAVE CONSEQUENCES OF SLASHING PUBLIC HEALTH FUNDING?

Recent budget cuts at the Health and Safety Science Services (HSSS) have sent shockwaves through the scientific and public health communities, threatening the very infrastructure designed to protect us from disease outbreaks, food contamination, and medical crises. These cuts have affected food inspectors, vaccine scientists, Alzheimer’s researchers, and experts studying bird flu, among others—positions that are essential to ensuring public safety and advancing critical medical research. The consequences of these decisions will be dire, potentially reversing years of progress and exposing society to increased health risks.

A Blow to Food Safety


One of the most immediate and tangible threats posed by these budget cuts is the reduction in food safety inspectors. Foodborne illnesses affect millions of Americans each year, causing thousands of hospitalizations and deaths. Inspectors are the frontline defense against contaminated products, ensuring that what reaches our grocery stores and restaurants meets rigorous safety standards. With fewer inspectors in the field, the likelihood of tainted food slipping through the cracks rises significantly. Recalls will be slower, outbreaks will be harder to track, and public confidence in the food supply will erode. The long-term cost of dealing with foodborne illness—both in terms of healthcare expenses and economic losses—far outweighs the short-term financial savings of cutting these critical positions.

Food safety inspectors are our first line of defense against contamination. Budget cuts are putting millions at risk, slowing recalls, and threatening public trust in what we eat. The cost of inaction? Illness, economic fallout, and lost lives. Image Source: USDA

Undermining Vaccine Research in a Post-Pandemic World


The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the crucial role vaccine scientists play in safeguarding global health. Cutting funding to vaccine researchers now is not just shortsighted—it is reckless. Infectious diseases, both old and emerging, pose a constant threat, and the rapid development of vaccines has proven to be one of the most effective tools in combating them. With fewer resources dedicated to vaccine research, the nation’s ability to respond to future pandemics will be severely weakened. Diseases like measles, polio, and new strains of COVID-19 require continuous monitoring and adaptation of vaccines. The loss of experienced scientists in this field could mean delayed responses to outbreaks, resulting in preventable deaths and economic disruptions.

Abandoning Progress in Alzheimer’s Research


Alzheimer’s disease is a growing public health crisis, affecting millions of Americans and placing immense financial and emotional strain on families and caregivers. Advances in research over the last decade have brought us closer than ever to understanding and potentially treating this devastating disease. Slashing funding for Alzheimer’s researchers halts momentum at a critical time when promising treatments are emerging. Without sustained investment, breakthroughs will be delayed or lost altogether, leaving millions to suffer unnecessarily. The economic burden of Alzheimer’s-related care will continue to skyrocket, straining Medicare and Medicaid systems. Cutting funding for researchers dedicated to solving one of the most pressing medical challenges of our time is a failure of leadership and foresight.

Ignoring the Threat of Bird Flu and Emerging Zoonotic Diseases


The recent rise in cases of avian influenza (bird flu) has alarmed health officials worldwide. The virus has the potential to mutate into a strain capable of human-to-human transmission, leading to a pandemic with catastrophic consequences. Scientists studying bird flu are working to understand how these viruses evolve, how they spread, and how they can be contained. By cutting funding for these experts, we are effectively blinding ourselves to an impending threat. Without proper surveillance and research, we risk being caught unprepared for a virus that could devastate global health and economies. The world cannot afford another pandemic response as chaotic and uncoordinated as the initial reaction to COVID-19, yet these cuts make that scenario more likely.

New York City posts warning in Central Park urging people not to handle birds due to health concerns.

Source: Wikipedia

The Larger Pattern: Devaluing Science and Public Health


These cuts are not occurring in isolation—they are part of a disturbing trend of devaluing science and public health in favor of short-term budgetary savings. The pandemic demonstrated the critical importance of a well-funded public health infrastructure, yet instead of reinforcing these systems, policymakers are dismantling them. The long-term costs of this approach will far outweigh any immediate financial benefits. Fewer food inspectors mean more food recalls and outbreaks. Fewer vaccine scientists mean slower responses to new disease threats. Fewer Alzheimer’s researchers mean prolonged suffering and economic burdens. Fewer bird flu scientists mean heightened pandemic risks.


Public health funding is not a luxury; it is a necessity. Cutting it in the name of fiscal restraint is a dangerous gamble that prioritizes immediate cost savings over long-term stability and safety. The role of government is to protect its citizens, and these cuts undermine that fundamental responsibility. Lawmakers must reverse course before irreversible damage is done. The stakes are too high to ignore.

WARNING: IS ELON MUSK'S DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY JEOPARDIZING AIR SAFETY?

By Dr. Gerald Goldhaber • March 12, 2025
As Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DGE) pushes for sweeping reforms and cost-cutting across federal agencies, concerns are mounting over the impact on critical public safety roles. Among the most alarming areas affected is the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), where staff reductions may threaten the lives of millions of air travelers. The DGE, established with a mandate to streamline government operations and reduce bureaucratic waste, has come under fire for its aggressive downsizing tactics. Critics warn that essential safety personnel, including air traffic controllers, are being cut under the guise of efficiency, leaving the nation's airspace dangerously understaffed.

WARNING: WILL TRUMP'S SURGEON GENERAL SUPPORT IMPROVED ALCOHOL WARNING LABELS?

By Dr. Gerald Goldhaber • February 11, 2025
Biden Administration former Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy, on his way out of office, issued a Surgeon General's Advisory calling for new warnings on alcoholic beverages related to the cancer risk from consuming alcoholic beverages. Given that most individuals are unaware of the connection that consumption of alcoholic beverages can increase the risk for at least seven types of cancer, Murthy said in his advisory: "Given the conclusive evidence on the cancer risk from alcohol consumption and the Office of the Surgeon General's responsibility to inform the American public of the best available scientific evidence, the Surgeon General recommends an update to the Surgeon General's warning label for alcohol-containing beverages to include a cancer risk warning."

WARNING: TRUMP'S RE-ELECTION MEANS A DEREGULATORY NIGHTMARE FOR CONSUMERS

By Dr. Gerald Goldhaber • December 2, 2024
In my best-selling book, Murder, Inc.: How Unregulated Industry Kills or Injures Thousands of Americans Every Year...And What You Can Do About It , I propose a safety triad consisting of three components: manufacturers, regulators and consumers. All three must function properly in order to keep us safe. Manufacturers must produce and market safe (or safe as possible) products and warn us about any potential hazards so that we can make informed choices about whether or not to purchase their product and/or how to use it safely. Regulators , by imposing and implementing necessary rules and regulations, should hold manufacturers accountable for the above stated actions and to endure that they engage in "principled disclosure" by warning us about any potential hazards and dangers associated with their products. And, finally, Consumers , especially in the absence of well-meaning manufacturers or competent, well-intentioned regulators, must be highly diligent by researching products and learning about potential hazards prior to buying and/or using them. All three, manufacturers, regulators and consumers, must perform their jobs or the safety triad may fail to protect us and our loved ones. Think of a three-legged stool that distributes the weight of a person sitting on the stool, equally among the three legs. But what would happen if we leaned heavily to one side of the stool, essentially spreading the weight that was once borne by three legs to the two legs remaining braced to the floor. Unfortunately the third leg is no longer contributing to the stability of the stool, which may actually collapse because the two remaining legs may not be able to handle the amount of weight that was intended to be equally distributed among all three legs. 

WARNING: FDA RECOMMENDS REMOVING POPULAR DECONGESTANT FROM MARKET

By Dr. Gerald Goldhaber • November 15, 2024
If you or anyone in your family has used, uses or plans to use such over the counter (OTC) remedies for the flu or common cold as Theraflu, Robitussin, NyQuil, DayQuil, Mucinex, Sudafed or even some versions of Tylenol or Advil, you may want to read this newsletter very carefully.

WARNING: SOCIAL MEDIA IS ASSOCIATED WITH SIGNIFICANT MENTAL HEALTH HARMS FOR ADOLESCENTS

By Gerald Goldhaber • October 2, 2024
In an unprecedented, but, according to many social scientists and parents, a long overdue action, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, in a June editorial in the New York Times, called for a warning label to be placed on all social media platforms. In the words of the Surgeon General:

WARNING: DOES YOUR REFRIGERATOR CONTAIN LISTERIA?

By Gerald Goldhaber • September 5, 2024
If you are one of the millions of Americans who recently purchased one of several Boar's Head Deli Products, you may have bought a product containing deadly listeria bacteria. At least nine people have died and 57 have been hospitalized from a listeria outbreak linked to deli meat, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In late July, Boar’s Head, a deli meat and cheese company, expanded a previously announced recall to include at least 7 million pounds of deli products the company says may have been contaminated by listeria amid a nationwide outbreak. The recall spans 71 products and includes meat meant to be sliced at retail delis along with prepackaged meat and poultry products sold at retail locations, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

WILL THE CHEVRON DECISION CREATE A DEREGULATORY NIGHTMARE FOR CONSUMERS?

By Gerald Goldhaber • August 6, 2024
In my best-selling book, Murder, Inc.: How Unregulated Industry Kills or Injures Thousands of Americans Every Year...And What You Can Do About It (Hartford, Ct.:PYP Press, 2020), I discuss the need for "principled disclosure" from corporations about potential hazards that could hurt or kill us. I also discuss the role we as consumers play by seeking information about those hazards and finally, the role various regulatory agencies must play to initiate and enforce meaningful regulations on industry so that they do, indeed, engage in "principled disclosure" (i.e., tell the truth). In order to carry out its mandate, any regulatory agency or department charged with the responsibility of protecting the general public or consumers or workers and so on, must be empowered to both set the safety and hazard warnings rules and take aggressive, impactful action when they are not followed. Unfortunately, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a landmark 6-3 vote last month, overturned a 60-year old decision, colloquially known as "Chevron", which has the potential to undermine our government's regulatory agencies' ability to hold corporations accountable. What is the Chevron Decision and how could it impact your safety and well-being? In a unanimous ruling, the Supreme Court ruled against energy giant, Chevron, who challenged the Clean-Air Act, and instructed lower courts to defer to federal agencies when laws passed by Congress are not crystal clear. The 40-year-old decision has been the basis for upholding thousands of regulations by dozens of federal agencies, but has long been a target of conservatives and business groups who argue that it grants too much power to the executive branch, or what some critics call the administrative state. In the decades following the ruling, Chevron has been a bedrock of modern administrative law, requiring judges to defer to agencies’ reasonable interpretations of congressional statutes. But the current high court, with a 6-3 conservative majority has been increasingly skeptical of the powers of federal agencies. With a closely divided Congress, presidential administrations have increasingly turned to federal regulation to implement policy changes. Federal rules impact virtually every aspect of everyday life, from the food we eat and the cars we drive to the air we breathe and homes we live in. For example, the Biden administration has issued a whole host of new regulations on the environment, including restrictions from emissions at power plants and from vehicle tailpipes. Those actions and others could be opened up to legal challenges if judges are allowed to discount or disregard the expertise of the executive-branch agencies that put them into place. When you consider who was advocating for the overturn of Chevron, it does not bode well for consumers and their safety: groups representing the gun industry and other businesses such as tobacco, agriculture, timber and homebuilding, were among those pressing the justices to overturn the Chevron doctrine and weaken government regulation. Can you imagine the FDA being defanged by Chevron-influenced lawsuits to the point where tobacco could sell their products to teens or resume advertising on television, a practice banned by Congress since 1970. Or imagine OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) regulations being stripped away that protect worker safety? Or a CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission) challenged on its stringent toy regulations that are aimed at infant choking hazards? Or a Department of Agriculture no longer able to inspect meat with the rigor that industry now faces? Or a NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) no longer able to regulate the safety of our automobiles, especially now as we address the feasibility and safety of self-driving vehicles?

CAN DEMENTIA BE CURED: NEW DRUG WITH NEW WARNINGS

By Gerald Holdhaber • July 16, 2024
CNN recently featured its medical expert, neurologist Sanjay Gupta, narrating a very thorough documentary entitled "The Last Alzheimer's Patient" which, over a 5 year period, collected data on the latest research related to dementia, highlighting advances in new medications as well as in lifestyle changes, both of which offer promising developments that may, in some cases, reverse or, at least stop the advance of Alzheimer's, the most common form of dementia. What is Alzheimer's Disease (AD)? According to the Yale School of Medicine, AD "is a progressive disorder that damages and destroys nerve cells in the brain. Over time, the disease leads to a gradual loss of cognitive functions, including the ability to remember, reason, use language, and recognize familiar places. It can also cause a range of behavioral changes."

WARNING: SUMMER FUN MAY LEAD TO SUMMER DANGERS!

By Gerald Goldhaber • June 6, 2024
The following story is from one of my cases. I have changed the names to protect my client's identity.

FOREVER MAY NOT BE FOREVER WITH EPA’S NEW PFA LIMITS

By Gerald Goldhaber • May 7, 2024
Last month, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized strict limits on PFAS, so-called “forever chemicals”, in drinking water that will require utilities to reduce them to the lowest level they can be reliably measured. Officials say this will reduce exposure for 100 million people and help prevent thousands of illnesses, including cancers.
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