The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) refused to review Moderna's application for an mRNA flu vaccine, a move that surprised the vaccine maker, according to a news release late Tuesday. This decision comes amid growing scrutiny of the agency under the leadership of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has been criticized for his anti-vaccine stance.
The FDA's rejection of Moderna's application is the latest in a series of actions that have raised concerns about the agency's approach to vaccines. Kennedy, in his first year in office, has already reduced childhood vaccine recommendations and canceled $500 million in research funding for mRNA vaccines against potential pandemic threats, according to Ars Technica.
Simultaneously, the National Cancer Institute is using federal funds to study whether ivermectin, a drug that fringe medical groups falsely claimed could treat COVID-19, can cure cancer. Ars Technica reported that there is no scientific evidence to support this hypothesis.
Kennedy's influence extends beyond vaccine policy. He is promoting a government website, Realfood.gov, that provides resources on new dietary guidelines. The website encourages people to use Elon Musk's AI chatbot Grok to get answers about food, according to Wired. The new guidelines recommend a higher protein intake, between 1.2 to 1.6 grams per kilogram of body weight per day, than previously advised.
In other news, the FBI executed a search warrant of Fulton County's elections hub in Georgia, as part of an investigation into the 2020 election. The investigation was initiated by a lawyer who previously aided efforts to overturn the election, according to an affidavit unsealed Tuesday, as reported by NPR News.
Additionally, OpenAI is facing allegations that it violated California's new AI safety law with the release of its latest coding model, GPT-5.3-Codex. A violation could lead to millions of dollars in fines, and the case may become a precedent-setting test of the new law, according to Fortune. An OpenAI spokesperson disputed the allegations, stating the company was confident in its compliance with frontier safety laws.
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