The World Health Organization (WHO) condemned a US-funded vaccine trial as unethical on Friday, citing concerns over the withholding of a potentially life-saving hepatitis B vaccine from newborns in Guinea-Bissau, Africa. The trial, which has drawn widespread criticism from health experts, is inconsistent with established ethical and scientific principles, according to the WHO.
The WHO's formal statement, released on Friday, detailed several reasons for its disapproval, including the trial's potential harm and low quality. The US funding for the trial was initially brought to public attention in December, when it was published in the Federal Register.
In other news, workers at the Social Security Administration (SSA) were instructed to share information about in-person appointments with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, according to WIRED. An SSA employee, speaking anonymously for fear of retaliation, confirmed that ICE would be informed of appointment dates and times upon request. While most SSA appointments occur over the phone, some in-person appointments are still necessary, particularly for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing and require sign language interpreters, or those needing to update direct deposit information. Noncitizens are also required to appear in person for certain reviews.
Meanwhile, a group of 23 Democratic US senators sent a letter on Friday to the top federal regulator overseeing prediction markets, urging the agency to avoid involvement in pending court cases concerning the legality of offerings on these platforms. Prediction markets, which allow users to wager on the outcomes of real-world events, have surged in popularity, attracting interest in areas ranging from sports to geopolitical conflicts. As these markets have expanded, they have also become a source of ethical and legal disputes.
In a separate development, US Deputy Health Secretary Jim O'Neill, who oversees a department with a budget exceeding a trillion dollars, recently discussed his plans to increase human healthspan through longevity-focused research supported by ARPA-H, a federal agency dedicated to biomedical breakthroughs. O'Neill, who signed the decision memorandum on the US's new vaccine schedule, described his plans in an exclusive interview with MIT Technology Review earlier this month. Following the publication of this story, Politico reported that O'Neill would be leaving his current roles within the Department of Health and Human Services.
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