Relative of slain 9/11 firefighter calls on all pols to denounce ‘Globalize the Intifada’ rally cry

 A relative of a firefighter killed on 9/11 called out all public officials who refuse to condemn the phrase “Globalize the Intifada.”

“They are inviting another 9/11, God forbid,” Mike Weinstein, 61, said to some applause from attendees, who included the Democratic mayoral nominee and other local and national officials.

Weinstein was honoring his “coolest cousin” Stephen Belson, a 23-year veteran firefighter killed trying to save stranded tenants in the World Trade Center’s South Tower on Sept. 11, 2001.

Belson, a former swimmer, surfer and lifeguard in Rockaway Beach, was assigned to Ladder 24 Engine 1 near Madison Square Garden.

“I know my cousin Steve and many, many others would agree with me when I say, let’s continue to press all politicians, including those who went home already, to firmly renounce terror and violence,” Weinstein, of Syosset, said during his speech at the 24th annual remembrance of the terror attacks.

“When political candidates and public officials refuse to condemn global terror and phrases such as ‘Globalize the Intifada,’ they are inviting another 9/11, God forbid, and they continue to bring daily fear for all New Yorkers. Enough. Enough is enough. It’s 24 years later,” Weinstein said to applause.

He continued, “We need all political candidates including every single potential future mayor, and you know who I’m talking about, of this great city to speak out against terror, and unite as freedom-loving New Yorkers. God bless America. Land of the free and home of the brave.”

Mamdani has refused to condemn the phrase, but advises not using it.

“That’s not language that I use,” Mamdani told NBC’s Kristen Welker on “Meet the Press” in July.

“The language that I use and the language that I will continue to use to lead this city is that which speaks clearly to my intent, which is an intent grounded in a belief in universal human rights.”

https://nypost.com/2025/09/11/us-news/relative-of-slain-9-11-firefighter-takes-veiled-shot-at-zohran-mamdani/

You might actually not want to lose weight as you get older

 Fad diets that trigger extreme weight loss could be a waist for seniors, a new study finds.

Shedding pounds can be difficult as we age because our metabolism naturally slows, leading to fewer calories burned. You can also blame sarcopenia, the age-related loss of muscle mass, and hormonal shifts in women that influence fat storage.

It’s no wonder that older adults constitute a significant portion of users of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic, which is prescribed to manage Type 2 diabetes and can bring major weight loss.

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Obesity, particularly in midlife, is a significant risk factor for cognitive decline.grinny – stock.adobe.com

But remarkable new research out of Penn State University finds one major drawback to weight loss of more than 5% — it can fuel cognitive decline in adults over 65.

“Any way we looked at the data, the relationship was crystal clear — the more a person’s weight varied from year to year, the faster that person experienced cognitive decline,” said Muzi Na, an associate professor of nutritional sciences and senior author of the study. 

Na’s team tracked 4,300 older adults over 11 years, measuring their body composition and cognitive abilities such as memory, orientation and executive function.

The researchers crunched the data three ways. In one analysis, they looked at weight variations during the study period.

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A new Penn State study finds that it may not be worth scaling back on portions because weight loss exceeding 5% in adults over 65 can lead to a faster onset of cognitive decline.Studio Romantic – stock.adobe.com

People with the smallest fluctuations had the least cognitive decline, the study showed, while participants with the greatest shifts in weight had two to four times as much cognitive decline.

The same results were found when researchers compared variability in waist circumference and body mass index to variability in cognitive decline.

In a third examination, the study authors linked losing at least 5% of body weight to faster cognitive decline.

Older adults who gained weight or whose weight remained stable in the meantime showed roughly the same level of cognitive decline.

“As people age, their cognitive ability tends to gradually decline,” Na said. “This is natural, and we saw that in this sample. But we also saw that people whose weight varied the most experienced more rapid cognitive declines.”

The findings were published recently in the journal Obesity.

Obesity, particularly in midlife, is a significant risk factor for cognitive decline. Excess fat tissue is a major contributor to chronic inflammation that can damage the brain.

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Some cognitive decline is natural with old age, but significant declines that interfere with daily life may signal a more serious condition.SB Arts Media – stock.adobe.com

Na noted there is an “obesity paradox” that suggests that late-life obesity can lead to better cognitive outcomes or a slower rate of cognitive decline.

“Some studies have revealed a complex interplay between age-related muscle mass loss and fat gain in older adults,” Na said.

She emphasized that her “study does not suggest older adults should gain weight.”

Instead, Na recommends monitoring weight at home instead of just at the doctor’s office for more reliable data.

“For example, a person could weigh themselves around the same time in the morning after getting up, before breakfast and after a bathroom trip while wearing the same pajamas,” Na said.

“This would provide them with very consistent data,” she added. “Then, if their weight is not stable, they need to let their physicians know.”

https://nypost.com/2025/09/11/health/scary-reason-you-might-not-want-to-lose-weight-as-you-get-older/

Amneal Receives U.S. FDA Approval for Risperidone

 Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Amneal” or the “Company”) today announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of risperidone extended-release injectable suspension 12.5 mg/vial, 25 mg/vial, 37.5 mg/vial and 50 mg/vial, which references Janssen’s Risperdal Consta®. The product is eligible for 180-day exclusivity under the FDA’s Competitive Generic Therapy (CGT) designation. Product launch is planned for the fourth quarter of 2025.

Risperidone extended-release injectable suspension is an atypical antipsychotic indicated for the treatment of schizophrenia or may be used alone or as an adjunctive therapy with lithium or valproate for the maintenance treatment of Bipolar I disorder.

https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/09/04/3144952/0/en/Amneal-Receives-U-S-FDA-Approval-for-Risperidone-Extended-Release-Injectable-Suspension.html

HHS, CBP Seize $86.5 Million Worth of Illegal E-Cigarettes in Largest-Ever Operation

 The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) today announced the seizure of 4.7 million units of unauthorized e-cigarette products with an estimated retail value of $86.5 million – the largest-ever seizure of this kind. The seizures were part of a joint federal operation in Chicago to examine incoming shipments and prevent illegal e-cigarettes from entering the country.

Almost all the illegal shipments uncovered by the operation originated in China. FDA and CBP personnel determined that many of these shipments contained vague and misleading product descriptions with incorrect values, in an apparent attempt to evade duties and the review of products for import safety concerns.

“We will never allow foreign actors to threaten the health of America’s children,” said HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. “Today we took decisive action to protect kids from illegal vape products. Thank you to President Trump and Attorney General Bondi for their leadership in helping us shut down this black market.”

“The FDA and our federal partners are taking strong actions to shore up America’s borders and stop the flow of illegal vaping products into our country,” said FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, M.D., M.P.H. “Americans – especially our children – should not be using potentially dangerous, addicting products that have been snuck into the U.S. If a product has not been authorized by the FDA, CBP will seize, detain or destroy it.”

This enforcement action is part of the FDA’s broader aggressive strategy against childhood vaping. Additional activities include ending the practice of “port shopping,” by which illegal products repeatedly try to enter the United States; addressing the distribution networks of illegal e-cigarette products; educating parents about dangers of vaping; and working with store owners nationwide to prevent the sale of illegal products.

The seizures represent coordinated compliance and enforcement efforts by multiple federal agencies working together to stop the distribution and sale of illegal e-cigarettes. Prior to this operation, the joint FDA and CBP team conducted investigative work to identify potentially non-compliant incoming shipments. The team was also able to successfully improve the efficiency of the review and processing, building off previous operations.

In total this year, the FDA and CBP have stopped more than 6 million unauthorized e-cigarettes worth over $120 million from entering the country.

All e-cigarette products seized in this operation lacked the mandatory premarket authorization orders from the FDA and therefore cannot be legally marketed or distributed in the U.S. To date, the FDA has authorized 39 e-cigarette products and devices; these are the only e-cigarette products that can be legally marketed and sold in the U.S. To find a list of tobacco products that may be legally marketed and sold in the U.S., visit the FDA’s Searchable Tobacco Products Database.

In addition to the product seizures, the FDA contacted 37 importers and import entry filers regarding their actions. These firms were responsible for importing these illegal e-cigarettes and were advised that it is a federal crime to make false statements or entries to the U.S. government. The FDA reminded the firms of their responsibility to ensure the products they import comply with U.S. requirements and that their import entries must contain complete and accurate information moving forward. The FDA requested the firms to respond to the letters within 30 days with the requested information.

https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/hhs-cbp-seize-865-million-worth-illegal-e-cigarettes-largest-ever-operation

Children need natural sources of mental health

 

By Linda McMahon and

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.



Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) signed a bill this summer that requires every public school in the state to give its students an annual mental health screening. “We’ve got to overcome the stigma,” he said at the signing. But medicalizing the unique and sometimes unpredictable behavior of young children can create new stigmas that students might carry with them for life. We must make American children healthy again without treating them all like patients.

The Trump administration’s Make Our Children Healthy Again initiative seeks to eliminate threats to students’ health and restore good habits and health-focused policies. Instead of therapy and diagnosis, our schools must return to the natural sources of mental well-being: strong families, nutrition and fitness, and hope for the future.

As the Greek philosopher Aristotle knew, the inner workings of our minds are inextricably tied to the rest of our bodily processes, such as sleep, nutrition and exercise. The 2nd-century Roman poet Juvenal commended “mens sana in corpore sano” — a sound mind in a sound body. The Latin phrase is now widely used as a motto by institutions, hospitals, health clubs, sports teams and military academies.

Though mental health professionals carry out valuable healing work for minds in crisis, many seem to have forgotten the ancient truth that basic lifestyle choices and physical health should come first. Schools should not deliver children into the hands of “screeners” and therapists for treatment until they have directly addressed the unhealthy behaviors that many children have in America today.


What are these behaviors? Among them: Screen and social media addiction, which plagues America’s young people with effects that mirror those of substance abuse and depression. Food that is bereft of nutrients and loaded with harmful ingredients, which studies have shown affect the brain and nervous system to increase antisocial and violent behaviors. Regimented, indoor lifestyles that don’t provide exercise and sunlight — thus worsening anxiety, depression and chronic obesity. Our children are hurting.




Across the country, parents, teachers and education leaders are waking up to the suffering of these students. Illinois’ response — deploying an army of therapists — is perhaps understandable, but it is terribly misguided. Though we should not discount the necessary contributions of mental health professionals, we also can’t forget the harms therapy can do when aggrandized into a “system” that processes normal schoolchildren like patients in a sanatorium.

As Abigail Shrier argued in her 2024 book, “Bad Therapy,” the overzealous push for therapy in schools and homes causes the very mental health crises it claims to cure. Mental health professionals who work with children tend to overly fixate on transitory emotions, validating every impulse rather than acknowledging that the ups and downs of their inner lives don’t necessarily indicate a deeper issue. They prescribe pharmaceuticals to mute “aberrant” behaviors and induce docile conformity. Even worse, Shrier wrote, some therapists purposefully undermine parental authority by claiming the child has a disorder that requires “distance” from parents — and might use that separation to push them toward such dangerously permanent treatments as gender transitions. The culture of therapy is bad enough when it produces learned helplessness among adults — but among children, it robs them of the chance to fully grow up and live healthy and successful lives. Rather than subjecting students to yearly screenings and empowering a “longhouse” of therapists, schools should engage and rely on parents to raise their children with nutritious family meals and family interaction, outdoor play and role-modeling.

States can also reinforce healthy behaviors in ways that support and encourage parents to lead. Chief among these efforts is a rapid expansion of education choice in the states, allowing parents to choose learning environments that are healthy for their children and reflect their values. Congress has also made family engagement an important part of Title I funding to encourage states to invest in efforts such as these.



In some cases, state policies are directly addressing the lifestyle issues at the root of mental health problems. As the school year begins, at least 31 states and D.C. have taken action to limit or prohibit cellphone use so students can focus on school — in some cases, with a “bell to bell, no cell” mandate.


On the federal level, we have focused the Make America Healthy Again Commission’s recommendations to President Donald Trump on restoring the basics of student health. The MAHA strategy includes reviving the presidential fitness test for physical education, ensuring school lunches are nutritious and contribute to students’ mental health, and forming a Health and Human Services working group to scrutinize overprescription of pharmaceuticals for child mental health. If we are successful in crafting sound bodies for our students through promoting a good diet, expanding physical activity and limiting exposure to harmful environments, we will ensure sound minds without opening the floodgates to mass therapy.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/09/10/linda-mcmahon-rfk-jr-mental-health-students/

'California considers allowing doctors to prescribe abortion drugs anonymously: NPR'

A California bill that would allow health care providers to anonymously mail abortion drugs could soon become law, marking the latest effort by a blue state to safeguard access to medication abortion. 

The two-drug regimen of mifepristone and misoprostol is used in more than 60% of abortions in the U.S., and roughly a quarter of abortions are now done via telehealth, according to the Society of Family Planning. 
 
Under the measure, which the legislature is considering this week, doctors, pharmacists and others authorized to prescribe the drugs to end a pregnancy could leave their name off the prescription label. 

Abortion rights advocates say the measure adds to protections already on the books under the state's existing shield law, one of a handful nationwide that protect doctors who mail abortion pills out of state by shielding them from extradition and other legal actions from states with abortion bans. 

According to recent studies, shield laws have expanded abortion access – roughly 12,000 abortions a month are provided under the laws, the vast majority to patients living in the nearly two dozen states that ban or severely restrict the procedure. 

Now, as legal attacks against telehealth providers put shield laws to the test, some states have moved to strengthen the laws by allowing providers to prescribe anonymously, reducing their risk of legal or individual harassment.  To date, five states  — New York, Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Washington — have passed these laws, while a similar bill in Pennsylvania is currently in committee.
 
"We've now had a solid two years of shield law provision, and like a lot of things, with real-world experience, we've identified areas [of the law] that can be strengthened or made more explicit," said Dr. Angel Foster, a co-founder of the Massachusetts Medication Abortion Access Project, a clinic near Boston that mails pills to patients in states with abortion bans. Massachusetts passed its bill allowing anonymous prescribing of abortion pills in early August. 

Recent legal attacks against doctors in New York and California have put shield laws to the test. So far, they've worked as intended, says Greer Donley, a law professor at the University of Pittsburgh who has advised legislators across the country on crafting shield laws. "But it's clear that anti-abortion advocates are going to be looking very hard for additional cases they can bring." 

Removing the name of the provider from the label on the package adds another layer of protection, she says. "It makes it a lot harder to find the person you're trying to target." And protecting providers could encourage more of them to mail pills, ensuring that more patients have access to medication abortion.

Opponents of abortion counter that shield laws have turned those states into safe havens for criminal activity. 

"So-called shield laws are yet another tactic abortion activists use to exploit the FDA's reckless mail-order abortion scheme," said Erik Baptist, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, the Christian legal advocacy group that led the fight to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022. "These shield laws are designed to obstruct other states from protecting unborn babies and their mothers against the dangers of abortion drugs." 

Cal.'s role in abortion access

If California passes this law, it could shape access to medication abortion for patients across the country, reproductive health advocates say. That's because California-based pharmacies have come to play a pivotal role in the distribution of abortion pills nationwide. 

Few shield law providers mail mifepristone themselves, with most relying instead on pharmacies in California. 

"We're really the main hub for mailing abortion pills," said Jessica Nouhavandi, lead pharmacist and co-founder of the online pharmacy Honeybee Health, which was the first U.S.-based online pharmacy to ship abortion pills directly to patients and remains the nation's largest distributor of mailed abortion pills. "Almost everything comes out of California, and mainly from Honeybee." 

One reason for that is the sheer amount of work required to dispense mifepristone, which is tightly regulated by the Food and Administration under special rules known as a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy, or REMS. 

"The REMS really requires providers to be clinicians but also pharmacists," said Anna Fiastro, a researcher in family medicine at the University of Washington and a co-founder of Access, Delivered, a UW-affiliated research initiative that works to advance telehealth medication abortion services across the U.S. "On top of their clinical duties, providers have to order, stock and store the medication, which are all steps they're not taking to prescribe other medications."

The California bill, AB 260, would remove not only the name of the prescribing clinician, but also that of the patient receiving the medication and the pharmacy that mails it, effectively extending California's protections to providers across the country. 

"We're being asked to carry out standard-of-care medicine under the constant threat of legal harassment," Nouhavandi said. "This bill doesn't just protect providers legally — it's a statement that we're not alone. And that matters, because access to care only exists if there are people still willing to provide it." 

Legal attacks target telehealth

Recent legal attacks against a New York-based physician, Margaret Carpenter, have underscored the reality of those threats. In February, a Texas judge ruled against Carpenter in a civil suit brought by attorney general Ken Paxton, ordering her to stop prescribing and sending abortion pills to patients in Texas and imposing a penalty of more than $100,000.

Then, in January, Carpenter was indicted by a grand jury in Louisiana for allegedly prescribing abortion pills to a pregnant minor and charged with criminal abortion by means of abortion-inducing drugs. 

The indictment, the first issued against a U.S. doctor for providing abortion pills across state lines, came just months after Louisiana's Republican governor Jeff Landry signed a law reclassifying mifepristone and misoprostol as "controlled dangerous substances." Data from hundreds of studies and clinical trials and 24 years of approved use has shown that the pills are safe and effective, whether dispensed in person or via telemedicine. 

On Feb. 11, Landry signed an extradition warrant for Carpenter, though New York's Democratic governor Kathy Hochul has said she won't extradite Carpenter, citing New York's "strict shield laws that anticipate this very situation." Experts say both of the cases are likely to end up in front of the Supreme Court.

Still, advocates say the updates to California's law can't come soon enough. 

"This is really, really urgent," said a New York-based physician who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the threat of legal actions. The physician is one of a handful of U.S. providers working on behalf of the Europe-based nonprofit Aid Access, the largest organization of shield law providers.  

"We're prescribing 12,000 pills a month to people all over the country," they said. "We need to get our names off these labels so that we don't have to live in fear." 

And that may be the real goal of cases like Carpenter's, says Farah Diaz-Tello, senior counsel and legal director at reproductive health advocacy group If/When/How: to scare and intimidate people in the hope that they'll be too afraid of possible legal action and give up. 

https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/09/10/nx-s1-5535877/california-shield-law-abortion-prescription-label

Special 510(k) Clearance for Updated Tempus Pixel Device

 Tempus AI, Inc. (NASDAQ: TEM), a technology company leading the adoption of AI to advance precision medicine, today announced it has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its updated Tempus Pixel, an AI-powered cardiac imaging platform. This update allows the generation of T1 and T2 inline maps, further enhancing the device’s capabilities for cardiac MR image analysis.

Tempus Pixel provides advanced viewing and automated reporting of cardiac MR images, improving efficiency and accuracy in flow visualization, functional analysis, and tissue characterization. AI-enabled radiology, like Tempus Pixel, enhances medical imaging by rapidly analyzing scans, highlighting subtle abnormalities, and generating consistent, actionable insights. By improving accuracy and efficiency, it empowers clinicians to make faster, more informed decisions and deliver personalized patient care.

Unlike conventional MR images that show only brightness differences, T1 and T2 maps provide precise numerical values to cardiac tissue characteristics, helping clinicians detect conditions such as fibrosis, inflammation, or edema, that may otherwise go undetected. With its newly cleared functionality, Tempus Pixel can now generate T1 and T2 inline maps directly from raw MRI data, even when the scanner itself does not produce them, calculating values at every pixel across the image to create detailed DICOM maps for comprehensive tissue assessment.

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250911224717/en/Tempus-Receives-U.S.-FDA-Special-510k-Clearance-for-Updated-Tempus-Pixel-Device