CDC Awards Autism-Vaccine Research Contract to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

 The CDC intends to award Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute a contract to investigate the association between vaccines and autism prevalence. The single-source contract will leverage RPI's ability to link children to maternal cohorts. Juergen Hahn, a renowned researcher, will lead the project if the contract is awarded.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is moving ahead with a contract for Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) to study potential links between vaccines and autism, according to a government website posting. This decision arrives amid ongoing controversy and initiatives led by health advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., despite prevailing scientific consensus stating no such causal link exists.

The CDC's contract, announced on SAM.gov, bypasses the traditional competitive bidding process, citing RPI's unique capabilities in data analysis. Principal investigator Juergen Hahn, a professor specializing in biomedical engineering at RPI, is known for his pioneering work in autism diagnostics and AI-driven research.

The contract aligns with Kennedy's agenda to explore autism's causes and reassess vaccine policies. Previous studies, however, maintain that vaccines do not contribute to autism—a position the CDC continues to uphold.

https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/health/3626284-cdc-awards-autism-vaccine-research-contract-to-rensselaer-polytechnic-institute

Sellers on Amazon, MercadoLibre face competitive barriers, Mexico watchdog rules

 An investigation into Mexico's e-commerce market found that sellers on Amazon and MercadoLibre faced barriers to competition, the nation's anti-trust watchdog Cofece said on Friday.

However, the Cofece commission was unable to reach a consensus to order corrective measures against the firms, it added in a statement.

According to Cofece, Amazon and MercadoLibre do not provide sufficient information to sellers on how featured products are determined, while they also grant greater visibility to the products of sellers who contract logistics services with the platforms.

They could have faced a fine from the watchdog, though Cofece said no measures were ordered given a lack of certainty regarding benefits entailed for consumers and small businesses.

After a preliminary ruling from Cofece in February, MercadoLibre said it would cooperate with the investigation, while Amazon said its practices did not hinder competition.

The firms did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.

The local units of Seattle-based giant Amazon and MercadoLibre, the dominant e-commerce player throughout Latin America, account for more than 85% of online sales in Mexico.

More Mexican consumers have turned to online platforms for goods and services since the pandemic, and small and medium-sized businesses have used e-commerce to reach more shoppers.

https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/sellers-amazon-mercadolibre-face-competitive-174733975.html

Why South Korea wants the US to change its visa policies

South Korea has ramped up calls for changes to the U.S. visa system so that its workers can visit for longer periods after an immigration raid at a battery plant in Georgia led to the detainment of hundreds of its citizens.

The two countries are looking at establishing a working group to consider a new type of visa for Koreans, according to South Korea's foreign minister who visited Washington this week.

WHAT HAS BEEN THE PROBLEM?

South Korean companies have become major investors in the U.S., building factories that often require highly technical skill sets that are not easy to find in the United States.

But unlike some countries such as Australia, Canada and Mexico, South Koreans do not have access to special treaty work visas.

"There's really no mid-term business visa for Korean businessmen to work in the U.S. for several months," said Kim Yong-sang, a Seoul-based lawyer specialising in international disputes at Yulchon LLC

Instead, sources have said employees of South Korean companies commonly use either the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA), a type of visa waiver that allows for stays of up to 90 days or B-1 visas - a temporary visa for some business-related activities.

Both of these visas limit what work can be done in the United States, which has meant that some South Korean workers have been relying on grey areas in U.S. visa enforcement.

There's also been a "lack of coordination between federal and state immigration policy," said Jihae Han, a U.S. attorney at Maru Law Firm. "Many U.S. state and local officials are unaware of how complex and serious the visa bottleneck is."

IS THE US WILLING TO CHANGE?

South Korea has pushed for years for a bill that would create or expand visa categories to accommodate skilled South Korean nationals who need to visit the United States for longer periods.

That bill has had difficulty getting through Congress because visas are linked to immigration, one of the most sensitive subjects in the United States, according to South Korea's foreign ministry.

U.S. immigration officials initially trumpeted the raid at the Hyundai Motor and LG Energy Solution battery project site. But U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has also signalled it recognises the importance of South Korean investment and the skills of the country's workers needed to get plants operational.

Trump earlier this week offered to allow the workers to stay in the United States to train Americans.

The workers may return to the U.S after resting at home, South Korea's foreign ministry said.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Thursday that Hyundai should have called him to secure the right visas.

"I called up the Koreans, I said, oh, give me a break. Get the right visa and if you're having problems getting the right visa, call me," Axios quoted him as saying in an interview.

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/explainer-why-south-korea-wants-082104217.html

Education Department Ends College Grants Tied To Racial Thresholds

 by Bill Pan via The Epoch Times,

The U.S. Department of Education has stopped awarding grants to colleges based on the share of minority students they enroll, saying it is unconstitutional to use taxpayer dollars to promote “racial or ethnic quotas” at those schools.

The decision, announced on Sept. 10, affects hundreds of schools nationwide classified as Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs). Department officials said these programs amount to discrimination, as they require colleges to maintain a minimum percentage of students from certain racial or ethnic backgrounds in order to qualify for grants.

For instance, a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) must enroll at least 25 percent Hispanic students, among other criteria, to earn the designation. A Predominantly Black Institution (PBI) must enroll at least 1,000 undergraduates and make sure that at least 40 percent of them are black to unlock the corresponding grant.

Ending those grants is consistent with the Trump administration’s goal of ending all forms of discrimination across all federally funded programs, Education Secretary Linda McMahon said.

“Discrimination based upon race or ethnicity has no place in the United States,” the secretary said.

“The Department will no longer award Minority-Serving Institution grants that discriminate by restricting eligibility to institutions that meet government-mandated racial quotas.”

“Diversity is not merely the presence of a skin color,” she continued.

“Stereotyping an individual based on immutable characteristics diminishes the full picture of that person’s life and contributions, including their character, resiliency, and merit.”

Several grant programs are set to be eliminated, including those for HSIs, PBIs, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-serving institutions, Native American and Pacific Islander-serving institutions, and Native American-serving non-tribal institutions.

The change does not affect Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), which are defined by their history of educating African Americans before the end of segregation in 1964, rather than by the current racial composition of their student body. Nor does it affect tribal colleges, which derive their status from being chartered by tribal governments and located on or near reservations.

For fiscal 2025, Congress had appropriated about $350 million in discretionary funds for MSI programs across the nation. The Education Department said it will still distribute roughly $132 million in mandatory funds that “cannot be reprogrammed on a statutory basis,” while redirecting the remainder toward “programs that do not include discriminatory racial and ethnic quotas and that advance administration priorities.”

Looking ahead, McMahon said she wants to transform MSI programs so that they still support colleges with large minority student populations but are no longer tied to racial thresholds.

“The Department looks forward to working with Congress to reenvision these programs to support institutions that serve underprepared or under-resourced students without relying on race quotas, and will continue fighting to ensure that students are judged as individuals, not prejudged by their membership in a racial group,” she said.

Part of the reasoning behind the policy shift is a lawsuit filed in June by the State of Tennessee and Students for Fair Admissions, the advocacy group that fought and won a Supreme Court case challenging so-called “race-conscious” admissions decisions at public and private universities. The lawsuit targets the HSI program, stating that some Tennessee colleges would otherwise qualify for grants based on neutral factors like high numbers of low-income students but are excluded because their Hispanic enrollment falls below 25 percent.

The Department of Justice then declined to defend the HSI program in court, citing an opinion from Solicitor General D. John Sauer that its funding structure not only violates the Fifth Amendment’s equal protection guarantees, but also conflicts with the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling that barred consideration of race in admissions.

Several university administrators and lawmakers have voiced concerns about the change. University of Hawaii, a recipient of two now-terminated MSI grants, said it will have to adjust how it allocates resources.

“It will affect all of our students, the programs that support them and the dedicated staff who carry out this work,” University of Hawaii President Wendy Hensel said in a campus-wide message. “I am deeply saddened by this development.”

Chairs of three House caucuses—Rep. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.) of Asian Pacific American Caucus, Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.) of Hispanic Caucus, and Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) of Black Caucus—condemned the decision, saying it would undercut educational opportunities for students across the nation.

“Higher education is a critical pathway to economic opportunity, and Minority-Serving Institutions have opened doors for millions of students from all backgrounds to pursue a college degree,” the trio said in a statement on Sept. 11.

“By terminating grants for certain MSIs, the Trump administration is sowing division and denying students of color the opportunities they need to succeed.”

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/education-department-ends-college-grants-tied-racial-thresholds

Alphabet’s Verily covered up HIPAA violations, whistleblower says in lawsuit

Former Verily executive Ryan Sloan has filed a lawsuit against the company, alleging it repeatedly covered up HIPAA breaches that affected more than 25,000 patients.
Sloan, who was chief commercial officer of the diabetes and hypertension business, claims the company wrongfully retaliated by firing him, according to the filing.
Verily is a health tech subsidiary of Alphabet and operates under its “Other Bets” category.
Alphabet’s


health tech subsidiary Verily used the health data of more than 25,000 patients without authorization and actively covered up those violations, a former company executive alleges.

The executive, Ryan Sloan, claims Verily fired him after he discovered breaches of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, and reported his concerns to the company’s senior management.


Patient data in the U.S. is protected under HIPAA, which ensures the sensitive information cannot be disclosed without a patient’s consent.

Sloan’s allegations are detailed in a pending lawsuit in federal court in San Francisco. The suit, which was filed late last year, has not been previously reported.

On Monday, the judge overseeing Sloan’s case denied a request by Verily to dismiss his civil complaint, or to send the dispute to arbitration.

″Verily believes the allegations and contentions alleged in this employment matter that was commenced in 2023 are completely without merit. Verily will defend itself to the full extent of the law,” a company spokesperson told CNBC in a statement. “Verily is an equal opportunity employer, and takes its responsibility and commitment to abide by all laws and regulations seriously. As this is an ongoing legal matter, Verily will not be providing further comment at this time.”

Representatives for Sloan did not comment.


Verily started as a moon shot in 2015 within Alphabet’s innovation lab X, formerly known as Google X. It’s Google’s sister company and operates under Alphabet’s “Other Bets” category.

The company hired Sloan in 2020 to serve as the chief commercial officer of its diabetes and hypertension business, Verily Onduo.

In January 2022, Sloan alleged that he and Julia Feldman, Onduo’s general counsel, discovered Verily had improperly used patients’ protected health information in its research, marketing campaigns, press releases and national conferences. The “extensive violations” affected more than 25,000 patients in Onduo’s diabetes program, according to an amended complaint filed in June.

Sloan and Feldman informed senior Verily leaders of their findings, the filing said, and they repeatedly raised the issue. An internal investigation at Verily confirmed several HIPAA breaches took place, according to the filing.

“Between January and March of 2022, internal investigators at Verily confirmed multiple breaches of fourteen (14) separate HIPAA Business Associate Agreements with large, covered entity clients of Onduo between 2017 and 2021,” the filing said.

Patients who accessed Verily Onduo through these clients – which include Walgreens Boots Alliance, Highmark Health, Quest Diagnostics and Delta Air Lines, among others – may have been affected by the breaches.

Delta said in a statement that it doesn’t have a comment on the suit, “but our employee’s personal information is important to us.”

“We are looking into this and will make sure any impact to our people is appropriately addressed,” the company said.

Quest said in a statement that, “We are not familiar with the allegations and have no further comment.”

Highmark declined to comment. Walgreens did not respond to CNBC’s requests for comment.

Under HIPAA, companies like Verily are supposed to notify impacted parties no later than 60 days after discovering a breach. Verily “decided to delay the decision of notifying the covered entities,” according to the filing, and the company engaged in negotiations to renew many of those contracts “without revealing that a HIPAA breach had recently occurred.”

“During a contract negotiation between Verily and Highmark Health in August of 2022, Verily represented that it was in compliance with HIPAA at all times, while knowingly concealing that a HIPAA breach had occurred,” the filing said.

That same month, Verily terminated Feldman and another employee who was aware of the breaches.

When Sloan reiterated his concerns about the breaches to Lisa Greenbaum, Verily’s then chief revenue officer, in October 2022, she allegedly defended the company’s decision not to disclose them and said that doing so would negatively affect public relations, the filing said.

Greenbaum joined Doximity, another health-care technology company, as chief commercial officer in January 2024, according to her LinkedIn.

Doximity did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

In November 2022, Verily allegedly suppressed a press release out of concern that it would draw attention to previous marketing studies that violated its HIPAA Business Associate Agreements. The company removed the press release from its website and instructed employees not to mention it again, according to the filing.

Sloan was officially terminated from Verily in January of 2023, while on protected leave to care for his “critically ill mother,” the filing said.

The lawsuit marks the latest in a series of stumbles at Verily, which, despite raising more than $1 billion from investors, has struggled to latch onto a winning product. Verily is reportedly transitioning from a limited liability company, or an LLC, to an investor-friendly C-Corp structure to prepare for a fresh round of funding, according to a report from Business Insider on Wednesday.

Verily originally developed hardware like continuous glucose monitors before pivoting to pandemic response when Covid-19 broke out in 2020, then switched directions again to focus on precision health in 2022.

The company introduced a new artificial intelligence-powered chronic-care solution called Verily Lightpath last year, and announced it was selling its stop-loss insurance subsidiary, Granular Insurance Co., in February.

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/09/11/alphabet-verily-hipaa-diabetes-whistleblower.html

'Obesity exceeds underweight 1st time in school-age children and adolescents globally – UNICEF'

 One in 10 children worldwide living with obesity. Exposure to the marketing of ultra-processed foods found to be widespread

Obesity surpassed underweight as the more prevalent form of malnutrition this year, affecting 1 in 10 – or 188 million – school-aged children and adolescents, and placing them at risk of life-threatening disease, UNICEF warned in a new report today. 

Feeding Profit: How Food Environments are Failing Children draws on data from over 190 countries and finds the prevalence of underweight among children aged 5-19 has declined since 2000, from nearly 13 per cent to 9.2 per cent, while obesity rates have increased from 3 per cent to 9.4 per cent. Obesity now exceeds underweight in all regions of the world, except sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

According to the findings, several Pacific Island countries have the highest prevalence of obesity globally, including 38 per cent of 5 to 19-year-olds in Niue, 37 per cent in Cook Islands, and 33 per cent in Nauru. These levels – which have all doubled since 2000 – are largely driven by a shift from traditional diets to cheap, energy-dense, imported foods.

Meanwhile, many high-income countries continue to have high levels of obesity, for example 27 per cent of 5 to 19-year-olds in Chile are living with obesity, 21 per cent in the United States, and 21 per cent in the United Arab Emirates.

“When we talk about malnutrition, we are no longer just talking about underweight children,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. “Obesity is a growing concern that can impact the health and development of children. Ultra-processed food is increasingly replacing fruits, vegetables and protein at a time when nutrition plays a critical role in children’s growth, cognitive development and mental health.”

While undernutrition – such as wasting and stunting – remains a significant concern among children under 5 in most low- and middle-income countries, the prevalence of overweight and obesity is increasing among school aged children and adolescents. According to the latest available data, 1 in 5 children and adolescents aged 5-19 globally – or 391 million – are overweight, with a large proportion of them now classified as living with obesity.

Children are considered overweight when they are significantly heavier than what is healthy for their age, sex and height. Obesity is a severe form of overweight and leads to a higher risk of developing insulin resistance and high blood pressure, as well as life-threatening diseases later in life, including type-2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and certain cancers.

The report warns that ultra-processed and fast foods – high in sugar, refined starch, salt, unhealthy fats and additives – are shaping children’s diets through unhealthy food environments, rather than personal choice. These products dominate shops and schools, while digital marketing gives the food and beverage industry powerful access to young audiences.

For example, in a global poll of 64,000 young people aged 13-24 from over 170 countries conducted through UNICEF’s U-Report platform last year, 75 per cent of respondents recalled seeing advertisements for sugary drinks, snacks, or fast foods in the previous week, and 60 per cent said the advertisements increased their desire to eat the foods. Even in conflict-affected countries, 68 per cent of young people said they were exposed to these advertisements. 

Without interventions to prevent childhood overweight and obesity, countries could face lifetime health and economic impacts exceeding, for example, US$210 billion in Peru, due to obesity-related health issues. By 2035, the global economic impact of overweight and obesity is expected to surpass US$4 trillion annually. 

The report highlights positive steps governments have taken. For example, in  Mexico – a country facing a high prevalence of childhood and adolescent obesity, and where sugary drinks and ultra-processed foods account for 40 per cent of children’s daily calories, the government recently banned the sale and distribution of ultra-processed foods and items high in salt, sugar and fat in public schools – positively impacting food environments for over 34 million children.

To transform food environments and ensure children have access to nutritious diets, UNICEF is calling on governments, civil society, and partners to urgently: 

• Implement comprehensive mandatory policies to improve children’s food environments, including food labelling, food marketing restrictions, and food taxes and subsidies.
   
• Implement social and behaviour change initiatives that empower families and communities to demand healthier food environments. 
   
• Ban the provision or sale of ultra-processed and junk foods in schools and prohibit food marketing and sponsorship in schools.
   
• Establish strong safeguards to protect public policy processes from interference by the ultra-processed food industry.
   
• Strengthen social protection programmes to address income poverty and improve financial access to nutritious diets for vulnerable families.

“In many countries we are seeing the double burden of malnutrition – the existence of stunting and obesity. This requires targeted interventions,” said Russell. “Nutritious and affordable food must be available to every child to support their growth and development. We urgently need policies that support parents and caretakers to access nutritious and healthy foods for their children.”

https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/obesity-exceeds-underweight-first-time-among-school-age-children-and-adolescents

FDA panel to weigh in on AI mental health devices

  The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will hold an advisory panel meeting in November to examine the fast-emerging class of AI-enabled digital mental health devices.

The agency's Digital Health Advisory Committee will meet on November 6 and focus on how these digital tools could help address a widening gap in access to mental health services in the United States, while also probing the unique risks they pose.

There has been a sharp growth in AI-enabled digital mental health tools from chatbots to virtual therapists. While these technologies promise reach, scalability and timely intervention, regulators are grappling with how to ensure such devices are both effective and safe.

The FDA itself has begun experimenting with AI in its review work.

The DHAC meeting aims to set the groundwork for identifying key areas of concern and potential regulatory pathways, according to a document published on Thursday.

DHAC's charge is to advise the FDA on regulatory issues surrounding digital health technologies including AI/ML, remote patient monitoring, digital therapeutics and software components of medical devices.

The agency has opened a public docket for comments ahead of the session. Background materials will be posted online at least two business days before the meeting.

https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/fda-panel-weigh-ai-mental-health-devices-2025-09-11/