Inside CDC Director Nomination; Rogan’s Psychedelic Influence; Researchers Fooled AI

The Trump administration’s nomination of Erica Schwartz, MD, MPH, JD, a former deputy surgeon general, to lead the CDC follows a review of the agency launched in January. HHS chief counselor Chris Klomp led the effort to identify and interview candidates. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was initially skeptical of Schwartz, but became more supportive after meeting with her, eventually sending her recommendation to the White House. (CNN)

Kennedy has quieted on his trademark vaccine skepticism lately, instead focusing on lower-risk messaging ahead of the midterm elections. An internal memo issued earlier this year showed that health officials were given the “green light” to discuss some topics, such as lowering healthcare costs. Implied is that Kennedy should steer clear of “red light” controversial issues like vaccines. (Bloomberg)

Kennedy also used to boast about the alleged benefits of raw milk despite its known risks. Lately, he’s stopped talking about it, instead promoting politically safer whole milk. Kennedy and team have recently avoided talking about “weird stuff,” a person familiar with the matter said. (Wall Street Journal)

President Donald Trump’s recent executive order on psychedelics appears to have originated with a text from podcaster Joe Rogan. After texting Trump about ibogaine as a treatment for opioid addiction, Rogan said he received a message back quickly: “‘Sounds great. Do you want FDA approval? Let’s do it,'” Rogan recalled. CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz, MD, said it took just one week to “go from a series of connections and communications with Joe Rogan” to completing the executive order. (WSJ)

Scientists made up a fake skin condition called bixonimania and uploaded two fake studies about it to a preprint server to test if large language models would incorporate the obviously bogus research into responses. The experiment worked too well: artificial intelligence chatbots told users about bixonimania like it was real and the fake papers were then cited in peer reviewed literature. (Nature)

Louisiana issued an arrest warrant for Bruce Tigani Jr., the man thought to be behind a vitriolic social media account that harassed and threatened critics of the largest hospital landlord in America. Tigani posted as “Abe,” an account paid by an intelligence firm to intimidate journalists, politicians, and analysts who were raising the alarm about Medical Properties Trust. (Mother Jones)

Prospect Medical, a for-profit hospital chain ravaged by private equity, had promised to provide malpractice coverage for its hospitals and doctors. However, it never set aside money to pay those costs or to compensate injured patients, meaning hundreds of people with pending malpractice cases may never get compensation. Prospect Medical, like a growing number of healthcare companies, had been “self-insuring” to save money. (ProPublica)

Addiction Recovery Care, a Christian drug treatment program in Kentucky, helped people reach sobriety but also may have used them to commit fraud. Staff recall being told to falsify billing records for the booming company. A whistleblower lawsuit alleged the company fraudulently billed Medicaid for a service called psychoeducation. (ProPublica)