Health
‘Vaguely Threatening’: Federal Prosecutor Queries Leading Medical Journal
A federal prosecutor in Washington has contacted The New England Journal of Medicine, considered the world’s most prestigious medical journal, with questions that suggested without evidence that it was biased against certain views and influenced by external pressures.
Dr. Eric Rubin, the editor in chief of N.E.J.M., described the letter as “vaguely threatening” in an interview with The New York Times.
At least three other journals have received similar letters from Edward Martin Jr., a Republican activist serving as interim U.S. attorney in Washington. Mr. Martin has been criticized for using his office to target opponents of the administration.
His letters accused the publications of being “partisans in various scientific debates” and asked a series of accusatory questions about bias and the selection of research articles.
Do they accept submissions from scientists with “competing viewpoints”? What do they do if the authors whose work they published “may have misled their readers”? Are they transparent about influence from “supporters, funders, advertisers and others”?
News of the letter to N.E.J.M. was reported earlier by STAT, a health news outlet.
Mr. Martin also asked about the role of the National Institutes of Health, which funds some of the research the journals publish, and the agency’s role “in the development of submitted articles.”
Amanda Shanor, a First Amendment expert at the University of Pennsylvania, said the information published in reputable medical journals like N.E.J.M. is broadly protected by the Constitution.
In most cases, journals have the same robust rights that apply to newspapers — the strongest the Constitution provides, she added.
“There is no basis to say that anything other than the most stringent First Amendment protections apply to medical journals,” she said. “It appears aimed at creating a type of fear and chill that will have effects on people’s expression — that’s a constitutional concern.”
It’s unclear how many journals have received these letters or the criteria that Mr. Martin used to decide which publications to target. The U.S. attorney’s office in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.
“Our job is to evaluate science and evaluate it in an unbiased fashion,” Dr. Rubin said. “That’s what we do and I think we do it well. The questions seem to suggest that there’s some bias in what we do — that’s where the vaguely threatening part comes in.”
Jeremy Berg, the former editor in chief of the journal Science, said he thought the letters were designed to “intimidate journals to bend over backward” to publish papers that align with the administration’s beliefs — on climate change and vaccines, for example — even if the quality of the research is poor.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nation’s health secretary, singled out N.E.J.M in an interview with the “Dr. Hyman Show” podcast last year as an example of a medical journal that has participated in “lying to the public” and “retracting the real science.”
Andrew Nixon, a spokesman for the Health and Human Services Department, declined to comment on whether Mr. Kennedy had any involvement with the letters.
In the interview, Mr. Kennedy said he would seek to prosecute medical journals under federal anti-corruption laws.
“I’m going to litigate against you under the racketeering laws, under the general tort laws,” he said. “I’m going to find a way to sue you unless you come up with a plan right now to show how you’re going to start publishing real science.”
Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, the new director of N.I.H., has vigorously criticized the leadership of scientific journals. Recently he co-founded a new journal as an alternative to traditional scientific publishing. It has published contrarian views on Covid.
Other prominent journals said they had not received the letter. On Friday, The Lancet, which is based in Britain, published a scathing editorial in solidarity, calling the letters “an obvious ruse to strike fear into journals and impinge on their right to independent editorial oversight.”
“Science and medicine in the U.S.A. are being violently dismembered while the world watches,” the editorial said.
One of Mr. Martin’s letters was sent to the journal Chest, a low-profile publication that publishes highly technical studies on topics like lung cancer and pneumonia. The New York Times reported last week that at least two other publishers had received nearly identically worded letters.
They declined to speak publicly for fear of retribution from the Trump administration.
Dr. Rubin said he, too, was worried about political backlash. Scientific journals rely on public funds in several indirect ways — for example, universities often use federal grants to pay for subscriptions.
“Are we concerned? Of course we are,” he said. “But we want to do the right thing.”
Mr. Martin gave the journals until May 2 to respond to his questions. N.E.J.M. has already responded to Mr. Martin with a statement that pushes back against his characterization of the journal.
“We use rigorous peer review and editorial processes to ensure the objectivity and reliability of the research we publish,” the statement read. “We support the editorial independence of medical journals and their First Amendment rights to free expression.”
This is not the N.E.J.M’s first brush with a Trump administration.
In 2020, the journal published an editorial condemning the president’s response to the pandemic — the first time the journal had supported or condemned a political candidate in its 208-year history.
Dr. Rubin said he doubted Mr. Martin’s letter was related to the editorial. The journal Chest didn’t write about Trump’s first term yet received a letter, he noted.
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For some men, March Madness isn’t just about brackets — it’s also prime time for a vasectomy.
Previous research has shown that demand for the procedure tends to spike during the NCAA Division I men’s and women’s college basketball tournaments, which are held every spring.
Some surgeons have agreed that this is a real phenomenon, largely because the steady stream of games offers the perfect activity for men recovering on the couch.
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A vasectomy is a simple surgical procedure for men that blocks the vas deferens, the tube that transports sperm, serving as a permanent form of contraception.
Recovery typically takes a few days to a week, with doctors recommending rest for 48 hours and light activity soon after.
Previous research has shown that demand for vasectomies tends to spike during the NCAA Division I men’s and women’s college basketball tournaments, which are held every spring. (iStock)
David Gentile, MD, chief of the department of urology at Highland Hospital, recently spoke to the University of Rochester Medical Center about the uptick in vasectomies during March Madness.
“It’s a great excuse to watch without interruption.”
“We tell patients they should plan on going home and putting their feet up after a vasectomy, so timing the procedure to watch some games while you recover works well,” he said.
“And it’s a great excuse to watch without interruption, as you won’t be able to do physical labor around the house while you’re recovering.”
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Jim Dupree, MD, associate professor of urology at Michigan Medicine, has also spoken about the trend.
“Major sporting events are a popular time for men to schedule a vasectomy because we advise them to take it easy for two to three days after the procedure,” he said in a press release for Michigan Medicine.
A vasectomy is a simple surgical procedure for men that blocks the vas deferens, the tube that transports sperm, serving as a permanent form of contraception. (iStock)
“For most men, this means sitting on the couch in front of their television, and sporting events offer them something to watch while resting.”
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Yet another surgeon, Dr. Ali Dabaja, director of male reproductive and sexual medicine at the Vattikuti Urology Institute at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan, weighed in on the topic in 2024.
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“After a vasectomy, we ask men to rest, not to lift anything heavy, and to go back to light duties during that week. So, timing the procedure for watching some games while you recover works well, and it’s a great excuse to watch March Madness without interruption,” he told the Urology Care Foundation.
“Historically, we have usually seen a rise in vasectomy consultations and vasectomies during March Madness,” he went on. “Other urology offices have reported a rise in vasectomies between 20% to 40%.”
“After a vasectomy, we ask men to rest, not to lift anything heavy, and to go back to light duties during that week, a surgeon said. (iStock)
A 2018 study published in the journal Urology found that March was one of the higher-volume months for vasectomy procedures, but the highest peaks were actually later in the year, particularly November and December.
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There were some limitations to that study, primarily that the monthly variation was observational, and the data lacked context of patients’ behaviors and scheduling.
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A pesticide commonly used in America’s food supply has been linked to Parkinson’s disease, new research suggests.
A UCLA study published in the journal Springer Nature Link suggests that exposure to chlorpyrifos could increase the risk of the neurological disease.
The chemical is often used on agricultural products like soybeans, fruit and nut trees, broccoli, cauliflower and other row crops, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
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The study compared 829 people with Parkinson’s to 824 people without the disease over a 45-year period, focusing on their proximity to chlorpyrifos.
The researchers also conducted mouse experiments, where mice inhaled the pesticide as humans would for 11 weeks. Experiments were also carried out on zebrafish to study cell-level brain damage.
Chlorpyrifos is often used on agricultural products like soybeans, fruit and nut trees, broccoli, cauliflower and other row crops, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (iStock)
In humans, the study revealed that long-term exposure to chlorpyrifos led to more than a 2.5 times higher risk of Parkinson’s.
In mice, exposure to the pesticide caused movement problems similar to Parkinson’s symptoms, loss of dopamine-producing neurons, increased brain inflammation and build-up of harmful proteins.
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Zebrafish suffered brain cell death and damage linked to failure in the cell’s “cleanup system,” according to the study press release.
Dr. Jeff Bronstein, director of the Movement Disorders Program at UCLA and professor of neurology and molecular toxicology, noted that previous human studies also suggested an association between chlorpyrifos exposure and Parkinson’s.
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“[We were] surprised that the mechanism of toxicity was apparent in both mice and zebrafish,” he said. “We rarely find such consistent results in different animal models.”
A researcher commented that the consistency in results between human and animal subjects is “rare.” (iStock)
The researcher emphasized that the association between pesticide exposure and Parkinson’s was “very strong,” and the longer someone was exposed, the higher the risk became.
“People should avoid exposure to CPF and similar pesticides (organophosphates) by not using them in their home, eating organics, and washing fruits and vegetables before eating them,” Bronstein advised.
Study limitations
The study did have some limitations, the researchers acknowledged, primarily that it was observational, meaning it shows an association but cannot prove causation.
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It also estimated exposure based on participants’ locations, and did not measure diet, indoor exposure or personal lifestyle behaviors. Additionally, the results of the animal models can’t be translated directly to humans.
There was also the possibility that chlorpyrifos was used along with other chemicals, which means it could be difficult to measure its specific impact, the study noted.
Chlorpyrifos is used to control different kinds of pests, like termites, mosquitoes and roundworms, among crops. (iStock)
Industry reaction
Chlorpyrifos is used to control different kinds of pests, like termites, mosquitoes and roundworms, among crops, according to the National Pesticide Information Center (NPIC) at Oregon State University.
People can be exposed to the pesticide by breathing it in or by consuming contaminated food or water.
In 2021, the EPA banned the use of chlorpyrifos on food crops, but a federal appeals court overturned that decision in 2023, allowing its use to resume on some crops while regulators revisit the rule.
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In January 2026, the EPA issued an update outlining plans to move forward with a rule that would ban most uses of chlorpyrifos.
“Chlorpyrifos is subject to registration review, a process required under FIFRA (the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act) in which registered pesticides are comprehensively evaluated every 15 years against current safety standards and the latest scientific evidence,” the EPA said in a statement sent to Fox News Digital.
“EPA is currently developing a revised human health risk assessment for chlorpyrifos as part of that review, and will consider this study alongside any other relevant submissions,” the agency said in a statement sent to Fox News Digital. (Getty)
“EPA is currently developing a revised human health risk assessment for chlorpyrifos as part of that review, and will consider this study alongside any other relevant submissions. Where the science calls for stronger protections or tolerance revocations, EPA will act without hesitation and without delay.”
Fox News Digital reached out to several manufacturers of the chemical for comment.
“People should avoid exposure to CPF and similar pesticides.”
Corteva, an Indiana agrichemical company formed in 2019 through the merger of Dow Chemical and DuPont, announced in 2020 that it would end production of chlorpyrifos within the year, citing declining sales.
In April 2022, the German chemical company BASF requested the cancellation of its pesticide registrations for products containing chlorpyrifos.
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“BASF does not manufacture chlorpyrifos and does not have any pesticide registrations issued by the U.S. EPA for chlorpyrifos-containing products,” the company told Fox News Digital.
No products from Corteva or BASF were included in the study linking chlorpyrifos to Parkinson’s disease.
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