Maxwell Smith, PhD

New article from Associate Director, Maxwell J. Smith.

An inquiry into alleged COVID‑19 vaccine injuries fails to weigh the ethics and risks of Canada’s response with Kari Pahlman and @dsilvaphd.bsky.social in @ca.theconversation.com theconversation.com/an-inquiry-i...

Holy shit FOUR members of the ethics committee in Denmark that gave the green light to allow the widely-condemned RFK Jr-funded trial to proceed in Guinea-Bissau have now resigned in protest This quote is 🔥 Great reporting by @melodyschreiber.com www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

I'm very happy to share a new OA publication in Public Health Ethics. I argue for the inclusion of a principle of non-complicity among other public health ethics principles & that non-complicity complements other ethical principles & particularly addresses limitations in a principle of solidarity.

Why Is No One Talking About Long COVID Anymore? Attention has waned but patients are still suffering, by Jeffrey D. Klausner, Lao-Tzu Allan-Blitz www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/seco... via @medpagetoday.com @longcovidadvoc.com

Democratic Republic of Congo's Ebola outbreak is now the deadliest in its history, Thomson Reuters reports. This article and more at canadahealthwatch.ca #EbolaOutbreak

Four years since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, and abortions have actually gone up. We made a video explainer for @kffhealthnews.org that explains why: kffhealthnews.org/courts/video...

#CDC reports that the confirmed #measles count in 2026 has hit 2,318, exceeding the 2025 total. It's the highest annual total — & the year's far from over — in 35 years. To keep measles under control, about 95% of kids need to be vaccinated. Few parts of the country are hitting that target.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is recruiting two new members for its Public Health Ethics Consultative Group (PHECG). More info here: lnkd.in/p/g-86WF2T

Court upholds NY repeal of religious vaccine exemption for school: Explaining the decision in Miller v. McDonald (take II), including background, the decision, and what's next. www.skepticalraptor.com/skepticalrap... via @skepticalraptor.bsky.social

Well done @HayleyGleeson “Experts say infection control protocols are not good enough, with some doctors warning widespread indifference to COVID is costing too many lives and adding unnecessary pressure to the health system.” www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10...

This is bigger than any premier or party. If a single elected official can unilaterally advance policies with adverse public safety impacts, we should be asking hard questions about the strength of our democracy & advocating like hell for evidence-based placemaking. #EvidenceBasedPlacemaking

📣 Calling on all nations to show up and demonstrate solidarity www.cidrap.umn.edu/ebola/africa...

NEW: The military is again requiring flu vaccines for recruits, months after Defense Secretary Hegseth ended a mandate.

Just in case you were wondering whether the feigned outrage over personal freedom during Covid was real or theater… it turns out the right does really like the exercise of state control.

"If you confine people, they will need to be supported with food. And if they don’t get food, they will move": www.straitstimes.com/world/ebola-...

Secretary Kennedy pretended in the past to support free speech. Now he is using his position to bully a medical journal, in a way that's reminiscent of the conduct the Supreme Court struck down here: supremecourt.gov/opinions/23p... He cites no regulatory authority, and has none.

I agree w/ @shobitap.org that lamenting the politicization of "science" and the health professions is both nonsensical and strategically problematic. The enterprise of science -- basic, clinical, and any other variety -- is fundamentally political in +++ ways. I've written about this here: 1/

"They have spent so much time talking about not having the government impose on peoples individual decisions..." "And yet, in response to the hantavirus and Ebola, this administration has chosen to impose very draconian and extreme public health measures." www.npr.org/2026/06/11/n...

This is an important & original analysis of whether & how “coercion” is defined in scholarship about public health. Very well done. Can something similar be done for the word “politics” in public health? My sense is the word is much used, rarely defined, and this confuses things.

ACOG’s Maternal Immunization Schedule: "Together with the RSV and Tdap vaccines, the flu and COVID vaccines can help to keep both pregnant mothers healthy and their baby safe ...before they develop immunity from their own vaccines." open.substack.com/pub/stopanti... @aboutpediatrics.bsky.social

“Cervical cancer elimination isn't just a public health objective. It's a moral imperative. No one should be diagnosed with or die from a cancer we have the ability to prevent." www.cidrap.umn.edu/human-papill...

Just published in BMJ Public Health: "Coercion in public health: a scoping review of definitions" bmjpublichealth.bmj.com/content/4/2/...

NEW: Regulators have linked Mark McAfee’s raw dairy farm to more than a dozen recalls and outbreaks that left hundreds of people ill. “I’ve put a couple kids in the hospital,” McAfee said. “But here’s the thing: I’m a pioneer.”

More than 14,000 deaths in Canada in 2018 were associated with resistant infections. Of these, 5,400 deaths were directly attributable to antimicrobial resistance. bit.ly/3NljSvK

Canada restricts U.S. livestock imports from areas affected by screwworm

The U.S. government has charged two scientists at NIH of criminally conspiring to smuggle biological samples into the country and lying about it. The researchers have pled not guilty. https://scim.ag/4uRHH2k

The decrease in trust in science has happened almost ENTIRELY on one side of the political spectrum. Mostly created for political gain (MAGA/MAHA), the creation of wellness & influencer brands (eg, Rogan et al), selling unproven products (eg, ivermectin), and the profit of social media platforms.

tl,dr; Scientists no longer allowed to use federal funding to publish, attend meetings, or talk to the public. They cannot collaborate internationally. Grants can be cancelled for any reason, at any time, political appointees have a final say over what gets funded, and who gets funded.

💯 “$8 million funding announcement today from the Canadian government is a drop in the bucket – and it follows an outrageous $2.7 billion cut to Canada’s international assistance”

🚨🚨🚨 jamanetwork.com/journals/jam... “These findings suggest that approximately 1 in 6 patients with COVID-19 develops postacute sequelae, predominantly chronic conditions currently invisible to surveillance systems, representing an accumulating rather than resolving health care burden.”

"New Trump administration restrictions prevent US health experts from contributing during conference calls with the World Health Organisation and limit those only listening to “small groups” www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

"Hantavirus and Ebola are making headlines. But another deadly outbreak is unfolding that's barely registered on the global scene." More than 500 children died in a measles outbreak in Bangladesh, with over 60,000 suspected cases. via @npr.org www.npr.org/2026/05/24/g...

The world is witnessing the consequences of a perfect storm of aid cuts, extreme nationalism, withdrawal of multi-lateralism, attacks on science, and under-investments in public health www.wsj.com/world/africa...

Since the last Disease Outbreak News was published on 16 May 2026, the number of suspected and confirmed cases has increased rapidly in DRC, with geographical expansion into North Kivu and South Kivu. www.who.int/emergencies/...

The #Ebola situation in the #DRC is deeply worrisome. So far, 82 cases have been confirmed, with seven confirmed deaths. But we know the epidemic in the DRC is much larger. There are now almost 750 suspected cases and 177 suspected deaths.

Already a large outbreak and could be the biggest yet Hopefully not, if enough investments are made right now www.nature.com/articles/d41...

The Conversation: 'Long COVID will cost the US an estimated $8 billion over just 3 years due to healthcare burden, managing symptoms and loss to the workforce' theconversation.com/long-covid-w...

One person with recent travel to East Africa being tested for Ebola virus in Ontario There's no need to panic. But this does not mean we shouldn't be doing everything possible to isolate possible, presumptive, and confirmed cases and interrupt onward transmission. www.ctvnews.ca/toronto/arti...

“No cases [of pediatric deaths] were classified as certain in relation to COVID-19 vaccination”. This the topline sentence in the results from the executive summary of the report that Prasad, Makary, and Hoeg claimed to show that 10 children died from the COVID19 vaccine.

Today, the World Health Organization, which on 17 May declared the Bundibugyo ebolavirus outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, held a closed meeting of vaccine experts to discuss possible options. https://scim.ag/4v4dOeV