Bob Park’s What’s New: Friday, November 6, 2026
No, Bob Park — the physicist who wrote the What’s New newsletter for years — did not write this. Instead, I am imagining what Park would have said were he alive today. The opinions are mine and not necessarily those of Bob Park (but they should be).
What’s New, by Bob Park
Friday, November 6, 2026
1. BLUE TSUNAMI
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The midterm elections resulted in a blue tsunami, with Democrats winning robust majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Time will tell what exactly this means for health and science, but it has to be good news. Many doctors, nurses, and scientists were elected throughout our country, both locally and nationally (hooray!). Three races in particular are victories for public health. Here in my state of Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed won his Senate race. El-Sayed is an MD/PhD with expertise in epidemiology and is a vocal advocate for Medicare for All. Pediatrician Annie Andrews won the Senate seat in South Carolina. I can’t think of a better antidote to the poison spread by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr than a pediatrician. Amy Acton beat out the vile Vivek Ramaswamy to become the new Governor of Ohio. Acton is a physician specializing in preventive medicine and public health. Congratulations to all three. I especially urge Annie Andrews to become the leading voice supporting vaccines in the United States Senate. America’s children are relying on her to speak out loud and clear.
2. UPDATE ON CDC DIRECTOR ERICA SCHWARTZ
We all had high hopes in August when Erica Schwartz took over as the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Now, a few months into her tenure, how’s she doing? Not so good. This week Jeremy Faust wrote about Schwartz in his Substack Inside Medicine. He points out that the CDC has not acknowledged all the measles deaths in Pennsylvania yet, which is highly unusual. He notes that the CDC’s website still does not accept the evidence that vaccines do not cause autism. He also adds that his sources in the CDC say Schwartz has done “little or nothing to make their work easier.” She either agrees with her boss RFK Jr or else she refuses to publicly disagree with him (I suspect the latter). Faust concludes that “nowadays, when the CDC issues a statement, we never know which CDC we are hearing from. Depending on the day or the issue, it could be solid science or snake oil.” What’s New agrees with Faust. Three months into her term as CDC director, she’s failing us.
3. LANCET COUNTDOWN SHOWS HOW CLIMATE CHANGE AFFECTS OUR HEALTH
Every year the Lancet Countdown assess the effects of climate change on health. The report notes that between 2016 and 2023, heat was associated with over half a million deaths each year, two thirds of which could be attributed to human-caused climate change. More frequent heatwaves and droughts are threatening food security and are increasing the suitability of the climate for some viruses. Fossil fuels still supply four fifths of the world’s energy supply. Since 2016, these fuels have caused over two million deaths annually from fuel-derived air pollution. The report concludes that “A decade after the Paris Agreement entered into force, this report shows that action remains grossly insufficient to avoid the growing impacts of climate change on health, and that the health opportunities of climate change interventions remain largely undelivered.” Climate change isn’t just a long-term environmental problem, it’s an urgent health issue right now.
