Melody Schreiber
@melodyschreiber.com
Health contributor/reporter at Guardian US, contributing editor at the New Republic, freelance elsewhere. Arctic obsessive and book enthusiast.
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Send me your secrets:
Signal: melodyschreiber.06
Email: [email protected]
Newsletter: notadoctor.news
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Melody Schreiber
@melodyschreiber.com
· Jun 26
White House mandates move away from overdose prevention in US health programs
Experts say move signals greater political interference into public health and will exacerbate opioid overdose crisis
www.theguardian.com
SCOOP: The CDC told state and local health programs that they have to align with the agency's new priorities -- including a move away from proven overdose prevention and a greater focus on "parental authority" in education.
They got five days to align. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
They got five days to align. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Reposted by Melody Schreiber
The BMJ Is Once Again Providing Fuel for Anti-Vaccine Influencers: the signals it is mentioning were not actual signals, except for myocarditis - which was found and addressed publicly, explains @aboutpediatrics.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/stopanti...
The BMJ Is Once Again Providing Fuel for Anti-Vaccine Influencers
The bmj has published yet another piece that anti-vaccine influencers are salivating over, laundering it across their social media accounts and websites.
open.substack.com
September 26, 2026 at 6:43 PM
The BMJ Is Once Again Providing Fuel for Anti-Vaccine Influencers: the signals it is mentioning were not actual signals, except for myocarditis - which was found and addressed publicly, explains @aboutpediatrics.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/stopanti...
My husband is going to turn informant if I keep going to the bookstore 😐
Next the US government is going to come after me for buying a bunch of books and not reading them. 😟
September 26, 2026 at 8:19 PM
My husband is going to turn informant if I keep going to the bookstore 😐
Reposted by Melody Schreiber
"You see, they sign up for health care, they pay for health care, and then they don't *use* that health care. It's the perfect crime and they thought they were going to get away with it."
Assistant AG for Fraud Colin McDonald: "Apparently 35% of people have never even used their Obamacare account for any health services. That is a statistical impossibility and it's because these are not real people seeking real care. These are fraudsters."
September 26, 2026 at 8:06 PM
"You see, they sign up for health care, they pay for health care, and then they don't *use* that health care. It's the perfect crime and they thought they were going to get away with it."
Reposted by Melody Schreiber
This story brought me back to Kara, one of the mothers in my book, There Is No Place for Us. She was homeless with her four kids while driving for DoorDash. They had to pee in bottles so bathroom stops wouldn't make her late.
After gas, she earned $6.50 an hour—75 cents less than the minimum wage.
After gas, she earned $6.50 an hour—75 cents less than the minimum wage.
DoorDash spent $1.4M trying to stop Zohran Mamdani from becoming mayor.
This week's historic $131.5M enforcement action against DoorDash for underpaying NYC delivery workers shows why.
Yet another reminder that the only thing that can beat organized money is organized people.
This week's historic $131.5M enforcement action against DoorDash for underpaying NYC delivery workers shows why.
Yet another reminder that the only thing that can beat organized money is organized people.
DoorDash Spent $1.4 Million Trying to Stop Mamdani From Becoming Mayor. Now We Know Why.
In a wage-theft settlement, DoorDash now has to pay its workers around 100 times what it spent trying to beat Zohran Mam
theintercept.com
September 26, 2026 at 4:08 PM
This story brought me back to Kara, one of the mothers in my book, There Is No Place for Us. She was homeless with her four kids while driving for DoorDash. They had to pee in bottles so bathroom stops wouldn't make her late.
After gas, she earned $6.50 an hour—75 cents less than the minimum wage.
After gas, she earned $6.50 an hour—75 cents less than the minimum wage.
Reposted by Melody Schreiber
People are not high-risk.
Situations are dangerous. Predators are dangerous. Housing instability, criminalization, poverty, isolation, and institutional indifference create danger.
A woman does not become less missing because her life was complicated.
Situations are dangerous. Predators are dangerous. Housing instability, criminalization, poverty, isolation, and institutional indifference create danger.
A woman does not become less missing because her life was complicated.
September 24, 2026 at 11:13 PM
People are not high-risk.
Situations are dangerous. Predators are dangerous. Housing instability, criminalization, poverty, isolation, and institutional indifference create danger.
A woman does not become less missing because her life was complicated.
Situations are dangerous. Predators are dangerous. Housing instability, criminalization, poverty, isolation, and institutional indifference create danger.
A woman does not become less missing because her life was complicated.
Reposted by Melody Schreiber
so many people on the internet are so damaged and they deal with it by ascribing the worst possible interpretation to everything they see online and raging at it as though it's what caused the damage in their own lives
September 26, 2026 at 2:27 PM
so many people on the internet are so damaged and they deal with it by ascribing the worst possible interpretation to everything they see online and raging at it as though it's what caused the damage in their own lives
Reposted by Melody Schreiber
“As of May 2026, the C.D.C. had 30 percent fewer employees than it did before the layoffs…Interviews with more than 30 current & former employees reveal the agency is now tightly controlled by Mr. Kennedy and his associates, and its scientists are finding it increasingly difficult to do their jobs”
‘Zombified’ C.D.C., Hobbled by Cuts, Struggles to Fulfill Scientific Mission
The agency has lost its independence and nearly a third of its staff, as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and associates have tightened control.
www.nytimes.com
September 26, 2026 at 11:59 AM
“As of May 2026, the C.D.C. had 30 percent fewer employees than it did before the layoffs…Interviews with more than 30 current & former employees reveal the agency is now tightly controlled by Mr. Kennedy and his associates, and its scientists are finding it increasingly difficult to do their jobs”
I need to download and deactivate
September 25, 2026 at 9:24 PM
I need to download and deactivate
Reposted by Melody Schreiber
Fuck ChatGPT flyers. The future is broadsheets.
September 25, 2026 at 6:21 PM
Fuck ChatGPT flyers. The future is broadsheets.
Date night (don't fuck this up news cycle)
September 25, 2026 at 7:55 PM
Date night (don't fuck this up news cycle)
Reposted by Melody Schreiber
Watch the official trailer for NAZA, an award-winning documentary produced by the Guardian that details the systems behind Israel’s mass killings in Gaza.
It will be released in cinemas in more than 50 countries in the coming weeks, and then will stream on the Guardian’s website, for free.
It will be released in cinemas in more than 50 countries in the coming weeks, and then will stream on the Guardian’s website, for free.
NAZA - official trailer
YouTube video by The Guardian
youtu.be
September 25, 2026 at 3:07 PM
Watch the official trailer for NAZA, an award-winning documentary produced by the Guardian that details the systems behind Israel’s mass killings in Gaza.
It will be released in cinemas in more than 50 countries in the coming weeks, and then will stream on the Guardian’s website, for free.
It will be released in cinemas in more than 50 countries in the coming weeks, and then will stream on the Guardian’s website, for free.
I stopped watching the Game of Thrones TV show because of all the gratuitous torture and sexual violence but I just found out who was put on the throne in the end, and it's exactly who I thought the entire series. I still refuse to watch because I'm sure my headcanon story is better
September 25, 2026 at 6:59 PM
I stopped watching the Game of Thrones TV show because of all the gratuitous torture and sexual violence but I just found out who was put on the throne in the end, and it's exactly who I thought the entire series. I still refuse to watch because I'm sure my headcanon story is better
Honestly it's a status marker if you can afford an iced coffee without a job right now
30-year fixed mortgage rate jumps sharply Thursday to 7.45%
30-year fixed mortgage rate jumps sharply Thursday to 7.45%
The 30-year fixed rate surged to 7.45%, the highest level since April 2024 as bonds sold off and yields rose.
cnb.cx
September 25, 2026 at 6:45 PM
Honestly it's a status marker if you can afford an iced coffee without a job right now
Reposted by Melody Schreiber
Gift link, and some reactions herein. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/25/o...
Opinion | Being a Doctor Will Never Be the Same After A.I. (Gift Article)
I’m confident in my mastery over what doctors do — and less confident about my continued mastery of an ever-evolving universe of facts.
www.nytimes.com
September 25, 2026 at 4:05 PM
Gift link, and some reactions herein. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/25/o...
Lol if you talk about killing people in my mentions I will block you, fedposter
September 25, 2026 at 3:33 PM
Lol if you talk about killing people in my mentions I will block you, fedposter
Eight months pregnant and arrested in front of her son. The crime? Not paying a $50 medical bill
Meischa was Roger Marshall's patient. This is her story.
September 25, 2026 at 3:21 PM
Eight months pregnant and arrested in front of her son. The crime? Not paying a $50 medical bill
Reposted by Melody Schreiber
Yes! Doctors in PA told me the same -- they're not sure whether congenital measles puts babies at risk in ways we've basically never seen before.
Personally, I'm wondering if there's a higher risk for complications like SSPE later down the line, since the age of the baby seems to play a role.
Personally, I'm wondering if there's a higher risk for complications like SSPE later down the line, since the age of the baby seems to play a role.
Why the CDC is excluding measles deaths in Pennsylvania even as outbreak appears to be ‘accelerating’
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention refuses to count four measles deaths in the state though doctors are ‘seeing new forms’ of disease
www.theguardian.com
September 25, 2026 at 3:07 PM
Yes! Doctors in PA told me the same -- they're not sure whether congenital measles puts babies at risk in ways we've basically never seen before.
Personally, I'm wondering if there's a higher risk for complications like SSPE later down the line, since the age of the baby seems to play a role.
Personally, I'm wondering if there's a higher risk for complications like SSPE later down the line, since the age of the baby seems to play a role.
This is what "they're not real people" apparently means
We were mid-handshake and he pulled me in and grabbed tighter and got upset and raised his voice and said: "What are you talking about man?! Those aren't real people. They're illegal aliens!"
September 25, 2026 at 2:47 PM
This is what "they're not real people" apparently means
This you? www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
September 25, 2026 at 2:46 PM
This you? www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
I once had a man vomit on me in a bar and the bartender kept serving him. Editors I'm available to write about this!!!
used to hang out at this bar whose other regulars were mostly straight middle aged men and my god their drama. most of em were banned for pissing on the floor or stealing fistfuls of cash from the register. for some reason no one acted like it was a referendum on straightness maleness or ‘the left’
September 25, 2026 at 2:39 PM
I once had a man vomit on me in a bar and the bartender kept serving him. Editors I'm available to write about this!!!
Reposted by Melody Schreiber
this is why i don't think the story should've been run. these are marginalized people/communities. and, from where i'm at, the end result appears to be that the story predictably reinforced harmful stereotypes at a national level and opened up these people up to much more harassment.
I don't necessarily think that it was meanspirited the way it was written, I left it feeling sort of bad for all the people involved, but I do think when you tell a story like this you have to weigh "am I opening the people here up to more harassment"
September 25, 2026 at 2:15 PM
this is why i don't think the story should've been run. these are marginalized people/communities. and, from where i'm at, the end result appears to be that the story predictably reinforced harmful stereotypes at a national level and opened up these people up to much more harassment.
Reposted by Melody Schreiber
Sometimes I think about how the admin. wants to cut people from their ACA coverage because they don’t use their health insurance, treating that as evidence of fraud, while touting high-deductible, low-coverage, risky plans for people who don’t use their insurance & treating them as savvy consumers.
This part is really difficult to understand for people who don't know the intricacies of ACA. Did you know you can be too poor for Obamacare but not poor enough for Medicaid?
Vance and Oz indicated that some people who were purged did not make *enough* money to qualify for ACA - a bizarre no-man's-land for people making $16,000-22,000 a year www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
September 25, 2026 at 2:32 PM
Sometimes I think about how the admin. wants to cut people from their ACA coverage because they don’t use their health insurance, treating that as evidence of fraud, while touting high-deductible, low-coverage, risky plans for people who don’t use their insurance & treating them as savvy consumers.
How precisely is handwashing not a health issue?
www.idahostatesman.com/news/politic...
www.idahostatesman.com/news/politic...
Judge dismisses lawsuit from daycare, parents over Idaho medical law. Here’s why
“I’m pleased the court agreed,” the attorney general said in a news release.
www.idahostatesman.com
September 25, 2026 at 2:35 PM
How precisely is handwashing not a health issue?
www.idahostatesman.com/news/politic...
www.idahostatesman.com/news/politic...
Reposted by Melody Schreiber
Two Minnesota solar farms turned the ground beneath their panels into habitat, and native bee abundance rose more than 20-fold www.ecoticias.com/en/two-minne...
Two Minnesota solar farms turned the ground beneath their panels into habitat, and native bee abundance rose more than 20-fold
Minnesota solar farms planted with native flowers saw native bees rise 20-fold, with bees also pollinating nearby soybean fields.
www.ecoticias.com
September 24, 2026 at 2:05 PM
Two Minnesota solar farms turned the ground beneath their panels into habitat, and native bee abundance rose more than 20-fold www.ecoticias.com/en/two-minne...
This part is really difficult to understand for people who don't know the intricacies of ACA. Did you know you can be too poor for Obamacare but not poor enough for Medicaid?
Vance and Oz indicated that some people who were purged did not make *enough* money to qualify for ACA - a bizarre no-man's-land for people making $16,000-22,000 a year www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Removal of 760,000 people from ACA marketplace could undermine US health system
Trump administration move weakens federal insurance programs – and some poor people will likely forego healthcare
www.theguardian.com
September 25, 2026 at 2:22 PM
This part is really difficult to understand for people who don't know the intricacies of ACA. Did you know you can be too poor for Obamacare but not poor enough for Medicaid?