Since our sojourn in America there have been efforts to dismantle those goals. While establishing relationships with other communities regardless of political, socio-economic, ethnic and religious affiliations is also worthwhile, those relationships must be established on truth, transparency and historical accuracy.

Members of the Jewish community met recently in Miami with several well-known Black leaders and organizers for the National Convening on the Black-Jewish Alliance.

The event was called, according to organizers “the first national gathering of its kind in more than 25 years, aimed at renewing one of the most consequential partnerships in American history.” The meeting, which reportedly drew “more than 100 leaders,” was held May 26-30.

According to reporting by The San Diego Voice & Viewpoint, “Hosted by the Exodus Leadership Forum and Redstone Family Foundation at EAST Hotel Miami, the convening brought together clergy, organizers, artists, philanthropists, educators, civic leaders and cultural figures.

The goals were to strengthen relationships; confront rising antisemitism and racism; and help shape a shared national strategy for Black-Jewish partnership in the years ahead.”

The gathering attracted Blacks, Jews and those who are members of both communities. The Exodus Leadership Forum is a non-profit established by former Obama administration advisor for Green Jobs and current political commentator Van Jones.

The reported goal of the forum is “to revitalize and strengthen the historic partnership between the Black and Jewish communities.” The Redstone Family Foundation is described as “a philanthropic organization”

And is headed by media executive Shari Redstone. Rev. Dr. Benjamin Chavis, longtime civil rights activist and president and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (the Black Press), also addressed the gathering. There are reportedly plans to make it an annual gathering.

The weekend included several goals and included “facilitated conversations around difficult ‘wedge issues,’” noted sdvoice.info. Coming out of the “historic gathering,” a draft of a National Strategy for Black and Jewish Partnership was crafted and included the following:

• Promoting Awareness and Historical Understanding
• Deepening Relationships and Building Trust
• Shaping a Public Narrative around Black-Jewish Allyship
• Coordinating Efforts Across the Field
• Expanding Partnerships for Collective Advocacy and Action

The above goals could be considered practical. However, before the rest of the points listed can be delved into, the first point, “Promoting Awareness and Historical Understanding,” must be addressed. And, there can be no awareness or understanding that is not based on truth and actual facts.

For decades, the National Representative of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, has spoken the unadulterated truth about the historic and current relationship between Blacks and Jews.

He has been unfairly lied on, maligned and targeted by members of the Jewish community and many scared-to-death Black people who are unwilling or unable to face the real truth about the history of this “relationship.”

Before any sort of “alliance” can be considered, what the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan has presented and revealed must be part of the dialogue. Otherwise, no meaningful so-called alliance can be considered. And, if there is an alliance, what will it be based on?

Minister Farrakhan has called for a dialogue with members of the Jewish community, but he has been rebuffed due to his unwillingness to speak other than the truth. In his efforts to foster communication and understanding between the two communities, the Nation of Islam Research Department has produced several books, including:

“The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews: The Jewish Role in the Enslavement of the African,” “The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews: How Jews Gained Control of the Black American Economy,” “The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews:

The Leo Frank Case, The Lynching of a Guilty Man,” and “Jews Selling Blacks.” There is also a comprehensive compilation of messages by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, titled, “Revealing the Truth & Exposing the Synagogue of Satan.”

Perhaps the dialogue around “difficult wedge” issues about “one of the most consequential partnerships in American history” can and should start with the reading and studying of these materials. Doing so would allow both groups to truly start a sincere dialogue that could lead toward an “alliance.”

Over the years, Minister Farrakhan has written letters to prominent Jewish groups and Black leaders and organizations to foster sincere and truthful dialogue based on understanding. He has sent the books from the N.O.I. Research Group to Black and Jewish leaders, accompanied by letters of divine guidance.

In an open letter to Jewish groups he wrote in 2010, Minister Farrakhan stated: “I have pleaded with you over the years for a sensible, intelligent dialogue.

You have rejected me, and some Rabbis have given me terms for friendship that any self-respecting person could never accept. So with this truth in our hands and yours, and soon in the hands of tens of thousands, I again ask you for a dialogue.”

The same year, Minister Farrakhan also emailed Black leadership, stating in part, “These books that the Historical Research Department of the Nation of Islam has published, “The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews: How Jews Gained Control of the Black American Economy Volume 2”

And “Jews Selling Blacks” are being shared with our people to show us how we were completely undone and how others have benefited from what has happened and continues to happen to us. We cannot deal effectively with our so-called friends as men and women without this vital knowledge.”

He continued, “Whenever the Light of Truth has been shone on them, they reach for you to defend them against the Truth that uncovers the horror that has been done to us. They have always been successful pitting us against each other thus keeping them from facing the Truth of their real relationship with us.

As they call upon you to denounce me as an anti-Semite and, because of the favor you believe you owe them for what they have done to help make life comfortable for you; I am asking you to stand down. I am asking you to read this research and then discuss it with your Jewish friends.

Would you condemn me as an anti-Semite for exposing the research that shows them as being anti-Black? I am asking you to stand down and let them come out to me to defend their record and history of their relationship with us that we compiled from that which was written by their own scholars, historians, and Rabbis.”

For sincere alliances to be created, truth must be present. So, for the National Convening on the Black-Jewish Alliance, seek the guidance and wisdom that the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan has already shared, offered and made available.

The post An ‘alliance’ must be based on truth appeared first on Final Call News.

Hambrick, et al. v. United States of America was filed by family attorneys Benjamin Crump, alongside co-counsels William H. Murphy Jr., Jason P. Foster, Carol D. Powell Lexing, Malcolm P. Ruff, Nabeha Shaer, and Brooke Cluse. 

They allege that nearly six decades ago, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) secretly enrolled the Black infants as test subjects in an experimental RSV vaccine trial conducted between 1965 and 1966—without the knowledge or consent of their families.

Both babies died in January 1967.

The lawsuit was filed on May 22 in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, Southern Division. The federal government typically has 60 days to respond after service of the lawsuit, at which time they may answer or ask a judge to dismiss the case.

The Final Call has reached out to the Department of Justice for a response to the lawsuit and has not yet received a reply.

RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) is a common respiratory virus that infects the nose, throat, and lungs, according to the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It is transmitted when an infected person coughs or sneezes, through direct contact with an infected person, or by contact with a contaminated surface.

Further, while RSV usually does not pose serious health risks to healthy children and adults, older adults and children are at increased risk of severe adverse health consequences related to RSV. Symptoms include runny nose, cough, congestion, sneezing, fever, wheezing and/or loss of appetite, and in very young infants may be limited to irritability, lethargy and difficulty breathing.

“Ross Otto Hambrick and Victor Marcellus King were two Black babies who were used as guinea pigs, as lab rats, in a very targeted effort by the United States Government. 

This follows a long history of the medical society of the United States government experimenting on Black bodies—what we believe was an epidemic of medical racism,” stated Atty. Crump, during a press conference on May 28 in Washington, D.C.

During his sweeping condemnation, he situated the case within a lineage of documented atrocities, including the Tuskegee syphilis experiment in Alabama, in which Black men were withheld treatment for syphilis.

Also the exploitation of Henrietta Lacks by Johns Hopkins scientists. Ms. Lacks was a Black woman whose cervical cancer cells were taken without consent over 70 years ago during her treatment at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.

This disturbing history also includes Black soldiers used in World War II who were given faulty gas masks and subjected to chemical exposure, and the forced sterilization of Black women in the South during routine medical procedures—known as the “Mississippi Appendectomy.”

“But today, we’re talking about these Black babies—Ross Otto Hambrick and Victor King—these innocent babies, these infants,” said Atty. Crump. “It was worst of all, because they were using babies who couldn’t talk, who couldn’t walk, who could not in any way give any type of consent.”

Specifically, the complaint alleged:

•   The United States government, through the NIH, selected the most vulnerable children it could find—Black infants from low-income families—to test a dangerous, highly concentrated experimental vaccine known as “Lot 100.”

•   Tissue samples harvested from their autopsies were preserved without the families’ knowledge.

•   Decades later, NIH researchers retrieved those samples to study what went wrong – knowledge that directly informed the development of RSV vaccines approved by the FDA in 2023, now generating billions in revenue.

•   The families of Ross Otto and Victor have never been compensated or acknowledged for the role the infants’ deaths played in that medical breakthrough.

“What I do remember vividly was the change in my mother,” said Sharlette Hambrick, Ross Otto’s sister. She was five years old when her baby brother died. Her mother was once funny and outgoing until the tragedy. She then became super religious and “barely let us out of her sight,” she said, reported New York Times columnist Charles Blow.

Mr. Blow reported that Victor’s older brother, Darius King, also five when his brother died, spent decades believing it was because of pneumonia. He quietly blamed his stepfather, who had taken the baby outside in the cold to show him off to friends. 

That impression stuck until journalist Michael Schulson of Undark magazine contacted him in 2023 and informed him that Victor’s death was most likely caused by the experimental RSV vaccine.

The report by Undark was highlighted by Mr. Blow in 2023.

He reported that the non-profit digital magazine affiliated with M.I.T., “found that in the 1960s, some of the first and youngest subjects to receive experimental shots, in a clinical trial of early attempts to develop R.S.V. vaccines, were Black and poor children, some in foster care.

And though questions remain about what parents knew, archival documents housed at the N.I.H. suggest that parents did not give informed consent—or in some cases, any consent at all—for their children to receive the largely untested shot.”

Mr. King also expressed the sorrowful resignation of a people—Black people—who have so often been mistreated, and he reflected on the country’s checkered history, including when it comes to medical ethics, explained Mr. Blow. “That was the way America was,” said Mr. King, adding that the children who were given the experimental vaccine “were probably thought of as disposable.”

Dr. Christina X Parks, a cellular and molecular biologist, described the core scientific failure of the 1960s RSV vaccine trial:

“When they processed the virus, they tried to kill it—they changed the conformation of it, they denatured it. And the body didn’t actually recognize the adulterated or denatured form of the virus and didn’t produce the right antibodies,” she told The Final Call.

The result, she said, was a catastrophic miseducation of the immune system.

“It actually disabled their own innate immune response. It skewed their immune system, it mis-trained their immune system,” Dr. Parks explained. “The antibodies kind of bound, but in fact they sort of mis-trained the immune system to ignore the virus—to actually help the virus infect the person.”

According to Dr. Parks, the RSV trial data devastatingly manifested this, explaining that vaccine recipients were getting more ill and dying with the vaccine than without it. “And so, they (scientists) did the right thing in this case and pulled the vaccine—but they should never have been experimenting,” she said.

“It’s time for accountability,” Dr. Parks told The Final Call. “The fact that they’ve been experimenting on Black populations and Black children—low income—and they experimented on special needs children. They basically always experimented on the children and people that they thought didn’t have anybody to protect them,” she said.

During the May 28 news conference, Atty. Lexing said, “The families knew for a long time that something wasn’t right with what happened to their baby brother … to their sons. 

They didn’t know that the babies had been used as infants. They did not know that the babies’ tissues had been preserved and that now the medical community is building a billion-dollar industry off the backs of these babies.”

Accountability transcends any single institution, including the federal government, said Atty. Murphy. “These families deserve honesty. They deserve the truth to be told. They deserve justice, instead of being just us.”

Houston-based attorney Pamela Muhammad said the case cuts to the heart of a long and documented history of racial exploitation in American medicine.

“History is so filled with this type of racial exploitation and experimentation and really just torture. I mean, our history is filled with this,” she told The Final Call. 

Central to the complaint is the total absence of informed consent, which must be completely free from financial or physical coercion, she said. But disproportionately, Black people are given experimental substances that they haven’t agreed to. “We have a whole history of this,” she said.

She drew a direct line from the NIH lawsuit to the founding abuses of American gynecology, in which Black women’s bodies were used without anesthesia for surgical experimentation, as well to the Tuskegee syphilis study and the Henrietta Lacks case.

On the legal claims themselves, she explained, “Battery is the legal term for somebody causing bodily harm to you. We’re talking about the destruction of human lives, with intent to do it.” 

While the lawsuit is a civil matter, the underlying conduct raises serious criminal questions, Atty. Muhammad explained. But it’s both significant and chilling that the defendant itself is the U.S. Government, she added.

“To actually see a suit being waged against your own country, your own ‘government’ because of their abuse of private citizens’ lives, that’s just huge. It is just horrible,” stated Atty. Muhammad.

The post Families of infants sue federal government, alleging medical abuse appeared first on Final Call News.

[Editor’s note: The following article was first published in The Final Call newspaper, Vol. 10, No. 18, September 9, 1999, as the fourth installation of a special five-part series on health penned by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan. This is the first excerpt from that article.]

In The Name of Allah, The Beneficent, The Merciful.

A good diet and daily exercise must be accompanied with the right thoughts in order to work for the long life of the individual. Thinking properly is the most difficult part of the health equation to achieve, so we are asking the Black Nation to attack that which appears most difficult, which is to develop the Will to be completely wholesome in mind, body and spirit.

Why do I say that development of the Will “appears” to be the most difficult thing to do in achieving complete health? We live in a world where scientists have developed all manner of artificial methods to eliminate the effects of wrong habits:

Pills to stop smoking; pills to curtail the appetite; surgery to staple the stomach, forcing a reduction in the intake of food; plastic surgery to mask the effects of living in rebellion against Divine Law.

In a society such as this, where pill pushers advertise that we can “eat all you want and still lose weight,” development of the Will of the individual to overcome all impediments to good eating habits “appears” to be the most difficult approach, but in the long run, it is actually the easiest and most simple path to follow.

To develop the Will of the American people (Black people in particular) to live good, wholesome lives, is to make it easier to change behavioral patterns that have led or are leading to the general destruction of the health and well-being of the overall population.

The approach of government and scientists—spending inordinate sums of money on health problems—has not worked. We, the followers of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, are proving, with very little money, that we have the ability to change the destructive behavioral patterns of our people, not only as individuals but as a society.

The stigma of hate, bigotry, intolerance, anti-Semitism and violence that the United States government, its agencies and others have deliberately attached to the Nation of Islam is causing the cure for America’s social ills to be obscured while the effects of these ills multiply in diametric proportion to America’s own efforts to suppress the Truth.

If President Bush and the United States government would see (as Pharaoh in the time of Joseph saw) the value of a Divinely guided group of people in her midst, then steps could be taken to take the Revealed Message of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and solve 100 percent of America’s social, spiritual and health problems.

I am trying with the Help of Allah (God) and the few persons working with me, to produce a healthy community of strong, able-bodied men, women and children who are willing to shoulder the responsibility of self-reliance, self-determination and self-independence.

The American food industry has gone a long way in destroying the health and well-being of the American people by its misuse of the knowledge of chemistry. The addition of coloring to change the appearance of food; preservatives to lengthen shelf life;

Injection of hormones into livestock to produce speedy growth and a fatter animal—the sum of these profit-seeking actions brings in its wake an unprecedented growth of cancer and heart disease, both of which have increased more than 250 percent since the beginning of the century and are now the leading causes of death in this country.

The American Cancer Society reports that more than 35 percent of all cancers directly result from “bad diet,” defining a “bad diet” as one that is high in fat and low in fiber.

The American Heart Association also points to “bad diet” as the “greatest single factor in heart disease” and blames poor eating habits for at least 50 percent of all cases of heart ailments that plague an estimated 60 million Americans.

There are safer and better ways to grow food and raise livestock. These methods may be slower and less profitable, but “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul (the health and well-being of a Nation)?”

The post THE WAR AGAINST OBESITY (FAT), Part 4 appeared first on Final Call News.

by Stacy Malkan U.S. Right to Know Published on The Defender

This article was originally published by The Defender—Childrens Health Defense News & Views Website on May 26, 2026.

Neonicotinoids are the most widely used class of insecticides in the world. They are often used as seed coatings on crops such as corn and soybeans, as well as on turf, ornamental plants and pets as flea and tick treatments.

A growing body of scientific evidence raises concerns about the human health risks of neonicotinoid exposure. Studies in animals and humans link neonicotinoid exposure to neurotoxicity and reproductive toxicity. Some studies also report ties to breast and liver cancer and Type 1 diabetes.

Human exposure to neonicotinoids is widespread and begins before birth. Neonics are commonly detected in food, drinking water and household dust. A study of American women found neonicotinoids or their metabolites in more than 95% of pregnant women tested.

A 2025 review of evidence reports that neonicotinoids or their metabolites are routinely found in urine, breast milk, placental tissues and infant cord blood.

Children may have higher exposures, and they are especially vulnerable to toxic exposures during early critical periods of brain development.

In addition, extensive research shows that neonicotinoids can harm bees and other beneficial insects, particularly through chronic and sublethal effects.

In the European Union, several neonicotinoids have been banned or severely restricted due to confirmed risks to bees. Their use remains common in the U.S. and elsewhere.

What are neonicotinoids?

Neonicotinoids are part of a family of synthetic chemicals structurally similar to the addictive tobacco alkaloid nicotine. Frequently used neonicotinoids include acetamiprid, clothianidin, dinotefuran, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam. Imidacloprid, the first neonicotinoid to be commercialized, entered markets in the early 1990s.

Neonicotinoids are systemic insecticides. After plants absorb them, the chemicals can travel throughout plant tissues, including leaves, roots, stems, pollen and nectar.

Some neonicotinoids are highly persistent; they can move through waterways, accumulate with repeated use and remain in soil for months or years.

The chemicals kill insects by binding to nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), overstimulating the insect nervous system and eventually causing paralysis and death. These receptors also exist in humans and other mammals.

Although neonicotinoids were designed to bind more strongly to insect nerve receptors, recent studies show that some neonicotinoids and their metabolites also bind to mammalian nAChRs.

Bayer, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of neonicotinoid insecticides, says that neonicotinoids were designed to selectively target insect nervous system receptors and that risks to mammals are minimal when the products are used as directed.

“Neonicotinoids, like all pesticides, are highly regulated, and all Bayer products undergo extensive testing to ensure they don’t have unacceptable adverse effects on non-target insects and the environment,” states the company’s annual risk mitigation report.

What are the health risks of neonicotinoids?

A substantial and growing body of research raises concerns that neonicotinoids harm multiple biological systems in humans and animals.

The National Toxicology Program’s 2020 review identified 191 publicly available studies relevant to human health, including evidence on neurological, developmental, reproductive, immune and respiratory outcomes. Neurological effects were the most commonly reported problem.

Recent reviews linking human health impacts to neonicotinoid exposures:

A review article on neonicotinoids’ effect on human health found “increasing evidence” that “neonicotinoids may induce toxicity in the gastrointestinal, hepatic, respiratory, and nervous systems through various mechanisms.”

Neonicotinoids have “raised significant concern regarding their potential impact on human health,” and the “widespread use and environmental persistence of neonicotinoids present serious concerns regarding their potential effects on human health.”

Neonicotinoids and human health: Environmental fate, toxicity mechanisms, and future directions. Pesticide Biochemistry and Physiology, December 2025.

A systematic review of human health studies found that “Four general population studies reported associations between chronic neonic exposure and adverse developmental or neurological outcomes.

Including tetralogy of Fallot … anencephaly … autism spectrum disorder … and a symptom cluster including memory loss and finger tremor … . All four case-control studies reported an association between chronic (i.e., nonacute) neonic exposure and an adverse human health effect.”

Effects of Neonicotinoid Pesticide Exposure on Human Health: A Systematic Review. Environmental Health Perspectives, February 2017.

Another review article found that “Available toxicological data from animal studies indicate possible genotoxicity, cytotoxicity, impaired immune function, and reduced growth and reproductive success at low concentrations.

While limited data from ecological or cross-sectional epidemiological studies have identified acute and chronic health effects ranging from acute respiratory, cardiovascular, and neurological symptoms to oxidative genetic damage and birth defects.”

A critical review on the potential impacts of neonicotinoid insecticide use: current knowledge of environmental fate, toxicity, and implications for human health. Environmental Science: Processes and Impacts, 2020.

Neurotoxicity, developmental, learning and behavioral problems 

Growing scientific evidence suggests neonicotinoids can interfere with brain development and nervous system function, with research reporting associations with learning and memory deficits, altered behavior, neuroinflammation and developmental delays.

Recent studies and reviews include:

Researchers measured umbilical cord plasma concentrations for neonicotinoids (NEOs) and assessed neurocognitive development in Chinese preschool children. “Prenatal exposure to several NEOs was associated with lower neurocognitive scores.”

Specifically, the study found associations between exposures to dinotefuran and clothianidin and lower Full-Scale Intelligence Quotient, thiacloprid and poorer communication performance, imidacloprid and thiacloprid and reduced gross motor function, and thiamethoxam and reduced fine motor development.

Prenatal Exposure to Neonicotinoid Insecticides and Neurological and Cognitive Development in Preschool Children: Evidence from a Birth Cohort in Guangxi, China. Toxics, May 2026. 

In a cross-sectional study, researchers found that “exposure to neonicotinoid insecticides may be associated with neurobehavioral problems in preschool-aged children.

Among the compounds examined, IMI [imidacloprid], NTHM [N-desmethyl-thiamethoxam], and NACE [N-desmethyl-acetamiprid] emerged as the primary contributors and showed significant positive associations with neurobehavioral problems.”

Association Between Neonicotinoids and Neurobehavioral Development in Preschool Children from South China: A Biomonitoring-Based Study. Toxics, October 2025.

A review of biochemical and behavioral effects of neonicotinoids on the mammalian nervous system found that “exposure to neonicotinoids at an early age alters the correct neuronal development, with decreases in neurogenesis and alterations in migration, and induces neuroinflammation.

In adulthood, neonicotinoids induce neurobehavioral toxicity, these effects being associated with their modulating action on nAChRs, with consequent neurochemical alterations.”

The effects found “can lead to the activation of a series of intracellular signaling pathways that generate oxidative stress, neuroinflammation and, finally, neuronal death.”

Neurotoxic Effects of Neonicotinoids on Mammals: What Is There beyond the Activation of Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors?—A Systematic Review. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, July 2021.

Researchers conducted the first comprehensive independent assessment of unpublished rodent developmental neurotoxicity studies on five neonicotinoid pesticides that were submitted to the EPA by neonicotinoid manufacturers.

In these studies, groups of female rats were administered three different doses of a neonicotinoid during pregnancy and lactation, and their offspring were subjected to various neurological tests and brain measurements.

The review concludes that “perinatal exposure to neonicotinoids and their metabolites induces adverse, nicotine-like neurotoxic effects in rodent bioassays and that the exposure limits set by EPA for human exposure are either not protective or not supported by available neurotoxicity data.”

Neonicotinoid pesticides: evidence of developmental neurotoxicity from regulatory rodent studies, Frontiers in Toxicology, October 2024.

Reproductive health impacts

A review of the reproductive toxicity of neonicotinoids found that “exposures to various neonicotinoids … have been shown to adversely affect reproductive outcomes in both male and female mammals. Further, exposures to mixtures of neonicotinoids have been associated with negative male and female reproductive outcomes in epidemiological studies.”

The impact of neonicotinoid pesticides on reproductive health. Toxicological Sciences, February 2025. 

Preterm birth, birth defects and smaller birth size

A study of neonicotinoid levels in first urine from newborns, both full-term and preterm, found “a significant increase in the odds of preterm outcomes in the unadjusted model” when comparing newborns with higher imidaclothiz concentrations. “These results suggest that exposure to elevated concentrations of imidaclothiz may be associated with preterm birth.”

Neonicotinoid insecticides and metabolites levels in neonatal first urine from southern China: Exploring links to preterm birth. Journal of Hazardous Materials, May 2024.

In a prospective birth cohort study in China, researchers found that “higher maternal NNIs [neonicotinoid insecticides] concentrations were associated with disrupted levels of fetal endocrine hormones.”

The researchers reported that prenatal neonicotinoid exposure was “negatively associated with neonatal birth size, particularly both individual and mixture of NNIs exposure and reduced head circumference.”

Prenatal exposure to neonicotinoid insecticides, fetal endocrine hormones and birth size: Findings from SMBCS. Environment International, November 2024.

A population-based case-control study in California found that an increased risk of the congenital heart defect tetralogy of Fallot was associated with exposure to imidacloprid.

Residential agricultural pesticide exposures and risk of selected congenital heart defects among offspring in the San Joaquin Valley of California. Environmental Research, November 2014.

A population-based case-control study in California found that an increased risk of anencephaly was associated with gestational exposure to imidacloprid.

Residential Agricultural Pesticide Exposures and Risk of Neural Tube Defects and Orofacial Clefts Among Offspring in the San Joaquin Valley of California. American Journal of Epidemiology, February 2014.

Endocrine disruption

A study of the relationship between urinary neonicotinoids and serum testosterone in a nationally representative sample of the U.S. population showed “that urinary detection and levels of neonicotinoids are associated with significant reductions of serum total testosterone and/or free androgen index in both males and females.”

Exposure to neonicotinoids and serum testosterone in men, women, and children. Environmental Toxicology, February 2022.

This study exposed the breast cancer cell line Hs578t cells to neonicotinoids for 24 hours, finding “in vitro that neonicotinoids may stimulate a change in CYP19 promoter usage similar to that observed in patients with hormone-dependent breast cancer.”

Effects of Neonicotinoid Pesticides on Promoter-Specific Aromatase (CYP19) Expression in Hs578t Breast Cancer Cells and the Role of the VEGF Pathway. Environmental Health Perspectives, April 2018. See also Promotional Consideration: A Potential Mechanistic Link between Neonicotinoid Insecticides and Hormone-Dependent Breast Cancer.

“‘This provides in vitro evidence that neonicotinoids can be endocrine disruptors and that aromatase may be one of their targets,’ says first author Élyse Caron-Beaudoin.” Environmental Health Perspectives, November 2018.

A co-culture model of fetoplacental steroidogenesis “found thiacloprid, thiamethoxam and imidacloprid to induce aromatase activity … . The neonicotinoids increased estrone and estradiol production, while strongly inhibiting estriol production … . This study contributes to growing evidence of the endocrine-disrupting potential of neonicotinoid insecticides.”

The use of a unique co-culture model of fetoplacental steroidogenesis as a screening tool for endocrine disruptors: The effects of neonicotinoids on aromatase activity and hormone production. Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, October 2017.

Male reproductive toxicity

A review of studies on the reproductive toxicity of neonicotinoids in male rodents “identified 21 toxicologic studies evaluating the impacts of neonic insecticide exposure from January 2010 to August 2025.

Where all studies reported concerning health effects on male reproductive parameters … the collective evidence demonstrates that neonicotinoids consistently impair testicular function, disrupt spermatogenesis, and compromise sperm parameters such as count, motility, viability, and morphology.”

Reproductive risk of Neonicotinoids: A review of male rodent studies. Environmental Research, December 2025.

A study to assess the effects of low-dose imidacloprid on the sperm quality of male rats found that “low-dose IMI [imidacloprid] exposure caused sperm abnormalities through affecting on the spermiogenesis in testis.

Inhibition of CYP3A4 [cytochrome P450 3A4] activity by IMI largely contributed to its sperm toxicity. Thus, IMI exposure at doses close to real-world settings resulted in sperm toxicity on rats, which might be a potential risk factor for human reproductive diseases.”

Spermiogenesis toxicity of imidacloprid in rats, possible role of CYP3A4. Chemosphere, November 2021.

A study to assess the reproductive toxicity of acetamiprid in male rats found that “sperm concentration and plasma testosterone levels decreased in dose dependent manner.

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH) levels increased at low and medium dose groups and acetamiprid caused lipid peroxidation and glutathione (GSH) depletion in the testes.

Histologic examinations revealed that acetamiprid induced apoptosis in medium and high dose groups and proliferation index dramatically decreased in high dose group. In conclusion, acetamiprid caused toxicity on male reproductive system in the high dose. The mechanism of the toxic effect may be associated with oxidative stress, hormonal disruptions and apoptosis.”

Reproductive effects of subchronic exposure to acetamiprid in male rats. Scientific Reports, June 2020.

An oral toxicity study found that exposing developing male rats to imidacloprid “affects the reproductive organ of male rats by decreasing the mass of accessory sex organs, testosterone level, sperm concentration, by increasing the rate of abnormal sperm morphology, by changing the lipid composition of testicular tissue, by fragmenting seminal DNA and by increasing apoptosis of spermatogenic cells.”

Insecticide imidacloprid induces morphological and DNA damage through oxidative toxicity on the reproductive organs of developing male rats. Cell Biochemistry & Function, April 2012.

A study in male rats of the toxicity of imidacloprid and the benefits of curcumin found that “oxidative stress appears to be the mechanism of testicular damage mediated by IM [imidacloprid] which leads to reproductive toxicity. CMN [Circumin] was found to be effective in counteracting oxidative stress and testicular damage induced by IM.”

Evaluation of ameliorative effect of curcumin on imidacloprid-induced male reproductive toxicity in wistar rats. Environmental Toxicology, March 2015.

Female reproductive toxicity

In a study of the impacts of imidacloprid on mice ovaries, the data “suggest that IMI [imidacloprid] is toxic to the female reproductive system in mice,” and “indicate that IMI reaches the ovaries and affects some female reproductive outcomes such as ovarian follicle numbers, LH levels, and ovarian expression of enzymes.”

The researchers concluded, “Given the presence of IMI and IMI metabolites in various human samples, namely breast milk and ovarian follicular fluid, the outcomes of ovarian exposure to IMI and IMI metabolites have public health implications for humans around the world.

The adverse reproductive outcomes characterized in this study add to growing evidence that neonicotinoids may be a contributing factor to the rising incidence of female reproductive disorders over the past 50 years.”

The effects of imidacloprid exposure on the mouse ovary in vivo. Reproductive Toxicology, October 2025. 

Breast cancer

In a study to uncover a potential mechanism for neonicotinoids promoting breast cancer progression, researchers found that “our in vitro, in vivo and in silico studies demonstrated that NIs [neonicotinoid insecticides] could promote breast cancer progression at human related exposure levels.

Which was owing to the activation and up-regulation of GPER [G protein-coupled estrogen receptor]. We found a novel estrogenic disruption molecular mechanism of NIs and revealed NIs’ potential female adverse effects via GPER pathway.”

Neonicotinoid insecticides promote breast cancer progression via G protein-coupled estrogen receptor: In vivo, in vitro and in silico studies. Environment International, December 2022.

Liver cancer

In a study of the concentrations of neonicotinoids and their metabolites both in the general population and in liver cancer patients, “significant positive correlations between NEO [neonicotinoid] exposure and liver cancer were found…which revealed that NEOs concentrations were associated with increased odds of liver cancer prevalence.”

Exposure to neonicotinoid insecticides and their characteristic metabolites: Association with human liver cancer. Environmental Research, May 2022.

Type 1 diabetes

A cross-sectional study found that “High antibiotics and neonicotinoids exposures were found in T1D [type 1 diabetes] children, and they were associated with changes in gut microbiota featured with lower abundance of butyrate-producing genera, which might increase the risk of T1D.”

Association between new onset type 1 diabetes and real-world antibiotics and neonicotinoids’ exposure-related gut microbiota perturbation. World Journal of Pediatrics, July 2022.

Other health impacts

A review of 842 non-occupational human poisoning incidents associated with neonics from 2018-2022 finds four human fatality reports and several cases of major illnesses such as seizures.

“Common reported symptoms classified as moderate often included two or more of the following: headaches; dizziness; lethargy; eye or throat irritation; skin itching and rash; chemical burns and skin peeling; face swelling; muscle weakness or tremors; vomiting; diarrhea; pain and tightness in chest; open sores; and general pain.

These incidents stem mainly from residential uses, such as lawn and garden insect repellents, home pest treatments for bed bugs or roaches, and products used to treat pets for fleas and ticks.”

The researchers concluded that “Given the evidence of neurotoxicity, EPA should use its legal authority to cancel unsafe products and unnecessary uses–including from seed treatments, and residential pet and lawn care products–to prevent further human suffering.”

Human acute poisoning incidents associated with neonicotinoid pesticides in the U.S. Incident Data System (IDS) database from 2018–2022—frequency and severity show public health risks, regulatory failures. Environmental Health, November 2024.

In a study of the impacts of prenatal exposure of imidacloprid in mice, researchers found that “spatial memory and procedural memory were impacted by prenatal IMI [ [imidacloprid] in both males and females” and that “anxiety-like behavior was impacted by prenatal IMI exposure, but only in males.”

They concluded that “This study provides additional evidence that prenatal exposure to IMI at relatively low doses can impact anxiety-like behavior and cognition.”

Prenatal Exposure to Imidacloprid Affects Cognition and Anxiety-Related Behaviors in Male and Female CD-1 Mice. Toxics, October 2025.

Originally published by U.S. Right to Know. This article was originally published by The Defender Childrens Health Defense News & Views Website under Creative Commons license CC BYNCND 4.0.

Stacy Malkan is co-founder and managing editor at U.S. Right to Know, a nonprofit newsroom and public health research group.

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The U.S. military on May 29 bombed another boat it claimed was smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing three more people in what experts say is an illegal campaign whose death toll has now topped 200.

U.S. Southern Command said in a statement that “Joint Task Force Southern Spear,” the nine-month campaign ordered by President Donald Trump, “conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations.”

“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations,” SOUTHCOM added, providing no evidence to support its claim.

“Three male narco-terrorists were killed during this action. No US military forces were harmed. SOUTHCOM is unwavering in its commitment to applying total systemic friction on the cartels.”

The May 29 strike brought the number of people killed during Southern Spear to 202 in at least 60 strikes in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean.

The Trump administration has tried to justify the strikes by claiming that the U.S. is in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels. Many legal experts disagree.

Former longtime Human Rights Watch executive director Kenneth Roth wrote on X: “Now more than 200 Trump summary executions—blatant murders.”

“Legal experts agree: The Trump-ordered strikes on suspected drug boats are illegal extrajudicial killings because the military is not permitted to deliberately target civilians—even suspected criminals—who do not pose an imminent threat of violence,” Roth said in a separate post.

Just Security editor-in-chief and New York University School of Law professor Ryan Goodman said that the “overwhelming consensus of experts, myself included, assess these to be murder because no armed conflict” is occurring, adding that they would be a “war crime if it were armed conflict.”

Goodman said that, with 200 people killed, the strikes raise the question of whether the U.S. is committing a “crime against humanity.”

The boat strikes were fraught from the start. In the first known attack, U.S. forces killed nine people in an initial strike and then two men clinging to the boat’s wreckage in a follow-up bombing.

The bombings have drawn widespread condemnation, including from Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who accused the U.S. of “murder,” and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who was abducted during a U.S. invasion in January and imprisoned in the United States on dubious narco-terrorism charges.

Regional leaders and relatives of survivors say that at least some of the victims of the U.S. bombings were fishermen with no ties to narco-trafficking.  In January, relatives of two Trinidadian fishers killed in the strikes filed a federal wrongful death lawsuit in Massachusetts.

The bombings have terrorized fishing communities along the Caribbean and Pacific coasts to the point where many people have given up the only means they had of supporting their families.

Congressional war powers resolutions aimed at reining in Trump’s ability to extrajudicially execute alleged drug traffickers in or near Venezuela failed to pass the Senate last October and the House in December.

“Not only are these killings illegal, they are immoral. People of good conscience cannot allow this to continue, yet Congress has so far failed to halt, or even slow down, this lethal and unlawful campaign,” Amnesty International USA national director for government relations Amanda Klasing said in a statement May 27.

“Lawmakers must do everything in their power to halt this campaign and hold everyone responsible, accountable for their role in these extrajudicial killings,” she added.

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The video of Shelby Officer Karson Hyder pummeling Cherrie Moore on May 29 has circulated widely on social media.

Hyder, 22, turned himself in to the Cleveland County Detention Center June 1 morning and was released on a $10,000 secured bond. Court records do not list an attorney for him, and a phone number associated with his name was out of service.

Hyder, who was suspended May 29 and fired on May 30, was responding to a breaking-and-entering call when the scuffle ensued.

According to a warrant, Moore, 34, fled the residence on foot and resisted arrest, assaulting Hyder by “grabbing and ripping (his) uniform.”

A separate warrant filed June 1 alleged Hyder “unlawfully and willfully did assault and strike Cherrie Moore” by grabbing Moore “by the arm, pushing her to the ground and striking her in the face with a closed fist, thereby inflicting serious injury possible broken nose and busted lip.”

The State Bureau of Investigation had announced May 30 it had opened an investigation into Hyder.

Moore was initially charged with breaking and entering, resisting arrest and assault on a public officer, but the latter two charges have since been dismissed. She was freed on an unsecured bond. A phone number associated with Moore was disconnected.

Her attorney, Ronald Haynes, told The Associated Press in an email that Moore “is recovering and receiving treatment for her mental health.”

“The heinous actions of former Officer Karson Hyder will forever negatively impact Ms. Cherrie Moore and her family,” Haynes continued. “It’s a small relief that city officials responded so promptly to terminate and charge Mr. Hyder.” (AP)

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Since taking office on March 11, ultraconservative Kast has pledged to cut roughly $6 billion in public spending over 18 months in an effort to improve the country’s fiscal accounts. As part of this ambitious austerity plan, his government is forcing a nearly 3% budget cut across all ministries.

The measures have drawn criticism not only from opposition parties but also from some sectors within the governing coalition.

The march was organized by the Confederation of Chilean Students and supported by other organizations, including the Teachers’ Union, secondary school student associations, and feminist groups.

Although the march began peacefully, tensions escalated as clashes broke out between protesters and police. Officers used water cannons and tear gas to disperse crowds, while some demonstrators threw rocks and other objects. Several streets were blocked and multiple subway stations were closed.

“The government sought to provoke this, to create this situation to justify repression,” Mario Aguilar, president of the Chilean Teachers’ Union, said.

Demonstrators also rallied against the government’s National Reconstruction bill, a sweeping package of measures aimed at reducing state spending, encouraging investment and boosting Chile’s economy.

The project, known as the “mega-reform” bill, was approved by the Chamber of Deputies late May and is now set to be debated in the Senate.

“They want to silence us, but we are not going to stop,” said Magdalena Correa, a 21-year-old student. “They’re taking away our resources and rights, and we have to fight back.”

Police and government officials have not yet commented on the clashes. However, Associated Press journalists observed at least a dozen arrests and several injuries during the unrest. (AP)

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“Every day the danger of military aggression against Cuba grows,” Josefina Vidal said at a legislative hearing at the National Capitol on May 28.

Condemning U.S. sanctions on Cuban oil imports, Vidal noted that Washington is fabricating pretexts to portray Cuba as a threat to U.S. national security to justify the aggression.

Cuba has long been a target of illegal U.S. sanctions, blockades, and destabilization efforts aimed at undermining its sovereignty and revolutionary principles.

Under President Donald Trump, the U.S. has effectively imposed a blockade on the country by threatening sanctions on countries supplying it with fuel, triggering power outages and exacerbating its worst crisis in decades.

Since March, the two nations have been engaged in dialogue, but Cuban authorities decried the U.S. for a lack of good faith and stressed that they will not allow interference in their country’s internal affairs.

“A channel of exchange between the two governments remains open, but there has not been much progress. We have reason to doubt the seriousness and responsibility of the United States government,” Vidal said.

“We hope that the path of dialogue will prevail at this time, when the aggressive actions that the U.S. government is taking against Cuba cast doubt on the seriousness and responsibility with which it is approaching this process,” she added.

Vidal reaffirmed Cuba’s keenness to pursue dialogue, but “not so that the U.S. can try to control Cuba’s destiny through pressure, coercion and the threat of military aggression.”

She emphasized that if Cuba is forced into a war, “we will face it decisively.”

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez has warned that any military action would lead to a “bloodbath” in which thousands of Cubans and Americans would die.

He has urged the international community to prevent a disaster on the island during a speech before the United Nations Security Council on May 26.

This follows a pattern of U.S. imperialism, where Washington routinely invents pretexts to target independent nations resisting its hegemony. (PressTV.ir)

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Imad Ishtayeh’s death was confirmed by the Palestinian Health Ministry on May 31.

His father told RT that he had been trying to cross into Israel in search of work amid deepening economic hardship in the Palestinian territory.

Israeli police have said that Imad was attempting to enter Israel illegally by crossing the barrier.

”My son went out looking for a livelihood,” Haroun Ishtayeh said. “He had opened a chicken slaughterhouse business here, but people could not afford to buy chicken, they could barely afford to buy water […] And he closed down his business here.”

“I told him, my son, the situation is dangerous; he told me, father, if I am destined to die, I will die here or I will die there,” he added. (RT.com)

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Scottish voters rejected the previous attempt to leave the United Kingdom during a 2014 referendum, which unionist politicians described as a “once in a generation” opportunity.

The latest push has been strengthened by recent elections in Scotland and elsewhere in the UK, boosting regional pro-independence movements and delivering a major setback to the Labor Party.

How strong is Scotland’s push to quit the UK?

The independence movement was only modestly weakened by the result of the 2014 vote and gained renewed energy after Brexit, which most Scottish voters opposed in 2016.

In the parliamentary election held earlier this month, the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP) and Scottish Greens won a combined 73 seats in the 129-member chamber, creating the largest-ever bloc at Holyrood in favor of breaking up Britain.

MSPs voted on May 25 to back First Minister John Swinney’s demand that Downing Street “make a Section 30 order under the Scotland Act 1998,” allowing a new independence referendum—commonly referred to as “indyref2.”

What is a Section 30 order?

Although the Scottish Parliament was granted lawmaking powers in 2016, those powers remain restricted. Section 30 allows the British parliament to temporarily or permanently transfer additional authority to Holyrood, including over constitutional matters.

The mechanism has been used more than a dozen times since the Scottish parliament was established in 1999. In 2015, for instance, it was used to give 16- and 17-year-olds the right to vote in local and Scottish elections.

The 2014 independence referendum was authorized in 2012 through the same procedure. The Edinburgh Agreement also allowed younger Scots to take part in that vote.

Will London approve Scotland’s request?

Not if the Labor government’s public statements are any indication.

Last year, after Swinney declined to explain how he would pursue another independence referendum following the election, Prime Minister Keir Starmer accused him of “insulting the intelligence of the Scottish people” with a ‘secret’ plan.

After this week’s vote, Downing Street urged the Scottish government to focus “on the issues that really matter—economic growth, the cost of living, and public services.” It argued that, unlike before the 2014 referendum, there is currently no public consensus in favor of indyref2.

Scottish Labor leader Anas Sarwar has accused Swinney of being driven by an “obsession” with independence, while Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay echoed that criticism.  Liberal Democrat Alex Cole-Hamilton dismissed the vote as “performative,” and Reform UK’s Malcolm Offord sought to distance his party from the issue, describing the Holyrood debate as “groundhog day.”

Could Starmer be pressured to change course?

Swinney has challenged Westminster to show that “this is a voluntary Union” by allowing Scots to decide once more whether they want to remain in the post-Brexit UK.

The Labor Party suffered a damaging defeat in local elections held on the same day that Scottish voters chose their lawmakers. Pro-independence parties also performed strongly in parliamentary elections in Wales this month, leaving Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland all governed by first ministers who support the breakup of the UK.

There has been speculation that Starmer could step down as Labor leader, but his political vulnerability does not necessarily advance Scotland’s independence ambitions, judging by the conduct of previous prime ministers.

Conservative leader Boris Johnson rejected then-Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s request for a Section 30 order in 2022, even as his own cabinet was nearing collapse. His predecessor, Theresa May, also refused to authorize indyref2 in 2017. (RT.com)

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