Some public health researchers are turning to a new kind of prescription to address the problem. It’s called “social prescribing.” According to former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, Americans are in the midst of a loneliness epidemic, and it’s a problem that only seems to be getting worse.

Around 40% of Americans ages 45 and up report being lonely, which puts them at higher risk for all kinds of serious health concerns like dementia and stroke. 

Some public health researchers are turning to a new kind of prescription to address the problem. It’s called “social prescribing.”

Dr. Mary Henningfield is the executive director of the Wisconsin Research and Education Network at the University of Wisconsin. She joined the show to discuss why is loneliness so common, why it is difficult for people to overcome, and how “social prescribing” can help the healthcare can system address loneliness, instead of only its negative consequences.

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A survey finds Michigan voters concerned about an issue that might surprise some political candidates: the use of vaccines.

The data comes from the group Communities United for Smart Policy (CUSP).

CUSP spokesperson retired physician and former Texas Republican Congressman Michael Burgess says Michiganders will have vaccines in mind when they cast a ballot.

The following interview was edited for length and clarity.

Michael Burgess: There is a significant percentage of Republican voters, 35%, who might be less likely to support a candidate if they perceive them as not going to make vaccines available. That is a real concern for people.

It’s the same problem for Republican, Democrat and independent candidates. If their constituents perceive them as someone who’s going to put obstacles in their way to receiving vaccines for them or their children, it’s going to have a very negative effect on the perception of that candidate.

Quinn Klinefelter, WDET News: There’s been a lot of vaccine hesitancy among some people, especially since COVID and when the pandemic erupted. How are you finding voters responding now as to whether or not they trust vaccines? Especially in light of the changes with the U.S. Health and Human Services department, where some vaccines have been pretty well slammed by the current secretary.

MB: COVID messed a lot of things up, I think it’s safe to say that. And when I discuss vaccines, I’m generally careful to separate the two issues. But there was a lot of loss of confidence in our public health system during COVID. And part of the job, as I see it, for people going forward is to regain that confidence.

You don’t do that by calling everything into question and saying nothing that you believed before is actually accurate.

This country has a pretty long history of successfully dealing with what are broadly termed as “vaccine preventable diseases.” And most of the public recognizes that and does not want to go back to a time when those vaccine preventable diseases are prevalent, because they don’t have to be. The vaccines are there, they’re safe and they’re effective. And they will protect against measles, mumps, rubella, meningitis, hepatitis B. There are a number of illnesses that just don’t generally cross the threshold of recognition for people because they haven’t had to worry about them for so long.

QK: As you look towards the midterm elections, there are a lot of people worried about affordability problems, rising prices, the war underway now with Iran, all sorts of other issues. Do you think whether or not someone believes a candidate will either push or put up obstacles to vaccine use is going to really make a difference in how they will vote?

MB: Yes, it will. Maybe not in every voter’s mind in every race, but it will make a difference. Everything’s all about the midterms right now. And there’s a reason for that, because depending upon how the midterms turn out, the direction of the country going forward could look vastly different. And it can hinge on a very few number of votes in selected states. So that’s why there’s so much emphasis on this.

QK: Again, I will hear some people say they just don’t trust what a particular government agency will put out, one way the other, in regards to vaccines and whether they’re usable or not. Do you see a way to rebuild trust in vaccines? Or is it good to have more of a skeptical look at them?

MB: Well, the lack of faith in institutions was going on even before the COVID years. That’s real, it’s significant, and guess what? These illnesses have not gone away. And that’s why you saw the numbers that you did in the polling that say “hey, I might not support someone who would prevent me from accessing what has been broadly perceived as protective for myself and my family.”

Editor’s Note: A typo in the top excerpt listed CUSP as “Communities United for Smart Politics”. It has been corrected to Communities United for Smart Policy” as of 5/8/2026. We apologize for the error. 

When you call 911 in Detroit, who’s paying for the ambulance? It’s a question that’s tripped up the Detroit City Council twice in two years… and the answer goes to a vote this afternoon.

Detroit pays three private ambulance companies between $500,000 and $600,000 each per year. That’s to keep a guaranteed number of rigs staged in the city.

Those same companies can also bill you — or your insurance — when they pick you up. Councilmember Angela Whitfield Calloway has called that “double dipping.” But The Detroit Documenters pulled the original 2023 contract documents and confirmed: that is how the deal is written.

So what is Detroit paying for? And what does it say about American healthcare that a city has to cut million-dollar checks just to guarantee an ambulance shows up?

Noah Kincade, coordinator for Detroit Documenters, joined Robyn Vincent on The Metro to walk through what’s in the contracts and what’s at stake in a city council vote on the matter.

Editor’s Note: After this segment aired, the Detroit City Council voted 4-3 to send the ambulance contracts back to committee rather than vote on them directly. Council President James Tate was absent, and President Pro Tem Coleman Young II presided. Young, Scott Benson, Latisha Johnson and Denzel McCampbell voted to send the contracts back. Mary Waters, Angela Whitfield-Calloway and Renata Miller voted no. The Public Health and Service Committee will take the contracts up May 4 at 10 a.m.

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For the first time in decades, more people are seeking talk therapy over medication. 

The good news is there’s less stigma preventing people from accessing care. The bad news: A lot of people struggle to access therapy. Some clinicians argue that one of the big issues is private equity. 

Private equity investments in health care have grown to over $750 billion over the past decade.

Linda Michaels says that’s had devastating consequences for both clients and clinicians. People are less likely to get the therapy they need. And therapists are in a worse position to offer it. 

That’s the premise of Michaels’ talk this Sunday at a local fundraiser for a metro Detroit clinic. She is a psychologist in private practice in Chicago and a co-founder of the Psychotherapy Action Network. She spoke with The Metro‘s Robyn Vincent.

The Metro reached out to two big health insurance providers, United Behavioral Health and Cigna. We wanted their perspective on how their administrative systems have complicated work for therapists, and made getting therapy harder. We did the same for several private equity groups. None of them offered a comment.

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It’s a Sunday night, and you’re sitting in the emergency room with your sick kid. The waiting room is packed — coughs and sneezes everywhere. Your child has a fever, so you wait. You worry.

Four months later, the health department calls. Your infant was exposed to measles that night. Now you’re facing weeks of medical monitoring.

That’s what happened to families at DMC Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital in Oakland County last December.

As more people opt out of vaccinating their kids, what are the costs of containing an outbreak?

In Washtenaw County, health officials have spent close to $100,000 containing seven measles cases. That’s more than $14,000 per case.

The system worked: They contained the outbreak, conducted contact tracing, and prevented it from escalating into hundreds of cases. But we are spending enormous resources to achieve what used to happen easily through herd immunity.

Oakland County saw two measles cases last year and handled them well. But the county is now spending an extra $300,000 on vaccines even as vaccination rates keep sliding — Oakland County’s childhood MMR rate sits around 81%, well below the 95% threshold needed for herd immunity.

Kate Guzmán, health officer for the Oakland County Health Division, joined WDET’s Robyn Vincent to talk about the hidden costs of outbreaks, and what communities lose when prevention falls behind.

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St. Clair County’s medical director, Dr. Remington Nevin, is re-shaping the county’s public health. He has helped lower the barrier for school vaccine waiver applications and fought to eliminate fluoridated drinking water in the county.

His positions on a number of public health issues reflect a growing skepticism of medical doctors, hospitals and pharmaceutical companies. They also reflect many of the views of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Nevin tells Bridge Michigan’s Eli Newman he welcomes the comparison. “To the extent that some residents may be comparing us, I would consider that a great compliment and honor. One underestimates him and the strength of his convictions at their peril.”

Nevin received medical training at Johns Hopkins University and has been the part-time medical director of St. Clair County since 2023.

Eli Newman, health reporter for Bridge Michigan, joined The Metro to share his reporting on Dr. Nevin and how he is changing public health policy and perceptions in St. Clair County.

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A 16-year-old student was kidnapped from a bus stop in Hamtramck at gunpoint this morning. Classmates tracked the student through their social media and cell phone.

Hamtramck Police located the student and made an arrest. Hamtramck Police Chief Hussein Farhat said that the incident happened at 7:08 a.m. He said a weapon was recovered.

Hamtramck School Board President Abdulmalik Algahaim says there will be additional measures for safety and security during pick-up and drop-off. The police department will also increase security measures. 

The kidnapper was caught within 30 minutes of the incident. 

Additional headlines for Monday, April 13, 2026

Joe Louis Greenway community meetings

Community meetings are being held regarding expansion of the Woodmere part of the Joe Louis Greenway. The next virtual meetings are April 21 and April 29.

The General Services Department is holding the meetings to discuss the designs and construction on Woodmere Street for a bike and walking connection between Fort Street and Vernor Highway.

The project has been funded through a $10 million grant and is expected to be completed in 2027. 

Outlier Earth Day event

The Outlier Media collective is hosting an Earth Day seed packing social this month. The hands-on volunteer event is in partnership with Keep Growing Detroit’s Garden Resource Program.

There will be free non-alcoholic beverages by the Gardenside Brewery and refreshments by Vámonos. The seed packing event takes place April 22nd from noon-2 p.m at Vámonos. 

Healthy Homes

The City of Detroit is hosting another Healthy Homes resource event. The next one takes place Saturday, April 18, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Services will include HOPE application assistance, health screenings and more.

People can schedule a Lyft service to attend by calling 866-313-2520. 

Black & Arab Solidarity Lab

The Black and Arab Solidarity Lab + Political Discussion is an event co-hosted by Arab Americans for Progress, Dream of Detroit, Detroit Action and MI Working Family Party.

Guest speakers include Abraham Aiyash, former MI State Representative and House Majority Leader and Tomena Rawls, the Statutory Vice chair of the 12th Congressional District Democrats. 

The discussion will be held on April 25 at 11 a.m. 

Arab and Chaldean American Panel at WSU

The Arab American Women’s Business Council is hosting a panel this week. The networking mixer will host women leaders who will share insights on navigating the professional world as Arab and Chaldean women.

The event takes place on April 15 at Wayne State University Student Center, Room 775 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. 

Listen to the latest episode of the “Detroit Evening Report” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield recently appointed Ali Abazeed as the city’s new Chief Public Health Officer, saying he would be a part of creating a “health in all policies” approach to government.

“We’re really excited to get up and going and also to continue the good work that the department has done over the years, but also to upgrade the software of what public health can look like in the city of Detroit,” he shares. 

Abazeed previously created and led the city of Dearborn’s health department. He also worked as a public health advisor at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). 

Past policies shape today’s health issues

He says health is impacted by housing quality and environment. He hopes to work with the department’s staff of 280 people to create better health outcomes for Detroiters.

“The challenges that Detroit faces from a health perspective, those aren’t inevitable…  they’re created by decades, if not centuries of decisions made by man, policies that have been excluding people from opportunities,” he says.

Abazeed says the city focuses on a harm reduction approach by working with all city departments to connect the dots for people who live in the city. He says part of that will include having more health department officials out in the city.

“90% of your life expectancy happens in the communities where you live, learn, work, worship, play…  then it requires us to take that 90% collaborative approach across everything that we do at the city,” he says. 

Abazeed says Detroiters face health burdens like asthma, which he says require a multifaceted response. 

He says everyone is entitled to good health. 

“Understanding who has been disqualified, who has been sort of pushed to the side, and whether that’s… in Washington or Dearborn and now in Detroit, I think the work is relatively the same, even if it does take on a little bit of a different scale,” he says. 

Michigan does not currently participate in a federal program that gives tax breaks to people for donating money to nonprofits that award scholarships for tutoring and private school tuition. Governor Whitmer is weighing whether to opt into the federal initiative.

If adopted, taxpayers in Michigan would receive a $1,700 tax break parents could use for private school tuition, tutors or after school programs. 

U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon recently stopped in Hamtramck to promote the program. 

Detroit Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Nikolai Vitti says the program might help kids on an individual basis,“But I would just continue to say, you know, as a nation, we have to think about at scale investments. How do we improve institutions that benefit the majority of our children, not isolated improvement?” 

Teachers unions and Democratic lawmakers have expressed concern that the program would funnel money into private schools, and away from public schools and their students. 

Vitti says funding public schools should be the priority. “I’d rather see us use taxpayer dollars and not decrease taxpayer dollars in investing in large scale systems that benefit the majority of American children, not individual children or families.” 

Right now, people in Michigan can still make the donation and get the tax break; however, students in the state would not be eligible for the scholarships. Using public money for private schools is prohibited by the state constitution. 

-Reporting by Russ McNamara

Additional headlines for Tuesday, April 7, 2026

Gas prices rise

Gasoline prices surged overnight. AAA said Michigan drivers paid an average of $4.01 for a gallon of regular unleaded this morning. That’s 15 cents higher than it was yesterday. The national average is $4.14 a gallon, the highest in almost 4 years. 

GasBuddy petroleum analyst Patrick DeHaan says escalations between the U.S. and Iran have intensified concerns about disruptions in oil shipments. He adds prices will likely remain high until Iran reopens the Strait of Hormuz.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed an order last week allowing Michigan gas stations to sell cheaper winter fuel blends through the end of June. 

Delta expands flights to Europe

Delta Air Lines is expanding flights from Metro Airport to Europe. The Detroit Free Press reports Delta will offer daily service to Rome in November and March, allowing passengers to take advantage of off-peak travel. 

Public Health Week

It’s Public Health Week in Detroit. The city’s health department is offering free services including health screenings, immunizations, lead testing, and overdose prevention resources.

Chief Public Health Officer Ali Abazeed says health department staff will host free events through Saturday at various community centers. The goal is to make it easier for residents to get health care by bringing it to them. 

Listen to the latest episode of the “Detroit Evening Report” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Seven people are confirmed to have contracted measles in Washtenaw County with exposure sites in Ypsilanti, Ann Arbor, and Canton. None of those people were vaccinated against the disease. 

Vaccination rates have declined since 2024, despite decades of medical practice and data that show the MMR vaccine that protects against measles, mumps and rubella, is safe and highly effective. 

Last year, an advisory panel appointed by Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recommended the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) adopt new restrictions on the MMRV vaccine, which provides protection against measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox. The panel advised that children under 4 should get protection against those diseases in separate vaccines.

In the time since Kennedy Jr. was appointed to head HHS by President Trump, vaccination rates have declined for toddlers, school-age kids and adults, making Southeast Michigan more vulnerable to outbreaks.

When the population’s vaccine rate dips below the level of ‘herd immunity’, the chance of a measles outbreak increases substantially.

What’s stopping people from vaccinating themselves or their kids, and who is most at risk when an outbreak happens?

Dr. Rupali Limaye is an Associate Professor at the George Mason College of Public Health. She is an expert in vaccine behavior, hesitancy and acceptance. She spoke with Cary Junior II on The Metro.

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What happens when the regulatory systems we depend on to protect us break down?

In February, President Trump signed an executive order invoking the Defense Production Act — a wartime authority — to guarantee the domestic supply of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, the world’s most widely used weedkiller. The order extends legal immunity to its producers. It came one day after Bayer proposed a $7.25 billion settlement to resolve tens of thousands of cancer lawsuits without admitting wrongdoing.

The World Health Organization classifies glyphosate as a probable carcinogen.

Separately, the Supreme Court hears oral arguments April 27 in a case that could shut down state-level Roundup lawsuits nationwide. The EPA faces an October deadline to rule on glyphosate safety — with most of its research staff gone.

Last month on The Metro, Harvard historian Naomi Oreskes explained how the landmark safety study behind Roundup was ghostwritten by Monsanto, cited by regulators worldwide for 25 years, and finally retracted after she and researcher Alexander Kaurov documented its influence. Since then, she has identified more scientific research ghostwritten by Monsanto.

To discuss, Oreskes, author of “Merchants of Doubt,” returned to The Metro to join Robyn Vincent.

Hear the full conversation using the media player above.

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It’s a medical mystery with destructive elements. Our cells divide and grow with unstoppable force. They seize surrounding tissue. They invade from within. 

That’s how cancer works. And cases of younger people getting cancer — folks under the age of 50 — have been growing. Someone born in 1990 is now four times more likely to get rectal cancer, and two times more likely to get colon cancer than someone born in 1950. 

Why? And, what is it like to be a doctor in metro Detroit fielding these cases?

Dr. Thomas Kelly is a gastroenterologist at the Karmanos Cancer Institute. He spoke with The Metro‘s Robyn Vincent about different dietary and environmental factors that may be contributing to rising cancer rates.

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Mayor Mary Sheffield has hired Dearborn’s former Chief Public Health Officer to fulfill the same role in Detroit. Ali Abazeed is credited with building Dearborn’s public health department from the ground up. He also worked in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services during the pandemic. 

Abazeed says he is looking for bold ideas to improve public health in Detroit. He is credited with achieving a 60% reduction in drug overdoses and expanding air quality testing in the city of Dearborn. Abazeed also brought the Rx Kids program to Dearborn, the same program Mayor Sheffield launched in Detroit earlier this year. 

Additional headlines from Monday, March 2, 2026

DPSCD offers Ramadan meals to students

Detroit Public Schools Community District is offering Ramadan meals to students fasting during the month-long holiday. Meals are available for pick up between 2 and 3:30pm from school cafeterias.

Each meal package includes one breakfast and one lunch distributed to students who attend school that day. Ramadan meals are available school days until March 17. 

Temple Beth El tour

Temple Beth El is opening its doors to the community for an exploration of history and faith. Attendees will learn about Judaism and the history of the Temple Beth El congregation and it’s impact on southeastern Michigan.

The evening includes a tour of the synagogue and a meal. The event is Tuesday, March 12 at 6 p.m. It’s a part of the Interfaith Leadership Council of Metro Detroit’s Interfaith Odysseys program. Registration is $35 for individuals and $50 for families.

Southwest Detroit Loteria fundraiser

Community members and Wayne State University alumni are invited to play a Southwest Detroit edition of Loteria Wednesday. The event is a fundraiser for the joint alumni association for Wayne State’s Latino en Marcha, Chicano Boricua Studies and Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies programs.

This version of Loteria showcases people and businesses in Southwest Detroit. There will be Loteria-inspired merchandise for sale connected to each program. Funds support the Dr. Jorge Chinea Endowment.

A $100 donation buys a Loteria board. The event is Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Mexicantown Community Development Corporation at 2835 Bagley Street. 

Lunar eclipse

Metro Detroiters will be able to see a total lunar eclipse Tuesday morning…if the weather cooperates.

The moon will enter the Earth’s shadow overnight, and a partial eclipse will begin around 4:50 a.m. Totality will last for about an hour between 6 and 7 a.m., during which the moon will appear to be red. 

Listen to the latest episode of the “Detroit Evening Report” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

New research shows the presence of trees where people live may significantly impact human heart health.

The results find that those living in greener neighborhoods have lower risks of heart attacks, strokes, and other cardiovascular diseases.

Peter James is a lead researcher of the study at the University of California – Davis.

Using over 350 million Google Street View images analyzed with deep learning, James’s team identified street-level vegetation and linked it to long-term health data.

However, areas with more grass were linked to higher cardiovascular risk.

James says trees help by cooling neighborhoods, filtering air, reducing noise, and promoting activity and social interaction. “We’ve evolved as human beings to be in nature….this is our natural setting, not staring at a computer screen….that’s where we thrive… out in trees and nature,” James says. 

This story is a part of WDET’s ongoing series, the Detroit Tree Canopy Project.

People voted for President Donald Trump, in part, because he promised to shake things up. Change is happening in many spaces, including those related to public health.

In Michigan, and across the country, fewer people are getting vaccinated, more people are sick, and less individuals have health insurance. Life is also different for people who lead local public institutions. 

Kate Guzman is the Oakland County Health Officer. She spoke with The Metro‘s Robyn Vincent about the current measles outbreaks, the rise in flu cases, and what she’s doing to try to keep people healthy during President Trump’s second term in office. 

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That creamy Reese’s peanut butter cup dissolving on your tongue. The next crunchy Dorito you’re reaching for before you’ve swallowed the last one. The first sip of an ice-cold Coke, with a mix of syrup and carbonation; it hits like relief.

Your brain’s reward center is supposed to keep you alive, but a major new study from the University of Michigan, Harvard, and Duke says the food industry learned how to use it against you — engineering products with the same science as cigarettes.

The playbook is this: optimize the craving, accelerate the reward, and make it nearly impossible to stop.

Ultraprocessed foods now make up roughly 60% of what Americans eat. San Francisco has sued 10 major food manufacturers over the harm.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said these foods are poisoning Americans, but he has stopped short of regulating them.

In Detroit, 69% of households face food insecurity and researchers describe the city as a food swamp, where drive-throughs, party stores and gas-station snack aisles vastly outnumber places to buy fresh produce.

Detroit’s numbers make the question sharper: What happens when engineered food is all that’s there?

Ashley Gearhardt, clinical psychologist, addiction scientist at the University of Michigan, creator of the Yale Food Addiction Scale and lead author of the study, joined Robyn Vincent on The Metro to discuss this and more.

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On Wednesday, the Great Lakes Water Authority will vote on a nearly 7% water rate increase and a 6% sewer increase.

Last year, GLWA proposed an even bigger hike — close to 8% for water — but public testimony at the hearing pushed the board to lower it. Wednesday’s hearing is another chance for residents to weigh in. What’s driving these increases — and why does water keep getting more expensive?

Suzanne Coffey is CEO of the Great Lakes Water Authority or GLWA. She spoke with The Metro‘s Robyn Vincent.

On The Metro, we also spoke about GLWA rate hikes — and why utility costs are rising — with Nick Schroek, dean of the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. You can listen to that conversation here.

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Wayne State University researchers are looking for ways to help people with multiple sclerosis move better.

MS is a degenerative neurological disease that makes it hard for some patients to walk and keep their balance. 

Scientists wanted to know whether a physical therapy regimen that includes walking backward could improve mobility and balance. Their new study suggests it can.

They started small

Dr. Nora Fritz led the research team. She’s the director of research for WSU’s Department of Health Sciences. She’s also a physical therapy professor.

She says they’ve been looking at this in the lab for some time.

“We noticed that some individuals tend to fall backward more frequently than forward,” Fritz says. “We also noticed that individuals tend to have more trouble walking backward than they do walking forward.”

Researchers asked eight MS patients to take part in an eight-week case study. They came to the lab once a week to do backward walking training with a neurologic physical therapist. Subjects walked on a treadmill and on the ground. They also did back-stepping exercises in the lab and at home.

Fritz says the results were encouraging.

“It seems that everyone who’s participating is experiencing some level of improvement,” she says. “They really like it and they’re finding it useful.”

The team also conducted MRI screenings before and after the eight-week program.

“We looked at how the brain changed during this period,” Fritz says. “We saw evidence that there was actually some changes in structures of the brain related to balance in just a short time.”

Results could lead to new treatment

Fritz says it’s too early to reach any conclusions from the study, but the results were good enough to begin a larger, randomized control study with 90 MS patients. That lasted six months.

“Everyone has completed the training, and we’re just in the monitoring period now,” Fritz says. “We anticipate the first papers from that study to come out within the next several months.”

The findings of the eight-week trial appear in the Journal of Neurologic Physical Therapy.

When a government agency decides whether a chemical in your food is safe, where does the science come from? Most of us assume it’s independent. In the case of Roundup — the world’s most widely used weedkiller — the manufacturer wrote the research, and it went unchallenged for 25 years.

In 2000, a study published in the journal Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology concluded Roundup posed no health risk to humans. But internal Monsanto emails released in 2017 litigation revealed company employees had ghostwritten the paper. Despite that, it remained in the scientific record, cited without caveat in hundreds of academic papers and dozens of government documents worldwide.

Harvard historian of science Naomi Oreskes and researcher Alexander Kaurov changed that. Their 2025 analysis found the ghostwritten paper ranked in the top 0.1% of all cited glyphosate literature. They requested the journal retract it. In November 2025, it did, citing “serious ethical concerns.” Oreskes and Kaurov also wrote about their findings in Undark.

The retraction comes as Bayer, which acquired Monsanto in 2018, faces roughly 65,000 Roundup cancer lawsuits. On February 17, the company proposed a $7.25 billion class settlement. The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a related case this term. Bayer maintains glyphosate is safe.

Oreskes, author of “Merchants of Doubt,” joined Robyn Vincent on The Metro to discuss how one ghostwritten paper shaped pesticide policy for a generation, and what it means now that it’s been thrown out.

Hear the full conversation using the media player above.

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