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My son has a terminal disease — why FDA delays are failing families like mine

Published

3 weeks ago

April 29, 2026

I’ve spent over 40 years on the front line against a terminal illness that killed my brothers and put my 14-year-old son into a wheelchair. This week, I asked Food & Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Dr. Martin Makary to leave his gilded office and come visit my home, because I fear that he’s lost touch with terminally ill children like Ryu.

I’m Ryu’s full-time caretaker. Like most rare disease families, we rely on one income and have limited financial resources. What we do have are astronomical medical expenses; Ryu’s steroids alone are $30,000 per month. My husband and I thankfully found a nonprofit that covered the remaining $2,000 after our insurance paid their portion — but other expenses fall squarely on us.

It’s easy to ignore these struggles when you’re a powerful official in Washington, D.C. In my house, Ryu struggles to breathe because of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, the same illness that I watched kill my brothers Angelo and Antonio at ages 20 and 22. Experimental drugs could let Ryu avoid their fate, but we can’t access them under a regulatory environment that appears to prioritize bureaucratic caution over the lives of dying children.

I’M A PHYSICIAN AND I’M WORRIED THAT OUR HEALTH AGENCIES ARE FACING INCREASING CHAOS

A year ago, the rare disease community thought Dr. Makary would be our strongest ally. He promised to “remove barriers and exercise regulatory flexibility” to deliver meaningful treatments for patients. Families listened and dared to believe that the system would finally reflect the urgency of the conditions we face.

But our hopes were dashed over and over again as therapies were subjected to extended review cycles, accelerated approval pathways were ignored, and previously authorized treatments were paused, restricted, or effectively sidelined.

The upcoming departure of FDA’s Director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Dr. Vinay Prasad, the man Makary assigned to make these life-and-death decisions, creates an opportunity for a reset. He oversaw the committee in charge of treatment approvals, so he is seen by many in the rare disease community as responsible for delaying treatments rather than delivering them.

Now, as Dr. Makary considers Dr. Prasad’s successor, he has a chance to appoint someone who understands that families should have the right to make their own decisions about which medicines are “risky” for their declining loved ones.

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Risk is a big part of Ryu’s day-to-day, and our whole family is intimately acquainted with it. At night, he relies on a machine to keep his lungs functioning because they could fail at any time. He always dreamed of being a Navy SEAL; now he just hopes to live long enough to cast his first ballot.

Despite this, he is the happiest kid I know. And it’s important that Dr. Makary knows what that looks like, because when he and Dr. Prasad talk about risk, they’re doing so based on what the paperwork tells them. They make decisions that, from their offices, seem like they can be reviewed and revisited.

But when I hear “risk,” I see Ryu’s quality of life irreversibly decline by the day. His calves are so tight that he cannot flatten his feet, so he wears special braces for some relief. During the day he wears a gait belt just to align his hips as his muscles deteriorate, and at night, he cannot even turn himself over without our help.

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Under Ryu’s current treatment, these changes are irreversible. That’s why treatment options must be expanded — and not at the speed of the FDA, but at the speed of terminal rare diseases.

Families understand risk better than anyone. We are not asking for reckless approvals or the abandonment of scientific standards. What we need is a system that recognizes that doing nothing is a decision that is deadly, 100% of the time.

If the FDA wants to rebuild trust, it needs to start with the families who have been burned. That means involving patient communities earlier in the process and being transparent about decision making. Regulatory timelines must align with the urgency of the diseases being treated, curing the current and ongoing mismatch.

FDA policies can be revisited, revised, and reversed. Leadership comes and goes. But for families like mine, there are no do-overs. The accelerated approval process was created for a reason — because rare disease patients do not get resets.

That is why this moment matters: because even when a ship is wildly off course, a great leader can save the journey.

I invited Commissioner Makary to come and sit in my living room and meet Ryu, to see firsthand what it means when decisions are delayed and hope is put on hold. Not as a symbolic gesture, but as a reminder that behind every application, every dataset, every rejected therapy, there is a child whose future is being decided.

In the end, regulators will not be judged by how cautious they were, but by whether their actions kept our children alive.

Families like mine cannot afford more delays.

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Interrogation video shows trans killer’s calm confession to ambushing parents over gender transition battle

Published

3 minutes ago

May 17, 2026

Addison Blake

Newly released interrogation video shows the moment a transgender killer confessed to fatally shooting both her parents for intervening with sex reassignment surgery.

Gail and Joseph Bailey were found shot to death inside their Washington City, Utah, home in June 2024; their child, Mia Bailey, confessed to shooting and killing them.

Nearly two years later, the convicted killer’s own words were revealed in interrogation video showing the shooter’s confession to investigators.

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“I don’t regret it. I hate them,” Bailey said when speaking with police in the interrogation room.

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Bailey’s demeanor appears calm and celebratory at times when discussing how the killer shot multiple rounds at the couple.

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Court documents say Bailey’s brother was also shot at through a door; he was able to escape and call for help that evening.

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Bailey is also heard on video blaming mental health struggles for the vicious attack. Bailey told investigators that Gail tried to “sabotage” the gender transition surgery.

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Bailey was born male but had undergone a name change and had been identifying as female before the attack.

This past December, Bailey was sentenced to two consecutive sentences of 25 years to life in prison after pleading guilty and mentally ill to aggravated murder and aggravated assault, according to KUTV.

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Maitland Ward says she was ‘set up’ and ‘betrayed’ by ‘Boy Meets World’ co-stars in toxic fallout

Published

3 minutes ago

May 17, 2026

Addison Blake

It’s been over a year since Maitland Ward found herself in a heated exchange with “Boy Meets World” co-stars Danielle Fishel, Ryder Strong and Will Friedle. While the adult film star — who first found fame as Jessica Forrester in “The Bold and the Beautiful,” and later Rachel McQuire in the beloved ‘90s Disney TV show — has since moved on, she still feels “betrayed” by her former colleagues.

In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, Ward, who recently exposed the dark truths behind child stardom in an episode of Investigation Discovery’s “Hollywood Demons,” opened up about that fiery interaction on the “Pod Meets World” podcast in February 2025 and gave an update on where she stands with her former co-stars today.

“We have not spoken at all. There’s been no contact, except when I offered my support [for Fishel during her ‘Dancing with the Stars’ run] and everything. But there’s been no ill will either,” said Ward. “There’s been no fighting or anything. It’s just, we have not spoken, those three. [We’re] in a place where we are not connected right now, and it’s sad.”

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“I still feel betrayed by the situation because I do think I was set up for reasons that only they can explain,” she continued. “But, and I was taken very much off guard in that situation. And it makes me sad. I just wish that there was a way that we could all come together and not be in this bad place. But it’s just, we’re in no place right now. I guess that’s what it is.”

WATCH: MAITLAND WARD STILL FEELS ‘BETRAYED’ BY ‘BOY MEETS WORLD’ CO-STARS IN TOXIC FALLOUT

During an episode of the “Pod Meets World” podcast last year, hosts and former co-stars Fishel, Strong and Friedle welcomed Ward to discuss their shared experiences on the show. However, when Fishel asked Ward if she hated them, things took a turn for the worse.

“No, I do not hate you,” said Ward. “I think that you hate me because you wouldn’t speak to me on ‘Girl Meets World’ (the Disney Channel spin-off of ‘Boy Meets World’), and that was hurtful.”

“You had an attitude about it. There was some beef between us, and I didn’t get it,” she later added. “I didn’t know if you thought I was trying to steal attention… I was genuinely confused why we wouldn’t be good.”

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Fishel admitted that “Girl Meets World” — which she starred in alongside Ben Savage (who played her longtime love, Cory Matthews, in “Boy Meets World”), Sabrina Carpenter and Rowan Blanchard — was a “very difficult set” to be on.

“Let’s put it this way, the memories we have of the fun set of ‘Boy Meets World’ were not the memories of the fun set of ‘Girl Meets World,'” she said. “I went into it expecting it to be, and it wasn’t. It was a rather tumultuous place. I felt very ostracized. I felt very criticized. I felt a lot of different things being on that set… I am sorry that you thought I had something personally against you.”

After some more heated back and forth, Ward said, “Let’s be honest about this. You’re trying to go at me now to get the ratings because you know that people will be interested. I just wanted to remember the good times.”

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“I’m not the one who wanted to go for ratings… This is what you asked for,” Fishel responded.

After saying their goodbyes, Fishel said Ward’s decision to come on the podcast seemed like “an opportunity for her to get press by having conflict.”

“Similarly to the way she decided when ‘Girl Meets World’ and all that stuff was in the press, that was an opportunity for her to make a name for herself in cosplay play and in role-playing, she felt like this was an opportunity for her to get press by having conflict, which I am just not your girl to do that,” Fishel said of the heated exchange. “And she thought it was disingenuous for me to reach out to her. I think wanting to do it for stats is disingenuous.”

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Shortly after that appearance, Ward told Fox News Digital that she felt “bullied” by her former friends, and claimed it was a “very toxic” situation.

“I felt [bullied] because it was three against one, really four because [Fishel’s] husband is the producer,” she said. “So it was like I was surrounded by — I really felt surrounded, and it’s weird because they were my friends in the past, and just imagine stepping back into a high school situation or college or whatever, and you see old friends, and then all of a sudden every single grievance you ever had with them is fresh on their minds, and they want to just come at you. So it felt like a very toxic situation.”

“I did not create the conflict on that show,” she continued. “I was not trying to create conflict. And I think it’s funny that she says I tried to create the conflict from it, to get press when she tried to create the conflict for this show to get press and views and listens and everything for the podcast.”

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“I wasn’t going to benefit financially from that show,” she added. “So I think she’s very two-faced in that situation. I think she doesn’t enjoy that I have had success from ‘Boy Meets World’ like that. And I think she should be reminded that I get attention for other things that I do too.”

WATCH: ‘BOY MEETS WORLD’ STAR MAITLAND WARD SAYS DANIELLE FISHEL CREATED ‘TOXIC’ ENVIRONMENT DURING HEATED PODCAST EXCHANGE

Though Ward hasn’t had any interaction with the trio, she did offer Fishel an olive branch of sorts when she publicly supported her during her “DWTS” stint last year.

“It really was a genuine moment,” Ward told Fox News Digital of her words of encouragement to Fishel shortly after she was eliminated. “And when [TMZ] asked me, I’m like, ‘Yes, of course I support her. I love people stepping outside of their comfort zone, and especially women doing something that they’re excited about and love. I have nothing but love for her and for the experience that we had together on the show.”

Ward said the feud between her costars resulted in a “very strange year.”

“We had a lot of conflict last year, of course, but that doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t support her and support her in anything that she does,” she said. “And that was actually genuine from my heart … I don’t wish her ill or anything. It’s sad that we are in a place where we’re not friends or not able to come together on that level, but I’m still going to support her.”

“No matter what, we are always going to be connected in this way that can never split us apart,” she added. “And it’s kind of, it’s like a family where, you know, maybe you don’t get along all the time with your cousin or something or, you know, but you’re always connected as this family. And I think that’s really important. And it’s important for the audience to know that, yeah, we’ll always be together on some level. But I definitely want to support women in anything they do. And I wish her nothing but love.”

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Cruise ship crackdown hits tourist hot spot as city fast-tracks new visitor tax

Published

3 minutes ago

May 17, 2026

Addison Blake

One of Europe’s most crowded tourist cities is cracking down on cruises and their passengers, with the mayor of the city pushing to fast-track a tax hike on short-stay passengers.

Barcelona mayor Jaume Collboni on Wednesday said he wants cruise passengers to pay up to $9.30 (8 euros) per night, a 100% increase from the current $4.65 rate (4 euros).

The news was reported by El País, Spain’s paper of record, after Collboni appeared on Betevé, the local network.

The tax would apply to cruise passengers docking in Barcelona.

Barcelona’s City Council agreed last July to gradually increase the tax to $9.30 (8 euros), El País reported — and while the council agreed to raise it over the next four years, Collboni is advocating for an immediate daily increase.

“In the coming months, we will raise the tourist tax … so that it comes into force in the next few months and not in four years as we had agreed,” the mayor said, according to El País.

“I want to discourage the arrival of cruise passengers,” he also said.

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Collboni said he hopes to reduce the number of cruise passengers who stop over in the city — as opposed to starting or finishing journeys in the city — to zero.

“Tourism must serve the city, not the other way around,” he said.

“We want quality tourism, which is why we are renewing the Fira de Barcelona. We are interested in business visitors,” Collboni added.

“What we do not want is mass tourism — and that is why we will eliminate tourist apartments in 2028.”

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Collboni also said he plans to run for re-election, which will be held in May 2027, El País reported.

“My intention is to govern with a left-wing majority,” said Collboni.

“I want to turn Barcelona into the grave of the far right.”

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Fox News Digital reached out to Collboni’s office for comment.

The move is one of several steps Barcelona has taken in its struggle with overtourism.

In 2024, Barcelona’s city council agreed to reduce cruise terminals from seven to five in the interest of limiting cruise arrivals.

In March, Barcelona nearly doubled its visitor tax to among the highest in Europe to combat mass tourism.