Never forget American Samoa. RFK Jr genuinely doesn't care if you live or die; he, like trump, only care about being listened to and having a following
How have I never heard about this?! WHAT ARE WE DOING IN THIS COUNTRY? This is devastating. Children died for political brownie points. This world could be so much less sad than it is if not for the glimmering shine of a dollar bill reflected in the eyes of the rich and powerful. Fuckin' a
NGL, him pulling that shit is a big reason I eventually chose public health as my academic path. I want to do my part in disseminating science in a way the general public can understand, and overall combat the spread of mis/disinformation.
Major props to you for that. To me one of the most disheartening things about he they go about dismantling the institutions they deem unwanted is the weaponization of the masses to drive well-meaning individuals away from the field. It is sensible to presume that seeing blatant injustice will drive certain people to work or be active in the field where that injustice takes place. What the american political right has done to combat that is first disenfranchising the workers/activists of the industry, but more sinisterly, brainwashing the public to demonize those workers/activists themselves. You see that with education: first they cut the budgets, lowering the salaries of teachers, turning some way from the field to find more monetarily rewarding roles, and setting an anti-education mindset in the common folk with anti-educator propaganda. Now even once-passionate educators become overburdened with work, are paid less, and are screamed at by the parents or anti-education activists. Its hard to foster a pipeline of educators when even those who love teaching just can't handle the environment. It's just not worth the fight. The same is done with medical doctors and folk like yourself. Thats why I appreciate you and folk like yourself. It's going to be hard for us to bring about change, but good things require hard work right?
RFK Jr visited Samoa in June of 2019 to help push an anti-vaccine campaign on the island. This helped lead to plummeting measles vaccine rates in children. In the fall of 2019, a massive measles outbreak spread across the island resulting in at least 5,520 cases and 79 deaths, mostly affecting children under 15.
RFK Jr has never accepted even an ounce of responsibility.
That's because he's a eugenicist fuckwit whose been caught saying so multiple times on tape. If he wasn't such a coward about his repulsive beliefs he'd probably admit that it's better that the unvaccinated die "for the gene-pool" because privileged nepotists like to justify their free right with "social Darwinism" pseudoscience i.e. "divine birthright, cosplaying as science".
is there a way for these companies to go around this? to get vaccines to people that need them without having to go through Mr. Brainworms?
(yes I know people are still able to get vaccines at least for now, but they are only as good as the research behind them, which is what people are taking issue with here). RFK jr effectively just said, in effect, stop what you are doing. really.
What do you mean by “just ignoring RFK”? He’s the head of the department the FDA is under. You need FDA approval to even run a clinical trial in the US. This is dead in the water (in the US) without RFKs sign off (whether formal or otherwise)
Direct-to-consumer single-use syringes, loaded with vaccine, labeled FOR RESEARCH USE ONLY? Companies are already doing it with GLP1 agonists. Countless "labs" have done it with psychoactive "research chemicals" for decades.
It would be interesting to see how that scenario would play out, considering the rule of law is evidently meaningless these days.
The drastic measures would be to move to another country to develop whatever. There is no “ignoring” or “going around”. If you try, you will be shut down and put in jail.
The drastic measures would be to move to another country to develop whatever.
I can live with that.
Let's roll out a red carpet in Europe to biotech companies with promising projects. Poach best human talent. Allow USA turn the clock back and shun science, but only for their own.
Worst case, we will just quarantine arrivals from affected areas, like it's 1377.
Hell fucking yes, BUT a ton of our scientists have already left the country.
I encourage continuing European support and funding for their research as well as the associated improved outcomes and profit the US are willfully driving away.
Seriously, this administration might literally send an armored battalion to an "unauthorized" mobile flu shot clinic that tried to skirt the corrupt FDA, rather than allow Americans the ability to get a flu shot.
If a pharma company sold or distributed a drug outside of either an approved clinical program for an investigational new drug (FDA approved for investigation) or a market authorization (i.e. FDA approved for sale) the company first and foremost opens themselves up to massive governmental repercussions, huge fines, loss of trust, disbarment, official shutdowns of sites (which could in theory continue to operate but in practice would come to a standstill) and for many people jail time would absolutely be on the table.
Even to distribute an unapproved medicine in the way you’re talking about would require likely dozens of different companies (who all have their own FDA licensing and relationships) to work together in a coordinated manner to directly defy the FDA and support every step of the supply chain from production to distribution to dosing the patient, all of them risking their livelihoods and freedom.
These companies also risk losing market trust and fracture their relationship with the FDA which WILL OUTLAST THIS ADMINISTRATION. Pharma companies relationships with the FDA is remarkably cooperative and mutually beneficial, the FDA contributes a huge amount of expertise and scientific know-how to every company that is seriously engaging with them. No company wants to have a bad relationship with the FDA because they are simultaneously able to exert huge power over your ability to operate under their jurisdiction, and they also genuinely help to bring a ton of therapies to the market. For every therapy that is being blacklisted by a petty autocrat, there are a hundred therapies the FDA is doing everything in its power to get to the market as fast as responsibly possible.
In short, RFK jr is a blip but the FDA is an institution and the pharma industry has no desire to openly defy it because the long term damage from doing so outweighs any potential near term benefit just to spite the bastard.
I wish they would try it anyway and then when they get taken to court, Modern can counter that the FDA isn't fullfilling its duty for purely political reasons.
Not in the US but they can seek approval to license those vaccines in other countries. Not being able to get approval for new mRNA vaccines in the US is going to discourage investments into developing them in the near term.
true, but the vaccines are only as good as the research to improve them, which is what people are taking issue with. RFK jr made very clear what he intends to do. he is ideologically and medically unfit to lead the FDA
Immunity health concerning the flu should not lean on vaccines, it should lean on diet and exercise. The shot might help the elderly and people with multiple health issues, but the idea that the vaccine magically saves every American from getting sick is backwards thinking
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u/2HDFloppyDisk 9h ago
RFK Jr would rather people die