Three months ago the Food and Drug Administration – in a move that took many by surprise – granted “accelerated approval” for a wildly expensive but unproven new drug to treat Alzheimer’s disease.
Acting FDA Director Dr. Janet Woodcock
The move has been followed by a cascading series of protests and intense scrutiny. The drug, Aducanumab (branded Aduhelm for marketing) was developed by Biogen Inc. It will cost patients about $56,000 per year. FDA approval could cost Medicare billions. Two House committees have already launched probes of the approval process. Even the FDA acting director has asked the HHS inspector general to investigate. The multiple probes indicate something serious is amiss. What is already known stinks to high heaven!
LONE STAR STATE RAPIDLY EVOLVES BACK TO THE MIDDLE AGES If you have the misfortune to live in Texas, the rest of us are increasingly happy NOT to. As the Lone Star state becomes ever-more divorced from the 20th century, its residents are living through a cultural/political reversion of Biblical proportions. It is said that in California we have three seasons: summer, fires, and earthquakes. For my money, I would humbly submit that if we had all three of these on the same day (which is a distinct possibility given climate change), California would still be better than Texas.
Cheney, Rumsfeld enabled disastrous Taliban takeover In the historical context, the sometimes venomous criticism being aimed at President Joe Biden for the current fiasco in Afghanistan is grossly misdirected. The seeds of the current disaster were sown almost 20 years ago by the hubris and malfeasance of then-Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Without their mistakes, the Taliban would have been consigned to the dustbin of history decades ago. History is an unforgiving mistress!
DENY INSURANCE COVERAGE TO UNVACCINATED COVID PATIENTS With millions of Americans too lazy, stupid or ignorant to get a Covid shot, there is one sure way to make them do it. Public and private health insurance providers should immediately announce that as of Sept. 30 they will no longer cover any treatment for Covid illnesses amongst those who are not vaccinated. Testing and vaccinations should remain free. Denying insurance coverage for Covid-19 treatment to the unvaccinated is the best and quickest way to solve this problem.
The Covid-19 virus pandemic – a veritable Black Swan event –poses the greatest threat to the presidency of Donald Trump in his 38 months in office. No matter how soothing the talk from Trump and his cronies, they cannot tweet away a devastating outbreak of lethal disease nor a rapidly swooning economy. This is the first crisis of the Trump presidency not caused entirely by the president own calamitous misbehavior. With a bit of luck, it will be the last.
One need not look far for evidence that honesty is a fundamental value essential for the survival of modern societies. Yet leaders around the globe – and especially in the US – have drowned their followers in an avalanche of falsehoods without paying any discernible price, monetary or political. In doing so, they are posing an existential threat to the continued survival of our societies. For without truth, modern, interdependent countries surely will vanish much like the Roman Empire did some 1,600 years ago. A society devoid of all trust in vital institutions is one on the road to oblivion. Let us hope it is not too late to right the ship of state.
TORRENT OF LIES SPEWING FROM PUBLIC OFFICIALS CARRIES NO CONSEQUENCES Truth is so far the most serious casualty of the Trump era. The torrent of lies coming from the White House and Congress seems to have no consequences for the liars. If we, the voters, don’t know or care about the truth, what hope is there that we can make intelligent choices at the ballot box? Alas, there is little, and what remains of hope is diminishing every day.
EXODUS BUILDS TO A STAMPEDE FROM TRUMP BRAND Few global businesses would dare lose over a billion potential customers in a week. The Trump family empire just did. The list of famous firms distancing themselves from the Trump brand is growing daily, and could soon become a stampede. Upending the lives of thousands of aspiring immigrants may not move the US president. But the budding economic backlash is bound to get the attention of this egomaniac, who plastered his name on everything from steaks, to wine, buildings and even a fake “university.” Perhaps the only good outcome for the US from its 45th president will be when the Trump brand disappears into oblivion.
DYSTOPIAN VIEWS OF NEW PRESIDENT REJECTED AROUND THE WORLD
On his first day in office, President Donald Trump was exposed as a blatant liar as millions of people around the world rejected his dystopian view of “carnage” in America. It’s a truly encouraging sign that millions of women (and men) braved frigid winter weather to reject to the false world view of the most powerful man in thee world. And it is equally portentous that the blatant lies he told on his first official day in office were so prominently labeled as such by the most respected news media we have. Perhaps there is a glimmer of hope after all that we “the people” have finally found our voice.
UNVERIFIED RUSSIAN SEX TAPE, BLACKMAIL CLAIMS UNHINGE PRESIDENT-ELECT The stunning publication of an almost amateurish “dossier” on Donald Trump’s Russian connections unhinged the president-elect at his first news conference. Even if only a small portion of the dossier is true, the implications are enormous. The feds are investigating. The charges have just enough “truthiness,” so that those who want to believe them will be able to. To Trump supporters, it’s the essence of “fake” news. If the president-elect had dismissed them with a one-sentence brush-off, they might have been relegated to the dustbin of history. His howls of protest, however, have ensured it will get legs and be pursued for every once of its news value.
