Hasty OK of costly,


unproven Alzheimers’ drug

draws intense scrutiny

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.

NEW EXPOSE REVEALS HOW ‘BIG LIE’ DEVOURED FOX, SPLIT THE FAMILY
In a stunning expose – the likes of which has not yet been seen in America – Australia’s premier television network has laid bare how the incestuous relationship between the disgraced 45th President and Rupert Murdoch’s Fox ‘News’ consumed the network and irreconcilably split the Murdoch dynasty.
It is definitely must-see-TV.
WATCH IT HERE.

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.

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.

SILENCE IN CONGRESS AFTER ORLANDO MASSACRE IS A NATIONAL DISGRACE
There is no reason whatsoever that the deranged misfit in Orlando or anyone like him could have legally purchased the killing machine he used so ruthlessly.
With its stranglehold on the majority in Congress, the National Rifle Association is the most dangerous organization in the country today. It doesn’t have to be this way.
There has been ample opportunity to make it more difficult for anyone who would slaughter innocent victims with weapons of mass carnage like the one used in Orlando.
Congress has been paralyzed by its fear of the gun lobby.
Silent.
It is a national disgrace.

BERNIE SANDERS FOR VICE PRESIDENT!
With presumptive Democratic Party nominee Hillary Clinton’s place in the history books now assured, her focus must turn to preventing the disaster that would be a Republican victory in the general election.
Clinton has three major items on her to-do list in the six weeks before the Democratic National Convention: unite her party behind her candidacy; pick a running mate; and launch her strongest attack yet on her Republican opponent.
She can forthwith accomplish the first two by quickly picking Bernie Sanders as her vice-presidential running mate. She should waste no time; the choice is obvious.

AFTER 100 YEARS, IT’S TIME TO REDRAW THE MAP
As the hundredth anniversary of the French-British-Russian pact that carved up the Middle East approaches, it is time to acknowledge that Sykes-Picot led to the creation of several failed states.
In most of them, partition has become a fact on the ground. The sooner this is politically recognized, the sooner we can find a way out of endless war costing hundreds of thousands of lives and trillions of dollars.
Redrawing the map will take statesmanship not seen in generations and serious goodwill from disparate parties. But it is becoming increasingly obvious that doing nothing is not an option. Realignment of national boundaries might be the best possible outcome.