Thursday, September 3, 2020
'Like the Wolf Saying He'll Guard the Henhouse': Big Pharma CEO Insists Industry Can Police Itself on Covid Vaccine
"The public needs to be able to trust that decisions for the vaccine development process are being based on science and public health, and drug company self-policing simply isn't good enough."
by
Jake Johnson, staff writer
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/01/wolf-saying-hell-guard-henhouse-big-pharma-ceo-insists-industry-can-police-itself
Amid growing concerns that the Trump administration is moving to bypass normal and crucial safety protocols in a rush to approve a Covid-19 vaccine ahead of the November election, the CEO of one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the U.S. is insisting that the American public can trust the for-profit drug industry to police itself when it comes to developing a safe and effective coronavirus vaccine.
In an interview with Axios that aired Monday night, Eli Lilly chairman and CEO David Ricks said the pharmaceutical industry is "not going to make something or we're not going to sell it until we've proven to our own standards it's safe and effective, subjected it to scientific scrutiny from the outside world"—a promise one watchdog group dismissed as "like the wolf saying he'll guard the henhouse."
Ricks, who is also the chairman-elect of PhRMA—a massive pharmaceutical lobbying group—said it would indeed be "very concerning" if drug companies were making decisions about potential Covid-19 treatments and vaccines based on "non-medical or scientific" considerations. But Ricks denied that's the case, even as public health experts are warning that the Trump White House is actively skirting safety regulations and politicizing the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for electoral purposes."The revolving door between the drug industry and the Trump administration has been spinning so fast that it's hard to see where the interests of one end and the other begins," Eli Zupnick, spokesperson for Accountable Pharma, said in a statement. "The public needs to be able to trust that decisions for the vaccine development process are being based on science and public health, and drug company self-policing simply isn't good enough."
"I think our industry has an interest in preserving that as an objective process," said Ricks, whose company is currently working with—and receiving funding from—the federal government as the pharma giant runs a Phase 3 clinical trial for a potential coronavirus treatment.
Ricks' remarks come days after FDA chief Stephen Hahn told the Financial Times that his agency would be willing to authorize a Covid-19 vaccine even prior to the completion of Phase 3 clinical trials—but insisted that it would not do so solely to appease the president.
As Common Dreams reported Monday, Hahn's comments drew swift backlash from scientists and public health experts. Dr. Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at Columbia University in New York, tweeted that "we absolutely cannot tolerate or accept an emergency authorization for any Covid-19 vaccine without reliable safety and efficacy data from Phase 3 clinical trials."
Bypassing established safety procedures in the interest of speed, warned Rasmussen, "would place huge numbers of people at risk for massive potential harm."
Consumer Coalition Calls on Trump Administration to Mandate Mask-Wearing for All Airline Travel
"This critical preventative public health measure must be mandated by enforceable federal regulations that apply to all airlines and airports."
by
Julia Conley, staff writer
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/01/consumer-coalition-calls-trump-administration-mandate-mask-wearing-all-airline
Consumer advocacy group Public Citizen was one of 23 organizations that called on the Department of Transportation on Tuesday to mandate the wearing of protective face coverings for most travelers in all airports and commercial airline flights.
Granting a petition filed in August by airline passenger advocacy group FlyersRights.org, the organizations wrote, would put the federal government's approach to preventing the spread of Covid-19 in line with CDC recommendations, and those of numerous academic studies detailing the efficacy of wearing a mask.
The DOT's mere recommendation of mask-wearing during airline travel "is not sufficient," the groups wrote. The groups, which also include MomsRising, Consumer Action, and the Center for Science in the Public Interest, noted that the CDC has identified airline travel as a time when wearing a face covering is particularly important because social distancing can be difficult on flights and many flights last several hours.
"This critical preventative public health measure must be mandated by enforceable federal regulations that apply to all airlines and airports," said Dr. Michael Carome, director of Public Citizen's Health Research Group.
FlyersRights.org filed its emergency rulemaking petition with the DOT on August 4, and has gathered public support for its demands for a mask-wearing mandate and for airlines to keep all middle seats open on flights.
Previously, the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA and Sens. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) have called on airlines to mandate the wearing of face coverings during the pandemic.
"Hiking fares, denying refunds, raising fees, shrinking seats, packing flights, and bumping travelers—airlines do masterfully," tweeted Blumenthal when he and Markey wrote to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao in April. "But requiring masks? Too hard."
'The Corruption Is Bottomless': Documents Reveal Chair of Postal Service Board Is Director of McConnell-Allied Super PAC
"Can the GOP's takeover of USPS be any more blatant?"
by
Jake Johnson, staff writer
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/01/corruption-bottomless-documents-reveal-chair-postal-service-board-director-mcconnell
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's deep and longstanding ties to U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors chairman Robert Duncan are coming under heightened scrutiny after corporate paperwork filed Monday listed Duncan as a director of a major GOP super PAC closely aligned with the Kentucky Republican.
The new filing (pdf) with Virginia's State Corporation Commission—an independent regulatory agency that oversees political action committees—names Duncan as one of three directors of the Senate Leadership Fund, a massive super PAC that has spent nearly $18 million in support of Senate Republicans thus far in the 2020 election cycle.
Duncan—who raised more than $400 million for the GOP during his tenure as chairman of the Republican National Committee from 2007 to 2009—was nominated to the USPS Board of Governors by President Donald Trump in 2017 confirmed by the McConnell-led Senate in August of 2018. A McConnell spokesperson told the Louisville Courier Journal last month that the GOP leader recommended Duncan to Trump.According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the Senate Leadership Fund has recently received multi-million dollar donations from casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman, and other right-wing billionaires.
"As a businessman, a public servant, and a dedicated mentor to young people, Mike is an outstanding choice to help oversee the world's largest postal organization," McConnell said in an April 2018 Senate hearing considering Duncan's nomination.
News of Duncan's current high-level role on a super PAC closely linked to McConnell added fuel to growing concerns that recent USPS operational changes imposed by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy—a Republican megadonor to both McConnell and President Donald Trump—are a ploy to influence the outcome of the November election in the GOP's favor and, ultimately, privatize the Postal Service.
The sweeping changes—many of which DeJoy vowed to suspend last month in the face of immense public backlash—have dramatically slowed package deliveries across the nation and intensified concerns about the timely arrival of mail-in ballots in November. Last month, Democratic lawmakers urged the Board of Governors to remove DeJoy over his mail service changes and conflicts of interest, but members of the board—which unanimously appointed DeJoy in May despite his lack of USPS experience—have remained supportive of the postmaster general.
"Can the GOP's takeover of USPS be any more blatant?" economist Robert Reich asked Monday in response to the new filing.
"The corruption is bottomless," added Renee Graham, a columnist for the Boston Globe.
During a House Oversight Committee hearing last month, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) called attention to Duncan's ties to the Senate Leadership Fund and American Crossroads, another major Republican super PAC. Duncan confirmed that he on the boards of both GOP organizations while also serving as chairman of the USPS Board of Governors.
Lawmakers and progressive commentators suggested that McConnell's close relationship with the top official on the USPS Board of Governors could have something to do with the Republican leader's refusal to consider House-passed legislation providing $25 billion in emergency funding for the Postal Service. In a tweet last month, McConnell dismissed widespread concerns about mail slowdowns across the U.S. as "overblown conspiracy theories."
"Is this why the Senate Majority Leader refuses to pass legislation to protect the USPS?" Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, asked Monday night in response to the new document.
Advocacy group Swing Left tweeted late Monday that the fresh details surrounding Duncan's ties to McConnell further highlight the need to oust the Kentucky senator, who is set to face off against Democratic challenger Amy McGrath in November.
"What a coincidence—the USPS chair's other job is at Mitch McConnell's super PAC, while Mitch kills Postal Service funding to secure our elections with his 'Senate Graveyard,'" the group said. "We have to take his gavel away this November."
COVID-19: Trump Covered Up Dire Reports
https://consortiumnews.com/2020/09/01/covid-19-trump-covered-up-dire-reports/
By Jake Johnson
Common Dreams
As President Donald Trump and administration officials have been publicly downplaying the Covid-19 crisis and even predicting its imminent disappearance over the past several months, the White House task force formed to coordinate the federal pandemic response has simultaneously been issuing dire assessments of the nation’s fight against the pandemic behind the scenes.
Those assessments were kept secret from the public until Monday, when the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis released a trove of task force reports dated between June 23 and Aug. 9 that highlight the extent to which Trump’s public proclamations about the Covid-19 crisis have diverged from the findings of experts operating in the White House.
“The task force reports released today show the White House has known since June that coronavirus cases were surging across the country and many states were becoming dangerous ‘red zones’ where the virus was spreading fast,” said Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), chairman of the subcommittee.
“Rather than being straight with the American people and creating a national plan to fix the problem,” Clyburn continued, “the president and his enablers kept these alarming reports private while publicly downplaying the threat to millions of Americans.”
Each of the eight task force reports released by the subcommittee on Monday contain analyses and conclusions that run counter to the recent public statements of Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, the chair of the White House Coronavirus Task Force. The White House sent its reports privately to states but never made them available to the public until the subcommittee requested (pdf) that Pence and task force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx turn them over late last month.
In a report (pdf) dated July 19 — the same day Trump confidently predicted that the coronavirus is “going to disappear” even as cases surged across the country — the White House task force estimated that 20 states were in the “red zone,” meaning more than 10 percent of new Covid-19 tests were positive.
On June 29, just days after Pence declared that “all 50 states are opening up safely and responsibly,” the task force issued a private assessement (pdf) warning that “Mississippi reported an 117% increase in new cases in the week ending June 26, resulting from increased community transmission in multiple counties attributed to reduced social distancing.”
Chuck Idelson, communications senior strategist for National Nurses United, tweeted that the newly released task force reports are evidence of a “White House cover-up” and yet “another indication of how Donald Trump could care less how many people die due to his malfeasance on protecting lives from the Covid-19 pandemic.”
In a press release, the House coronavirus subcommittee listed several other examples of the internal reports contradicting Trump’s public pronouncements on the Covid-19 pandemic, which has infected more than six million people in the U.S. and killed at least 183,000:
June 23 Report. On June 16, Pence claimed in an op-ed that “panic” over a resurgence of coronavirus infections was “overblown.” But on June 23, the White House task force concluded that seven states were in the “red zone,” indicating the highest risk of coronavirus spread. The task force found new cases were up 70 percent in Arizona, 72 percent in Texas, 87 percent in Florida, 93 percent in Oklahoma, and 134 percent in Idaho.
July 14 Report. On July 14, Trump stated, “No other country tests like us. In fact, I could say it’s working too much. It’s working too well. We’re doing testing and we’re finding thousands and thousands of cases.” The same day, the task force concluded 19 states were in the “red zone” and recommended they increase testing. The report noted, “Disease trends are moving in the wrong direction in Georgia with record numbers of new cases occurring in urban, suburban, and rural areas. Testing positivity continues to increase. The number of tests has increased, but more testing is needed.”
July 26 Report.On July 21, Trump tweeted: “You will never hear this on the Fake News concerning the China Virus, but by comparison to most other countries, who are suffering greatly, we are doing very well — and we have done things that few other countries could have done!” On July 26, the task force reported 22 states were in the “red zone,” and stated: “Georgia is experiencing widespread community spread without evidence of improvement. Improvement will require much more aggressive mitigation efforts to change the trajectory of the pandemic in Georgia.”
2 Report.In a July 28 interview, Trump stated: “They are dying, that’s true. And you have — it is what it is. But that doesn’t mean we aren’t doing everything we can. It’s under control as much as you can control it.” On Aug. 2, the task force concluded 23 states were in the “red zone.” The report noted, “Widespread transmission continues to occur from rural to urban areas” in Louisiana; “Aggressive continuation of mitigation efforts will be required” in South Carolina due to “widespread community spread throughout the state in urban, periurban, and rural areas”; and, “The virus is spreading deeper into the rural areas” of Oklahoma.
9 Report.On Aug. 3, Trump tweeted: “Cases up because of BIG Testing! Much of our Country is doing very well. Open the Schools!” On Aug. 9, the task force reported that 48 states and the District of Columbia were in either red or yellow zones. In Indiana, the Task Force warned: “Cases continue at a high plateau in Indianapolis and mitigation efforts, testing, and contact tracing need to be aggressively implemented. Covid-19 is widespread throughout the state and mitigation efforts should be statewide.”
The subcommittee went on to warn that despite the continued spread of Covid-19 around the U.S., the Trump administration has refused to support private task force recommendations aimed at stemming the pandemic.
“The task force reports released today recommend that state and local governments implement heightened public health measures to combat the spread of the virus — including requiring face masks in public, closing bars and gyms, and strictly limiting gatherings on a statewide basis in certain states,” the subcommittee said. “Yet the Trump administration has failed to publicly support most of the task force’s recommendations. For example, President Trump has refused to call for a nationwide mask mandate.”
In a statement, Clyburn said that “as a result of the president’s failures, more than 58,000 additional Americans have died since the task force first started issuing private warnings.”
“It is long past time that the administration finally implement a national plan to contain this crisis, which is still killing hundreds of Americans each day,” Clyburn added.
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