HHS Hires Vax Skeptic for Deaths Investigation; Fauci Opens Up; China’s Cancer Tx

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently hired Lt. Col. Theresa Long, MD, MPH, who has no training in vaccines or viruses, to investigate unsubstantiated claims about service members dying after being vaccinated against COVID. Long has a history of questioning the safety of COVID vaccines and parroting Kennedy’s view that vaccines may cause autism. She’s even testified that she knows of 28 service members who died as a result of the vaccines and many more who lost pregnancies. (New York Times)

Anthony Fauci, MD, recently sat down with Georgetown University colleague Lawrence Gostin, JD, a global health policy expert, for a 2-hour interview. Fauci defended early responses to the COVID pandemic, rejected claims that mRNA COVID vaccines are unsafe, and criticized global aid cuts, while discussing other hot-button issues. (Science)

Bob Garry, PhD, a renowned expert on dangerous viruses, has been a key voice in pushing back against COVID lab leak proponents. In March 2020, he published a paper after analyzing SARS-CoV-2 and wrote that the virus was not lab-created but likely traced to bats. Now, Garry’s life’s work, like developing a treatment for Lassa fever, is at risk due to Trump administration funding cuts. Garry can’t take on any doctoral students because he can’t guarantee funding for their work. (Bloomberg)

Before holding political office, Sen. Roger Marshall, MD (R-Kan.), sued more than 700 patients over outstanding medical bills while he was practicing as an ob/gyn. A whopping 81 of these patients were arrested for missing court dates. Many lived in a rural county with high poverty rates and some of the unpaid bills were as little as $101. These patients faced steep 18% annual interest rates and had their bank accounts garnished. Marshall is seeking reelection this fall. (New York Times)

CAR-T therapy can be a lifeline for people with certain cancers, but it also can be prohibitively expensive. While the treatment was pioneered in the U.S., China has surged ahead as a leader in CAR-T therapy and as a haven for some patients from rich countries who pay about half as much as they would in the U.S., India, or Australia. It also offers CAR-T treatment for indications not yet approved in the U.S., such as stomach cancer. (Wall Street Journal)

Back in 2018, students at a Florida nursing school began alerting state officials about shady business practices. For instance, in a letter to the state’s attorney general, they said they paid thousands of dollars to complete the program but never received a diploma or transcript. It wasn’t shuttered until years later when FBI’s Operation Nightingale took it down. A 2009 Florida law loosened nursing school regulations, which contributed to a proliferation of bad actors and made it harder for the state to close them. (Orlando Sentinel)

Marijuana regulators in Colorado have a history of lagging behind in warning consumers about known concerns about products. For example, it took them nearly 15 months to warn the public about 1906 Midnight Drops, a popular marijuana-based sleep aid, after reports of liver damage tied to the product surfaced. Meanwhile, the manufacturer had halted production. A ProPublica and Denver Gazette analysis found that regulators took an average of 7 months to warn the public after receiving a complaint.