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Manitoba Family Suing AstraZeneca After Son’s Stroke Following COVID Vaccination

CBC News reported:

A Manitoba family is suing AstraZeneca Canada, alleging their son had a stroke following his COVID-19 vaccination that has left him unable to work or care for himself. Jackson Troy Reimer, now 23, was “in excellent health” before getting vaccinated while working at the Whistler Blackcomb ski resort in British Columbia in 2021, according to a statement of claim filed in Manitoba’s Court of King’s Bench on March 16.

But six days after getting his shot, he started feeling dizzy, losing his vision and having severe headaches. A CT scan at Vancouver General Hospital found Reimer had a hemorrhagic stroke, the lawsuit says.

He later needed two platelet infusions, then underwent a craniotomy to stop bleeding in his brain and had to be intubated after becoming unresponsive — all outcomes Reimer and his parents, Marina Dawn Toews Reimer and Perry John Reimer, believe were caused by the vaccine.

Since March 2021, Reimer has been unable to hold gainful employment, advance his university education or carry out many activities of daily living, the court filing says. He’s now legally blind and has other symptoms related to mental focus and concentration, memory loss, mental impairment and obsessive-compulsive disorder tendencies, according to the claim.

The COVID Vaccine King on Biden World’s Nerves

Politico reported:

The White House’s relationship with Moderna has deteriorated dramatically over the last two years, marring what should have been one of the most successful public-private partnerships in U.S. history, four people with knowledge of the matter told West Wing Playbook.

At the center of the White House’s disputes with Moderna is a disagreement over how indebted the company should be to the government for the help it got in developing the COVID vaccine. Moderna received an estimated $1.7 billion in federal funds to accelerate the creation of its initial shot. The resulting vaccine offered the U.S. a path out of the pandemic — and represented Moderna’s first and only working product.

The company has since recorded more than $36 billion in sales. Bancel’s own net worth is estimated at $4.7 billion.

Yet despite the government’s investment, Biden officials say Moderna has barely reciprocated in kind. In one episode in 2021, after the president vowed to make the U.S. an “arsenal of vaccines” for the world, Moderna resisted repeated overtures to commit additional doses to help lower-income countries. The administration eventually went public with the battle.

Many CDC Blunders Exaggerated Severity of COVID: Study

The Epoch Times reported:

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) made at least 25 statistical or numerical errors during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the overwhelming majority exaggerated the severity of the pandemic, according to a new study.

Researchers who have been tracking CDC errors compiled 25 instances where the agency offered demonstrably false information. For each instance, they analyzed whether the error exaggerated or downplayed the severity of COVID-19. Of the 25 instances, 20 exaggerated the severity, the researchers reported in the study, which was published ahead of peer review on March 23.

“The CDC has expressed significant concern about COVID-19 misinformation. In order for the CDC to be a credible source of information, they must improve the accuracy of the data they provide,” the authors wrote.

Most of the errors were about COVID-19’s impact on children. In mid-2021, for instance, the CDC claimed that 4% of the deaths attributed to COVID-19 were kids. The actual percentage was 0.04%. The CDC eventually corrected the misinformation, months after being alerted to the issue.

White House to Disband COVID Response Team in May

CNN Politics reported:

The White House will disband its coronavirus response team after the COVID-19 public health emergency ends in May, a current and former official said.

The team, led most recently by Dr. Ashish Jha, has begun to dwindle in recent months as the administration has started to shift its response to the virus from the emergency that defined the early part of President Joe Biden’s term in office. The team will now be disbanded as the public health emergency is set to expire on May 11.

Under Biden, the COVID-19 response team was responsible for coordinating the nationwide rollout and distribution of vaccines, treatments and medical supplies.

‘Muted’ Immune Response May Explain Why COVID Is Tougher for Obese People

U.S. News & World Report reported:

Obesity is a well-known risk factor for severe COVID-19, and researchers think they’ve uncovered a possible reason why.

Obese folks appear to have a blunted inflammatory response to COVID, leaving their immune systems less capable of fighting it, according to a recent study.

The findings were a surprise to researchers, given that severe COVID often has been tied to an overactive immune response that produces damaging levels of inflammation in humans.

The researchers found the obese patients had underactive immune and inflammatory responses in their lungs. The study was published recently in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

Long COVID Risk Factors Are Tied to Gender, Age and Weight

Bloomberg reported:

Women, overweight people and those above age 40 are among the groups that have a greater risk of developing long COVID, according to a report published Thursday that makes the case for better pandemic treatment and support.

Researchers also found that patients with preexisting conditions like asthma, diabetes and even anxiety or depression were more likely to develop long-lasting COVID-19 symptoms. Those previously hospitalized or admitted to intensive care for COVID also were at higher risk.

Can an Addiction Drug Treat Long COVID?

Rolling Stone reported:

When pharmacist Jack Korbutov opened The Art of Medicine, a Philadelphia compounding pharmacy, in September 2012, low-dose naltrexone (LDN) was among the first prescriptions he filled. Before starting his own specialty pharmacy, Korbutov had worked exclusively in traditional establishments and had only encountered naltrexone being prescribed in 50 mg doses to treat opioid addiction and alcohol use disorder.

Digging into the research, Korbutov learned that while naltrexone only has approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treating people recovering from addiction to heroin, morphine, oxycodone, and alcohol, some doctors prescribe it off-label in much smaller doses for chronic conditions like fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, and Crohn’s disease.

This is, in part, because, unlike new-to-the-market blockbuster drugs, pharmaceutical companies don’t stand to profit much from one that’s been around for decades, and, as a result, aren’t spending money promoting it. LDN also has yet to go fully mainstream because the medical establishment has long ignored and dismissed the chronic and invisible conditions it has been used to treat — myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) in particular.

Now, some doctors are prescribing LDN for patients with symptoms that develop or persist after a COVID-19 infection: also known as Long COVID. It’s estimated that millions of Americans are living with Long COVID, and without a viable treatment in place, the economic impact of their continued absence from the country’s workforce will be much harder to ignore.