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MAHA Caucus Member Pledges Hearings Into ‘Corruption’ of a Public Health Sector ‘Captured by Big Pharma’
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., a member of the newly created Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) senatorial caucus, told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview that one of the first hearings he wants to hold as chair of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations would focus on “the corruption of science” within the public health system.
Johnson said he hopes the MAHA caucus will “restore integrity” to the scientific community while adhering to recently confirmed Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s other agenda items. “That’s just foundational, we have to do that first,” Johnson said. “I think we need to give the … COVID injection injured a fair hearing.”
Created in December by Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas – who is also a physician – the MAHA caucus “will focus on nutrition, access to affordable, high-quality-nutrient-dense foods, improving primary care, and addressing the root causes of chronic diseases,” acting as a congressional arm for implementing RFK Jr.’s agenda.
Trump Reportedly Warns Big Pharma: Move Manufacturing to US or Face Tariffs
President Donald Trump reportedly issued a stringent warning to pharmaceutical companies, advising them to repatriate their manufacturing to the U.S. or face the possibility of tariffs.
What Happened: During a confidential meeting, Trump alerted drug companies about the impending tariffs, urging them to hasten the transfer of their overseas production to the U.S., reported Bloomberg on Friday. On Thursday, the CEO of Eli Lilly & Co., David Ricks, CEO of Merck & Co., Robert Davis, CEO OF Pfizer Inc., Albert Bourla, and Stephen Ubl, head of the industry’s largest lobbying group met Trump at the White House.
The executives aimed to persuade Trump to back efforts to limit a law permitting the federal government to negotiate specific drug prices and to support measures targeting middlemen whom the industry holds responsible for increasing out-of-pocket costs.
As per the Bloomberg report, Trump did not assure to advocate with Congress to alleviate a drug pricing program established under former President Joe Biden‘s tenure, a relief that the pharmaceutical sector has been seeking.
Are You Vaccinated Against Measles? Texas Health Experts Want You to Check Before Outbreak Spreads
The Houston Chronicle reported:
Just five of the 124 cases of measles Texas state health officials confirmed last week were in individuals who were vaccinated, and Texas has one of the lowest vaccination rates of any state in the country. The state is grappling with the worst measles outbreak seen in 30 years, in which cases spiked by over 50% last week, according to officials.
Texas infectious disease specialists are encouraging individuals to check their immunization history — especially if they were born before a certain time, as older vaccines were less effective, said Luis Ostrosky, chief of infectious diseases at UTHealth Houston.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends children receive two doses of the MMR vaccine. A child’s first dose should happen between 12 and 15 months of age, and their second dose should happen between four and six years of age.
Measles vaccines are considered effective for life, Ostrosky said, but people born before a certain time may need another shot. People who were born before 1968 who were vaccinated with either an inactive measles vaccine, or a vaccine of an unknown type, are recommended to get at least one dose of the live MMR vaccine, according to the CDC.
Children’s COVID-19 Vaccines Used Up: CDC
The JN.1-adapted COVID-19 vaccines for children aged six months to 11 years have been used up, so starting from yesterday, eligible children would receive half a dose of the adult vaccine — equal to the children’s vaccine dosage, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said.
Fourteen hospitalized COVID-19 cases and one death were reported last week, and none of them had received the latest JN.1-adapted vaccine, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei said on Tuesday. Since Sept. 1 last year, 502 people have been hospitalized for COVID-19 and 106 deaths have been reported, he said.
Of those who were hospitalized after Oct. 1, more than 97% did not stay up to date with their vaccine, he added.
The government had purchased five million Moderna JN.1 jabs for adults and 500,000 doses for children, but the latter have been used up, CDC Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-hui said.
Antidepressant Users See Average of 2% Weight Gain, Finds Study
A recent study led by the Hospital del Mar Research Institute and published by Frontiers in Psychiatry demonstrates the link between antidepressants and weight gain. Using follow-up data from participants in the REGICOR study (Registre Gironí del Cor), researchers quantified an average 2% increase in body weight among individuals undergoing this type of treatment.
The study followed 3,127 adults over six years, including 1,700 women, with an average age of 55. Among the participants, 16.4% reported taking antidepressants, either consistently throughout the study period (5.1%), starting them during the study (6.2%), or taking them at the beginning but later discontinuing them (5.1%). Over the six-year follow-up, all participants gained weight (an average increase of half a kilogram), but the weight gain was more pronounced among those on antidepressant treatment.
“All individuals taking antidepressants had a higher likelihood of gaining weight and developing obesity. This risk is even greater for those who use these medications continuously,” explains Dr. Camille Lassale, a researcher at the Hospital del Mar Research Institute and the Barcelona Institute for Global Health.
Drug Compounders Sue FDA Over Declaration Ending Wegovy Shortage
Drug compounders are suing the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) again over obesity and diabetes drugs, claiming in a complaint Monday the agency’s decision to remove Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide from its shortage list will “deprive patients of a vital treatment.”
The original shortage declaration had permitted drug compounders to supply alternative versions of semaglutide, which Novo sells as Wegovy for weight loss and Ozempic for diabetes. Monday’s lawsuit follows an earlier action against the FDA for removing Eli Lilly’s drug tirzeptatide from its shortage list, a case that is still in federal court.
Online health company Hims & Hers, a major seller of compounded semaglutide, will begin telling customers in coming months to begin looking for “alternative options on the commercial dosing,” CEO Andrew Dudum told Wall Street analysts Monday. The company’s shares have fallen by more than one-third since the FDA’s announcement.
A Child Has Died in the Texas Measles Outbreak
A school-age child has died from measles in west Texas. The death of the child, who was not vaccinated for measles, was confirmed by state and local health officials and comes after weeks of a growing outbreak that spans Texas and New Mexico. It’s the first reported U.S. death from the illness since 2015.
More than 130 people have been sickened with measles in the two states, most of them children under the age of 18.
The outbreak started in Gaines County in West Texas, which has a population of about 23,000. It has been home to a community of Mennonite ranchers since 1977 according to the Seminole, Texas chamber of commerce.
UK Rise in Superbugs Pose Challenge for Govt: Study
Superbugs directly cause some 7,600 U.K. deaths each year and contribute to around 35,200 more, a report said Wednesday, warning the government was making “limited progress” in tackling rising infections.
The bugs — strains of bacteria or pathogens that have become resistant to antibiotics, making them much harder to treat — have been recognized as a rising threat to global health. Surgeries such as Cesarean sections or joint replacements could one day become too dangerous to perform without antibiotics, experts have warned previously.
In the U.K. “drug-resistant infections in humans have increased by 13 percent since 2018, despite a target to reduce them by 10 percent”, the study by the National Audit Office, which scrutinizes UK government spending, said.
Two Clusters of Unknown Illness Cases Kill 50 in Democratic Republic of Congo
More than 50 people have died in recent weeks in two clusters of illness cases with the unknown cause being investigated in northwest Democratic Republic of Congo, the World Health Organization said Tuesday.
As of Feb. 16, there have been 431 cases and 53 deaths in two outbreaks in remote villages in separate health zones in Equateur province, the WHO said in a bulletin. The country is roughly the size of Western Europe.
“The outbreaks, which have seen cases rise rapidly within days, pose a significant public health threat. The exact cause remains unknown,” WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic told a briefing Tuesday.
