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Federal Watchdog Slams Fauci’s Agency and EcoHealth Over Deal With Wuhan Lab
Dr. Anthony Fauci’s federal science agency and EcoHealth Alliance, which took a U.S. grant for bat virus research and paid part of it to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, made serious missteps, government investigators said Tuesday.
EcoHealth Alliance did not properly disclose its subgrant recipients — which included the Chinese lab which may have been the origin of COVID — and was two years late in filing a report that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) concluded may have revealed “gain of function,” or experiments which make a virus more dangerous to humans, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Inspector General said in a 72-page report. Fauci headed the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which oversaw the grant and is part of NIH.
“Our audit found that NIH’s own evaluation of the Year 5 progress report concluded that the research was of a type that should have been reported immediately to NIH,” it said. The Year 5 report was filed two years late, but the IG said NIH “did not effectively monitor or take timely action” despite knowing about potential risks.
“This oversight failure is particularly concerning because NIH had previously raised concerns with EcoHealth about the nature of the research being performed. Once NIH received and reviewed the late progress report, NIH concluded the research resulted in a virus with enhanced growth,” it said.
U.S. FDA Pulls Authorization for AstraZeneca’s COVID Treatment Evusheld
The U.S. health regulator has withdrawn emergency-use authorization for AstraZeneca‘s (AZN.L) COVID-19 antibody cocktail Evusheld as the treatment is not expected to neutralize the currently dominant XBB.1.5 subvariant of Omicron.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had limited Evusheld’s use earlier this month for the same reason and the agency’s Thursday announcement sent U.S. shares of London-based AstraZeneca down 1.31% to $65.75.
The FDA’s decision resonates with concerns raised by the European health regulator about the effectiveness of monoclonal antibodies such as Evusheld against newer variants.
Moderna Now in the Crosshairs of Sens. Warren, Welch Over Price Tag for COVID Vaccine
In December, Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, and Peter Welch, D-Vermont, sent a letter to Pfizer admonishing the company for a proposed increase in the price of its COVID-19 vaccine for up to $130.
Six weeks later, they’ve turned their attention to the world’s other leading producer of COVID-19 vaccines, Moderna, which also has said it might charge up to $130 per dose when the U.S. stops providing shots for free and goes to a commercial model.
In a letter to CEO Stéphane Bancel, the senators reminded him that development of the vaccine was facilitated in part by a massive government grant. Warren and Welch also pose nine questions to the CEO, most of them asking about the company’s pricing strategy on the vaccine and whether it conspired with Pfizer in arriving at its price. The letter stops short of accusing the company of “deadly greed,” as Warren and Welch did on Dec. 13 with Pfizer. But it does pose many of the same questions.
With the public admonishment of Moderna, Warren and Welch have joined Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont. Two weeks ago, Sanders called out Moderna, pointing out that it received $1.7 billion in public funds to research and develop the shot. Sanders also pointed out that manufacturing the vaccine costs approximately $2.85 per dose.
California Judge Issues Preliminary Injunction Blocking COVID ‘Misinformation’ Law: Reports
A California judge issued a preliminary injunction against a state law that empowers the Medical Board of California to discipline physicians who support opinions about COVID-19 that are not in line with the “consensus,” according to reports.
The law, known as Assembly Bill 2098, was set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2023. Under the law, the Medical Board of California and the Osteopathic Medical Board of California could discipline physicians who “disseminate” information about COVID that is not in line with the “contemporary scientific consensus.”
But in November, a group of five California physicians filed a lawsuit against California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration, saying the law violates their First Amendment rights and constitutional right to due process.
The preliminary injunction temporarily halts the implementation of the law while the case is tried in court.
FDA’s Vaccine Advisers Meet to Consider the Future of COVID Vaccination in the U.S.
A panel of independent experts that advises the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on its vaccine decisions will hold a full day of meetings on Thursday to consider what the future of COVID-19 vaccination should look like in the United States.
Currently, the U.S. is offering two types of COVID-19 vaccines. The first shots people get — also called the primary series — contain a single set of instructions that teach the immune system to fight off the original version of the virus, which emerged in 2019. The problem is that this index strain is no longer circulating. It was overrun months ago by an ever-evolving parade of new variants.
So last year, in consultation with its vaccine advisers, the FDA decided that it was time to update the vaccines. These new bivalent shots contain two sets of instructions; one set reminds the immune system about the original version of the coronavirus, and the second set teaches the immune system to recognize and fight off Omicron’s BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants, which emerged in the U.S. last year.
So the FDA’s advisers are expected to vote Thursday on whether the U.S. should be offering just one type of COVID-19 shot for both the primary and booster doses. The committee is also expected to consider how many strains of the virus should be in the shot and how and when those strains should be chosen.
The Downsides of Financial Incentives to Diagnose COVID
What likely began as a good-faith effort by Congress to comfort grieving families has turned into a runaway train of data obfuscation.
When Congress passed the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act in December 2020, it authorized the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to reimburse up to $2 billion in funeral expenses for deaths related to COVID-19 incurred through December 31, 2020.
Then, in March 2021, Congress extended this financial incentive, allowing FEMA to pull from $50 billion in general disaster relief funding through September 30, 2025, as part of the American Rescue Plan Act. So long as there is a National Emergency, families are empowered to seek financial reimbursement for the loss of their loved ones where COVID is present.
When a patient dies, the incentive to diagnose COVID grows stronger. Suppose the doctor or medical examiner fills out the death certificate and notes that COVID could plausibly have contributed to the patient’s death. In that case, the deceased patient’s family stands to gain up to $10,000 for funeral expenses from FEMA. Often all that is needed is for the patient’s physician to note a positive COVID test on the death certificate, even if COVID had little to do with the patient’s death.
Roche Launches New Test to Detect Fast-Spreading Omicron Sub-Variant
Roche (ROG.S) has launched a new PCR test to detect a fast-spreading sub-variant of the Omicron variant of coronavirus, the Swiss drugmaker said on Thursday.
The new test specifically targets the XBB.1.5 Omicron variant and will help researchers closely track the virus’s lineage and provide insights into the epidemiology and impact it has on public health, the company added.
The XBB.1.5 variant is prevalent in the United States and is quickly spreading to other countries, Roche said.
‘Bionic Nose’ May Help People Experiencing Smell Loss, Researchers Say
A bionic device being developed by two researchers at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine could help millions of people struggling with a loss of smell, they say.
One to 2% of Americans have a problem with smell that tends to increase with age. Partial or complete loss of smell, or anosmia, can result from many conditions, including brain injuries and diseases such as COVID-19. Nearly 15 million adults worldwide may have long-term smell problems because of COVID, according to research published in July.
It will, however, take five to 10 years for a fully developed prototype to be ready for implantation and testing in patients, said Richard Costanzo, director of research for the VCU Smell and Taste Disorders Center in Richmond. Costanzo said his idea for the device came long before the pandemic, born out of a desire to help people with a permanent loss of smell.
I Finally Got COVID. Here’s Why I Threw My Paxlovid Pills in the Garbage
San Francisco Chronicle reported:
It’s been a month since I threw my Paxlovid pills in the garbage. I only took the three-pill, twice-daily dosage for one day instead of the prescribed five. But no matter how many cough drops I sucked on or sticks of gum I chewed, I could not shake the rancid, metallic-tasting dumpster fire that has seemingly taken up permanent residence in my mouth.
What I am experiencing is common enough that it has a name: “Metal mouth” or “Paxlovid mouth.” In medical literature, this altered sense of taste is called dysgeusia. But, however it’s referred to, I wish I understood the risk of developing this nasty side-effect before I started taking the drug.
As so many of us who have taken the drug know, Paxlovid mouth can last far longer than five days. In fact, the data showed that from the earliest published results. The European Medical Agency, the European Union’s governing body in charge of the evaluation and supervision of pharmaceutical products, noted in December 2021 that potential side effects from Paxlovid, including dysgeusia, can last up to 34 days after the initial dosage.
Why doesn’t public messaging around the drug match the data?
People Urged to Get COVID Booster After Government Announces Universal Vaccine Program Will End
Manchester Evening News reported:
Officials have issued a reminder that there is still time for any member of the public to get their COVID jab before the universal vaccination program closes for the year.
Healthy adults under the age of 50 who are yet to receive a booster jab have just two-and-a-half weeks to take up the offer before they are no longer considered eligible. After this deadline, experts have advised for the universal offer to shift “towards a more targeted offer during vaccination campaigns.”
The new targeted program will focus vaccination offers for: care home residents and workers; frontline health and social care workers; adults over 50; people who are clinically at risk; carers and people who live in a house where someone is immunosuppressed.
It comes as the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI) said the initial booster offer for healthy adults aged 16 to 49 should close as the autumn booster program comes to an end. In England, the program is due to end on Feb. 12.
