RFK Jr, HHs & MAHA News | Chaos at HHS
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You are exactly correct. And sometimes, if that expert witness doesn't say exactly what the lawyer wants to hear, then they are not used as an expert witness. Every single expert witness I ever used knew what I wanted to hear before he or she ever walked through the door. But the "best" expert witnesses are those who will be honest with you, will educate you, and will help you map out a settlement strategy that will have a total cost lower than what going to trial and winning would cost. An expert witness who will say whatever his or her client wants to hear is not only useless but a detriment to a considered decision on whether to reach a settlement. As one insurance client told me, "I'm not in the business of trying cases, I'm in the business of settling cases. A case that goes to trial is almost always financially indistinguishable from or more expensive than a settlement." Did you miss the part about, "A federal judge dismissed the suits for lack of reliable scientific evidence."? The judge ruling that as a matter of law the expert testimony was unreliable is exceeding rare. That it happened here is a real reflection on the quality of the expert's testimony or the lawyer's presentation of that testimony.
ETA: Notwithstanding the foregoing, I will admit that during the initial stages of what has the potential to be a nationwide series of lawsuits with the potential to bankrupt the defendant, such defendants sometimes come to conclusion that a "death by a thousand cuts" is an outcome worse than fully litigating the initial underlying claims of tortious conduct.
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superrific
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Not $150,000. And while there's nothing wrong with that per se, there's a tradeoff. Once you take that kind of money, nobody will ever take you seriously on that subject again because you've literally been purchased.
Especially when you're peddling bullshit.
$150k is not crazy. Most experts in single plaintiff litigation are in the $25k-$75k range. A survey expert in a class action could easily exceed $150k. A scientific expert could also exceed $150k if they are doing experiments with large control groups or are working for years on the litigation.
superrific
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Did I say it's crazy? But these people aren't mega-millionaires. $150K is close to a year's salary for a non-legal academic. Would you trust an employee of a pharma company to give a neutral assessment of the pharma's company's practices?
Being an expert witness can be a career, and a lucrative one. But again, it's not and shouldn't be free money. If you sign up to be bought, then expect to be treated as if you are bought.
ZenMode
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Or you're paid well because you have expertise on a specific topic.
Evaluation of the evidence on acetaminophen use and neurodevelopmental disorders using the Navigation Guide methodology
Evaluation of the evidence on acetaminophen use and neurodevelopmental disorders using the Navigation Guide methodology - Environmental Health
Background Acetaminophen is the most commonly used over-the-counter pain and fever medication taken during pregnancy, with > 50% of pregnant women using acetaminophen worldwide. Numerous well-designed studies have indicated that pregnant mothers exposed to acetaminophen have children diagnosed...
ehjournal.biomedcentral.com
Using acetaminophen during pregnancy may increase children’s autism and ADHD risk | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
When children are exposed to acetaminophen—also known by the brand name Tylenol or as paracetamol—during pregnancy, they may be more likely to develop neurodevelopmental disorders including autism and ADHD, according to a new study.
hsph.harvard.edu
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gtyellowjacket
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Couldn't find his current salary but the guy that held his position previously made $575k a year 10 years ago. I suspect $150k would be a very nice bonus for an MD and the dean of public heath at a top University but it is significantly less than a years salary.
superrific
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Fair enough. I wasn't aware that the public health school had MDs and medical research going on. But he wasn't dean when he did that work either.
Either way, it's still a lot of money and there's no reason to suspect that a person who received that kind of remuneration would be an unbiased source. It's possible that there are relevant circumstances I'm not aware of -- i.e. if he did the work over a period of many years, if it was an extension of his longtime personal research interests, etc. I wasn't commenting on the man himself, only on what to make of an expert opinion that has been purchased for that kind of cash. I do not think the presumption should go in the expert's favor.
And it doesn't make him a bad person at all.
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White House Unveils ‘TrumpRx’ Drug-Buying Site and a Pfizer Pricing Deal
The company says it gains a three-year grace period to exempt it from national-security-related tariffs
—> https://www.wsj.com/health/pharma/w...b?st=FrNWQy&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink“… President Trump unveiled plans Tuesday to launch a government-run website, dubbed TrumpRx, for consumers to buy drugs directly from manufacturers, and he said Pfizer plans to offer some of its drugs on the site at a reduced rate.
Separately, Trump said Pfizer would offer all of its drugs to Medicaid at a reduced, “most favored nation” price, as well as introduce any new drugs to the U.S. market at the reduced prices. In return, the company gains a three-year grace period to exempt it from national-security-related tariffs, as long as the company invests in domestic manufacturing, the company said.
… It is unclear how many drugs in total would be offered [on the Trump Rx site], but the White House said some drugs included would be: Eucrisa, a dermatitis treatment; Xeljanz, a pill for rheumatoid arthritis; and Zavzpret, a treatment for migraines. The company said some terms remain confidential.
Trump said Pfizer had agreed to offer some of its most popular drugs on the platform at steep discounts, between 50% and 100% off. Pfizer said the majority of its “primary care treatments and some select specialty brands will be offered at savings that will range as high as 85% and on average 50%.”
The Trump Rx website would allow customers to search for a specific drug, then would direct users to a manufacturer direct-to-consumer site where it could be purchased, senior administration officials said.…”
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“… Pfizer and other drugmakers already provide significant discounts on drugs sold to Medicaid patients, so prices based on international pricing might not be much lower. And the customer base for drugs sold at a discount through TrumpRx might be relatively small because most people have health insurance that comes with lower out-of-pocket costs.White House Unveils ‘TrumpRx’ Drug-Buying Site and a Pfizer Pricing Deal
The company says it gains a three-year grace period to exempt it from national-security-related tariffs
“… President Trump unveiled plans Tuesday to launch a government-run website, dubbed TrumpRx, for consumers to buy drugs directly from manufacturers, and he said Pfizer plans to offer some of its drugs on the site at a reduced rate.
Separately, Trump said Pfizer would offer all of its drugs to Medicaid at a reduced, “most favored nation” price, as well as introduce any new drugs to the U.S. market at the reduced prices. In return, the company gains a three-year grace period to exempt it from national-security-related tariffs, as long as the company invests in domestic manufacturing, the company said.
… It is unclear how many drugs in total would be offered [on the Trump Rx site], but the White House said some drugs included would be: Eucrisa, a dermatitis treatment; Xeljanz, a pill for rheumatoid arthritis; and Zavzpret, a treatment for migraines. The company said some terms remain confidential.
Trump said Pfizer had agreed to offer some of its most popular drugs on the platform at steep discounts, between 50% and 100% off. Pfizer said the majority of its “primary care treatments and some select specialty brands will be offered at savings that will range as high as 85% and on average 50%.”
The Trump Rx website would allow customers to search for a specific drug, then would direct users to a manufacturer direct-to-consumer site where it could be purchased, senior administration officials said.…”
Drug-pricing expert Rena Conti, an associate professor at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business, said Xeljanz and other drugs mentioned by the White House as part of the new platform already have generous patient-assistance programs from Pfizer and face stiff pricing competition. …”
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“… The comedy portion of this show debuted this week with Mr. Trump’s announcement of a new government website dubbed (of course) TrumpRx. The plan is to sell medicines directly to consumers at discount prices. Details are vague, though the business theory is supposedly to bypass insurance “middlemen.”
Someone should have told the President that private businesses already do this. One example is Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drug Co., which markets itself as selling “safe medicines at the lowest possible price.”
… The White House is advertising TrumpRx discounts on the likes of Xeljanz for autoimmune conditions (40% discount), Zavzpret for migraines (50%), Eucrisa for dermatitis (80%), and Duavee for osteoporosis (85%).
What the White House isn’t saying is that most drugs already cost much less than their list prices.
… It’s hard to begrudge Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla for buying political goodwill from the President to reduce punitive costs for his company. But the deal has caused an uproar in the industry, as every CEO must now decide whether to ask Mr. Trump for a similar most-favored-company deal.
The White House is leaking to the press that any company that refuses such a deal will get hit with punitive tariffs and price controls. This is a form of political extortion akin to what Democrats did with their pharma price controls in the Inflation Reduction Act. The real winners in all this are in China, which is bidding to replace the U.S. as the home of the world’s leading biotech and pharma industry.“
—> https://www.wsj.com/opinion/donald-...a?st=HjEn3B&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
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FDA approves another generic abortion pill, prompting conservative backlash
FDA approves another generic abortion pill, prompting conservative backlash
Federal officials have approved another generic version of the abortion pill mifepristone, a regulatory formality that quickly triggered pushback from anti-abortion groups and politicians aligned with the Trump administration.
www.pbs.org
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Kennedy Fires N.I.H. Scientist Who Filed Whistle-Blower Complaint
Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, who was on administrative leave, alleged that the Trump administration had defied court orders and undermined vaccine research.
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Kennedy Fires N.I.H. Scientist Who Filed Whistle-Blower Complaint
Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, who was on administrative leave, alleged that the Trump administration had defied court orders and undermined vaccine research.www.nytimes.com
“… Her dismissal was the latest in a series of steps the Trump administration has taken against government scientists and environmental experts after they warned that administration policies were endangering public health and safety.
That scientist, Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, who had directed the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases before being demoted in March, was one of several senior N.I.H. officials who said that their tenures at the agency had ended in recent days.
Dr. Eliseo Pérez-Stable, who had directed the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, told the publication Science that he received a letter from the N.I.H. director, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, stating that his appointment was ending this week.
And Dr. Diana Bianchi, who had directed the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, indicated on social media that her tenure at the N.I.H. had ended, too.
Those scientists had all been in limbo since being placed on administrative leave in the spring. Dr. Marrazzo said in her complaint last month that the N.I.H. had placed her on administrative leave after she objected to Trump administration actions that she said had endangered research subjects, defied court orders and undermined vaccine research….”
Molotov Mocktail
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Most transparent administration in our history
superrific
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As everyone can guess if not aware, that's all a lie. Biden's FDA absolutely did study the safety risks. There has been TONS of research on in-person versus mail dispensation, and it has almost universally shown no difference in outcomes.
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“… A 2018 internal presentation the company labeled “privileged and confidential” acknowledges that observational studies show a “somewhat consistent” association between prenatal exposure to Tylenol and neurodevelopmental disorders. Another presentation slide acknowledges that larger meta-analyses — reviews summarizing multiple scientific studies — found an association, but notes weaknesses of these studies like confounding variables and subjectivity in measuring autistic traits.
“Johnson & Johnson divested its consumer health business years ago, and all rights and liabilities associated with the sale of its over-the-counter products, including Tylenol (acetaminophen), are owned by Kenvue,” a Johnson & Johnson spokesman said in a statement.
… Hearings before the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in the class action suit against Kenvue will begin Oct. 9. Judge Denise Cote granted summary judgement for Kenvue in September 2023, after tossing the scientific testimony from experts for Keller Postman, citing the “great public health implications” of pregnant women not having the drug.…”