Tag Archives: politics

Pfizer, Moderna COVID-19 vaccines could reach all Americans by June—if politics don’t get in the way: Slaoui

Moncef Slaoui, co-leader of the U.S. government’s Operation Warp Speed effort, is so confident that Moderna’s and Pfizer’s mRNA vaccines to prevent COVID-19 will succeed in phase 3 trials that he thinks every American could be immunized by June. But there’s one caveat weighing down that prediction: politics. Slaoui is growing increasingly frustrated with the… Read More »

Talking Politics in the Exam Room: A Physician’s Obligation to Discuss the Political Ramifications of Science with Patients

By HAYWARD ZWERLING I walked into my exam room to see a patient I first met two decades ago. On presentation, his co-morbidities included poorly controlled DM-1, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and a substance abuse disorder. Over the years our healthcare system has served him well as he has remained free of diabetic complications and now leads… Read More »

Convalescent plasma: another controversial clash of politics & science

You’d need a pretty big, stiff broom to sweep away all of the hype dished out by the Trump Administration as it announced an Emergency Use Authorization for convalescent plasma – the liquid component of blood that may be tapped for disease-fighting antibodies from people who’ve been infected with COVID-19. Before the announcement was even… Read More »

Ex-FDA chief says Trump got ‘spooked by the politics and pushback’ on banning flavored vapes

President Donald Trump delayed announcing a flavored e-cigarette ban because he was “spooked” by the political ramifications, but a plan will likely still be implemented, former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb told CNBC on Friday. “I think that something’s going to get done here,” Gottlieb said in a “Squawk Box” interview. “They wouldn’t be putting on… Read More »