Originally published at: The Second Trump White House Could Drastically Reshape Infectious Disease Research. Here’s What’s At Stake.
This article first appeared at ProPublica. ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox. Lifesaving HIV treatments. Cures for hepatitis C. New tuberculosis regimens and a vaccine for RSV. These and other major medical breakthroughs exist in large part thanks…
This is true for a whole host of issues, from investigating cures for rare diseases to building a highway system or internet backbone, that a government can address but for-profit corporations will not primarily because profit is too small, too risky, too distant in time or undefinable.
In March 2020, Bhattacharya co-authored an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal arguing that the death toll from the pandemic would likely be far lower than predicted and called for lockdown policies to be reevaluated.
I looked up the piece to see what he had estimated and of course it is still behind a paywall. But it did say he thought the 2 to 4 million originally projected was off by “orders of magnitude”, which implies his prediction was for about 200,000 to 400,000 (I am giving him the benefit of the doubt and just looking at an order of magnitude and not “orders”). Since we ended up in excess of one million, I wonder if he has found any humility regarding this since.
Updated COVID-19 Global Death Toll Estimate Is Three Times What Records Indicate – SHEA.
However, this guy is a genius compared to Kennedy who wants to devote resources to “alternative” therapies and reportedly doesn’t believe in the germ theory. Sitting here with one miserable case of the flu I am not feeling it, bro’.
NIH directors typically span presidential administrations. But Donald Trump has nominated Dr. Jay Bhattacharya to lead NIH, and current director Dr. Monica Bertagnolli told staff this week that she would resign on Jan. 17.
Timothy Snyder from “On Tyranny.” Lesson 1. Do not obey in advance.