Pharma ⋆ Page 2 of 10 ⋆ Brownstone Institute

Bird Flu, Fear, and Perverse Incentives

David Bell / June 10, 2024 / History, Pharma, Public Health / 11 minute read

SHARE | PRINT | EMAIL

Outbreaks do occur and we should monitor and prepare for them. However, we have allowed the development of a system where outbreaks are almost all that matter. Perceptions of risk, and resultant funding, have become grossly disproportionate to reality. The perverse incentives driving this are obvious, as are the harms. The world will be increasingly unequal and impoverished, and sick, building on the outcomes of the Covid response. Fear promotes profit better than calmness and context. It is on us to remain calm and continually educate ourselves regarding context. No one will sell these to us.

Bird Flu, Fear, and Perverse Incentives Read More

Children Are Gifts, Not Projects

Thomas Harrington / June 4, 2024 / Education, Pharma, Society / 8 minute read

SHARE | PRINT | EMAIL

Could it be that if we were to take a bit more time to reflect on the inherent resourcefulness of our offspring as children of God, we might worry a little less about ensuring that they become cogs in our culture’s clearly sputtering machine of material “success” and thus be less inclined to cede before the “Drug him or else he’ll never be a success” entreaties of ostensibly well-meaning authorities?

Children Are Gifts, Not Projects Read More

The Story of Operation Warp Speed Gets Worse

John Tamny / May 24, 2024 / Government, Pharma, Vaccines / 4 minute read

SHARE | PRINT | EMAIL

Quite understandably given the billions Moderna made from Warp Speed, Arbutus and parent company Genevant are suing for infringement. Which is where it gets weird, or actually not very weird. If government was going to lean on pharmaceutical firms to rush a vaccine, indemnity from liability had to come next. And so it is for Moderna via-a-vis Arbutus. The Department of Justice agreed last year to take on Moderna’s liability for patent infringement which, given the billions Moderna earned via federal largesse, could easily add up to billions.

The Story of Operation Warp Speed Gets Worse Read More

Pandemics: The Healthcare Dilemma of Our Time

David Bell / May 24, 2024 / Pharma, Public Health, Vaccines / 16 minute read

SHARE | PRINT | EMAIL

So, rather than arguing over the fine print in these pandemic agreements, we first must make an obvious and fundamental decision. Is the intent of all this to live longer, more equitably, and healthily? Or is it to grow the pharmaceutical sector of wealthy countries? We cannot do both, and we are currently set up to support Pharma. It will take a lot of unraveling, and rethink on conflict-of-interest rules, to make this a public health program. It probably comes down to who makes decisions, and whether they want an egalitarian society or a more traditional feudalistic and colonialist approach. This is the real question to be addressed in Geneva.

Pandemics: The Healthcare Dilemma of Our Time Read More

Oysters with a Side of Vindication

Richard Kelly / May 20, 2024 / Economics, Pharma, Vaccines / 6 minute read

SHARE | PRINT | EMAIL

Oofy turned his attention to his second plate of oysters, then looked me in the eye. “The only thing that was 95% effective was the government propaganda. And of course the margin loans we all used to make squillions on the pharma share price gains. Don’t tell me you missed that boat too, Wooster. Good lord, you are a chump. Even the PM was in on it. His wife held the shares of course. Pass the lemon, there’s a good chap.”

Oysters with a Side of Vindication Read More

AstraZeneca Recalls Covid-19 Injectable Product

Jessica Rose / May 19, 2024 / Pharma, Vaccines / 2 minute read

SHARE | PRINT | EMAIL

You might have heard that the AstraZeneca Covid-19 injectable product has been withdrawn from market use. It’s true. They’ve initiated a worldwide recall of their product as of May 8, 2024.

AstraZeneca Recalls Covid-19 Injectable Product Read More

Another Damning EU Vaccine Safety Report

Sonia Elijah / May 13, 2024 / Pharma, Vaccines / 11 minute read

SHARE | PRINT | EMAIL

Germany had the highest number of recorded cases, a total of 114,573, which accounted for 22.5% of all worldwide cases for that 6-month period. It is worth noting that from December 2020 through to June 2022, a staggering 323,684 individual reports of suspected Covid-19 vaccine side effects were received by The Paul-Ehrlich-Institut, an Agency of the German Federal Ministry of Health. Yet, despite this large number, Karl Lauterbach, Germany’s Minister for Health, known for his pro-lockdown and pro-vaccine stance, made the unsubstantiated claim that the “vaccine was without side effects” in August 2021.

Another Damning EU Vaccine Safety Report Read More

Medical Elites’ Disgrace Over Ivermectin

David Gortler, Pharm. D / May 11, 2024 / Pharma, Public Health / 9 minute read

SHARE | PRINT | EMAIL

In the wake of the FDA settling a lawsuit brought against it for wantonly and aggressively smearing ivermectin, the agency has deleted its postings. That’s good, but we shouldn’t forget how egregiously it mischaracterized the drug, ignored copious evidence in its favor, and portrayed its proponents as dangerous crackpots.

Medical Elites’ Disgrace Over Ivermectin Read More

History Repeats Itself: Early Treatment

Filipe Rafaeli / May 7, 2024 / History, Pharma, Public Health / 13 minute read

SHARE | PRINT | EMAIL

Every respectable film script has heroes and villains. Without them, there’s no story to tell. Dallas Buyers Club fulfills that requirement. And when people watch the film, there’s no doubt who the good guys and the bad guys are. The good guys were the ones who, despite being attacked and persecuted, drastically reduced the mortality rate of the disease.

History Repeats Itself: Early Treatment Read More

Of Cancers, Cures, and LNPs

Jessica Rose / May 4, 2024 / Pharma, Public Health / 10 minute read

SHARE | PRINT | EMAIL

Currently, we are moving into phase 3, and before you know it, everyone will be getting injected with modified mRNA crap to ‘cure cancer’. Now don’t get me wrong, cancer is insidious and needs to be dealt with, but as I stated in my 5 minute short, cancer is almost entirely preventable (in the case of most cancers) and thus, resources should be spent on prevention, not stage 4 ‘cures’ based on novel gene-based pro-drugs that have a really bad safety profile as per the Covid-19 modified mRNA injectable product test run of late.

Of Cancers, Cures, and LNPs Read More

Illusions in Vaccine Effectiveness

Eyal Shahar / May 1, 2024 / Pharma, Vaccines / 6 minute read

SHARE | PRINT | EMAIL

The pseudo-effectiveness of Covid vaccines against death from unrelated causes is not a new observation. The same kind of pseudo-effectiveness was discovered long ago for the flu vaccines. It is called the “healthy vaccinee effect.” For various reasons, unrelated to the vaccines, people who are vaccinated have better background health (on average) than people who are not, and therefore, they are less likely to die from “anything,” including flu and Covid. Vaccinated or not, they would have had lower Covid mortality than their unvaccinated counterparts.

Illusions in Vaccine Effectiveness Read More

Antidepressants for Everyone

Maryanne Demasi / April 24, 2024 / Pharma / 5 minute read

SHARE | PRINT | EMAIL

Encouraging people to diagnose their own depression and buy medication without a prescription – medication which has an unfavourable benefit:harm profile in most people and is difficult to stop taking – is a very bad idea.

Antidepressants for Everyone Read More