Robert Califf Heads FDA Again Despite Financial Ties to Pharma
Robert M. Califf, MD was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to be commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by a vote of 50-46 on Feb. 15, 2022. Dr. Califf’s financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry was cited by some Senators as a reason they could not support his appointment. Similar concerns were expressed […]
Former Pfizer Employee Whistleblower Alleges Falsified Data in COVID Biologic Trial
A former testing site researcher in Texas has alleged that Pfizer’s pre-licensure BNT162b2 (also known as “Comirnaty”) COVID-19 biologic trials included falsification of data, unblinding patients, employing inadequately trained vaccinators, and delays in following up on experimental COVID vaccine adverse reaction reports.1 According to clinical trial researcher Brook Jackson, the incidences occurred during the phase […]
Former FDA Chief Stephen Hahn Joins Venture Capital Firm Behind Moderna COVID Vaccine
Stephen Hahn, MD, who served as commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from Dec. 17, 2019 through Jan. 20, 2021, has been hired by Flagship Pioneering Co.—the venture capital firm that launched biotechnology Moderna, Inc., maker of the experimental mRNA-1273 COVID-19 biologic currently being distributed in the United States under an emergency […]
CDC Urged to Be Truthful About Its Corporate Financial Ties
Public interest nonprofit organizations U.S. Right to Know and Public Citizen have petitioned the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to stop issuing false disclaimers that it “does not accept commercial support” and has “no financial interests or other relationships with the manufacturers of commercial products.”1 The CDC consistently publishes the following disclaimer throughout […]
The Pill Pitch
Prescription drugs help many people and even save lives. But use of prescription drugs as prescribed is also a leading cause of death in the U.S. Are some pharmaceutical companies skirting TV ad rules so that they don’t have to disclose side effects of some vaccines and other prescription medicine? Some critics say “yes.” And […]