Oral Vaccine for COVID Under Development in Japan
Researchers in Japan have been working on a new vaccine for COVID-19 that would be administered orally rather than by injection. The vaccine, under development by EPS Holdings, Inc. of Tokyo, is in the form of a pill that is placed under the tongue and contains part of the spike protein along with an adjuvant […]
U.S. Shuts Down Risky Novel Animal Virus Research Program
The U.S. government has shut down a research program that searches for new animal viruses in Asia, Africa and Latin America that have the potential to infect humans and cause a pandemic. The $125 million dollar research program called Discovery and Exploration of Emerging Pathogens- Viral Zoonoses (DEEP VZN) focused on the study of novel […]
Pulling Out All the Stops to Sell More COVID Shots
This year, Pfizer, Inc. and Moderna, Inc. have experienced sharply declining sales of their messenger RNA (mRNA) COVID-19 shots, Comirnaty and Spikevax. Pfizer reported first-quarter (ending Mar. 31, 2023) sales of $3 billion for Comirnaty—down 75 percent from the same period in 2022. It posted second-quarter (ending June 30) sales of $1.49 billion—down 83 percent […]
Private Equity Buyouts of Health Care Facilities Comes With Cost to Patients
The rising trend in burnout of health care workers in recent years has presented an opportunity for private equity corporations in the United States to invest in the health care market at record high rates.1 For several decades, multibillion-dollar corporate giants have been gaining control of many sectors of American society, including the food industry […]
Federal Court Sides With Doctors on Ivermectin Lawsuit Charging FDA Overreach
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans has given new life to a lawsuit brought by three doctors claiming the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) overstepped its authority and acted as a medical doctor rather than as a regulating authority in the agency’s campaign promoting a ban on the use of the […]
U.S. Maternal Mortality Still Climbing
The maternal mortality rate in the United States is the highest of all developed nations and has been steadily rising since the 1990s. By definition, maternal mortality includes women who die during pregnancy, childbirth, or 42 days after birth during the postpartum period. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has deemed this […]