corruption is OK, just don't look corrupt
FDA and NIH rules around jobs and influence look a little lacking
some very telling commentary from the FDA, as ever, found under FOIA and hardly subtle once seen:
former FDA employees that helped review the moderna covid vaxx application are fine taking jobs at moderna afterwards so long as they only work "behind the scenes" to influence FDA.
the ethics team is good with this.
so is the law.
note that it does not speak to "exerting influence" but rather "being seen to exert influence."
this has nothing to do with preventing corruption, only the perception of corruption.
"Please note that some of these bans are specific to the employee personally making representations to a government agency, they may still be permitted to work 'behind‐the‐scenes' advising others on the communication, the employee just could not make any communication personally with the intent to influence,"
got that? it has to be a one hop wink and a nod, no going in yourself to do that. but of course, they know you’re there, your name gets dropped. hell, maybe your salary and options package too so good little boys and girls know the going rate for free agents in the grand game of:
the net effect is to push the crony corporatism into the shadows where it cannot be seen and selectively build networks of power and preferencing intended and required to be as invisible as they are unaccountable.
this is not a bug, it's a feature.
it's is a blueprint for regulatory capture by firms with plum jobs to offer and a roadmap to hiding it.
calling this anything other than "bribing public officials" seems inapt.
shame they did not have the NIH “FOIA ladies” to help them learn to hide their tracks…
i'm amazed this is coming as a surprise to anyone, but apparently, it is.
the relationship between pharma and FDA/NIH is far swampier and captured than even wall st and the fed/treasury dept.
and it's not getting better, it's getting worse.
this is not an avoidable outcome.
agencies w/ this much power always get corrupted.
to paraphrase gato's 1st law
as soon as you allow regulators to determine that which is bought and sold, the first thing bought and sold will always be regulators
(and they're cheaper than politicians)
I've known it about the FDA for a REALLY long time. People are only even now waking up to the fact that it's not just pharmaceuticals but food as well. You think the typical "foods" and food additives people eat are safe because they've been "approved" by the FDA? Yeah, keep thinking that. Let me know how it goes for you.
In the meantime, farms that provide *real* food (like raw milk - you know, the stuff our ancestors drank without problem for thousands of years) are being raided by the feds.
If you really wanna see how much the FDA cares about you and your health, go compare the labels on a "food" product (like breakfast cereal) between what is sold in the U.S. and the same product as sold in Europe. Have a shovel ready to help you pick your jaw up off the ground.
You know how the comments sections here and on other friends-of-undeclawed-cats' Substacks have not been empty of readers saying "I took the vax but was sorry later" and when other readers say "what the fuck were you thinking?" the vaxed-but-regretful say "well I trusted...."
Where have they been, the past 50 years? They never heard of the Dalkon Shield, Rely Tampons, morcellators, abdominal/vaginal mesh, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.? Of Vioxx and Celebrex? Of every NYT and Washington Post etc. etc. etc. article every year or so *until* this our Plague Era, advising people to always get second opinions because medical errors are so common?
This is yet one more thing on us, that we failed to burn the house down after the first ten times this happened.
[edited for grammar]