Tag: big pharma

How Government ‘Affordability’ Turns an $18 Antibiotic Into $2,500

Nothing makes anything less affordable than a government promise to make something more affordable, and a Texas pharmacist revealed this week how an $18 generic antibiotic gets listed for $2,500. But from there, things get so seriously stupid that you just know there must be a government program involved.

Brad Hart, along with his wife Glenda, own Forest Park Pharmacy in Fort Worth, so he knows a thing or two about how the system works — and just how dysfunctional it is.

“A family came in wanting to transfer their kid’s antibiotic to us,” he posted to X earlier this week. “The child had already STARTED the course. Then, mid-treatment, the insurance company decided the last 14 tablets suddenly needed a ‘prior authorization’ before the other pharmacy could hand them over.”

All this for Linezolid, a generic antibiotic that costs Forest Park $18.

Why all the fuss for something so inexpensive? 

Hart explained, “Insurance and the PBMs [Pharmacy Benefit Manager] behind them price drugs off a number called AWP — ‘Average Wholesale Price.’ People in my industry have another name for it: ‘Ain’t What’s Paid.’ It’s a benchmark number, not a real-world cost. On paper, the AWP for just those last 14 tablets is about $2,500.”

“The system that’s supposedly ‘protecting’ this family from cost is the same system that inflated an $18 medication into a $2,500 line item, then slapped a prior auth on it to “review the expense” THEY invented,” Hart continued. “They manufactured the problem, then billed everyone for the privilege of solving it.”

PBMs and AWPs were unfamiliar to me, so I asked Grok to explain how they work and why they exist.

The short version is that Washington’s tax incentives and Affordable Care Act (thanks, Obama!) mandates push everything into third-party insurance, disconnecting patients from real costs. Medicare Part D (thanks, W!) and weak transparency rules empower PBM middlemen (another Washington creation) to profit from fictional AWP benchmarks, delaying care and sucking up tax dollars while also overcharging sick people.

You get robbed coming and going.

Really, what the insurance companies do here is play arbitrage games enabled by government meddling in the name of affordability. That’s why Forest Park Pharmacy doesn’t take insurance and just sells medications at a market-rate markup from their wholesale cost.

One solution — and this is exactly what I used to do — is to buy bare-bones high-deductible health plans with catastrophic coverage and pay cash for everything else. But I can’t do that anymore because Obamacare made those plans mostly illegal or unobtainable. 

Why, it’s almost as though the entire system were geared for price-gouging. 

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Scientists Warn of Vision and Nerve Side Effects from GLP-1 Drugs

Vision problems often develop quietly, with no pain or early warning, yet once eyesight is damaged it’s rarely restored. That’s why any new evidence linking popular medications to sudden changes in eye health deserves your attention. GLP-1 receptor agonists, marketed under names like Ozempic and Wegovy, are being taken by millions of people worldwide, not only for Type 2 diabetes but also as quick solutions for weight loss.

These drugs have been hailed as breakthroughs, but their effects on human health, including the eyes, tell a more complicated story. Emerging research suggests that their influence on vision could trigger unexpected harm.

For those already managing diabetes or for individuals considering these drugs solely for weight management, the stakes may be high because eye-related changes can be lasting. Understanding how they affect the delicate tissues of your eyes is central to protecting your long-term health. That is why new studies examining their role in vision changes are so important, offering insight into the risks tied to their use.

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FDA Approves Merck Pneumococcal Vaccine for ‘At-Risk’ Kids as Young as 2

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expanded its approval of Merck’s pneumococcal vaccine Capvaxive for use in children ages 2 and up who are considered at increased risk for the disease.

The drug was specifically designed for adults, Merck said in a statement, but “may” offer additional protection for high-risk kids.

Critics pointed out that the vaccine adds to the list of childhood vaccines not tested against a placebo, and that it contains an ingredient linked to high rates of adverse events.

Children and teens with chronic conditions, including pneumonia, meningitis and bloodstream infections, can get the vaccine in addition to the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) they already get as part of routine pediatric shots recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The decision makes Capvaxive the only PCV approved as an extra vaccine for this group.

The vaccine protects against Streptococcus pneumoniae, which causes a wide range of bacterial infections, including pneumonia, bacterial meningitis and middle ear infections. The illnesses are typically treated with antibiotics.

CRM197: a questionable platform for childhood vaccines

The FDA based its expanded approval of the drug on results from a Phase 3 trial that enrolled 882 children and adolescents with chronic conditions.

The trial compared Capvaxive against PPSV23 (pneumococcal 23-valent polysaccharide vaccine), another vaccine that protects against pneumococcal illness — meaning it was not tested against an inert placebo.

Capvaxive contains CRM197, a protein. It is a mutant of the diphtheria toxin used to boost the immune response in some vaccines. In Capvaxive, bacterial sugars from 21 strains of pneumococcus are individually linked, or conjugated, to the CRM197, which enhances the body’s immune response to each of the bacteria.

Children’s Health Defense (CHD) Chief Scientific Officer Brian Hooker warned that giving a vaccine containing CRM197 to at-risk kids will be “another train wreck for children, but a boon for Merck as it opens up a fresh new market of children.”

That’s because research has found that other vaccines using the platform have high rates of adverse events.

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Turns Out ‘Trust the Science’ Came With Receipts

Tulsi Gabbard’s last day as the director of national intelligence is upon us, after she resigned because of a major illness in the family. In her resignation note to the president, she cited her husband Abraham Williams’ recent diagnosis with sacral chordoma — an extremely rare tumor that develops in the sacrum at the base of the spine. In her resignation, she wrote that “He faces major challenges in the coming weeks and months. At this time, I must step away from public service to be by his side and fully support him through this battle.”

That said, there is good news there. The surgery to remove bone and surrounding tissue lasted almost seven hours and was described as successful. Gabbard shared that he had a rough night following that surgery and was in a lot of pain, but was finally home resting, adding “Now recovery begins.”

Gabbard also expressed gratitude for the public support: “We’re so grateful for the outpouring of prayers and kind messages from all of you. Our hearts are full.”

As wonderful as that news is, and as cheered as I am about it, alas! That’s where the feel-good part of this piece ends.

And here are the documents she declassified and released:

COVID-19 Release Index
COVID-19 Release Part 1
COVID-19 Release Part 2
COVID-19 Release Part 3
COVID-19 Release Part 4 

The ODNI press release accompanying the release states that Anthony Fauci, as head of NIAID, 

provided millions in U.S. taxpayer dollars to fund gain-of-function research on bat coronaviruses at the Wuhan Institute of Virology — work the release describes as “widely viewed” as the source of an unintentional lab leak.

I spent some time last night — several hours in fact — going over these documents that I’ve linked above. They lay out the flat-out accusations of Fauci of teaming up with his fellow travelers in the Intelligence Community to kill the lab-leak hypothesis and bury his own fingerprints on the research funding.

And apparently that wasn’t enough — these documents show three specific roles for him:

  • Fauci caused our government to bankroll reckless and illegal gain-of-function experiments on bat coronaviruses in Wuhan while chasing the trillion-dollar dream of “universal vaccines,” an item worth billions to Big Pharma; 
  • Fauci worked the phones behind the scenes to steer IC analysts toward a convenient (and false) natural-origin conclusion; 
  • Fauci then stood in front of cameras playing the part of America’s trusted pandemic czar and — per the release — fed the public a steady diet of lies, disinformation, and censorship.

Quite the résumé, wouldn’t you say? But wait, there’s more!

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He ‘Lied’: Tulsi Gabbard Releases Evidence Fauci Allegedly Directed Funding for ‘Risky’ Coronavirus Research Linked to Big Pharma and Pursuit of ‘Universal Vaccines’

Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard used her last day in office to release a trove of evidence that Dr. Anthony Fauci – former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) – lied to Congress and directed U.S. funding for gain-of-function research linked to Big Pharma’s pursuit of “universal vaccines,” all while influencing and manipulating the intelligence community to cover up his role in the coronavirus pandemic. 

Gabbard, who is leaving her post to help her husband as he battles an “extremely rare” form of cancer, released a trove of documents on her last day in office showcasing what many have said for years: Fauci lied to cover up his own alleged wrongdoing.

The Trump administration is blowing the lid off the coverup completely, showcasing Fauci’s role in providing millions in U.S. taxpayer dollars to fund dangerous gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology – where that specific coronavirus is suspected to originate.

Gabbard said:

Today, on my final day as Director of National Intelligence, I’m releasing never before seen communications and documents that expose exactly how Fauci worked with politicized career leadership in the intelligence community to suppress the truth about his actions, the virus’s lab leak origins, and his role in directing U.S. funding for this dangerous research that caused immeasurable harm and countless lost lives.

Gabbard alleged that those documents clearly “expose Fauci’s direct role in influencing and manipulating IC assessments on COVID-19, and how Fauci lied to Congress in 2024 when, under oath, he denied knowledge of or participation in discussions with intelligence officials about viral research.”

Gabbard also revealed they have testimony from intelligence community whistleblowers “who reported retaliation for challenging the intelligence community’s manipulation of intelligence on the virus’s origins.”

Ultimately, Gabbard said Fauci was able to use his “close relationships” with the intelligence community to “shield him from scrutiny.” During that time, Fauci funded gain-of-function coronavirus research “linked to big pharma and their pursuit of universal vaccines worth trillions of dollars,” Gabbard explained.

She also said Fauci pressed the intelligence community to push the “natural” animal origin narrative of the virus to cover for himself, and he became “the nation’s pandemic pundit” where he was able to freely push his alleged lies and censorship of critics.

Gabbard said the documents show Fauci pushed a “fraudulent” paper and “blatantly lied to Congress during his 2024 testimony to the House Select Subcommittee on the coronavirus pandemic, denying that he ever spoke to any intelligence agency about COVID.”

“The correspondence I’m releasing today directly contradicts his sworn testimony,” she said, “and we received statements from multiple whistleblowers revealing that the intelligence analysts who dared to challenge Dr. Fauci’s COVID origin conclusions faced threats of retaliation, marginalization, and many suffered career setbacks.”

“The COVID pandemic caused tremendous hardship and pain for millions of our fellow Americans and countless people around the world. Now, after years of lies and censorship and cover-ups, the American people deserve transparency, truth, and accountability,” Gabbard continued.

“The tactics that were used to hide the truth are straight from the deep state playbook,” she said, declaring that it is now time for the American people to have the truth. “Politicized, self-serving leaders like Dr. Fauci covered up their own wrongdoing and abuses of power, manipulated intelligence, lied to Congress, and undermined a duly elected president by restricting his access to the vital facts he needed to keep the country safe.”

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Despite Over 100 Deaths in Moderna’s mRNA Flu Trial – Committee Recommends that the FDA Move Forward with Approval

June 18, 2026: Moderna just announced that, “the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) voted 9-0 that the benefits of mRNA-1010, Moderna’s investigational seasonal influenza vaccine, outweigh its risks for the prevention of influenza disease in adults 50 through 64 years of age and in adults 65 years of age and older.”

This is despite the fact that Moderna reported 102 deaths in the mRNA group and 97 deaths in the ‘enhanced vaccine’ group.

102 reported deaths out of 35,965 mRNA injected study participants equate to a 0.3% fatal adverse event (death) rate in less than a year of being injected.

Adults aged 50-64 have a 0.015% of dying from the flu vs. 0.3% from a flu injection = a 20-fold (1900%) increase).

Adults 65 and older have a 0.05% chance of dying from the flu vs 0.3% from a flu injection = 6-fold (500%) increase.

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Lawmakers Consider Hiking Fees for Filling Prescriptions

Legislation that would potentially increase New York’s pharmacy costs by hundreds of millions of dollars annually is moving toward final passage in Albany’s end-of-session rush.

The bill would require the companies that process prescription drug claims on behalf of most health plans – known as pharmacy benefit managers or PBMs – to pay pharmacies minimum prices for drugs, including a dispensing fee of $10.18 for each prescription filled.

That represents a roughly 400 percent increase over current dispensing fees, which average about $2, which would add about $570 million per year to drug costs for health plans, employers and consumers, according to an estimate from the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, which represents PBMs.

Sponsored by Assemblyman John McDonald of Albany County, a former pharmacy owner, and Sen. James Skoufis of Orange County, the so-called Patient Access to Pharmacy Act passed the Senate last week by a vote of 58-2.

In the Assembly, the bill moved through the Ways and Means and Rules committees on Thursday, setting it up for a possible vote by the full house before lawmakers adjourn for the summer, which is scheduled to happen Friday.

The Senate previously approved the legislation at the end of last year’s session, but it was never taken up by the Assembly.

The bill mirrors a regulatory proposal put forward by the Department of Financial Services in the fall of 2023 – but which the department dropped in the face of widespread opposition from insurers, employers and labor unions.

In response to that opposition, the bill’s sponsors amended the bill to exempt the “collectively bargained” health plans covering union members. It also does not apply to Medicare or the “self-insured” health plans offered by most large employers, which are exempt from state regulation by federal law.

As a result, the bill primarily targets the health plans purchased from insurance companies by small and medium-sized employers – where it will add to premium costs that are already among the highest in the U.S.

Critics have also argued that the mandate would apply to the state-run Essential Plan and Child Health Plus, although Skoufis said that had not been the intent.

The bill would not affect the state’s Medicaid health plan for the low-income and disabled, because it already pays a dispensing fee of $10.18 – which is the basis for the fee in the McDonald-Skoufis legislation.

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Drug Testing Industry And Pharmaceutical Company Ask Court To Pause Trump’s Marijuana Rescheduling Move

An industry association that represents drug testing companies and a cannabis-focused biopharmaceutical corporation are asking a federal appeals court to block the Trump administration from moving forward with federal marijuana rescheduling while ongoing litigation challenging the reform is considered—claiming that cannabis is a “dangerous drug that destroys lives.”

The National Drug and Alcohol Screening Association (NDASA), along with MMJ International Holdings and its subsidiaries, argue in the new filing on Tuesday that the cannabis rescheduling move is “a brazen agency overreach in which the Acting Attorney General ignored restrictions on his authority set by Congress—and a binding decision of this Court—to carry out one of the most sweeping reductions in restrictions on a dangerous narcotic in the history of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).”

“Nearly fifty years ago, this Court held that the Attorney General lacks authority to unilaterally decide how marijuana ought to be restricted—that is, which Schedule it should be placed under—pursuant to the CSA. The Court explained that Congress constrained the Attorney General’s authority by requiring him both to secure recommendations from the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) and to make detailed findings through a formal rulemaking on the record. While the CSA contains a limited bypass of those procedures to allow the Attorney General to ensure that the U.S. complies with certain treaties…this Court made clear that the bypass cannot be invoked when the Attorney General is simply deciding to move a drug between two Schedules under the CSA, either of which would comply with treaty obligations.”

“The Department of Justice complied with this Court’s construction of the CSA for over four decades—until now,” the joint motion for a stay pending review that was filed before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit argues.

While HHS had issued a recommendation to reschedule marijuana during the Biden administration, the recent move by the Trump Department of Justice canceled ongoing proceedings related to that proposal and issued a new final rule.

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Exposing The Great Acid Reflux Scam

•Many commonly prescribed medications are given to patients despite the risks often outweighing the benefits.

•Acid-suppressing drugs are among the worst offenders, with their overuse fueled by a lack of understanding about the crucial role of stomach acid throughout the body or that acid reflux is due to too little stomach acid (as the stomach acid of digestion gives the stomach’s opening a signal to seal and not let any more food in).

•Deficient stomach acid causes many chronic health problems (e.g., macular degeneration, a myriad of autoimmune disorders such as asthma, and less overt forms of reflux that cause many common diseases of the ears, nose, and throat such as allergies, coughs, and sinusitis).

•Acid blocking medications cause a variety of severe side effects, including a 19% increased risk of death and a comparable increase in cardiac events, kidney or liver disease, numerous infections, and bone damage.

•Thankfully, many safe natural treatments can effectively address acid reflux and many of the complications of a chronic stomach acid deficiency.

In the U.S., 66% of adults are estimated to have at least one prescription, and the average person has nine filled annually. As an awake physician, one of the most depressing aspects of my work is seeing patients, especially the elderly, weighed down by numerous prescriptions that frequently do more harm than good.

For example, as I showed here, statins provide a negligible benefit (e.g., at best, taking them for five years extends one’s lifespan by 3-4 days) but create significant side effects such as severe muscle pain and cognitive impairment for 20% of users.

This tragic situation is best demonstrated by a 2007 study which showed that simply discontinuing the least necessary prescriptions resulted in a 23% reduction in the death rate and an 18.2% decrease in hospital referrals. Sadly, since the trend in medicine is always to have people on more drugs, data like this has had no effect on the practice of the overprescription of medications.

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The Crisis Creators – Why Behavioral Health Makes Everything Worse

If anyone hasn’t figured out yet where too much of America’s health problems begin, look no further than the behavioral health industry. It’s time to take a serious look.

While the federal government is in an all-out offensive to uncover fraud in State Medicaid programs, the real fraud lies in the psychiatric diagnosing that has gone unchecked for a hundred years and brought the nation to a mental health crisis.

Just this month alone, the Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., has begun a national campaign to reduce the use of psychiatric drugs by publishing “deprescribing” guidance and training for doctors for any number of the tens of millions of Americans who are taking Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) commonly referred to as antidepressants.

Here’s the truth. The modern mental health model of diagnosis and drug treatment is an enormous failure. People have been harmed for years using antidepressants, and go figure, the medical community admits it’s hard to get off prescription mind-altering drugs. The goal of the HHS Secretary is to finally make drugs one of many options for “treatment” of mental illnesses. But is that enough? Is that really the answer to over-prescribing?

It’s a fact. Americans can’t get the drugs without a mental disorder diagnosis, and the diagnoses are not based on science. In other words, there isn’t anything broken in anyone’s brain that can be medically measured…no X-ray, CAT Scan, blood or urine test can identify any of the alleged mental disorders. And, the fact is, if an abnormality was discovered in the brain, most likely a neurologist would be utilized…not a psychiatrist. Neurologists study brain disease, and psychiatrists study behavior. A very big difference that has been ignored in the modern mental health model.

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