Tag: hhs

Public Trust Fallout of the HHS’s COVID-19 PR Campaign and the Systemic Oversight on Waning Vaccine Immunity

“Probably the most important recommendation: HHS should never again adopt a policy of silencing dissenting scientists in an attempt to create an illusion of consensus in favor of CDC groupthink.” – Dr. Jay Bhattacharya

The “We Can Do This” campaign was a nationwide public health messaging initiative launched by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to promote COVID-19 vaccination, masking, and other pandemic-related measures. From August 2020 to June 2023, the campaign was developed in partnership with the Fors Marsh Group, a behavioral research and advertising firm, and was backed by over $900 million in taxpayer funds.

A House Report confirms that HHS, CDC, and the “We Can Do This Campaign” repeatedly overstated vaccine effectiveness, falsely claimed vaccines prevented transmission and dismissed natural immunity. The narrative changed only when real-world data forced them to retract their earlier statements.

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Speaking Of Lawfare… CT AG Tong And Blue State AG Coalition Sue To Stop Cost-Cutting Efforts At HHS And NIH, Including $35M From UCONN

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong and 21 other attorneys general today sued the Trump Administration, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) over new guidance on indirect costs (e.g., depreciation, interest on debt, general administrative expenses) at universities and research institutions across the country that would bring such costs in line with market rates.

Pursuant to the new guidance, there will be a standard cost rate of 15% across all NIH grants for indirect costs in lieu of a separately negotiated rate for indirect costs in every grant.

Per NIH, it is “obligated to carefully steward grant awards to ensure taxpayer dollars are used in ways that benefit the American people and improve their quality of life.  Indirect costs are, by their very nature, ‘not readily assignable to the cost objectives specifically benefitted’ and are therefore difficult for NIH to oversee.”

The indirect cost rate reported by NIH has averaged between 27% and 28% over time. And many organizations are much higher—charging indirect rates of over 50% and in some cases over 60%.

Most private foundations that fund research provide substantially lower indirect costs than the federal government, and universities readily accept grants from these foundations.  

For example, a recent study found that the most common rate of indirect rate reimbursement by foundations was 0%, meaning many foundations do not fund indirect costs whatsoever.  In addition, many of the nation’s largest funders of research—such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation—have a maximum indirect rate of 15%.  And in the case of the Gates Foundation, the maximum indirect costs rate is 10% for institutions of higher education.

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Will Fauci’s COVID-19 e-Mails Be Disclosed per RFK Jr.’s Call for Radical HHS Transparency?

Throughout today’s Senate confirmation hearings for Secretary of Health & Human Services (HHS), RFK Jr. called for radical transparency from the department of HHS, this includes the NIH, CDC, FDA, and the NIAID (the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease). Dr. Anthony Fauci was the former Director of the NIAID for 39 years, from 1984 to 2022.

Senator Johnson Expresses Frustration in Receiving 50-Pages of Fauci’s e-Mails as Blank Pages or Mostly Redacted

Senator Ron Johnson stated that he has written over 70 oversight letters to the Biden administration requesting copies of HHS communications around COVID-19 (including Fauci’s emails) and the COVID-19 injections. PLUS, Senator Johnson subpoenaed HHS for the myocarditis data of American adults and children who received the COVID-19 injections. In response, Senator and received heavily redacted or blank documents in response.

Senator Johnson Calls for Transparency from HHS Departments

Senator Johnson: “Will you honor these requests from Congress and will make HHS transparent?”

Robert F. Kennedy: “Yes. My approach to HHS, as I’ve said before Senator, is radical transparency. Democrats and republicans ought to be able to get information that was generated by taxpayer expense, that is owned by the American taxpayer. They shouldn’t get redacted documents. Public agencies should be transparent.”

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The Big Freeze at HHS, CDC, and NIH

Part of the sweep of government in the first days of the Trump administration has been a freeze on communications. The explosion has hit the whole of public health bureaucracies, including HHS, which Trump personally blames in part for the meltdown of his previous term of president in his last year. The pause in operations is designed to figure out exactly what is going on. 

It is certainly not the case that Donald Trump wants you to die, contrary to Paul Krugman’s claim. No longer writing at the New York Times, he reserved his rather extreme view for his Substack account. 

Recall that Krugman was 100 percent for lockdowns and all the rest including the fake science behind vaccine mandates. While most of the world was in cages, he was proclaiming the dawn of the great reset. With that reversed, he has reverted to form.

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Thiel-Linked HHS Nominee Threatens MAHA Ambitions with Biotech Stance

Late last November, President Donald Trump announced Jim O’Neill as his nominee for deputy secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), where he would work under Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s pick for HHS secretary upon confirmation. As deputy secretary, O’Neill would essentially function as the Chief Operating Officer of the department, overseeing “the day-to-day operations of all sub-agencies” as well as leading “public health emergency preparedness,” i.e. the government’s policy responses to bio-terror events, pandemics, etc. In addition, O’Neill would “oversee the development and clearance of HHS regulations” and ostensibly be the main implementer of the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) policy agenda.

Built on a promise to eliminate industry capture of public health regulatory agencies and curb the influence of Big Pharma and Big Food, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s MAHA movement played a crucial role in funneling would-be Kennedy voters into the Trump camp. MAHA, in essence, granted the Trump campaign a tinge of populist legitimacy among Covid era dissidents, which grew out of the shuttering of RFK Jr.’s independent presidential run.

However, O’Neill’s business connections, both past and present, as well as his previous statements on public health policy, strongly suggest that he is not only unlikely to implement the policies that MAHA-centric voters are expecting, but that he may in fact pursue an agenda that stands in direct conflict with the main tenets of the MAHA movement. Specifically, he advocates reforming the FDA to deregulate and accelerate the pathway from drug development to legalization. This would notably aid the biotech industry, which has long struggled to get its products approved outside of an “emergency”-based deregulatory paradigm.

When considering the investments and board positions that O’Neill himself has made and held in biotechnology companies, this would likely include mRNA products that Kennedy and other MAHA influencers have spent years criticizing since the Covid-19 pandemic — a clear contradiction between O’Neill’s views on public health, and those which the MAGA base were sold on the campaign trail.

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HHS Cuts Federal Funding to EcoHealth Alliance, ‘Nonprofit’ That Bankrolled Wuhan Lab

Ahead of Trump taking office, it looks as if the Department of Health and Human Services might be in a little bit of a burn-the-records-and-clean-house-before-the-SHTF mode, if for no other purpose than to give the appearance, at the eleventh hour, that it takes its fiduciary responsibilities seriously — which, of course, it doesn’t, and hasn’t for a very long time, including the last four years under the Biden regime.

Peter Daszak, COVID arch-villain and close confidant of Anthony Fauci, through whom Fauci funded government cash to the Wuhan lab that almost certainly sparked the global pandemic, is now officially cut off from receiving federal funds for at least five years, as well as EcoHealth Alliance, his “nonprofit.”

Via House Oversight Committee (emphasis added):

Today, after an eight-month investigation, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) cut off all funding and formally debarred EcoHealth Alliance Inc. (EcoHealth) and its former President, Dr. Peter Daszak, for five years based on evidence uncovered by the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic. In a new letter, HHS states “that a period of debarment for Dr. Daszak is necessary to protect the Federal Government’s business interests.” This letter also confirms that EcoHealth terminated Dr. Daszak’s employment effective January 6, 2024. EcoHealth and Dr. Daszak facilitated gain-of-function research in Wuhan, China without proper oversight and willingly violated multiple requirements of its multimillion-dollar National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant.

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HHS Secretary Becerra Defends Biden Admin’s Big Tech Censorship, Blames Disinformation for Public Distrust

US Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Xavier Becerra is about to step down, along with the rest of the Biden administration. Not only that, but it also seems likely that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will take over that post.

Ouch.

That aside – the exit of Becerra might be the end, and the conclusion of a “synopsis” of this particular political drama – but the start goes way back to 2020, the pandemic, its (mis)handling, and all the wrongs that impacted both people’s physical and mental health, and facilitated rampant online censorship, for many years.

It makes for an interesting read that the Washington Post decided to give Becerra a lot of space to state his case – but less so because of anything the soon-to-be former official actually had to say, or any ideologically heavy narrative the media outlet in question itself, felt the need to peddle in this context, one more time.

(There’s a point in the article where the Covid pandemic is described – now in January 2025 – as merely “receding”?)

These seemingly last-ditch delusional efforts are being made all over the place and this one has Becerra at one point addressing the elephant in the supposedly purely scientific room – what about the rampage of online censorship around Covid?

Believe it or not, it’s the victim card that Becerra chose to play here. “I can’t go toe to toe with social media,” he is quoted as lamenting by the Washington Post, bringing up things like “instantaneous misinformation” as the culprit for citizens now expressing low trust in the outgoing government.

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Dark Money PAC Rallies 17K Doctors to Denounce RFK Jr. HHS Nomination

As the Senate showdown over RFK Jr.’s HHS nomination nears its climax, the medical industry and its front group appendages are pulling out all the stops to make sure they knock Kennedy out of contention and get him replaced with one of their dutiful lackeys, as has been standard operation procedure for decades now in Our Sacred Democracy™.

The Committee to Protect Health Care, a partisan dark money PAC with a particular interest in promoting abortion, has issued a stark warning to senators considering RFK Jr.’s nomination.

Via Committee to Protect Health Care (emphasis added):

As physicians who care deeply about the health and safety of our patients and communities, we are appalled by Donald Trump’s reckless decision to appoint Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). The health and well-being of 336 million Americans depend on leadership at HHS that prioritizes science, evidence-based medicine, and strengthening the integrity of our public health system. RFK Jr. is not only unqualified to lead this essential agency–he is actively dangerous. We urge the Senate to protect and defend our patients’ access to quality health care by rejecting his appointment.

This appointment is an affront to the principles of public health, the tireless dedication of medical professionals, and the trust that millions of Americans place in the health care system*. RFK Jr. has a well-documented history of spreading dangerous disinformation on vaccines and public health interventions, leaving vulnerable communities unprotected and placing millions of lives at risk. His appointment is a direct threat to the safety of our patients and the public at large.

A strong public health infrastructure can only be achieved when we work collectively to protect one another. Vaccines are among the greatest medical breakthroughs in history, saving millions of lives and transforming communities worldwide…

This appointment is a slap in the face to every health care professional who has spent their lives working to protect patients from preventable illness and death. Americans deserve better. Our patients deserve a Secretary of HHS who upholds the principles of science and public health, focusing on addressing real public health crises facing Americans such as the high cost of prescription drugs, access to care, and the systemic barriers patients face – not someone whose legacy is built on lies and conspiracy theories. 

As physicians, we are outraged by this appointment and we call on the Senate to act immediately. Reject Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination and demand qualified leadership at HHS that prioritizes science, the protection of public health, and the well-being of all Americans. The health and security of our nation depend on it. Anything less is an abdication of responsibility to the American people.

*it would seem The Science™ has done a bang-up job all on its own the past few years destroying “the trust that millions of Americans place in the health care system.”

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Massive healthcare breaches prompt US cybersecurity rules overhaul

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has proposed updates to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) to secure patients’ health data following a surge in massive healthcare data leaks.

These stricter cybersecurity rules, proposed by the HHS’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and expected to be published as a final rule within 60 days, would require healthcare organizations to encrypt protected health information (PHI), implement multifactor authentication, and segment their networks to make it harder for attackers to move laterally through them.

“In recent years, there has been an alarming growth in the number of breaches affecting 500 or more individuals reported to the Department, the overall number of individuals affected by such breaches, and the rampant escalation of cyberattacks using hacking and ransomware,” the HHS’ proposal says.

“The Department is concerned by the increasing numbers of breaches and other cybersecurity incidents experienced by regulated entities. We are also increasingly concerned by the upward trend in the numbers of individuals affected by such incidents and the magnitude of the potential harms from such incidents.”

Reuters reports that Anne Neuberger, the White House’s deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technologies, also told reporters that the HIPAA cybersecurity rule updates were prompted by the ransomware attacks and massive breaches that have affected hospitals and Americans in recent years.

Neuberger added that implementing these rules would cost roughly $9 billion in the first year and over $6 billion during the following four years.

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How RFK Jr. could use levers of HHS to shape vaccine and drug outcomes

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could use Health and Human Services’ vast bureaucracy to put a distinct stamp on vaccine policy, drug approvals and food regulation if he’s confirmed. But with so many legal requirements and bureaucratic layers baked into the process, it’s hardly a foregone conclusion he will.

Why it matters: Experts say RFK Jr.’s public calls for more transparency and vows to shore up the trustworthiness of federal health agencies may translate into more requests for vaccine safety data and into appointing like-minded individuals to advisory panels that could influence coverage of drugs, services and devices.

  • They also say it could result in shifting public health funding to chronic disease or environmental health and away from infectious disease, or a diversion of federal investment to study unproven health issues instead of known risks.
  • And they’re expecting attempts to remove job protections from career federal employees who work in policymaking roles and reduce the ranks of officials who don’t align with RFK Jr.’s goals.

Between the lines: In the near term, he’s likely to focus on how much influence he might exert on negotiations between the Food and Drug Administration and the health industries it regulates over user fees for companies, which fund a significant portion of the FDA’s operations.

  • Talks to reauthorize programs for prescription drugs, medical devices and generics are due to start next year and could provide a crucible for Trump appointees to take aim at what they describe as regulators’ coziness with industries they police.
  • The spotlight could fall especially hard on vaccines, based on Kennedy’s criticisms of the federal pandemic response, his calls to revoke emergency use authorizations for COVID shots and his advocacy of hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin, both of which were found ineffective for treating the virus.

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