“he has deeper ties to the pharmaceutical industry than any FDA commissioner in recent memory.” Daniel Carpenter, a Harvard political science professor and an expert on the FDA, called Califf the “ultimate industry insider.”
Last week I wrote about the unholy relationship between the FDA and the pharmaceutical industry and the danger that it is posing to our public health (A Modest Proposal for Righting the Ship). No one understands that better than Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV).
”In the five years since Dr. Califf was [first] confirmed, more than 400,000 Americans and 5,000 West Virginians have died from drug-related overdose,” Manchin said, going on to describe how yearly deaths had only risen throughout the pandemic. “Let’s not beat around the bush. Dr. Califf bears a great deal of responsibility for these deaths.”
It is truly a rare thing when a Senator speaks so bluntly and accurately about evil lurking. It is even a rarer occurrence when that Senator is a life long democrat who has a history of suggesting honorable actions but often finds a way to side with those who would continue to profit from the health of the nation. But in the matter of Robert Califf, Joe Manchin is firm.
While Califf has made it through the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee with the help of a couple of Republicans — it is a matter of numbers whether he will be confirmed again as the FDA Commissioner.
On this Joe Manchin is firm: “I will vote no on Dr. Califf’s nomination and I have never been more profoundly confident of a vote I’m going to cast than I am right now.”
Manchin doesn’t blame only Califf for the fact that West Virginia has been at the heart of the Nation’s opioid epidemic. Dr. Janet Woodcock, a senior advisor to Califf during his last run as FDA Commissioner is clearly in Manchin’s cross hairs:
”Furthermore, Dr. Califf has indicated he plans to keep Dr. Janet Woodcock, who has led the FDA and directly overseen the approval of numerous highly addictive drugs to market, as part of FDA leadership.”
Manchin Continued:
”How many more Americans have to die before we see a culture change at the FDA? If there was ever a time for a change in leadership at the FDA, an institution with such direct impact on the American people, it is now.”
It is a certainty that this administration and those supporting it have no intention of breaking the ties that bind the FDA and CDC to the pharmaceutical industry. The status quo has made them powerful and rich.
”All politics is local.” is a well worn and accurate aphorism that reminds us how we vote. When a person is clearly responsible for human suffering and we know it, it is best to ensure that such a person never holds the reigns of power over our lives again. Such is the case of Dr. Robert Califf and Dr. Janet Woodcock.
Obama famously said: “I have pen and a phone.”
Mr. Obama, so do 350 million Americans.
Union, KY
15 Feb 2022
These people are so corrupt, it defies belief. Yet, it is true.