I think this will backfire badly on the committee and highlight the Wakefield affair to the public to such an extent that the public will start asking very difficult questions of the GMC and the BMJ who commissioned Brian Deer to write articles about Wakefield that are provably false and failed to declare their conflicts of interest with GSK and Merck.
I hope it does but I'm doubtful. There's been an unbelievable amount of biased coverage on the Wakefield saga over the last 25 years. I was disappointed to read a couple of inaccurate parts of Weldon's statement concerning Wakefield. To my knowledge, Wakefield was an academic gastroenterologist, not a pediatric gastroenterologist. He also never did colonoscopies on the Lancet children. He assembled the clinical & research team that included Prof Walker Smith, who was at the time, regarded as one of the world's leading pediatric gastroenterologists. Walker Smith was also the one, after the GMC stripped him of his license to practice, who took the GMC to the High Court & won. Weldon mentions Simon Murch, but I think he meant Walker Smith.
Wakefield knows very well how complex the web of deceit Deer spun against him his. Trying to unravel it became practically impossible. I think that's why he made peace with it & moved onto making films, & practicing yoga. He doesn't have any ill will toward Deer anymore.
And that is surely a positive character attribute of Dr Wakefield, however this merry-go-round of pharma threats and blacklisting needs to stop. Assuming Deer did in fact knowingly partake in the targeting of Wakefield in order to keep a product going that was going to be financially non-viable then that is securities fraud and is a felony in the jurisdictions in which he was acting, aided and abetted by the BMJ on behalf of Merck. Without prosecuting these felonies they will continue and people will either die or suffer disability that they would not have had they known that they were a risk.
In my opinion, it was subtler than that. Interestingly, from my reading, Deer in fact did do some excellent research exposing previous medical frauds in his early work, although it's possible those pieces could also have been stitch ups. Nevertheless from the point of view of the UK pharma industry at the time, GSK & Murdoch owned Sunday Times (of which James Murdoch became a non-executive director: https://www.gsk.com/en-gb/media/press-releases/glaxosmithkline-plc-announces-board-changes/), Deer was the perfect man for the job. Reading his book, & listening to various talks he has given over the years, it seems clear to me Deer was eager to take Wakefield down a notch or two. Never underestimate class disparity.
That’s just typical. Big Pharma has their dirty fingers everywhere. It should be against the law for politicians to receive any monies from corporations for anything. The chronic childhood conditions connection to childhood vaccinations should be investigated properly. As the mother of three children who were diagnosed with ADHD I would like to know if there is a connection. I deeply regret being obedient and getting my children vaccinated. These Senators are bought and sold and are lacking in integrity.
Thank you so much for including Dr Weldon's statement - so comprehensive. All reiterating so much of what we already know, but can only build the groundswell of opposition to the totally corrupt practices of financial pressures from the powers that be. Money talks, what it talks is deceit, to everyone's detriment.
I think this just proved there will be no reckoning. RFK Jr. had too much visibility on him and Trump still had emotion and more political capital on his side.
The establishment uniparty had to give him that scalp, but now they're comfortable that they can get back to business as usual.
Unfortunately the only people that will hear about this is this echo chamber here who already knows.
I'd suggest it's way too early to consider any given incident proof of anything and just disagree this is only known here.
RFK Jr. promised "radical transparency". I have no reason to doubt his word. The Health Agencies he heads have had all the information needed to undo themselves and pharma for decades and he knows this. It is a gargantuan, complex and corrupted system which, as we speak, is still under the de facto control of the criminal class. I was amazed he was confirmed. I was amazed God didn't let them kill Trump in July.
I think we are undergoing a "Cosmic" shift (Reckoning) in a Universal balancing act between Good and Evil that cannot be stopped or even much longer muted. I am "kicking and screaming", learning patience. It hasn't been, is still not easy. Wish you well.
I too don't know and would agree they have access to unlimited money and thereby, a form of power. From my perspective they have no wealth or lasting power as what they have is based on a construct of deception - lies. Castles built on sand. What they have will not stand. Nor will they.
The Dept of Health has 80,000 employees; FDA & NIH about 20,000 each. Big pharma has increasingly controlled the so-called ‘healthcare system’ for the last 40 years reaching unprecedented levels of control and profit during the pandemic. It’s a huge ship with an embedded corporate culture that needs more than 3 well meaning people to turn it around. Direction/control of US HEALTH/DISEASE will not be surrendered easily particularly where medical practitioners’, who have wittingly or unwittingly supported that system , ego and reputation is at stake. Not to mention main stream media. Sadly modern medicine and public health are terms that just don’t fit together. Business is business. Thanks for your work. Thank goodness for Substack.
I wouldn't even say that. It is literally religion. And people that can otherwise think critically often lack the internal fortitude to turn that critical thinking on their religion for to the fear of cognitive dissonance it may cause.
Part of the problem here lies with Trump himself. If there is something he wants, he will fight, expend the political capital. But, when it comes to his people, he won't fight for them, leaving that to the nominees themselves. Part of the super ego thing, I think. But, Kennedy is still in charge, so the fight is still on. The people have their part to play. We cannot and should not rely on others to accomplish what we want.
For sure, the DC Swamp will never change. Big pharma will protect its fake drug empire no matter what. This is one guy who could take down the entire vaccine rigamarole.
I think President Trump should have fought it out. This man is actually motivated by love of patients not dollars so of course they don't want him in there messing up the payoffs!
If Big Pharma has so much money to give away, their profit margins are too high. We need a new Congress who stand up to Pharma and refuse donations and threaten price controls on all drugs.
Thanks for the explanation of Weldon’s position MaryAnne- the combination with Kennedy would have been a powerful opportunity of inquisition of Big Pharma influence. Providing Weldon’s statement shows a person of integrity and rational argument can’t get through political barriers. Financial support of politicians and media by Big Pharma will always corrupt outcomes and needs to change. Let’s hope Kennedy gets a new candidate who can support his moves to clean up a whole industry and improve real health of the people not be profit driven
It was a huge Whitehouse mistake to pull Weldon. I'm sure Dr. Weldon was well prepared to present his views and fend off the slings & arrows. That was an opportunity to school these bureaucrats and the public. Knowing the Democrats would have been a definite NO (they can't formulate an independent thought), but it just possibly might have influenced the naysayer Republicans. A lost opportunity to "spread the word". Keep plugging away!
Trump couldn't take the image of the loss, and still believes in the religion of vaccines. Weldon didn't have the public view the Kennedy did, so it was easy for pHarma and Gates to pull the around in their puppets in committee and protect their profits and activism by scuttling Weldon.
I always thought that trump was pretty strict with the dissenters who voted against his picks. Susan Collin’s is a prime example, always despite her protests, ends up voting in favour. She didn’t this time. I find that strange or different. When the dissenters say Weldon is dangerous for healthcare , do they mean that or did it mean dangerous to their money stream? I’m very upset that Weldon didn’t make it, he would have been part of a formidable team. Maybe people thought the additional same thinking person would be too much. I’d love to know the truth. But, the truth seems very remote these days.
I think this will backfire badly on the committee and highlight the Wakefield affair to the public to such an extent that the public will start asking very difficult questions of the GMC and the BMJ who commissioned Brian Deer to write articles about Wakefield that are provably false and failed to declare their conflicts of interest with GSK and Merck.
The story is just warming up it seems.
I pray that it is just warming up and won’t be buried.
I hope it does but I'm doubtful. There's been an unbelievable amount of biased coverage on the Wakefield saga over the last 25 years. I was disappointed to read a couple of inaccurate parts of Weldon's statement concerning Wakefield. To my knowledge, Wakefield was an academic gastroenterologist, not a pediatric gastroenterologist. He also never did colonoscopies on the Lancet children. He assembled the clinical & research team that included Prof Walker Smith, who was at the time, regarded as one of the world's leading pediatric gastroenterologists. Walker Smith was also the one, after the GMC stripped him of his license to practice, who took the GMC to the High Court & won. Weldon mentions Simon Murch, but I think he meant Walker Smith.
Wakefield knows very well how complex the web of deceit Deer spun against him his. Trying to unravel it became practically impossible. I think that's why he made peace with it & moved onto making films, & practicing yoga. He doesn't have any ill will toward Deer anymore.
And that is surely a positive character attribute of Dr Wakefield, however this merry-go-round of pharma threats and blacklisting needs to stop. Assuming Deer did in fact knowingly partake in the targeting of Wakefield in order to keep a product going that was going to be financially non-viable then that is securities fraud and is a felony in the jurisdictions in which he was acting, aided and abetted by the BMJ on behalf of Merck. Without prosecuting these felonies they will continue and people will either die or suffer disability that they would not have had they known that they were a risk.
In my opinion, it was subtler than that. Interestingly, from my reading, Deer in fact did do some excellent research exposing previous medical frauds in his early work, although it's possible those pieces could also have been stitch ups. Nevertheless from the point of view of the UK pharma industry at the time, GSK & Murdoch owned Sunday Times (of which James Murdoch became a non-executive director: https://www.gsk.com/en-gb/media/press-releases/glaxosmithkline-plc-announces-board-changes/), Deer was the perfect man for the job. Reading his book, & listening to various talks he has given over the years, it seems clear to me Deer was eager to take Wakefield down a notch or two. Never underestimate class disparity.
One can only hope.
That’s just typical. Big Pharma has their dirty fingers everywhere. It should be against the law for politicians to receive any monies from corporations for anything. The chronic childhood conditions connection to childhood vaccinations should be investigated properly. As the mother of three children who were diagnosed with ADHD I would like to know if there is a connection. I deeply regret being obedient and getting my children vaccinated. These Senators are bought and sold and are lacking in integrity.
Thank you so much for including Dr Weldon's statement - so comprehensive. All reiterating so much of what we already know, but can only build the groundswell of opposition to the totally corrupt practices of financial pressures from the powers that be. Money talks, what it talks is deceit, to everyone's detriment.
Yes. This will absolutely come back to bite them. This Reckoning will not be derailed.
I don’t know as the power behind this has unlimited wealth and power.
I think this just proved there will be no reckoning. RFK Jr. had too much visibility on him and Trump still had emotion and more political capital on his side.
The establishment uniparty had to give him that scalp, but now they're comfortable that they can get back to business as usual.
Unfortunately the only people that will hear about this is this echo chamber here who already knows.
I'd suggest it's way too early to consider any given incident proof of anything and just disagree this is only known here.
RFK Jr. promised "radical transparency". I have no reason to doubt his word. The Health Agencies he heads have had all the information needed to undo themselves and pharma for decades and he knows this. It is a gargantuan, complex and corrupted system which, as we speak, is still under the de facto control of the criminal class. I was amazed he was confirmed. I was amazed God didn't let them kill Trump in July.
I think we are undergoing a "Cosmic" shift (Reckoning) in a Universal balancing act between Good and Evil that cannot be stopped or even much longer muted. I am "kicking and screaming", learning patience. It hasn't been, is still not easy. Wish you well.
I too don't know and would agree they have access to unlimited money and thereby, a form of power. From my perspective they have no wealth or lasting power as what they have is based on a construct of deception - lies. Castles built on sand. What they have will not stand. Nor will they.
The Dept of Health has 80,000 employees; FDA & NIH about 20,000 each. Big pharma has increasingly controlled the so-called ‘healthcare system’ for the last 40 years reaching unprecedented levels of control and profit during the pandemic. It’s a huge ship with an embedded corporate culture that needs more than 3 well meaning people to turn it around. Direction/control of US HEALTH/DISEASE will not be surrendered easily particularly where medical practitioners’, who have wittingly or unwittingly supported that system , ego and reputation is at stake. Not to mention main stream media. Sadly modern medicine and public health are terms that just don’t fit together. Business is business. Thanks for your work. Thank goodness for Substack.
Big pHarma, will never be trusted by those that critically think.
Unfortunately, the critical thinkers may be in the minority.
I wouldn't even say that. It is literally religion. And people that can otherwise think critically often lack the internal fortitude to turn that critical thinking on their religion for to the fear of cognitive dissonance it may cause.
Part of the problem here lies with Trump himself. If there is something he wants, he will fight, expend the political capital. But, when it comes to his people, he won't fight for them, leaving that to the nominees themselves. Part of the super ego thing, I think. But, Kennedy is still in charge, so the fight is still on. The people have their part to play. We cannot and should not rely on others to accomplish what we want.
For sure, the DC Swamp will never change. Big pharma will protect its fake drug empire no matter what. This is one guy who could take down the entire vaccine rigamarole.
It's all about the greenbacks.
I think President Trump should have fought it out. This man is actually motivated by love of patients not dollars so of course they don't want him in there messing up the payoffs!
I am just sad....
Bill Cassidy is a Pharma shill, his voting record sucks.
https://thefreedomindex.org/legislator/c001075/
If Big Pharma has so much money to give away, their profit margins are too high. We need a new Congress who stand up to Pharma and refuse donations and threaten price controls on all drugs.
You have 4 years of this shit. Time to put sleepers in place to surprise the bastards.
Thanks for the explanation of Weldon’s position MaryAnne- the combination with Kennedy would have been a powerful opportunity of inquisition of Big Pharma influence. Providing Weldon’s statement shows a person of integrity and rational argument can’t get through political barriers. Financial support of politicians and media by Big Pharma will always corrupt outcomes and needs to change. Let’s hope Kennedy gets a new candidate who can support his moves to clean up a whole industry and improve real health of the people not be profit driven
It was a huge Whitehouse mistake to pull Weldon. I'm sure Dr. Weldon was well prepared to present his views and fend off the slings & arrows. That was an opportunity to school these bureaucrats and the public. Knowing the Democrats would have been a definite NO (they can't formulate an independent thought), but it just possibly might have influenced the naysayer Republicans. A lost opportunity to "spread the word". Keep plugging away!
Trump couldn't take the image of the loss, and still believes in the religion of vaccines. Weldon didn't have the public view the Kennedy did, so it was easy for pHarma and Gates to pull the around in their puppets in committee and protect their profits and activism by scuttling Weldon.
I always thought that trump was pretty strict with the dissenters who voted against his picks. Susan Collin’s is a prime example, always despite her protests, ends up voting in favour. She didn’t this time. I find that strange or different. When the dissenters say Weldon is dangerous for healthcare , do they mean that or did it mean dangerous to their money stream? I’m very upset that Weldon didn’t make it, he would have been part of a formidable team. Maybe people thought the additional same thinking person would be too much. I’d love to know the truth. But, the truth seems very remote these days.
Totally agree!
The swamp is dirty and corrupt.