Ever since RFK Jr. took the helm as the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in February, I’ve been paying close attention.
Why? Because the Secretary oversees the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Any developments related to RFK’s initiatives in these departments will have a strong influence on the biotech and pharmaceutical industry.
Not understanding what’s happening at these agencies is the equivalent of not having the whole picture of the investment landscape.
And in today’s chaotic landscape of misinformation, it’s very easy to get led astray.
RFK Jr.’s appointment has been exciting, as his platform was built on committing to “radical transparency” and “gold standard science,” both of which have been sorely missing over the last four years.
Of course, these are just words, so the proof that we’re looking for is in the actions. Show me, don’t tell me.
If we were to believe Wikipedia, though, RFK Jr. is labeled as a conspiracy theorist and an anti-vaccine activist. Should we be concerned? No, because we haven’t been given cause yet.
There’s no data to back up Wikipedia’s nonsense. Once one peels back all the propaganda, where one lands is that RFK Jr. has simply asked for the data and gold-standard studies to be performed, so that we can make evidence-based decisions.
RFK Jr. has already made incredible progress towards removing toxic petrochemical and synthetic dyes from the food supply, some of which are known to cause cancer.
I’d like to think that’s something that everyone agrees we shouldn’t be consuming, and definitely shouldn’t be feeding to our children.
These dyes are banned by most developed countries around the world, and yet we’ve been unknowingly ingesting them in the U.S. for decades.
It’s mind-boggling and incredible news that RFK Jr. is getting these issues addressed.
But about a month ago, I saw an article in Wired titled, “RFK Jr.’s HHS Orders Lab Studying Deadly Infectious Diseases to Stop Research,” which caught my eye…
Not just because it framed RFK Jr. in a negative light, but because it was a National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) research facility.
That’s the same organization led by Anthony Fauci that funded the gain-of-function research in Wuhan through a U.S.-based NGO known as EcoHealth Alliance.
That gain-of-function research is what resulted in a lab leak… and ultimately the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fort Detrick Bio-Level 4 NIAID Research Facility | Source: Getty Images/Fox News
Since RFK Jr. took office, transparency has finally been provided on the origins of the coronavirus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic… and how it all unfolded, which we can see here at the official government website, www.covid.gov.
So when I saw that a NIAID bio-level 4 laboratory in Frederick, Maryland, on Fort Detrick had been instructed to cease research activities, I paid attention.
It’s worth looking closely at the headline of the article I read…
For reference, a bio-level 4 laboratory works with dangerous pathogens that pose significant risks to public health. This particular lab was working with Ebola, Lassa fever, SARS-CoV-2, Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE), and hemorrhagic fevers.
All I could think of was that something serious – potentially very dangerous – must have happened for RFK Jr. to order a suspension of all research activities.
But at first glance, the article implies nothing of the sort.
Instead, the article elevates the opposite stance – implying that it was a shame and tragedy that such a facility could be shut down – what a terrible thing done by RFK Jr.’s department…
OK, but what happened at the bio-level 4 lab that resulted in suspending research? Surely it had to be something…
Finally, the article got to it…
Identification and documentation of personnel issues involving contract staff that compromised the facility’s safety culture.
Personnel issues? A cultural thing?
Wired literally just left the real reason at that.
Instead, the “journalists” of the article chose to focus the piece on the great wrong committed – just…
The latest disruption to federal science agencies came after HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced at the end of March that 10,000 people across the vast federal health agency would lose their jobs…
And there it was: The politics and complete absence of independent journalism.
After all, from Wired’s perspective, the real reason for the shutdown wasn’t a big deal, just something that compromised the lab’s safety culture.
The bigger story to them was about the “disruption” of science that RFK’s department was causing, and the added job losses in the shutdown of the lab.
The whole story just didn’t make any sense. No details were provided, yet it had to be serious enough to shut down research at a bio-level 4 facility.
I wasn’t satisfied, so I kept searching. I took my time. And I’m glad I did.
You won’t like it, though. What happened was absurd.
An HHS source revealed that one of the researchers in the lab intentionally poked a hole in another researcher’s protective suit – the intention being to cause the individual in the compromised suit to become infected with a dangerous pathogen.
There’s only one thing that could prompt such a diabolical act. Euripides’ Medea comes to mind…
“Stronger than lover’s love is lover’s hate.”
And that’s the most ridiculous part…
It was a lovers’ spat… of the worst possible kind.
The two researchers involved were taxpayer-funded. And they were in a relationship that clearly wasn’t going well.
And the facilities director who was lauded by Wired? The director knew about the incident and failed to report it.
To not mince words: A researcher may have been infected with one of the world’s most dangerous, contagious pathogens in Maryland, and was allowed to leave the lab as if nothing had happened. And Wired is upset because it’ll cost extra to resume operations again after a lab shutdown?
Yes, I’d consider that a serious safety issue. Certainly, one worthy of suspending all research activity at the location.
The facilities director should be fired immediately, a full investigation should be conducted searching for all other safety violations and failure of protocols, and all employees and contractors of the facility should be evaluated.
After all, if the facilities director didn’t disclose that safety violation, what else didn’t she disclose? What else is happening in that lab that’s a breach of safety protocols, professional conduct, and ethics?
The lab leak in Wuhan cost the U.S. taxpayers trillions of dollars, resulting in horrible inflation and pandemic policies that have cost millions of lives and will destroy millions more in the years ahead.
The cost to restart a lab that has suspended research is insignificant. Safety must come first when dealing with dangerous pathogens and bioweapons.
And to the RFK Jr.’s and Jay Bhattacharya’s (Director of the National Institutes of Health) credit, they revealed the cause to the public, in full transparency.
This is precisely how trust needs to be rebuilt.
Discovery, transparency, action…
And a clear directive concerning the standards that must be met.
And it goes without saying that anyone working with bioweapon agents and dangerous pathogens on the taxpayers’ dime should undergo regular psychological assessments to determine if they present a risk.
Actions speak louder than words. Show me, don’t tell me.
And so far, we’ve seen some strong and positive actions in the last three months from RFK Jr. and his team.
I have high expectations for the next few years, and if the team that has been brought in does what they say they are going to do, it will be a great win for investors.
Evidence-based medicine is not only safer and better for our health, but it also provides a level playing field for the biotech industry.
Companies that develop safe and effective therapies and medical devices – and can prove it with data using gold standard processes – will win big in an environment like this.
It results in a great environment for self-directed investors interested in the biotech industry.
And for me and my team of analysts, that’s exactly the kind of approach that we like to see. It allows great companies with great products to win, resulting in the value that they create to be reflected in their valuations and share prices… rather than the rewards going primarily to those benefiting from regulatory capture, like what we saw with Pfizer and Moderna from the COVID-19 experimental drugs.
Jeff
The Bleeding Edge is the only free newsletter that delivers daily insights and information from the high-tech world as well as topics and trends relevant to investments.
The Bleeding Edge is the only free newsletter that delivers daily insights and information from the high-tech world as well as topics and trends relevant to investments.
