The Morning Dispatch: FDA Approves Controversial Alzheimer’s Drug

Plus: Audrey tackles the latter-day election audit currently underway in Arizona's Maricopa County.

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Happy Thursday! Apologies if this newsletter is a little damp when it hits your inbox—the humidity in D.C. this week has been unbearable.

Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories

  • The Washington Post reported Wednesday that the Biden administration is buying 500 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from Pfizer at a “not-for-profit” price, with plans to donate them to low- and middle-income countries around the world. Distribution will be run through the World Health Organization’s COVAX initiative, with 200 million doses going out this year, and 300 million in early 2022.

  • Months after President Biden revoked its necessary cross-border permit, the Keystone XL Pipeline’s developer formally abandoned the project, which was first proposed 13 years ago.

  • President Biden issued an executive order yesterday replacing former President Donald Trump’s attempts to ban Chinese-owned apps TikTok and WeChat with an even broader review of software applications developed in adversarial countries.

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  1. WallyM

    I expect better from The Morning Dispatch. You linked to a June 10 essay in Reason that seems to have a hole. You quoted Reason's essay as follows: "The reason that wealth isn’t taxable is fairly straightforward: You aren’t directly benefiting from it until it’s turned into income (at which point it is taxable)." Is this true? ProPublica's June 8 article and a June 9 op-ed in the New York Times both claim that wealthy people can live off loans, using their wealth as collateral, and avoid ever paying income or capital-gains taxes on their accumulation of wealth. The NYT puts it this way: "The reality, however, is that many wealthy Americans live lavishly by borrowing against the value of their assets. ... It is easy to accumulate wealth that is never taxed. Assets can be siloed in nonprofit foundations whose main beneficiaries may be the people who run them. ...[T]he government allows heirs to take ownership at the present value, erasing the accumulated tax liability."

    I am not a tax guru, and I do not know enough to take sides. But I do believe that Reason's essayists should have addressed the earlier claims by ProPublica and that NYT op-ed. It's an obvious shortcoming, and I'm surprised and disappointed that The Morning Dispatch linked to Reason's essay. Please do better.

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    cheerio

    Working in healthcare, particularly the 9 years I worked in oncology and the subsequent move to cardiology, I have participated in the collection of data for many trials. Some proved to be very effective, some less so. I remember how ill my patients would get on Alimta and it seemed so promising at first..., the trials on Rituxan which became a groundbreaking therapy (we thought anything could be cured with it using individualized genetic matching therapy for merely a quarter mil back in the oughts). Every week we would have conference and hear about the latest research protocol and what kinds of patients fit. In cardiology we observed and recorded Entresto and many different kinds of cardiac interventional stents, procedures and anticoagulants as well as devices. Lately the newest thing that has been a great success in our lab is a "Mems" device placed in the pulmonary artery that measures the pulmonary artery pressure. This reading is transmitted by having the patient lay on a "pillow" that reads the information and sends it to a physicians office where they can then prescribe early intervention. It catches increased pressures/fluid overload much earlier than weight fluctuation-- all to prevent rehospitalization for heart failure.

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  3. Shari Poe

    "Unbearable" humidity? Please, folks, don't be wimpy! Unbearable humidity is a sustained level under 21%, which causes your organs to shrivel and can cause death. Healthy humidity for humans (and grand pianos) is 40-70 percent. Anything above that is uncomfortable, rarely sustained and not life-threatening. So, bear up!

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    Mark Wm L

    When I was in the USAF at the turn of this century, we were in a lottery to be given the experimental Anthrax vaccine. I was grateful my number never came up, as I was at the peak of health, had no kids, and feeling my colleagues arms burning with heat where the shot was given weeks afterwards was enough to scare me off. Fast forward twenty years with two kids entering my life, one of whom is at the highest of risk of contracting and dying from COVID-19 and I leapt at the chance to have myself and my kids vaccinated.

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      cheerio

      All of my older patients recall that when the polio vaccine came out, no one hesitated.

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    Jen

    So Democrats are now telling the Washington Post they should move on from infrastructure to voting rights and other things. But they don’t have the votes for that either.

    Capitol Hill reporters heads must be spinning. One minute I see a tweet from one quoting Mitt Romney saying there’s a tentative agreement on a deal. The next is from another quoting Jon Tester saying he doesn’t know what Romney is talking about. Same with police reform. One minute they’re closer than ever to announcing something; the next they’re still far apart and reaching a deal by the end of June is unlikely.

    I actually hope infrastructure talks stall. I think it’s ridiculous that Democrats (and sadly some Republicans) and the media just assume a massive infrastructure bill is a must, a given, like people needing food and water. It’s not. Nobody has provided anything on specific roads, bridges etc. that are on their last legs and a danger to the public if a massive federal infrastructure bill isn’t passed right away. And House Dems want to use this bill as a stalking horse for a bunch of green new deal nonsense. Instead of burning the midnight oil trying to come up with a deal Senate Republicans should be saying hell no.

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    Murrayprof

    IG report about Lafayette Park reminds me of 1894 when Pres. Grover Cleveland called out troops to "protect the mail" during the Pullman Rail strike. The real goal was to break up the strike.

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    Murrayprof

    QOTD: I have been conducting experiments with marijuana off and on for almost 35 years...does that count?

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  8. Raincheck

    The Congressional Black Caucus blocks Byron Donalds from joining. So do they they not think he is black? Do they not think he is Congressional?

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    Nick H

    The FDA made the right call in approving aducanumab. It's not guaranteed to work and there may be serious risks, but patients should be free* to try it. Especially with a disease as horrible as Alzheimer's.
    *Free in this case meaning freedom, not "without cost" obviously. That price tag is steep.

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    ~sg

    My thanks to those who shared their stories with experimental medical treatments. Very uplifting and thoughtful, and I'm glad you were able to be here to tell us your experiences.

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