This is definitely interesting, and I’m a bit split in my opinion on it. I can see “creation of in house publications” and being a total shit-show. However, I completely recognise that the current publication model is totally broken, that those journals, and many other “top” journals are an elite club, and they’re also profiting by charging massive publication fees which scientists pay out of grant money.
It’s also twisting things a bit to say they’re under control of pharmaceutical companies, because while many trials are funded by the companies, the data is typically analysed by a 3rd party, and many times the journals publish papers which show that a drug doesn’t work, or that it’s inferior, or has problems.
A better model, IMO, would be a simple pre-registration model. You register your trial, protocol, analysis plan etc. That should then undergo peer review, and the work should be provisionally accepted. Then, when you’ve done the experiments, you submit, and the only reviewer/editor job is to check that you followed the plan you promised to. That would massively cut all publication bias, institutional bias, all incentive for scientists to twist/manipulate/fabricate the numbers, and it would almost eliminate the games which peer reviewers can play. It would also speed up publication to the point where it would take a month, not a year, to get a study accepted.
Yes, but it isn’t enforced in any way when it comes to publication. For example, the recent “plaque begets plaque” nonsense, where the authors didn’t even publish the pre-registered primary outcome, and instead changed the outcomes, fudged the analysis and hid data just to publish a paper which agreed with their ideology. That sort of thing illustrates why the current model is broken.
Looks like MAHA got thrown under the bus by the corporate lobbyists…
US to drop guidance to limit alcohol to one or two drinks per day, sources say
Summary
Americans have long been told to drink two or fewer drinks per day
New guidelines due as soon as this month
Expected to include brief statement on limiting drinking
Alcohol industry faces growing scrutiny of health risks
June 18 (Reuters) - The U.S. government is expected to eliminate from its dietary guidelines the long-standing recommendation that adults limit alcohol consumption to one or two drinks per day, according to three sources familiar with the matter, in what could be a major win for an industry threatened by heightened scrutiny of alcohol’s health effects.
Individually, no, I don’t think so. But these recommendations do have influence over a long time because they filter through doctor education, continual professional development, training courses, the newsletters they receive, the patient brochures and booklets and pamphlets, the little statements added into news articles (like “recommends 150 minutes of exercise per week”, “5 servings of fruit and vegetables per day”) etc etc, all of which filter into common knowledge.
The irony of this is that one of the objectives of MAHA, was the supposed elimination of entrenched establishment practices that are actually unhealthy and so restoring integrity to governmental recommendations thus presumably increasing trust in this free from undue influences official institutions when it comes to health - no more dodgy vaccine mandates and recommendations based on commercially influenced scientific advice etc.
Meanwhile what actually happened is a wholesale disregard of good scientific practices, an open door to every kind of conspiracy nuttiness and rampant commercial lobbying. Whereas before I was generally of a “trust but verify” attitude to governmental health recommendations, with the advent of the MAHA reign, I have zero trust in current government health initiatives. What trust I had in institutions is now completely gone, as I regard this as a “inmates have taken over the asylum” situation. All bets are off.
What a journey it has been. After 67 years on this earth, never did I think we’d get to the point of actual farcical regression of public health policy into a prescientific era of superstition and chemtrails. Do not take civilization for granted. Shocking collapse is always a present danger. Meanwhile precedents are broken at such a clip, it’s a challenge to keep up with lowering expectations. Where it will all end up, I’m afraid nobody knows.
What a great idea to get rid of a vaccine platform that can counter bioengineered viruses made with AI in someone’s basement. Pariah state.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced the beginning of a coordinated wind-down of its mRNA vaccine development activities under the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), including the cancellation and de-scoping of various contracts and solicitations. The decision follows a comprehensive review of mRNA-related investments initiated during the COVID-19 public health emergency.
“We reviewed the science, listened to the experts, and acted,” said HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. “BARDA is terminating 22 mRNA vaccine development investments because the data show these vaccines fail to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections like COVID and flu. We’re shifting that funding toward safer, broader vaccine platforms that remain effective even as viruses mutate.”
The wind-down affects a range of programs including:
Termination of contracts with Emory University and Tiba Biotech.
De-scoping of mRNA-related work in existing contracts with Luminary Labs, ModeX, and Seqirus.
Rejection or cancellation of multiple pre-award solicitations, including proposals from Pfizer, Sanofi Pasteur, CSL Seqirus, Gritstone, and others, as part of BARDA’s Rapid Response Partnership Vehicle (RRPV) and VITAL Hub.
Restructuring of collaborations with DoD-JPEO, affecting nucleic acid-based vaccine projects with AAHI, AstraZeneca, HDT Bio, and Moderna/UTMB.
Here’s the new biotech anthem over this uneducated lunatic, enjoy licensing high tech mRNA after you’ve decimated your research industry and after your worse than useless HHS administration, and at a massive premium:
Now we just need MAGA to kick out RFK Jr, based on the falsehood he’s spreading, decimating American biotech industry and the Operation Warp Speed achievements, and making American Science appear a joke. Get Jim O’Neill in charge instead and a Manhattan Project for Longevity.
“The new cancellations dismayed scientists, many of whom regard mRNA shots as the best option for protecting Americans in a pandemic. ‘This is a bad day for science,’ said Scott Hensley, an immunologist at the University of Pennsylvania.” Editor’s note: It’s a(nother) bad day for science. Kennedy Cancels Nearly $500 Million in mRNA Vaccine Contracts.
Is this politics or not? Not long ago you approved a comment, posted in screaming, 3/4-inch type, telling us to keep our politics off the board. If Kennedy is an open target, then surely his begetter and abetter is open as well.
If anyone doesn’t believe this admin will lead to bad outcomes, read this post the debunk of the MAHA report by Avi Bitterman. It’s literally a prophecy. If there is any serious people they would get hold of Avi.
Hidden subagencies putting out fires “you never hear about the disasters that are stopped”, are probably defunded or demoralized. Incompetent leadership that doesn’t have the moral backbone to evaluate research accurately, without bias, truthfully, and simply from a lack of education or knowledge in this area are going to subtly lead to disastrous outcomes. We all are aware that missiles need to hit their targets with correct math, you can’t scribble some code and math on a piece of paper and implement the idea and expect it to work. That’s what they’re doing. It’s such a long feedback loop that you need to get it right on the first try. You can’t make bullshit MAHA reports citing papers with the opposite conclusion you’re saying it’s doing. It’s not too late to steer the ship by engaging with critics, the opposition, who have well reasoned and thoughtful arguments and who are highly educated in those areas like Avi.
