Trump considers naming FDA chief who would radically overhaul the agency

[Fast Walker 52]

Source: StatNews

President-elect Donald Trump is weighing naming as Food and Drug Administration commissioner a staunch libertarian who has called for eliminating the agency’s mandate to determine whether new medicines are effective before approving them for sale.

“Let people start using them, at their own risk,” the candidate, Jim O’Neill, said in a 2014 speech to a biotech group.

O’Neill has also called for paying organ donors and setting up libertarian societies at sea — and has said he was surprised to discover that FDA regulators actually enjoy science and like working to fight disease.

A source close to the Trump transition team told STAT that Peter Thiel, the billionaire Trump donor who is helping shape the new administration, is pushing for the FDA appointment for O’Neill, his managing director at Mithril Capital Management.

Read more: https://www.statnews.com/2016/12/07/trump-fda-oneill/

---

This is fucking INSANE. This person, and Trump, need to be stopped.

Goddamn it.

Best I can tell, this is a legit source, a publication that reports on drug and medical news.

[HuskyOffset]

1. Is Trump

just appointing the worst possible people for the job on purpose, or is it random luck?

[potone]

12. I think it's on purpose.

Every time I think it can't get worse, it does. And he hasn't even been inaugurated yet. God help us all!

[Aimee in OKC]

18. Maybe he's trying to scare the living hell out of everyone ...

a. Including the electors ... so they can bail him out of a job he was surprised to 'win' and doesn't want.

b. So when the in-place Federal workers scramble to rein back the illegal excesses of their new bosses, the USA relaxes with an "Oh, guess this isn't going to be so bad after all" ... but it really is, just not by comparison.

c. Appointing all the worst, horrid examples in the first go-round as payoffs will allow them to get those positions onto their resumes, and as they move on, will have numbed us to the second batch of deplorables (see 'b' above.).

d. So the expectation of WWIII keeps the world on edge, and his people/GOP/Putin can manipulate everyone as they please.

e. With all of the above ... and more.

[milestogo]

23. Do you really think the electors are paying attention?

[potone]

24. I hope they are.

It may be the only thing that will save us.

[Aimee in OKC]

29. One has spoken on the EC, to the NYT

"Why I Will Not Cast My Electoral Vote for Donald Trump"
By CHRISTOPHER SUPRUN DEC. 5, 2016

"DALLAS — I am a Republican presidential elector, one of the 538 people asked to choose officially the president of the United States. Since the election, people have asked me to change my vote based on policy disagreements with Donald J. Trump. In some cases, they cite the popular vote difference. I do not think presidents-elect should be disqualified for policy disagreements. I do not think they should be disqualified because they won the Electoral College instead of the popular vote. However, now I am asked to cast a vote on Dec. 19 for someone who shows daily he is not qualified for the office.

Fifteen years ago, as a firefighter, I was part of the response to the Sept. 11 attacks against our nation. That attack and this year’s election may seem unrelated, but for me the relationship becomes clearer every day."
{ ... snip ...}

"The United States was set up as a republic. Alexander Hamilton provided a blueprint for states’ votes. Federalist 68 argued that an Electoral College should determine if candidates are qualified, not engaged in demagogy, and independent from foreign influence. Mr. Trump shows us again and again that he does not meet these standards. Given his own public statements, it isn’t clear how the Electoral College can ignore these issues, and so it should reject him."


http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/05/opinion/why-i-will-not-cast-my-electoral-vote-for-donald-trump.html?_r=0

[Pacifist Patriot]

48. Absolutely they are.

Don't know how easily they frighten, but quite likely reading the news.

[Hortensis]

31. CHARLES KOCH is pulling the strings for these

domestic appointments. The idea is to destroy almost all federal government agencies. Koch believes the only legitimate functions of government are protection of person and property, and he added one in later--protection against fraud. Apparently that last can also bother billionaires.

No education department because NO public, taxpayer-supported education.
No EPA because it gets in the way of profiteering.
No FDA because the letting the free market sort poisons from medicines, etc., works better.
VA - Privatized to "free" all those huge potential profits inaccessible now.
HHS - Open all medicine to free market exploitation by destroying all government programs.
Etc.
Etc.

[milestogo]

49. He is a bottomless pit of greed.

When is enough money enough?

[Hortensis]

50. Oh, I think lust for power also has to be huge.

He takes great satisfaction in being able to freely break the laws We the People try to constrain him with, and we know he's been working for 40 years and more to dismantle our form of government that empowers us over him. People have died as a result of his flouting of safety regulations, he's engaged in massive thefts, and he's not only never been brought to account, using corrupt politicans to escape justice, but there's never been any indication of the slightest remorse. To the contrary.

I don't exactly buy the libertarian view of ordinary people, including his own employees, as parasites who weaken and sicken society, greedy undeserving takers from the deserving few, but when you consider how stupid and feckless the electorate has been, I don't feel his contempt is entirely unjustified. It's mutual, though. The man belongs in a cage.

[femmocrat]

2. Was Martin Shkreli otherwise engaged?

[SoCalNative]

3. Bloomberg had the story yesterday

http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-12-07/trump-team-is-said-to-consider-thiel-associate-o-neill-for-fda

[theaocp]

4. Should make killing people easier.

All you need is an unapproved whatever-the-fuck chemical and call the death "unwise use of a medicine" or some such rot. Like the OP said, this is fucking INSANE.

[Freethinker65]

5. Coming from a "snake oil" salesman elect...

This is no surprise

[dhill926]

6. of course....why not....

maybe folks will wake up when they're dying in the fucking streets....shaping up as a chaos administration which is probably what the fuckers want. then swoop in and get richer...

[Danascot]

47. The Shock Doctrine

nt

[randr]

7. Taking America back to the dark ages

[bucolic_frolic]

8. We're all Guinea Pigs now

all that's needed is an executive order to take the medicine per your
doctor's diagnosis - or go to jail and lose your benefits

Can't wait too for negative interest rates, confiscatory policy for sure

[C_U_L8R]

9. Why not go full libertarian?

Quaaludes for everybody !

[Fast Walker 52]

14. I wonder if he's at least pro-marijuana?

[wordpix]

10. good idea, ingest whatever snake oil is given at whatever price

And spread poisons everywhere on our agricultural lands, even more than is already applied! Yippee! That's what ending regs is all about.

[summerschild]

11. Yup. Looks like another good pick, Donnie.

Did Rush Limbaugh already turn it down?

[Bayard]

13. Walking Dead

Isn't this how the zombie apocalypse begins?

[Fast Walker 52]

15. Haha... yes

Oy

[Fast Walker 52]

16. meanwhile, it's ka-ching!!! for the drug companies and and wall st

[Pacifist Patriot]

17. All of these picks have got to be ridiculously bad on purpose.

There seems to be a unique irony with respect to every single suggested appointment. It's like he's trying to be as oppositional as possible. It's making me wonder if he's doing it deliberately to scare the shit out of the EC in hopes they will vote for Hillary and get him out of the mess he created for himself by running in the first place.

[Fast Walker 52]

38. I was wondering the same exact thing this morning. It's like a silent cry for help.

We can only hope!

[Javaman]

19. trump is the poster child for disaster capitalism.

we will be a smoldering wreck when he's done.

[Thrill]

20. Consequences

Think about that next time you're a Democrat that votes for these hateful people. Think about that the next time you think it's clever to vote third party or leave your presidential pick blank

[HockeyMom]

21. Hello? 21st Century Cures Act

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2016/12/07/congress-passes-21st-century-cures-act-boosting-research-and-easing-drug-approvals/?utm_term=.c7c755d4390e

Fasting tracking new "cures", drugs, and vaccines. FDA just becomes a puppet of Big Pharms to rush their new products onto the market as fast as possible.

Both Sanders and Warren were against this, but it got "bi-partisan" support. Of course, Republicans would support this. More money to Corporations.

[Ilsa]

27. Thanks HockeyMom. I think you found the

Real rationale for this one.

[Fast Walker 52]

39. Hmmm, I think most senators would have a very hard time voting no against that

there's a lot of enticing stuff in there, including extra NIH money

[muriel_volestrangler]

22. Trump hasn't drained the swamp - he's enlarged it, to hold everything from Monster Island

that he's importing. His picks are either generals (the most sane of which is technically not eligible since he hasn't been out of the military long enough), or rapacious business owners dedicated to destroying the agency they'll head. (Or an Attorney General currently suing the agency he'll head).

[Sunlei]

25. Republicans love this. trump may never make it to 1/20 but Republicans cracked Americas nuts already

[FreeStateDemocrat]

26. The truly disgusting fact is that 50% of 'Mericans now approve of this asswipes performance as the

designated Supreme Leader. The thing I regret most is that I wasn't greedy enough when I was working to be in position now to move out of this country and renounce my US citizenship. Tina knew what she was doing when she became a Swiss citizen and blew off the aberration called the USA a.k.a. the Fifth Reich.

[milestogo]

28. Responsible doctors would not prescribe drugs that have not been through an approval process.

Or are we bypassing the need for a prescription altogether?

[HockeyMom]

32. Fast tracking approval by the FDA

Doctors will see FDA Approved and give scripts. Unless of course, they follow the trials and see how long it took for FDA approval. Do you think the majority of doctors will bother to do their own research on the trials and approval process?

[Fast Walker 52]

37. Will majority of doctors bother to do their own research on the trials? I strongly doubt it.

[milestogo]

40. Doctors who care about their patients will care very much

whether they are giving something that has been tested and approved rather than something that is potentially harmful... I believe that is true of most doctors.

If a doctor prescribes something that does harm to the patient, isn't the doctor still going to be held liable?

[HockeyMom]

42. How long testing done?

and subsequent FDA approval? Perhaps some doctors will question this, but the majority? I can tell you that when the Chicken Pox vaccine was first approved, my daughters Pediatrician was not satisfied with that alone. He told me that he wanted to wait before giving it until he saw what the actual mass results were. He probably was the exception to the rule.

Another case in point. My daughter had spinal surgery in 2010 and a disk was implanted in her spine. Worse problems ever since. In 2012 the device was recalled by the manufacturer for falling apart and calcium growths. Many people are now confirmed to wheelchairs. Off the market for the future, but what about those who already have the device? Sue WHO? Certainly not the surgeons who implanted it. They trusted the manufacturer and their clinical trials. Does the manufacturer get off scott free just by recalling their device?

[milestogo]

43. Usually a lawyer will try to find multiple plaintiffs and sue

everyone in sight - doctor, hospital, device manufacturer or pharmaceutical company... and then it gets sorted out in court.

[lunasun]

34. Their pharma sales reps will let them know how great the new drug is at lunch

Doctors aren't trying to be irresponsible , but where can they get new drug information from ?

[Fast Walker 52]

36. Exactly. How many doctors will take time to research on their own?

[lunasun]

41. A doctor now days needs all kinds of support just to practice or has very limited patients

They simply don't have the time and even in med universities their limited pharmacology training has drug company input. They have to rely on the industry and FDA ruling and even when in the hospital a doctor may not have choices as the hospitals health supply is aligned with one pharma company over another

And if they somehow did learn of an individual who saw many patients with side effects
why would they believe a single physician or group who did whistle blow about side effects if they don't have standard trials behind them to prove it was the drug not other factors?
Of course doctors would all eventually start seeing a trend in side effects if bad enough and speak out in number along with patients harmed, but how long does that take? Look at vioxx
And this is now so just imagine

[dmosh42]

30. Don't know if any person can radically change the FDA which has been set up with guidelines set....

up by legislation and is renewed each year. I remember a ND senator(Dorgan) tried to allow imported
prescription drugs, but the bill was killed by a poison pill amendment approved by the senate, many who were well paid by big pharma. So Comrade Drumpf still will learn how difficult it is to just do as he desires.

[Fast Walker 52]

35. I agree that it won't be so easy to change things as he might like, but man, could these people

set us backwards.

[lunasun]

33. Well he is perfect because he has No medical experience whatever . Shows trump is a rebel hero

for the real people or some insane tweekhead crap

[rtracey]

44. so

So ok and yes, 4 years is a long time and damage can be done, but remember.... we vote for president in 4 years, new congress in 2...lets remember ALL OF THIS NOW.....

[Vinca]

45. Isn't he the guy who thinks people can reverse aging and live forever?

I hope Trump saves a spot for the "Sham Wow" guy.

[Fast Walker 52]

46. LOL!