Reports indicate the federal government is using the defense contract management firm to circumvent oversight and transparency norms
Washington, DC — A group of ethics watchdogs are calling for increased transparency on contracts between the federal government and defense management firm, Advanced Technology International, Inc (ATI), for funding to Operation Warp Speed drug corporations. The Trump Administration bypassed regular transparency rules by using ATI as an intermediary to funnel more than $6 billion to the pharmaceutical companies developing COVID-19 vaccines, adding another layer of secrecy and bureaucracy to the vaccine program that has already faced numerous questions about conflicts of interest.
Make no mistake: Moderna’s top executives have been profiteering from this pandemic from the beginning. And the Trump administration has helped by continuing to funnel taxpayer money to the drug corporations without any strings attached. Just like in July, Moderna executives and insiders continue shamelessly selling off inflated stock shares to make a profit in the middle of the worst public health crisis this country has seen in a lifetime.
Here we go again. With no evidence yet about its safety or efficacy, President Trump is claiming that the treatment that he was administered at the hospital is a ‘cure’ for COVID.
As in the case with hydroxychloroquine earlier this year, Trump is once again promoting an experimental medicine without any regard for the consequences to patients. It’s hard to take Trump’s endorsement of Regeneron’s treatment seriously when he and his friends are poised to profit. After Trump praised the latest supposed COVID ‘cure’, the stocks of Regeneron, which is run by a golfing buddy, soared.
“Over 200,000 Americans are dead and more than 30 in Trump’s immediate orbit sickened because of a virus this President refuses to take seriously. Last night’s political stunt from the People’s House was yet another reminder that President Trump and his inner circle are only looking out for themselves, not the American people.
“Building on the important work started by the late Chairman Elijah Cummings, the House Oversight Committee’s hearings this week exposed egregious price-gouging by pharmaceutical corporations that for too long have padded their profits at the expense of patients. So long as pharmaceutical corporations have monopoly control to charge whatever they want for prescription drugs, they will continue to gouge Americans for the medicines they rely on. Today, Americans pay more for our prescription drugs than people in other nations. Millions of Americans are forced to ration or go without basic life-saving drugs.
“In the middle of a crisis that has needlessly cost millions their jobs — and hundreds of thousands their lives — Republicans are dead set on taking away access to affordable healthcare and consumer protections so they can give more tax breaks to pharmaceutical corporations.
“Just like just about everything else he has said over the last five years, Donald Trump’s claims on lowering drug prices in last night’s debate, particularly his outrageous claim about insulin, were nothing but spin and lies. Calling insulin ‘cheap as water’ reveals just how out of touch this President is with the millions of Americans who must continue to ration critical medicines every single day because of Trump’s failure to follow through on his promises to hold Big Pharma accountable and lower drug prices.
