US Regulatory Capture by Cranks

Timeline of alternative covid treatments and the role of those embraced by Trump's team

🧵The latest Republican Covid Oversight Committe provides a clear picture of the alternative reality that will soon be taking charge of US health institutions

It's worth considering the implications for the FDA when the grifters become gamekeepers

2/ It's hard to know which came first, claiming a cure for covid as a reason for removing all measures, or the grift, likely it depends on the individuals.

Lets look at a timeline of the promotion of alternative treatments that continued to be promoted once proven ineffective

3/ The first example of people producing an alternative treatment protocol that I know of is from the AAPS linked organisation that rebranded as Truth for Health Foundation

This was February 2020

4/ This was written by Vliet and McCullough.
McCullough become a key player in covid disinformation embraced by Republican politicians
TfH board members in 2021 included former Trump advisor Paul E Alexander
…terdisinformationproject.substack.com/p/truth-for-he…

Truth For Health FoundationReligion and Disinformation merge for a Church based Telesales franchisehttps://counterdisinformationproject.substack.com/p/truth-for-health-foundation

5/ March 2020, stage right, enters Elon Musk to promote hydroxychloroquine

How Musk Sold MAGA on HCQ — and Opened the COVID-19 Disinformation Floodgates - WhoWhatWhyThe spread of viral disinformation via social media would prove a vital tool for the right-wing assault on public health throughout the pandemic.https://whowhatwhy.org/culture/journalism-media/how-musk-sold-maga-on-hcq-and-opened-the-covid-19-disinformation-floodgates/

6/ MAGA jumped on HCQ

7/ Musks role in the promotion of HCQ shouldn't be underestimated

Worth noting my twitter account has been throttled every since this article came out

8/ Shortly afterwards Trump had picked up the cause

9/ Musk then teamed up with another tech bro Kirsch who dived down the rabbit hole

10/ Next came America’s Frontline Doctors forming in May 2020
A leaked Council for National Policy call revealed the group was founded specifically to drive a narrative to get the economy running before the Nov 2020 presidential election

The group went in big on HCQ

11/
…terdisinformationproject.substack.com/p/americas-fro…

America's Frontline Doctors ReportThe Council for National Policy's creation, disinformation & insurrectionhttps://counterdisinformationproject.substack.com/p/americas-frontline-doctors-report

12/ Paul Alexander was brought into the Trump administration to join Scott Atlas and proceeded to try to force HCQ through the FDA

Funny how they make claims about vaccines but were willing to ride roughshot over regulatory standards for HCQ

13/ See previous Covid Oversight Committee’s evidence based "knife fight with the FDA" charting what happened

What happens when there's no guardrails against this?

14/ After HCQ came Ivermectin, detailed timeline in this article

Ivermectin: Dr. Pierre Kory and the Wonder Drug That Wasn’t - WhoWhatWhyIvermectin has fused with MAGA politics.https://whowhatwhy.org/politics/us-politics/ivermectin-dr-pierre-kory-and-the-wonder-drug-that-wasnt/

15/ Ron Johnson was one of the Republican politicians particularly enamoured with HCQ as they tried to force it through FDA

16/ Republican politicians gave platforms for those punting unproven treatments to testify at Senate Hearings

The grifters weren't censored and silenced as they claim, HCQ and IVM simply don't work

17/ Once HCQ was thoroughly debunked, Ivermectin quickly became the next wonder drug that wasn't wonderful, with Kory and Marik leading the charge, even as papers were retracted Marik was trying to sue hospitals for not using ivermectin and they dismissed vaccines as useful

18/ Worth stopping and considering this, they tried to force hospitals to use a drug that was being proven to be ineffective

What does the future hold?
A deregulation of standards to so grifters can maximise profits seems a minimum

19/ Alongside FLCCC in the US, BIRD formed in the UK after Bartosik, an AFLD member introduced fellow HART member Tess Lawrie to Kory
Lawrie then produced some awful papers to back up Kory’s claims

20/ Lawrie was also a member of disinformation hub Pandata whose scientific advisory board included Bhattacharya, Kulldorf, Gupta, Atlas etc including full on conspiracy theorists like Yeadon

The Pandata FileDetailed report on the international hub established April 2020https://counterdisinformationproject.substack.com/p/the-pandata-file

21/ Lawrie went on to form the World Council for Health as an umbrella group for grifters and conspiracy theorists, the list of partners is extensive and covers hundreds of groups across over 40 countries, these include FLCCC, RFK Jr's CHD and HART

The Radicalisation of Andrew BridgenKaram Bales looks at the COVID-19 pseudoscience and the anti-vaxxer conspiracies that propelled the former Conservative MP out of his partyhttps://bylinetimes.com/2023/05/12/the-radicalisation-of-andrew-bridgen/

22/ Off the back of a couple of years of disinformation conferences, tours, podcasts etc all these groups coalesced behind RFKs presidential bid with Kory, Bhattacharya etc all backing him

23/ With Bannon also in the mix it was inevitable that RFK Jr's campaign would eventually merge with MAGA

RFK Jr.: Bannon Chaos Candidate Born on Third Base and Now Playing Left Field - WhoWhatWhyThe anti-science RFK Jr. pushes is part of the larger anti-truth of fascism pushed by Bannon. It must be called out for exactly what it is.https://whowhatwhy.org/science/health-medicine/rfk-jr-bannon-chaos-candidate-born-on-third-base-and-now-playing-left-field/

24/ By 2023 the "alternative" treatments industry had turned into a major cash cow

McCullough's The Wellness Company being one of the best examples

25/ Lots more detail on TWC here and also the infrastructure of fake news developed to support through grift

Prominent Anti-Vaxxer’s Snake Oil Store Has a Propaganda Outlet - WhoWhatWhyThe Daily Beast and The Daily Mail called McCullough’s company’s product line “MAGA Goop.”https://whowhatwhy.org/science/health-medicine/prominent-anti-vaxxers-snake-oil-store-has-a-propaganda-outlet/

26/ The efforts to peddle fake cures combined with the efforts to undermine covid vaccines is insidious as it acts to a gateway to questioning all vaccines and conventional medicines

And its spreading despite how desperately poor some of these efforts are

Tech Mogul, ‘Misinformation Superspreader’ Breaks Law for Anti-Vax Movement - WhoWhatWhyRecent Tucker Carlson guest Steve Kirsch took stolen patient records from New Zealand in his desperate quest to prove the COVID-19 vaccines are killing in droves.https://whowhatwhy.org/science/health-medicine/tech-mogul-misinformation-superspreader-breaks-law-for-anti-vax-movement/

27/ Court action has been a common tactic, most major challenges fail (see Bhattacharya being described as an unreliable witness in court over a mask challenge) what wins they get are mainly around communications by organisations, which they misrepresent

Ivermectin Doctors Take to the Courts - WhoWhatWhyHow many lawyers does it take to make the antiparasitic work for COVID-19?https://whowhatwhy.org/science/health-medicine/ivermectin-doctors-take-to-the-courts/

28/ Many successful cases appear to have only gotten through due political support

29/ Those involved in creating and promoting the shoddy evidence base, are primarily the same people profiting from these alternative treatments and supplements, are about to be invited into the corridors or power. What will be the consequences of this regulatory capture?

These individuals and groups have spent years wearing the mantle of victimhood acussing others of not recognising their perceived brilliance, will retribution rank high amongst their priorities?