by Gavin de Becker Bestselling Author, The Gift of Fear A quick thought experiment: Imagine that thousands of healthy young Americans died suddenly, unexpectedly, mysteriously – and then kept dying at an alarming and escalating rate. (Once upon a time), that would trigger an urgent CDC inquiry to determine the cause of the deaths. Imagine attentive and curious public health officials discover the decedents had all repeatedly ingested a new and little-understood drug. Next, the officials determine to a certainty that the drug these kids took has a clear mechanism of action for causing
by Gavin de Becker Bestselling Author, The Gift of Fear A quick thought experiment: Imagine that thousands of healthy young Americans died suddenly, unexpectedly, mysteriously – and then kept dying at an alarming and escalating rate. (Once upon a time), that would trigger an urgent CDC inquiry to determine the cause of the deaths. Imagine attentive and curious public health officials discover the decedents had all repeatedly ingested a new and little-understood drug. Next, the officials determine to a certainty that the drug these kids took has a clear mechanism of action for causing inflammation of the heart and other cardiac injuries in some people. They learn that public health officials in other countries have seen the same thing and stopped recommending this same drug to young people. Next, some of the most senior and revered scientific advisors to the US Government publicly recommend the drug be stopped for young people. Finally, thousands of doctors around the world sign petitions and write op-eds opposing the drug for young people. Experts from Harvard, Yale, MIT, Stanford, and Oxford universities come forward to voice their concerns. Alas, that thought experiment doesn’t require any imagination, because it’s exactly what’s occurred – except for the part about attentive and curious CDC officials rushing in to inquire. That part I had to make up. In the pre-COVID world, wouldn’t inquisitive reporters chase such a story, and wouldn’t the FDA pause administration of t...
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