Captured agencies
Here is one of the more extraordinary pieces of journalism you’ll read in a while.
It’s the CDC’s former director Robert Redfield coming out to endorse Donald Trump or more specifically Robert Kennedy Jr., “the right man for the job to address chronic disease” in the United States.
The reason this is remarkable is that RFK Jr. went after and heavily criticized Robert Redfield alongside other public health officials in the US for their irresponsible entanglement with the pharmaceutical industry.
In his piece, Redfield proclaims:
“Kennedy is right: All three of the principal health agencies suffer from agency capture. A large portion of the FDA’s budget is provided by pharmaceutical companies. NIH is cozy with biomedical and pharmaceutical companies and its scientists are allowed to collect royalties on drugs NIH licenses to pharma. And as the former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), I know the agency can be influenced by special interest groups.”
Let that sink in. Read it again.
When a taxi driver criticizes Uber, the postal service disparages E-Mail or a hotel manager condemns AirBnb, we take their opinion with a grain of salt.
In contrast, Redfield has absolutely nothing to gain from writing this piece. If anything he is risking his own legacy and standing. We should attribute all the more weight to his comment.
We have to wait and see. But for the time being, this piece provides sufficient testimony to throw into question almost everything that is coming out of the US’ current healthcare system and food supply.
