I honestly wish you had broader exposure to what you write. You should go back to posting important stuff like this on Brownstone which has the biggest footprint by far. Withdrawing from there because they are not Bernie Sanders (or anyone else) supporters is bad for you and bad for getting the word out. You have much important to say -- not everyone will agree with everything you think. But the world needs you to have the most exposure you can get.
Gruber and Krause should be speaking out more, but they were probably forced to sign a non-disclosure. I think it is shameful that the NEJM has become the lap dog of the FDA but then VRBPAC member Eric Rubin is the editor.
There's something else suspicious about this data.
I live in Israel. I just looked at our detailed corona tracker. According to this, over the past year, thirty people between the ages of 20 and 49 have died of Covid. The number hospitalized in tht cohort over that period was about 4800, meaning that somewhere in the neighborhood of 0.7 hospitalizations leading to death.
Califf and Marks's numbers have MORE THAN ONE IN SEVEN hospitalized 18 to 49 year olds dying of COVID. Even granting some other differences that might explain somewhat better numbers in Israel (namely higher vaccination rate and better access to health care), that is an INSANE number..
Or, at least it's before you consider that Israel stopped routinely testing all hospital patients for COVID ages ago. The numbers in the COVID data are therefore only picking up people hospitalized FOR COVID.
The only way you get one in seven hospitalized 18-49 year olds dying of COVID is if your population is severely unhealthy....including, say, terminal cancer patients who test positive for COVID upon hospitalization.
These “experts” who are supposedly providing a service to the country are sadly ignorant. Worse yet, they propagate the notion that critical analysis and searching for truth is part of a fringe movement. I still can’t figure out if they are lazy, dumb, or malicious.
The letter by Marks and Cardiff to the NEJM is of such low quality that one even wonders how these guys even managed to become MDs. When the quality of their data is so poor, and the degree of manipulation and dishonesty of their part is so high, is it any wonder that a very large proportion of the population has lost any trust or confidence in the FDA, CDC or NIH. If those agencies continue in the current vein, it is unlikely they will ever regain any trust.
The truth of the matter is that there was never any need to vaccinate any health person below the age of 50 for what amounts in this age group currently to be nothing more than either a bad cold or the equivalent of relatively mild influenza. Further, the only rational for pushing the bivalent booster at this time is if it prevents infection and transmission - it doesn't. Given that, the risks will always exceed the benefits (if any at all).
I have no words for the unmitigated arrogance and blind agenda that these people have hoisted in the past 3 years. I am thankful for your continued well thought writings and for others like Paul Offit and Marty Makary to name a few who have continued to point out the bad science and outright lies our FDA and CDC officials have given backed by science (political science).
Their mistake was publishing readily refutable material in a scientific journal. Your mistake was imagining anything these jokers print should be taken seriously. They are propaganda hawkers, and need to be removed. They have no respect whatsoever for science, and their appointment to positions of scientific authority is an abomination.
It's disgusting that these people hold these positions, but I commend you for continuing to speak up and not back down. The country (no, the world) needs YOUR voice.
I honestly wish you had broader exposure to what you write. You should go back to posting important stuff like this on Brownstone which has the biggest footprint by far. Withdrawing from there because they are not Bernie Sanders (or anyone else) supporters is bad for you and bad for getting the word out. You have much important to say -- not everyone will agree with everything you think. But the world needs you to have the most exposure you can get.
Gruber and Krause should be speaking out more, but they were probably forced to sign a non-disclosure. I think it is shameful that the NEJM has become the lap dog of the FDA but then VRBPAC member Eric Rubin is the editor.
There's something else suspicious about this data.
I live in Israel. I just looked at our detailed corona tracker. According to this, over the past year, thirty people between the ages of 20 and 49 have died of Covid. The number hospitalized in tht cohort over that period was about 4800, meaning that somewhere in the neighborhood of 0.7 hospitalizations leading to death.
Califf and Marks's numbers have MORE THAN ONE IN SEVEN hospitalized 18 to 49 year olds dying of COVID. Even granting some other differences that might explain somewhat better numbers in Israel (namely higher vaccination rate and better access to health care), that is an INSANE number..
Or, at least it's before you consider that Israel stopped routinely testing all hospital patients for COVID ages ago. The numbers in the COVID data are therefore only picking up people hospitalized FOR COVID.
The only way you get one in seven hospitalized 18-49 year olds dying of COVID is if your population is severely unhealthy....including, say, terminal cancer patients who test positive for COVID upon hospitalization.
These “experts” who are supposedly providing a service to the country are sadly ignorant. Worse yet, they propagate the notion that critical analysis and searching for truth is part of a fringe movement. I still can’t figure out if they are lazy, dumb, or malicious.
The letter by Marks and Cardiff to the NEJM is of such low quality that one even wonders how these guys even managed to become MDs. When the quality of their data is so poor, and the degree of manipulation and dishonesty of their part is so high, is it any wonder that a very large proportion of the population has lost any trust or confidence in the FDA, CDC or NIH. If those agencies continue in the current vein, it is unlikely they will ever regain any trust.
The truth of the matter is that there was never any need to vaccinate any health person below the age of 50 for what amounts in this age group currently to be nothing more than either a bad cold or the equivalent of relatively mild influenza. Further, the only rational for pushing the bivalent booster at this time is if it prevents infection and transmission - it doesn't. Given that, the risks will always exceed the benefits (if any at all).
Thank you. Your efforts to teach and to debunk are deeply appreciated by many, Dr. Prasad, myself included.
FDA approval = business deal made.
I have no words for the unmitigated arrogance and blind agenda that these people have hoisted in the past 3 years. I am thankful for your continued well thought writings and for others like Paul Offit and Marty Makary to name a few who have continued to point out the bad science and outright lies our FDA and CDC officials have given backed by science (political science).
“Get out of here” - love it!
Puh-leeze, Topol is the Dan Rather of medicine. Why is anyone listening to him?
Their mistake was publishing readily refutable material in a scientific journal. Your mistake was imagining anything these jokers print should be taken seriously. They are propaganda hawkers, and need to be removed. They have no respect whatsoever for science, and their appointment to positions of scientific authority is an abomination.
This whole this is a farce at this point, it’s over
Love the analysis, thank you so much
Agree with Dr.K!
Thanks for the analysis!
It's disgusting that these people hold these positions, but I commend you for continuing to speak up and not back down. The country (no, the world) needs YOUR voice.