President Trump issued the restrictions in the spring and expanded them in the summer, citing the economic recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Inventor Jovan Pulitzer was the star of the show this week when he testified before Georgia lawmakers.
On Wednesday during his live testimony before the Georgia Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Elections, Pulitzer remotely accessed a Dominion Voting Machine — LIVE during his testimony.
Pulitzer confirmed that the Georgia runoff IS connected to the internet.
He established a two-way communication from a polling pad in a voting center.
“At this very moment at a polling location in the county, not only do we have access through the devices to the poll pad–the system, but WE ARE IN,” Pulitzer said.
On Thursday during a livestream, Pulitzer revealed the electronic voting machine was communicating with a vendor in China.
Pulitzer also said that he will soon be breaking two huge reports on the voting machines soon.
A 15-year-old boy was arrested on Thursday following footage posted on social media that showed a group of teens attacking a BMW SUV that was parked at an intersection in New York City.Police said that the incident…
Vice President Mike Pence’s lawyers asked a federal judge Thursday to reject a request from Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas that attempts to force Pence to ignore electoral votes of several key states when Congress meets to certify the 2020 presidential election next week.
The Grafton, Wisconsin pharmacist who admitted to deliberately removing 57 vials of Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine from cold storage – and was fired over it – has now been arrested on three felony charges, police have announced.
The now-former employee of the Aurora Health hospital in Grafton was arrested on Thursday on “recommended charges” of first degree of recklessly endangering safety, adulterating a prescription drug, and criminal damage to property, all felonies. He is currently being held in the Ozaukee County jail, but his name has not been released to the public yet.
BREAKING: An arrest has been made in connection with the alleged tampering of COVID-19 vaccines in Grafton. More from the Grafton Police Department: pic.twitter.com/undwgPD49c
Aurora Health, which runs the hospital where the incident occurred, revealed earlier in the day that the pharmacist in question has been terminated from employment. Initial investigation suggested he “inadvertently” left the vials – each containing 10 doses of the vaccine – out of the refrigerators needed to maintain their integrity overnight. The vials spoiled and had to be “discarded.”
The pharmacist subsequently admitted in writing that he did so deliberately, Aurora Health said, prompting the company to fire him and alert the authorities, including the FBI. His motives have not been revealed.
Both vaccines currently approved for use against the coronavirus in the US need to be kept in cold storage before being administered. The Moderna jabs arrive frozen at between -25°C and -15°C (-13°F and 5°F) and must be stored in refrigerators between 2°C and 8°C (36°F and 46°F), according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The Moderna vaccine was approved for emergency use on December 18, a week after the Pfizer jab received emergency authorization from US health authorities as well. Both vaccines were developed and approved in under a year, a process that normally takes much longer but was expedited by the Trump administration’s program dubbed ‘Operation Warp Speed.’
Even as demand for the vaccines has outstripped supply in some parts of the US, politicized claims about their safety used during and after the November election campaign have created an additional problem for the health authorities.
Another wrinkle in their distribution has been created by ideological proposals to make it “equitable” and prioritize groups “disproportionately impacted” by the pandemic, rather than frontline healthcare workers and seniors in nursing homes, judged to be at the highest risk from the virus.
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Pfizer, GSK & Others Quietly Hike Prices On 100s Of Drugs
With just hours to go until the new year, Reuters reports that a group of the world’s largest drug companies is preparing to hike drug prices, defying President Trump to issue a last-minute rebuke, as he has done in the past.
Drugmakers including Pfizer Inc, Sanofi SA, and GlaxoSmithKline Plc plan to raise U.S. prices on more than 300 drugs in the United States on Jan. 1, according to drugmakers and data analyzed by healthcare research firm 3 Axis Advisors.
The hikes come as drugmakers are reeling from effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has reduced doctor visits and demand for some drugs. They are also fighting new drug price cutting rules from the Trump administration, which would reduce the industry’s profitability.
The companies kept their price increases at 10% or below, and the largest drug companies to raise prices so far, Pfizer and Sanofi, kept nearly all of their increases 5% or less, 3 Axis said. 3 Axis is a consulting firm that works with pharmacists groups, health plans and foundation on drug pricing and supply chain issues.
During the early days of the Trump presidency, reports of price hikes elicited angry tweets from the president. This dynamic was credited with staving off a hike or two, but that doesn’t change the fact that drug companies tend to raise prices on their inventory at least once, usually twice, per year. Still, even Reuters pointed out that the pace of drug price increases has “slowed substantially” since 2015, per Reuters.
And the Trump Administration is pushing legislation that would constrain drugmakers’ ability to raise prices.
Nevertheless, with drugmakers’ dedicating themselves to defeating COVID-19 (of course, the state has doled out billions of dollars in subsidies, which sort of diminishes the selflessness narrative), the industry is insisting that profits must be made up elsewhere. So prices on some 300 drugs will rise, with more formal announcements expected on Friday, and over the weekend.
GSK did raise prices on two vaccines – shingles vaccine Shingrix and diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccine Pediarix – by 7% and 8.6%, respectively, 3 Axis said.
Teva Pharmaceuticals Inc hiked prices on 15 drugs, including Austedo, which treats rare neurological disorders, and asthma steroid Qvar, which together grossed more than $650 million in sales in 2019 and saw price hikes of between 5% and 6%. Teva hiked prices for some drugs, including muscle relaxant Amrix and narcolepsy treatment Nuvigil, as much as 9.4%. More price hikes are expected to be announced on Friday and in early January.
[…]
In 2020, drugmakers raised prices on more than 860 drugs by around 5 percent, on average, according to 3 Axis. Drug price increases have slowed substantially since 2015, both in terms of the size of the hikes and the number of drugs affected.
Pfizer, which threw money at its “partner”, BioNTech, to help develop and distribute a vaccine using the latter’s revolutionary mRNA technology, is one of the biggest offenders, hiking prices on cancer drugs, and the ubiquitous rheumatoid arthritis treatment Xeljanz, famous for commercials that have spawned satirical takes on social media.
Pfizer plans to raise prices on more than 60 drugs by between 0.5 % and 5%. Those include roughly 5% increases on some of its top sellers like rheumatoid arthritis treatment Xeljanz and cancer drugs Ibrance and Inlyta.
Pfizer said it had adjusted the list prices of its drugs by around 1.3% across all products in its portfolio, in line with inflation.
“This modest increase is necessary to support investments that allow us to continue to discover new medicines and deliver those breakthroughs to the patients who need them,” spokeswoman Amy Rose said in a statement, pointing in particular to the COVID-19 vaccine the company developed with Germany’s BioNTech SE.
It said that its net prices, which back out rebates to pharmacy benefit managers and other discounts, have actually fallen for the last 3 years.
By contrast, China is cracking heads to ensure that drugmakers are responding to the public’s need with massive price cuts. According to state-run media, some drugmakers are cutting prices by as much as 51%. Chinese patients can now get reimbursement for 2.8K medicines, including 1.4K Western drugs and 1,374 traditional Chinese medicines.
With holiday parties about to start, we wonder, will President Trump take another stand on twitter?
Pfizer & others should be ashamed that they have raised drug prices for no reason. They are merely taking advantage of the poor & others unable to defend themselves, while at the same time giving bargain basement prices to other countries in Europe & elsewhere. We will respond!
Though, at this point, even if he does, it would only serve to further complicate the relationship with these companies as ‘Operation Warp Speed’ lags further behind its target.
Last week, a Baltimore City Grand Jury returned a 2-count indictment against Baltimore Police Department (BPD) Officer Andre Maurice Pringle, for offenses that occurred on April 19, 2020 in the City of Baltimore, including one count of second degree assault and one count of misconduct in office. Pringle faces up to up to 10 years in prison for the assault charge. There is no statutory penalty for the misconduct charge, which is classified as a misdemeanor.
Last week’s indictment stems from an investigation led by the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Public Trust and Police Integrity and Evidence Review Unit as well as BPD’s Body Worn Camera and Internal Affairs Division.
The indictment alleges that on the day of the incident – April 19, 2020 – at 3:18 p.m., Brandon Walker entered Shoppers Supermarket with a face mask on top of his head in violation of Governor Larry Hogan’s Order #20-04-15-01, which was renewed on March 17, 2020, and Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young’s Executive Order, issued March 19, 2020.
Mr. Walker was using a crutch at the time and had a cast on his right foot.
A Shoppers Supermarket manager asked Walker to put his face mask on properly and he refused. The manager called store security who asked Walker to comply with the Governor’s Order or leave and again Walker refused. The manager then called Officer Pringle.
Officer Pringle, who was in full BPD uniform at the time, approached Walker and advised him that he had to leave the store. The two began walking towards the exit. Walker was yelling and cursing at Officer Pringle as they continued towards the automated entry/exit doors.
Officer Pringle and Walker entered the enclosed area between the two sets of automated doors, when Walker stopped and glared at Officer Pringle. Walker then turned back around and Officer Pringle responded by grabbing him by his jacket and shoving him out of the store’s exit. Once outside, Officer Pringle slammed Walker to the ground, face first, causing Mr. Walker to hit his head on the concrete.
Officer Pringle then got on top of Walker and folded his left leg upward forcing Walker’s left foot to his buttocks. The contact which started with the shove and continued through the arrest resulted in intentional, harmful, offensive, and unwanted touching by Officer Pringle.
At all times, Officer Pringle was a sworn public officer, acting under color of his office. The physical assaults were not accidental, consented to, nor legally justified.
“This office remains committed to upholding one standard of justice regardless of who violates the law,” said State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby “This indictment alleges actions that we simply cannot tolerate or accept from those that are sworn to protect and serve the citizens of this city.”
