As the DeSantis administration rails against the FDA decision to limit use of monoclonal antibody treatments made by Regeneron and Eli Lilly, worth noting both companies say they agree with the feds that these drugs aren’t effective against omicron.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) January 25, 2022
Regeneron left, Lilly right: https://t.co/3QWxqDC4zC pic.twitter.com/3vDj4ojWjm
Even if I can't quite put my finger on why Governor DeSantis became convinced that Regeneron was going to be a major part of his herd immunity strategy, it's clear that there never was a "magic pill" that would get us through the pandemic. For one thing, new variants might not respond well to previously developed treatments, but also, natural immunity from prior infection appears to wane.
The facts don't matter to DeSantis (any more than facts care about his feelings or political ambitions), so he will moan that the FDA is the villain for telling him what he does not want to hear. But the FDA (and the companies that make the treatments in question) are only following the science.
As with blaming Fauci, for, well, everything, there is a temptation to put a human face on the pandemic to give people someone to lash out at. It's the pharmaceutical industry's fault (although why this is a "them" problem regarding vaccines and not antiviral medications, I'm not certain), it's the big bad nanny state's fault for wanting mandates that impose on "freedoms". Part of that is just political posturing, but I do think there is also a psychological desire for the there to be a face to punch when COVID-19, invisible to the naked eye, has no face, or a body to imprison for the high volume of deaths, when COVID-19 hasn't got an ass to toss in the clink.
There was never going to be an easy solution, but what DeSantis is showing is a public performance to mask incompetent public policy. But I do not think he is a good enough actor to really do that.
UPDATE: Apparently, DeSantis' surgeon general will be facing tough questions over his competency, which sounds about right.
UPDATE: More Republican performance over drugs that don't work.
5 comments:
It shouldn't need saying but DeSantis' anger at discontinuing the federal approval of these drugs has absolutely nothing at all to do with the governor having the state of Florida buy the drugs from a company run by one of his largest political contributors.
pretty sure the attack on fauci is to absolve the girth-wind-liar of culpability for the (eventual) millions of deaths that he is and will be responsible for.
I find it easy to believe DeSantis' has a certain amount of corruption and cronyism at the heart of his decisions--just something about the guy. I think the scapegoating of Dr. Fauci started off because he upstaged the Make American Great Pumpkin, but post-Trump, it's kind of morphed due to just general anti-intellectualism and contempt for public service.
vix, that's just it: we're NOT post-trump. that foul sun has not yet set. on their world, it's fauci's fault, he's in league with bill gates and the CCP and they maliciously spread the virus after creating it.
if NOT, if derp furor dropped the ball, covered up the severity, intended to use the plague-dead as a weapon against democratic governors, hijacked PPE from blue states and municipalities, resisted containment and mitigating efforts like mask mandates, social distancing and going remote in order to prioritize the economy above lives and the economy tanked ANYWAY while hundreds of thousands died on his watch?
then what is the party of personal responsibility to do?
no. it's GOT to be fauci's fault.
You have a point, Eddie--especially about the "party of responsibility". Responsibility is always for other people for them, wearing a mask or getting a vaccination, or seeing themselves as making necessary sacrifices like not eating out or taking trips is some grand victimhood--not just part of being a member of society. So Fauci becomes their Torquemada or Mengele depending upon their fantasy of the moment. They hardly have sympathy for people who actually have suffered.
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