I want them to admit people didn’t run any studies even though people told them to
Previously, I discussed how Drs. Martin Kulldorff and Jay Bhattacharya became pandemic celebrities not because of their genuine accomplishments, but because they merely “proposed” things and listed the wonderful things they “would have” done. Though they portrayed themselves as superheroes who could have bent the virus to their will, in reality, they were content creators. That’s it. Now that they have power and a chance to prove their mettle, their utter incompetence and ineptitude are obvious to all. Had they been in charge in 2020, they wouldn’t have opened schools, protected the vulnerable, or done any of the things they “proposed.” It was all just an elaborate game of make-believe.
They are hardly alone in this regard. Like them, Dr. Vinay Prasad achieved fame and power based on entirely imagined feats of glory. He didn’t run RCTs or open schools. Rather, he sent many Tweets calling for others to do these laudable tasks and then made YouTube videos bragging that he “told” them what to do. In the video below, for example, Dr. Prasad is childish, vulgar, and vaguely threatening as he berates public health officials by saying, “I want them to admit they didn’t run any studies even though people told them to.”
Of course, actually running studies is infinitely harder than simply “telling” others to run them, and Dr. Prasad’s predecessors delivered multiple successful RCTs of COVID vaccines in record time. They were impressive people.
However, Dr. Prasad excoriated them not because he was genuinely motivated to improve research, but rather to spread doubt and rage about people who, unlike him, had real-world responsibility. To that end, he wrote articles such as The Scientists Who Undermine Randomized Trials, which implied that anyone who merely recognized the practical limitations of RCTs actively opposed them. He wrote:
In the last few weeks there have been several examples of scientists trying to undermine randomized trials— arguing they are not possible, not practical, or not useful. All of these arguments are false, as I will detail. But more interestingly, is that the attacks come from two sides: pro-corporation entrenched interests, and left-wing public health. What does it mean that these two sides are joining?
Similarly, in Dr. Prasad’s telling, public health leaders could have kept society running smoothly as COVID raged, but they either chose not to or were too stupid figure this out. For example, after a COVID surge forced schools to close in Alabama and Tennessee, Dr. Prasad said, “Covid is just a cold; incompetent leaders forced schools to close.” Had he been in charge, apparently, he would have kept schools open in ways that no one else figured out. He would have been a competent leader.
Dr. Prasad didn’t hide that his main purpose in all this was to undermine “left-wing public health.” He was an overtly political actor who likened mitigation measures to Nazi Germany and produced content titled Public Health Should Lose Your Trust and You’re Right Not to Trust Public Health. His broader goal, of course, was to elevate Trump, Kennedy, and himself, into power.
He succeeded.
Under Vinay Prasad, Employees at a Key FDA Center Fear Speaking Out, Look for The Exits.
Drs. Prasad’s ceaseless efforts to spread doubt and rewrite the history of the pandemic were rewarded with a top spot at the FDA, and we can check in on how he is doing now that he has an opportunity to demonstrate his prowess and leadership abilities.
It’s not going well. There’s a lot of drama. He’s already been fired and rehired once, and under his “leadership” we are all reading articles such as Under Vinay Prasad, Employees at A Key FDA Center Fear Speaking Out, Look for the Exits. It said:
Dozens of scientists are considering leaving the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, where Prasad serves as director, to escape a work environment that eight agency officials described to STAT as rife with mistrust and paranoia. These officials said staffers are terrified of pushing back on Prasad, lest they face retaliation.
The fear has been fueled by Prasad pushing at least seven senior leaders out of their positions, employees told STAT, and offering no public explanations to staff or the leaders’ supervisors. Some of his workers are fed up, and are attempting to transfer to the FDA’s drug center. Prasad has tried to block these transfers in apparent recognition that CBER can’t afford to lose many more employees. The center has lost hundreds of employees since the start of this year to retirements, layoffs, and resignations, and hiring conditions are difficult.
CBER employees are concerned that the exodus of employees and the worsening morale problems will affect the functioning of the center, which ensures the safety and efficacy of vaccines and helps speed potentially lifesaving therapies to rare disease patients.
“This is going to leave us with a workload problem that is crushing in the face of a morale problem that is circling the drain,” said one agency official, who was not authorized to speak publicly…
Eight CBER employees said Prasad can be charismatic, and his passion for science and evidence-based medicine is clear. But he is not a transparent, communicative manager, they said, adding that his vision for the center, other than applying additional scrutiny to vaccines, is unclear. His sudden removal of senior leaders has not helped. Several employees have filed complaints about Prasad’s management with human resources, four agency officials told STAT. Investigations into those complaints are ongoing…
“He’s wreaking havoc with the staff,” one agency official said. “People are terrified.”
In an environment where staffers are fearful to speak their mind, and where an increasing number are trying to leave, the quality of CBER’s work may suffer. The public, which relies on the FDA’s expertise to protect and promote their health, may suffer too.
“When you talk about making sure your vaccines are safe and effective, or having a safe blood supply, or developing the therapies of the future, you want the best people in the world,” said Jesse Goodman, a former director of CBER. “To do that, you want an environment where scientists want to work and are valued, and where there can be free debate and discussion.”
The article also noted that Dr. Prasad barely shows up to work, appearing just “two or three days every two weeks”, while another article on the downfall of Dr. George Tidmarsh reported a message where Dr. Prasad said to an FDA employee:
Let me be clear. If you continue to choose not to do what I tell you. I will spend all of my political capital gets [sic] you fired. Do not take people from my team. When I ask you to ask the reviewers a question you will do so.
None of his vindictive vitriol surprises me. When Dr. Prasad’s pathetic attempt to censor my miniscule YouTube channel was exposed, he baselessly smeared me in the press claiming:
All of Dr Prasad’s videos, that were illegally taken and published by another party, remain available for all to watch on YouTube. Publishing someone else’s videos without modification or commentary is a clear copyright violation. The mission of Johnathan (sic) Howard was not medical transparency, but personal profit by grifting and stealing someone else’s intellectual property.
None of this is true. In reality, Dr. Prasad profited from his social media content, not me. My YouTube channel, with 327 subscribers, is too small to monetize, even if I wanted to. Unfortunately, a prominent government official blatantly lying about a powerless private critic and accusing them of illegality is normal these days. Who knows what fabrications they’ll invent next?
Experts Worry FDA’s Credibility Is Being Shredded by Scandal And ‘Soap Opera’
However, while Dr. Prasad’s COVID disinformation and profane tantrums were often greeted with yawns and shrugs unfortunately, the chaos he’s causing at the FDA is getting a lot of attention. According to an article Experts Worry FDA’s Credibility Is Being Shredded by Scandal And ‘Soap Opera’ the FDA is an embarrassing clown show that is in total disarray. Some quotes are:
- Robert Califf, former FDA commissioner: None of the people there have managed a large organization, and there are things that you learn when you do that…It’s certainly unprecedented stuff like this has been in the news. I can’t say there haven’t been complex squabbles at FDA, but certainly, during my lifetime, there has been a view of the responsibility of the FDA to the public that it practices highly principled corporate management. And this seems to be lacking.
- Brian Skorney, investment bank analyst: I think I have been consistently critical of parts of the FDA regardless of administration, but what’s emerged over the past few months is just reflective of complete and total disarray and a complete lack of functional leadership.
- Chanapa Tantibanchach, former FDA press officer: Now, we have FDA ‘Mean Girls’ burn books happening out in the open.
- Anonymous portfolio manager at a large biotech fund: What’s happening at the top of the FDA is embarrassing. How am I supposed to convince people, other investors, that this sector is doing important work when the leaders of the FDA are acting this way?
- Anonymous venture capital investor: We are witnessing nothing less than a clown show at FDA right now. For the sake of patients, we need a stable and consistent FDA!
- Anonymous FDA agency staffer: It is impossible for dedicated career FDA staff to responsibly regulate new products, conduct groundbreaking research, and manage FDA’s resources on behalf of the American public. The situation is not salvageable. We need our many stakeholders, legislators, and pharmaceutical companies to demand better and to insist on change now, from the top of FDA and HHS down.
- Reshma Ramachandran, an assistant professor of medicine at the Yale School of Medicine and a board member of Doctors for America: The numerous incidents and allegations at the FDA leave me very concerned about the agency’s ability to be a scientific regulator. Between the firing and departure of technical and expert staff, reported mismanagement of leadership, and decisions that are being made without real transparency and based on politics, I am deeply worried about the impacts this continued chaos will have on patients and clinicians.
Journalist Matthew Herpert said, “I’ve been covering the FDA for 25 years. And I know about all sorts of internecine conflicts that we never got to report. And I can tell you this is pretty out of the ordinary stuff.” Another article titled Scandal And Controversy Take Toll on FDA Credibility quoted a former FDA staffer who said:
If they could get enough money elsewhere, if they could get remote jobs, if they could get as much vacation, they would just leave. I don’t know that I’ve talked to anyone who’s happy there.
Beyond his interpersonal toxicity, Dr. Prasad has failed to communicate the reasons behind some of his tough, controversial decisions and has been accused of changing regulatory standards in capricious, unpredictable ways. He skips key meetings, and industry leaders are fed up. One CEO said:
You have leadership that has been absent, and that’s a problem. There’s numerous issues going on, and it’s not just our company.
The Wall Street Journal has blasted him in articles such as Dr. Prasad, the FDA’s Grim Reaper, The Spin Doctors at the FDA, and The FDA’s Meltdown Escalates, while other articles, Drug Approvals Hit an FDA Wall and FDA Review of Drugs Is Slowing While Application Delays Are Growing, Analysis Find, reveal the consequences of the dysfunction at the FDA. Dr. Prasad refuses to answer tough but fair questions about any of this. While he’s fielded softballs from safe space propagandists like Bari Weiss, he ducks interviews with actual reporters like Lizzy Lawrence from STAT.
Other threats loom, especially as Kennedy ramps up his inevitable attacks on vaccines. Professional anti-vaxxers, Kennedy’s base, don’t trust Dr. Prasad. According to an article titled The Turmoil Inside MAHA Is About More Than Just Vaccines:
“He gives too much blanket trust” to childhood vaccines, said Del Bigtree, a Kennedy ally and top aide to his 2024 presidential campaign.
Another article reported:
An administration official granted anonymity to discuss Prasad’s role at the FDA acknowledged there have been “some issues with his management style and his communication style.”
“I wouldn’t say he’s in hot water, but I wouldn’t say he’s not in hot water, either,” the administration official said.
That’s not exactly a ringing endorsement, and I can’t find anyone willing to defend Dr. Prasad’s performance outside of his dronelike Sensible Medicine sycophants. And though they are “ecstatic” that Dr. Prasad is “wreaking havoc” and purging people at the FDA, even they can’t make the affirmative case that it’s thriving under his tenure. No one can.
FDA Staff in Meltdown as RFK Jr. Chaos Triggers Mass Exit Fears.
Unsurprisingly, trust in our federal health agencies has cratered, and large swaths of the country are ignoring Dr. Prasad and friends by forming their own public health collaboratives. In July this year, the headlines read What to Know About the Collapse of the F.D.A, and today they read FDA Staff in Meltdown as RFK Jr. Chaos Triggers Mass Exit Fears. Meanwhile, confidence in vaccines is dropping, and the doctors who “would have” mastered COVID can’t contain measles and pertussis. They’re not even trying.
This is what Dr. Prasad accomplished. This is what happened when he was given the opportunity to prove his leadership skills and deliver concrete results for the American people. Along with his COVID disinformation, his ineptitude at the FDA- all to serve the broader MAGA/MAHA agenda– is the only thing that matters about him.
It should be obvious to everyone now that when it came to COVID, Dr. Prasad was just spitballing opinions, and opinions are not accomplishments. No one should be impressed that he spent years “telling” his predecessors what to do. He deserves no praise or accolades because he sent Tweets “calling for” them to do difficult, often impossible things.
We also don’t have to pretend that Dr. Prasad would have been a capable of doing those things himself had he been in power when a new virus swamped morgues and hospitals in a few weeks’ time. He wouldn’t have run RCTs. He wouldn’t have kept schools open. He wouldn’t have done any of the things he “called for.” Based on his abysmal performance thus far, it’s doubtful we would have gotten any COVID vaccines at all.
The establishment, the people who set the policies, they have to strive to get things right. They need to do studies. They need to course correct. They have to admit their errors. They need to be held to the highest standard.
Although Dr. Prasad is flailing, in over his head, and lashing out at critics, we must continue to hold him accountable. As he said previously:
The establishment, the people who set the policies, they have to strive to get things right. They need to do studies. They need to course correct. They have to admit their errors. They need to be held to the highest standard.
Fair enough.
Now that Dr. Prasad is the medical establishment, those of us on the outside have every right to treat him as he treated his predecessors. Obviously, no one should curse at him or threaten him. Such juvenile behavior debases the entire profession. But we should all feel free to make countless YouTube videos and social medial posts calmly “calling for” him to do whatever we want and publicly branding him an “incompetent leader” if he fails to do everything we “told” him. He asked for this.
Personally, I am calling for Dr. Prasad to do his job in a mature, professional, competent, transparent manner. That’s just the bare minimum, and yet, he can’t even manage that.
