DL Open Thread: Friday, May 9, 2025

They’re Just Trolling Us Now.  Jeanine Pirro For DC AG.  Some Influencer Who Isn’t A Practicing Doctor For Surgeon General.  Laura Loomer took time off from firing the Librarian Of Congress and Acting Head Of FEMA to release the following statement:

Ms. Loomer ridiculed Dr. Means on social media Thursday, calling her a “total crack pot” who “USES SHROOMS AS ‘PLANT MEDICINE’ AND TALKS TO TREES!” and “DOESN’T EVEN HAVE AN ACTIVE MEDICAL LICENSE.” As evidence, Ms. Loomer posted excerpts of Dr. Means’s weekly newsletter, in which Dr. Means muses on recipes, product recommendations and other topics, including “mindset shifts and habits.”

‘Shrooms’?  She just might be on to something there…

When Is A ‘Deal’ Not A Deal?  When Trump says that a non-deal is a deal:

It’s true that the easing of arbitrary tariffs on cars, steel and aluminium that didn’t even exist until eight weeks ago falls far short of being an actual trade deal, not least because the president could rip it up again tomorrow if he felt like it. But the terms agreed between London and Washington could save thousands of jobs, which isn’t to be sniffed at, even if they’re jobs that need never have been at risk in the first place had Trump not suddenly chosen to threaten them. More surprisingly, Rachel Reeves seems to have managed to hang on to her digital services tax on (mostly US) tech companies, while for all the president’s bluster about “dramatic” new access for cattle ranchers to British markets it could have been infinitely worse for British farming: no chlorine-washed chicken, hormone-injected beef or flooding of the market with heavily subsidised US meat at prices British farmers just couldn’t afford to match.

This has been less a trade deal between allies – a process of give and take that in the long run hopefully leaves both sides better off – than a hostage negotiation. Pay Trump what he feels he’s due, and you get your economy back in roughly the state it was before, though missing a few fingers and probably traumatised.

Could Trump Do Something Good Re Drug Prices?  Maybe:

In most other wealthy countries, governments set a single price for a drug that is usually based on analysis of the therapeutic benefit of the medicine and what other countries pay. In the U.S., drug companies determine what to charge for their products with few restraints. Insurance companies can refuse to cover a drug to try to negotiate a lower price, but for some diseases like cancer, that poses a risk of public backlash. Cancer is a “very politically charged disease,” said Dr. Aaron Kesselheim, a Harvard Medical School professor who studies drug pricing and regulation. Some states also mandate that insurers cover certain cancer drugs.

Pharmaceutical companies have consistently argued that American drug prices reflect the cost of research and development. Americans may pay more, but they also benefit from having first-line access to cutting-edge treatments. (Celgene has since been acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb, which says its price for Revlimid, which it increased in the U.S. last year by 7%, “reflects the continued clinical benefit Revlimid brings to patients, along with other economic factors.”)

Dr. Hagop Kantarjian, a leukemia specialist at MD Anderson Cancer Center who studies drug pricing, said that pharmaceutical companies often overstate the cost of developing drugs and that many drug discoveries originate in hospital and academic labs funded through government grants. Funding from the U.S. National Institutes of Health contributed to all but two of the 356 drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration from 2010 to 2019, according to a Bentley University study. Companies also don’t spend all their profits on innovation: The 14 largest drug companies in the world spent more on stock buybacks and dividend payments to investors than on research and development, according to a 2021 analysis by the U.S. House Oversight Committee.

Sens. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Peter Welch, D-Vt., introduced a bill this week that would penalize pharmaceutical companies that sell their drugs at higher prices than the average of the prices in Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Italy and the United Kingdom. Companies that sell above the average would face civil penalties equal to 10 times the difference between the U.S. list price and the average price in those other countries.

President Donald Trump has advocated for similar actions.

Why such a focus on this?  Well, Chris Coons has been a beneficiary of pharmaceutical largesse, to the tune of $441,866 in campaign contributions from 2019-2024.  Lisa Blunt Rochester has received over $333K in pharma campaign contributions during 2023 to 2024 alone.  It doesn’t appear that Sarah McBride has had as much of an influx of dollars from the pharmaceutical industry.  Just something to keep in mind if you wonder who your electeds will side with in this potential battle.  It, uh, might not be you.

Here’s Why The Senate Didn’t Vote On The Marijuana Czar Yesterday:

The Delaware Senate is delaying a vote on Gov. Matt Meyer’s nominee to be the state’s next marijuana commissioner because of concerns over a conflict of interest.

Meyer nominated Sanderlin, a Washington, D.C.-based attorney and government affairs specialist, last month. He’s the principal of Sanderlin Strategies, PLLC, where he acts as a consultant and law firm for those navigating the legal and regulatory challenges surrounding the burgeoning marijuana industry.

According to his financial disclosure form provided to the Senate, he is a member and former manager of Hashtoria, partnering with Wu-Tang Clan rapper Raekwon, according to the New York Post. He is also a member and general counsel to House of Pink II LLC in D.C.

In a statement, Senate President Pro Tempore Dave Sokola said senators were ready to proceed to a floor vote on Sanderlin’s nomination after he satisfied their concerns regarding his companies.

In response to several questions about his business interests and conflicts of interest in his confirmation hearing Wednesday, Sanderlin said he would divest his holdings, if confirmed.

“I didn’t want to put the cart before the horse here knowing I had to come before this committee as well as the full Senate to be approved by my nomination,” he said. “We are so siloed by the states we are in that it’s really tough to say it’s a direct conflict. But as you stated, the statute clearly says any company that produces, manufacturers or retail sales.”

Sanderlin also committed to senators that he would cease acting as a lawyer or a consultant to focus on being Delaware’s marijuana commissioner.

Sounds like Sanderlin will be able to ‘hash’ out the Senate’s concerns, and emerge from the weeds as the Marijuana Czar, perhaps as early as next week.

What do you want to talk about?