215: COVID-19 Testimony Congressional Dish

When Congress (finally) returned from their COVIDcation, experts in medicine, vaccine development, law, and business testified under oath. In this episode, hear the highlights from 17 hours of that expert testimony during which you'll learn about a concerning new vaccine development policy, Mitch McConnell's dangerous demands for the next COVID-19 response law, and how Republicans and Democrats failed for the last two decades to secure the nation's medical mask supply.  Thank you to all Congressional Dish producers who make the independence of this podcast possible. Enjoy your show!  Please Support Congressional Dish – Quick Links to contribute monthly or a lump sum via to support Congressional Dish for each episode via Patreon Send payments to: Send payments to: @Jennifer-Briney Send payments to: $CongressionalDish or Use your bank’s online bill pay function to mail contributions to: Please make checks payable to Congressional Dish Thank you for supporting truly independent media! Articles/Documents Article: By Stephanie M. Lee, Buzz Feed News, May 30, 2020 Article: By Akela Lacy, The Intercept, May 26, 2020 Press Release: , U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, May 21, 2020 Article: By Derek Thompson, The Atlantic, May 22, 2020 Article: By Eric Sagonowsky, Fierce Pharma, May 8, 2020 Article: By Jennifer Haberkorn, Los Angeles Times, May 6, 2020 Article: , U.S. Food & Drug Administration, April 24, 2020 Article: By Emily Kopp, Roll Call, April 17, 2020 Article: By Julia Carrie Wong, The Guardian, April 17, 2020 Article: By Al Asyary and Merita Veruswati, ScienceDirect, Elsevier, 10 April 2020 Resources Tweet , Jennifer Briney, Twitter, May 27, 2020 Sound Clip Sources News Alert: , Axios, Fox News, May 18, 2020 Interview: , By Noah Manskar, The New York Post, Fox News, May 15, 2020 Hearing: , United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, May 14, 2020 Witnesses: Dr. Richard Bright - Former Director of BARDA, current Senior Advisor at the National Institutes of Health Mike Bowen - Executive Vice President of Prestige Ameritech Transcript: 51:40 Rep. Ana Eshoo (CA): Was there a failure to respond with the needed urgency when you correctly pushed to ramp up production of masks, respirators, syringes, swabs. Dr. Rick Bright: Congresswoman, we've known for quite some time that our stockpile is insufficient and having those critical personal protective equipment. So once this virus began spreading and became known to be a threat, I did feel quite concerned that we didn't have those supplies. I began pushing urgently in January along with some industry colleagues as well. And those urges, those alarms were not responded to with action. 52:15 Rep. Ana Eshoo (CA): Was there a failure to take immediate action when you correctly push to acquire additional doses of the drug Remdesivir, which is the only drug so far that has appeared to be at least mildly effective, thank God, for treating people with COVID-19? Dr. Rick Bright: There was no action taken on the urgency to come up with a plan per acquisition of limited doses that Remdesivir nor to distribute those limited doses of Remdesivir once we had the scientific data to support their use for people infected with this virus. 1:04:00 Rep. Frank Pallone (NJ): My concern is, I'm very critical administration in terms of their I call it incompetence, with the supply chain, with lack of testing. I'm afraid the same thing is going to happen with vaccines and once it's in the distribution. I mean, should I be concerned based on your experience? Dr. Rick Bright: Absolutely, sir. We're already seeing those challenges with limited doses of Remdesivir with data that we're getting that Remdesivir has some benefit in people. And we have limited doses and we haven't scaled up production and we don't have a plan and how to fairly and equitably distribute that drug. If you can imagine this scenario, this fall or winter, m