The Next ‘Lab Leak’

Re:The Next ‘Lab Leak’ by m0zg on Tuesday November 23, 2021 @08:25PM (#29325945)

Fauci is the highest-paid US government employee. That's even ignoring the fact that he will make tens of millions of dollars after he ceases to be a government employee. The previous head of the FDA, Gottlieb is with Pfizer already. The guy who replaced him, Stephen Hahn, is with Moderna now. I find it bizzarre how people instantly forgot how profoundly evil US Big Pharma was considered even a couple of years ago. These people will let diabetics die for a buck, and yet I'm now supposed to treat them as the second coming of Jesus, and pretend they can do no wrong.

And I can guarantee you Daszak and a bunch of other hangers on make a lot more than "20K". In fact 20K might not be enough to get him out of bed in the morning.

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Re:The Next ‘Lab Leak’ by throwawaygh on Wednesday November 24, 2021 @04:13PM (#29335240)

> Fauci is the highest-paid US government employee.

...And? What's your point?

As a Chief Medical Officer at a pharma company, which he more than qualifies for, he's be making 10+ million/year. E.g., darryl sleep, the CMO of Amgen, made $20 million last year. You make this point yourself.

So Fauci is greedy because he.... didn't sell out? This take is so astoundingly ignorant that it's hard to believe it's made in good faith.

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Re:The Next ‘Lab Leak’ by m0zg on Wednesday November 24, 2021 @09:45PM (#29337717)

My point is, until we ban the immediate popping up of these figureheads on Big Pharma boards (something Trump tried and failed to do, and Biden won't even try), there's a massive conflict of interest, and everything they say and do should be regarded with a lot of suspicion. Pay them twice as much, but then say "you can't take money from the companies you're charged with regulating, directly or otherwise, for 5 years or you go to jail". The situation we have right now is just dumb and corrupt AF across the board. Fauci generated somewhere near half a trillion dollars of revenue for Pfizer just on COVID alone, and there's nothing whatsoever in US law preventing him from collecting a de-facto deferred bribe after he leaves NIAID. Happens to every single one of these figureheads, without any exceptions. I strongly suspect that's why they take these relatively unexciting jobs in the first place - for the potential to earn something more "exciting" that they wouldn't be able to get otherwise.

If you think they have your interests in mind, I suggest you reconsider. At best, your interests might sometimes align with those of their true masters. But if they don't, who gives a shit - Pfizer has legal immunity now.

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Re:The Next ‘Lab Leak’ by throwawaygh on Thursday November 25, 2021 @12:30PM (#29343197)

I largely agree that moving between gov't and private sector should be illegal or at least highly constrained, particularly in leadership or decision-making positions. But I also think you're unserious and insincere.

> Pay them twice as much, but then say "you can't take money from the companies you're charged with regulating, directly or otherwise, for 5 years or you go to jail"... Happens to every single one of these figureheads, without any exceptions.

You know how I can tell you're an unserious? You're criticizing Fauci for doing exactly what you want -- staying a well-but-not-unfairly-paid civil servant for his entire career. If Fauci was going to cash out, he could have done so decades ago. He's been at the top for a long time.

Which, BTW, is FAR more common than not. The people you're describing are not the median or normal outcome.

I don't think you have thought seriously about your criticism here, and I don't think you're commenting on this issue in good faith.

Have a good Thanksgiving.

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