Dr. Céline Gounder

And so I think part of what we're seeing is a real frustration with this money being spent on research and people not necessarily feeling the tangible benefits. Now, I would say the COVID vaccines are a great example of a very tangible benefit. of 20-plus years of research on mRNA vaccines.

And so I think part of what we're seeing is a real frustration with this money being spent on research and people not necessarily feeling the tangible benefits. Now, I would say the COVID vaccines are a great example of a very tangible benefit. of 20-plus years of research on mRNA vaccines.

We had no idea that COVID was going to come along, but we were very lucky to have had that research already in the can, where we could then pivot to using those for COVID, and we were able to develop vaccines very quickly for COVID. And it's a platform that's really ideal for pandemics because you can so quickly tailor those for the next pathogen. So you have NIH. Then you have the CDC.

We had no idea that COVID was going to come along, but we were very lucky to have had that research already in the can, where we could then pivot to using those for COVID, and we were able to develop vaccines very quickly for COVID. And it's a platform that's really ideal for pandemics because you can so quickly tailor those for the next pathogen. So you have NIH. Then you have the CDC.

The role of the CDC is partly as a funnel, frankly, of funding to state and local health departments. So a lot of the funding does not stay at CDC. It goes down to the ground. But then also to collect data from the state and local health departments to analyze that, to feed that back to the states. We've already talked about some of the data issues there. to also help develop guidelines.

The role of the CDC is partly as a funnel, frankly, of funding to state and local health departments. So a lot of the funding does not stay at CDC. It goes down to the ground. But then also to collect data from the state and local health departments to analyze that, to feed that back to the states. We've already talked about some of the data issues there. to also help develop guidelines.

And it's not just for vaccination, but for any number of public health issues to provide guidance and technical support to the states. CDC cannot mandate or enforce any of that. That is, again, at the state and local level. And then you have the FDA, and where people will be most familiar is the FDA's role in approving drugs. This is also something that I think people don't understand is the FDA...

And it's not just for vaccination, but for any number of public health issues to provide guidance and technical support to the states. CDC cannot mandate or enforce any of that. That is, again, at the state and local level. And then you have the FDA, and where people will be most familiar is the FDA's role in approving drugs. This is also something that I think people don't understand is the FDA...

Take generics, for example. RFK Jr. has expressed frustration that the FDA is somehow blocking people's access to generic medications for additional indications, so using existing medications for additional uses, those sorts of things. And it's not the FDA. It's

Take generics, for example. RFK Jr. has expressed frustration that the FDA is somehow blocking people's access to generic medications for additional indications, so using existing medications for additional uses, those sorts of things. And it's not the FDA. It's

Essentially, a market failure where pharmaceutical companies, again, are the ones that pay for the clinical trials, the studies that determine whether something is safe and effective. They then take that data, they send it to the FDA in application, and they say, will you approve this? this medication for this purpose.

Essentially, a market failure where pharmaceutical companies, again, are the ones that pay for the clinical trials, the studies that determine whether something is safe and effective. They then take that data, they send it to the FDA in application, and they say, will you approve this? this medication for this purpose.

And so if there's not a profit incentive for these companies to do so, the FDA is never going to be able to approve that medication. Now, the FDA is partially funded by fees on these companies when they submit an application. That's a decision we've made. So we could decide we're going to use more taxpayer money for vetting these applications. We've decided to partially fund it with these fees.

And so if there's not a profit incentive for these companies to do so, the FDA is never going to be able to approve that medication. Now, the FDA is partially funded by fees on these companies when they submit an application. That's a decision we've made. So we could decide we're going to use more taxpayer money for vetting these applications. We've decided to partially fund it with these fees.

And we've decided that this kind of approach to funding R&D for drugs, diagnostics, vaccines, et cetera, we want that in the private sector. And that is going to have certain implications for what becomes available to people, how accessibly and how affordably.

And we've decided that this kind of approach to funding R&D for drugs, diagnostics, vaccines, et cetera, we want that in the private sector. And that is going to have certain implications for what becomes available to people, how accessibly and how affordably.

So this is very much focused on some of the conversations we've had around COVID and vaccines. That's really where this is coming from. So there's a desire by some to divide the CDC into a scientific data gathering institution, and then an institution that makes the recommendations and policies.

So this is very much focused on some of the conversations we've had around COVID and vaccines. That's really where this is coming from. So there's a desire by some to divide the CDC into a scientific data gathering institution, and then an institution that makes the recommendations and policies.

The idea being recommendations and policies may be more political because you are talking about values at that point. How do you value life? At what cost financially? What implications it has on society? And so there's a desire to create a firewall, so to speak, between who publishes the data, gathers the data, and who is making the policy recommendations.

The idea being recommendations and policies may be more political because you are talking about values at that point. How do you value life? At what cost financially? What implications it has on society? And so there's a desire to create a firewall, so to speak, between who publishes the data, gathers the data, and who is making the policy recommendations.