A New Ebola Vaccine? Thank Dick Cheney

Newsmax ^ | 23 Oct 2014

[xzins]

Thomas Geisbert spent the ’90s scraping together funds to work on an Ebola cure. Occasionally, he’d get enough to test a potential vaccine in primates, but the monkeys always died. There was just never enough money.

The Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and Dick Cheney helped change that. Cheney, then the vice president, said he feared assaults by bioterrorists could be far more devastating than what happened that day, and became an advocate in the George W. Bush White House

At least seven drugs now being tested -- including some used to treat Ebola victims in the U.S. -- grew from biodefense measures approved after Sept. 11. The NIH budget for studying potential bioterrorism agents has grown to $1.6 billion from $53 million in 2001,

The U.S. had to take bioterrorism “seriously as a threat in the aftermath of 9/11,” Cheney said in telephone interview. “It has ramifications when the source of the problem you’re dealing with is something like an outbreak of Ebola, but our prime motivation was to make certain we were prepared to deal with an attempt to use those substances in an attack.”

Until recently, there was little profit motive for finding an Ebola cure. Previous outbreaks infected a few hundred, at most, before being contained. This one is on a different trajectory, killing at least 4,900 and infecting almost 10,000 since March, according to the World Health Organization. New infections are projected to reach 10,000 a week by December.

To entice drugmakers to invest in research to fight Ebola and other potential bioterrorism agents, Congress in 2004 passed a law called Project BioShield, allotting $5.6 billion to buy and stockpile drugs to protect against the deadliest infectious diseases. When Bush signed the law, he singled out Cheney as the White House point-person behind the effort.

[xzins]

Before Sept. 11, Cheney had expressed concern about biological weapons, and he said the attacks made the threat real. They were a “traumatic event for the country, but you could easily envision an attack with a far deadlier substance that would kill a heck of a lot more people,” he said.

[Buckeye McFrog]

The flip side being that drug companies now have 100% ironclad immunity from lawsuits if an immunization they concoct harms anybody.

[immadashell]

The Dims are trying to figure out how to take credit for this. They will start by trying to claim this was a bipartisan effort back in 2004.

[Tax-chick]

Mr. Cheney, always my Vice President, no matter what other pretenders may sully the title ...

[Slyfox]

Congress in 2004 passed a law called Project BioShield, allotting $5.6 billion to buy and stockpile drugs to protect against the deadliest infectious diseases. When Bush signed the law, he singled out Cheney as the White House point-person behind the effort.

$5.6 billion turned out to be a lot of stash for Obama's pet projects like Solyndra.

[Ancesthntr]

You think that Cheney will actually get any credit in the LS media? I don’t. IMHO, there’s more chance that Ted Cruz will be drafted as Speaker of the House (you don’t have to be in the House for that, technically), and immediately thereafter Obama and Biden resign to clear the way for a Cruz presidency. IOW, no chance.

Yet, we may owe a lot to this villified person, the Dick Nixon of this generation. It will only be after he dies that some on the Left will acknowledge that he wasn’t quite so wrong, or maybe was right sometimes.

[griswold3]

I hear ‘progressive’ heads exploding all around.
They will bash the immunity clause as all good trial lawyers are prone to do. But that can be changed in a heart beat if something bad occurs.

[xzins]

I’m torn on this one, Buckeye. There needs to be some rational balance between protection of customers and protection of research companies. If it were me, I’d probably require a customer to sign a consent agreement. If they refused, then no drug. If they did, then no prosecution. Leave it up to the individual.

[cld51860]

Oh boy, this will be all over the news shortly! /s

[moovova]

The FIRST question out of the libs’ mouths, upon hearing this, will be “Yeah, but how many kazillions of dollars did Evil Dick Cheney and Haliburton make off of this????”

(Cruz/Cheney ‘16)

[ansel12]

The U.S. had to take bioterrorism “seriously as a threat in the aftermath of 9/11,” Cheney said in telephone interview. “It has ramifications when the source of the problem you’re dealing with is something like an outbreak of Ebola, but our prime motivation was to make certain we were prepared to deal with an attempt to use those substances in an attack.”

I have tried to promote that view for months.

We and republicans need to make this Ebola situation serve as a wake up call to bring American government and institutions and public services, and the military up to speed, so that we can be ready in case of an actual bio attack. We don't know how well the military will do yet in Africa, but we have learned that no one here in the states seemed ready, the hospitals, airports, ambulance people, the government, the schools, bus companies, everyone seemed totally surprised. Which is pretty surprising after generations of drills, and billions of dollars spent on what we thought was readiness from bio attack by the Soviets, and later the Muslims.

[vetvetdoug]

The early narrative of an Ebola vaccine had the Bush administration stopping funding of the vaccine trials in 2003. Which is the truth?

[xzins]

Readiness for bio-terrorism might never be a reality because of GMO potential with biologics.

However, readiness with known deadly bio agents should be the norm. I agree with you. Ebola is so bad that this research should never slow down until we have a handle on it.

[ansel12]

Readiness means the hospitals, the military, the schools, bus companies, airlines, the government agencies, it means being ready to respond, that is what we have seen lacking when this guy from Liberia arrived.

The research can never supply a cure or vaccine for every new bio threat in advance, that stops it in it’s tracks instantly, so while the labs do their thing in research, our nation and military always needs to be ready to respond and deal with outbreaks and deliberate attacks until those cures and vaccines arrive.

[generally]

I have similar concerns. I’m also concerned about the size of the budget. I have no idea what’s needed or what’s reasonable, but it seems like a heckuva lot of money. Just because I support an effort doesn’t mean it should have limitless funding.

[Smokin' Joe]

Ping...

A link to this thread has been posted on the Ebola Surveillance Thread

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[null and void]

Bring Out Your Dead

Post to me or FReep mail to be on/off the Bring Out Your Dead ping list.

The purpose of the “Bring Out Your Dead” ping list (formerly the “Ebola” ping list) is very early warning of emerging pandemics, as such it has a high false positive rate.

So far the false positive rate is 100%.

At some point we may well have a high mortality pandemic, and likely as not the “Bring Out Your Dead” threads will miss the beginning entirely.

*sigh* Such is life, and death...

[Smokin' Joe]

You’re Welcome, Alamo-Girl!