FDA Commissioner Addresses Life Expectancy Decline

2/14/24
 
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from Heartland Daily,
12/30/23:

The decline in Americans’ life expectancy has drawn the attention of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Robert Califf, who tweeted on X, “We are facing extraordinary headwinds in our public health with a major decline in life expectancy. The major decline in the U.S. is not just a trend. I’d describe it as catastrophic.”

Califf gave several ways to reverse course.

Califf proposed his agency “create and sustain a post-market evidence generation system” that would evaluate medical products after FDA approval and “teach about the need for participation in evidence generation.” Califf noted clinicians are under financial pressure not to participate.

Another step to increase life expectancy would be to counter medical “misinformation,” Califf said.

“While vaccination is an obvious example, we could go through the list of leading causes of death and disability and find that misinformation is much more pervasive…

Califf also called for expanding the clinical workforce and wider use of artificial intelligence to “lift clinicians out of box-checking hell.”

Califf also recommended increased vaccination but did not mention the adverse reactions connected to the COVID-19 shots. Califf noted new vaccines for COVID-19, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus infections.

What about Excess Deaths?

Califf does not even pose the obvious question, much less answer it in his remarks, says Jane Orient, M.D., executive director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons.

“The decline in life expectancy is recent and sharp,” said Orient. “Why now? What changed? What are the causes of death? During COVID, there was not a spike in excess deaths. If older, sicker people died of COVID, we should be seeing fewer deaths after the culling effect, not more. Perhaps more fentanyl (overdose deaths), more suicides? How many? Not enough to account for this.”

Califf is ignoring the obvious

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