Purdue Pharma, drug maker and distributor, has agreed to pay 26 billion dollars to settle state and municipal lawsuits for its role in the nationwide opioid epidemic. Peter Pitts is the president and co-founder of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest and former associate commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Pitts says the litigation has gone on long enough and it’s time to distribute that money to where it is needed most, the treatment centers, especially after record numbers of people died from opioid overdose during the pandemic.

Peter Pitts discusses what is holding up the distribution of settlement funds, why plaintiff states are dragging their feet, whether all plaintiffs have to agree on the distribution of funds, and how similar the opioid litigation is to the case against tobacco companies in the 1990s. In the 90s, settlement money went to everyone except the victims.  Pitts criticizes attorney generals for grandstanding, and the more they delay, the more people will suffer. Americans suffering from the blight of opioid addiction should not be held prisoners.

The government is sending out free COVID-19 tests in the mail, despite the fact that many people accept that COVID is over. Phil Kerpen, president of American Commitment, discusses what this government distribution is really costing taxpayers (billions of dollars), what made the federal government believe it could distribute a consumer product better than the private sector, concerns about the validity of the tests, why no one pushed back on this idea, why ideas like this help inflation soar, and what impact this could all have on the mid-term elections.

Early on in the pandemic, giving people rapid tests to do at home would have made sense because people could continue on with their lives with little disruption to the economy. Now, it’s become apparent the lockdowns did nothing to stop the virus.  Kerpen and John Fund wrote an op-ed on the subject for Spectator World.

Excerpts from the op-ed:

There are thirteen states left who have resisted federal pressure to expand their Medicaid programs. Matt Dean, senior fellow on health care at The Heartland Institute, has been testifying before state legislatures in those states explaining why these states should resist the federal financial bait. In some cases, it’s not just the carrot but the stick they may need to resist if they fail to expand Medicaid. Once states expand their programs to the non-disabled, it will be very hard to go back. States find they are on the hook for unanticipated fiscal costs and can no longer try innovative programs to address health insurance problems.

Dean discusses what he learned as a seven-term legislator in the Minnesota House of Representatives. Dean served in leadership roles and had oversight on health care finances. Minnesota was one of the early states to expand Medicaid under Obamacare. He discusses what impact the move has had on the private health insurance market as well as a program the state tried before expansion that actually worked to help the marginalized get better care from hospitals. Dean discusses the kind of pressure “hold out” states are under to expand their Medicaid programs and why that could be a negative thing overall for the country.

If the pandemic taught us anything, it showed how critical open debate in science and medicine needs to be. Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, as one of the authors of the Great Barrington Declaration, has been one of the most visible and vocal voices against lockdowns and how the world’s focus needed to be on protecting the vulnerable. He discusses why government needs to do to protect free debate in science and medicine.

Bhattacharya, a physician and epidemiologist from Stanford University is now a fellow at the Hillsdale College Academy of Science and Freedom, an organization he co-founded with fellow Declaration author Martin Kuldorff, Ph.D., who recently retired from Harvard, and Dr. Scott Atlas, also of Stanford and former COVID–19 advisor in the White House under President Trump. Bhattacharya discusses herd immunity, why it was so ignored during COVID-19, the latest terrorism bulletin from the Department of Homeland Security on “mandate dissent,” the government’s claim that it is a possible triggerfor violence and unrest, and what needs to be done with the nation’s health agencies so they are more responsive to the public.

People love their health savings accounts (HSA). They reward people for not being wasteful and staying healthy. But why can’t seniors in Medicare have them? John Goodman, the president of the Goodman Institute and co-publisher of Health Care News talks about why it makes sense for Congress to support a Medicare Roth HSA, an account seniors can fund with after-tax money to help with out-of-pocket Medicare expenses, which can run into thousands of dollars.

When Canadian truckers were told they would no longer be allowed to cross the border from the U.S. without showing proof of vaccination, they said “enough!” Tens of thousands of truckers formed the “Freedom Convoy” and converged on Ottawa in protest of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s draconian restrictions enacted in the name of the coronavirus. Supporters waving Canadian flags have braved sub-zero temperatures, cheering them on as they fight for their rights. The group has already raised over $8 million in support.

The convoy has received international attention from the likes of Elon Musk, Donald Trump, Tucker Carlson, and Jordan Peterson. Plus, the movement may inspire similar convoys in other countries, including the U.S.

John-Henry Westen, host of the John-Henry Westen Show, is a citizen and resident of Canada. Westen was in Ottawa to greet and report on the convoy. Lifesite News, of which Westen is the co-founder and editor-in-chief, has provided round the clock coverage of the Freedom Convoy. Westen described the number or outrageous restrictions taking place over the last two years and how the traditional media has essentially ignored them. He describes how he was unable to reach his daughter across the country in nearly 2 years. Westen also explains how Trudeau was able to get re-elected in September and why the Freedom Convoy can be transformative.

Learn more:

(Article) Don’t Believe What Canadian Media Tells You About the Freedom Convoy: https://www.lifesitenews.com/blogs/dont-believe-what-canadian-media-tells-you-about-the-freedom-convoy/

(Podcast) John Henry Westin Show: https://open.spotify.com/show/4XV4Y8fw7sPGTkudaJxFgm

(Website) LifeSiteNews: https://www.lifesitenews.com/

President Biden announced that his administration is making 1 billion at-home rapid COVID-19 tests available for free. The tests will be distributed through the mail and private insurance companies. Doug Badger, a former White House and Senate policy advisor and now a senior fellow at the Galen Institute and the Heritage Foundation is a big fan of making available tests to the public so they can make informed choices. Badger argues this plan is convoluted and flawed, and probably 18 months too late.

Both Presidents Biden and Trump have supported at-home COVID testing, but delays at the FDA held up release of the tests early in the pandemic. Badger discusses concerns about the possibility of false results from the test, whether the tests will become “politicized” to restrict actions by people choosing not to get the COVID- 19 shots unvaccinated, and the unintended consequences from the government buying a stockpile of the tests.

Biden’s COVID-19 Tests Plan: Too Little, Too Late: https://heartlanddailynews.com/2022/02/bidens-covid-19-tests-plan-too-little-too-late-commentary/

Please link to sponsor: donorstrust.org/Heartland

During the public health crisis, the Trump administration removed reimbursement obstacles to telehealth. The response was overwhelming. In the first six months of 2020, telehealth usage soared 7,400 percent. That usage initially drove up costs, but over time, patients started using fewer health services. Costs dropped 61 percent from $1,099 to $425 per month.

Co-author Charles Katebi, a healthcare analyst with Americans for Prosperity, discusses why that seems to be the case and what lawmakers can do to make telehealth access permanent.

Schieber and Katebi discuss the pros and cons of telehealth and how this health care delivery reform has support from both sides of the political divide.

Charles Katebi and Arielle Kane, of the Progressive Policy Institute are the authors of: Telehealth Saves Money and Lives:  Lessons From the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Sponsor: Donor’s Trust - https://consider.donorstrust.org/heartland062521

The federal government frequently defends its COVID-19 policies based “on the science.” But this standard is lacking when it comes to the government’s vaccine mandates. The American Commitment Foundation filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court arguing the vaccines do little to nothing in protecting the public from the now dominant strain of the virus, the Omicron variant. Phil Kerpen, the Foundation’s president tells AnneMarie Schieber how his organization based its brief on analysis by top infectious experts, including Jay Bhattacharya of Stanford University. If the mandates were to stay, they would be like a “personal health mandate,” akin to ordering someone to eat broccoli or exercise.

More Details:

The U.S. Supreme Court is reviewing two vaccine mandates, one applying to private businesses with 100 or more workers under OSHA, and the other applies to any health care institution that receives Medicare or Medicaid funding. Kerpin discusses:

 -  Omicron…how can we be sure the vaccine won’t help slow it down?

 - If Omicron did not exist, could you make the same case with Delta, a variant that is more life threatening?

 - Dangers if mandates are allowed to exist if they are strictly a personal health mandate….what next, orders to exercise or eat broccoli?

 -  How will the Court decide?

- Whether private businesses suffered already from the mandate…preparing for the order, and now that it is in effect

 -  Should we leave vaccine mandates entirely up to the states?  Since the federal government has its tentacles everywhere, would this be possible?

 - Did the federal government overplay its hand with the vaccine mandates…is public opinion turning against it?

The amicus brief can be viewed online at: https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/21/21A244/207571/20220106153204637_220103a%20Motion%20and%20Brief%20for%20efiling.pdf

Dr. Scott Jensen, a long-time family physician, is a former Minnesota State Senator who is now running for governor. While working as a physician, Dr. Jensen became aware that reporting COVID-19 deaths was done differently than other diseases. Specifically, Dr. Jensen was told to report deaths as “due to COVID,” even if that wasn’t the primary cause. When Dr Jensen reported this to his higher-ups, he was told that a medical board was reviewing his license, which is required to practice medicine. Essentially, he had to shut-up or lose his job.

Dr. Jensen decided to go public with this information even though it threatened his career. Now, he’s running for governor in Minnesota. Dr. Jensen joins Heartland’s Samantha Fillmore and Matt Dean to provide his compelling story against bureaucratic injustice.

Follow Dr. Jensen on Twitter: @drscottjensen