Government officials and the American people depend on legitimate scientific study, and they have shown extraordinary deference to the U.S. Center for Disease Control throughout the past year.
How reliable are government declarations that mask mandates prevent the spread of the coronavirus?
Our recent experience with researchers from the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention has left us less than confident that the public should trust the CDC’s published research, much less any pronouncements based on that research.
At least eight leaders behind Walmart’s push into the health-clinic business have left the company since early 2020, and another is leaving in May.
Walmart launched its first comprehensive health center in September 2019 and now has about 20 of them attached to Walmart stores in four states, including Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois and Florida. The clinics were Walmart’s attempt to get serious about healthcare, compete with other retailers like CVS Health, and capture some of the $3.8 trillion industry.
Some heralded the Walmart Health clinics as a game changer. They sought to disrupt an industry notorious for opaque pricing by offering transparent prices for an array of services, including primary care, dental exams, vision tests, counseling, X-rays, and diagnostics. Seeing a doctor at Walmart’s clinics costs $40, even for patients without insurance.
Less than 24 hours after researchers received the first genomic sequence of the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19, scientists began working to identify potential preventative vaccines. Since then, the process to develop these innovative medical products has been on full display.
Already, multiple vaccines and treatments have received emergency use authorization (EUA) for use in the United States. Global health authorities outside the United States have also authorized numerous vaccines. Additionally, in the United States, one antiviral medicine has been approved for the treatment of severe COVID-19 infection. While COVID-19 was unknown to scientists until late 2019, research and development essential to supporting the vaccines and treatments ultimately authorized and approved to treat COVID-19 has been ongoing for several years.