DC EKG

Joe and Eric speak with Charley Hooper, author of the book Should the FDA Reject Itself?  Part one of their discussion explores the likely impact of the Inflation Reduction Act and its drug pricing provisions, which include: overall drug production, the total impact on inflation, as well as the irony of prices actually going up as a result. *Episode aired Oct 26, 2022*

Former Judge Sullivan walks us through her 11 years on the bench and what works for people who struggle with addiction. From presiding over local “problem solving court” to her own experience being in recovery herself for 20+ years, her time in the department of justice in Washington, she helps explain why the hopelessness of addiction is made worse by bad government. Enabling addiction with free...

Longer human life doesn’t have to be the gloomy picture demographers have portrayed. Humans have diminished most early childhood diseases, and many middle aged fatalities. We need to live, learn, and work smarter for a longer period of time. We should look at the increasing lifespan as a longer middle age and plan for it. Andrew Scott takes us through how to approach having longer life ahead, from...

Justin Shubow joins Eric and Joe to share insights and history of the best, worst, and most brutal of government buildings and monuments.

This week’s program hosts a raw, unpacking of hard truths about: the SPR, nuclear opponents within the NRC, and the conflict between China hawks vs green energy advocates. Join Eric and Joe for their discussion with energy strategist, Mike McKenna for unvarnished jolt of reality.

Former advisor to former Defense Secretary Don Rumsfeld and coauthor of his book, Known and Unknown. Victoria shares her insights about the 10/7 terrorist attackers and the impact on Arab-Israeli relations. Relations which she played a role in advancing during her time on the Trump White House working as the deputy national seocurity adviser. She exposes the failures of the current administration...

Joe gets Eric to provide a tutorial on what is really going on in the House. Don’t miss this discussion around the speaker pro tem, the legislation on hold, and how we got here. Note: congressman Steve Scalise was shot during a practice for a congressional baseball game. It was incorrectly mentioned as “softball”.

This episode explores the enormous historical figure that is Justice Clarence Thomas. Insights on his story are detailed in a discussion about the book Mark co-wrote/edited, Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words , which discusses Justice Thomas’s early life surviving the deepest of challenges of poverty. We also explored Justice Thomas’s experience being taught by Irish nuns and the prof...

This episode covers how the Congress can investigate the FTX scandal, the need to learn what happened with the botched and tragic pullout from Afghanistan, and how to begin the examination of the government’s actions regarding Covid-19. The best ways to conduct an examination of public health mistakes of the last few years include examination of free speech suppression; the conduct of large bureau...

Joe and Eric review breaking news out of Washington. Eric gives a deep cut on the spending crisis and what is in store for both the house andpp senate. Plus McCarthy grief.

Over the next three episodes Joe and Eric speak with Mark Paoletta, a distinguished attorney in Washington, a former oversight lawyer on Capitol Hill, and the editor/author of the book Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in his Own Words . This episode explores how the new Republican House majority should conduct oversight. The discussion centered on Mark’s experience investigating the malfeasance at E...

Common misconceptions and why pharmaceutical market is so different. List price, co pays and deductibles, oh my. Bio similars v small molecule, how the evolution here promises great things. Competition is real and generates real savings, and deflation. Opportunity for savings was real, IRA causing disruption to that. Cell and gene therapies are just the latest revolution for patients therapies: br...

Discussed: Batch processing versus Continuous flow technology to onshore manufacturing of medicine. The way we increase the reliability of the supply chain is embrace innovation and bring this close to home. National security is improved as well. Supply driven shortages is again a factor, replacing the Covid crisis “demand “driven shortages. On, or near, shore needs to continue. Also discussed: Ma...

Who better to hear from about the condition of the condition of shortages dogging the healthcare supply chain than someone closest to the issue. David Senior is a longtime official with AmerisourceBergen, one of the world’s largest players in that chain. He discusses the historical challenges as well as the pressures of deflation on supply.

Naomi wraps the third segment with a flourish of innovative thought. About how much value is being added by the latest developments in medicine, how the shrinking cost of most drugs are spurring market choices, and how states are driving some exciting developments in health public policy. Plus the importance of staying healthy as we age.

The conversation continues with helpful insights- and cautions- about regulating AI, observations about the ability of Washington to keep up with the pace of change, and how we need to reimagine our approach. Also the invidious efforts to ration cures through the IRA under the cover of price controls. Bureaucracies and political agendas are stepping in to decide that they know better than patients...

Goldwater institute health expert, Naomi Lopez, shares her view on why artificial intelligence should not be feared, and can bring great advantages to medicine. elements of it have also been around for a long time, powering every day items like driver assist and crash avoidance. Naomi also talks about her work on behalf of “right to try” and the help it has delivered to people who have been frustr...

Recorded on 7/20- the same day the Stamford University president was forced to resign - Dr. Jay offers comment (50:10) on the hostile work environment allowed on campus. The sad and painful story of how the government, big tech, and academia conspired to suppress voices. Blacklisting at Twitter, ruined careers, and zero tolerance for questioning use of masks on children, the efficacy of vaccinees,...

The importance of growing the economy, the promise of AI, and why the future will brighter we needn’t be afraid.

The budget conversation continues with Paul. Here Joe and Eric press the question of the viability of maintaining such a large national debt and how economic growth is so vital. Currently the US is world’s leading asset today but we should de-risk our position by remaining a strong nation and drive economic growth. It’s Paul’s view that you cannot grow revenue faster than you grow the economy.

Paul shares his career history, the journey to his newly minted PhD, and useful context for today’s fiscal strife in DC. In this first part of a three-part conversation, Joe and Eric dive into what brought Paul to the fold of federal budget expertise, and useful top line takeaways from his London school of economics training.

Part III of Joe and Eric’s talk with economist Tomas Philipson focuses on his role as acting head of the Council of Economic Advisers from the start of the Covid crisis. What it was like to watch the “blue collar boom” and 3%+ GDP growth get undone by the pandemic, and how public health attitudes toward prevention at any cost, cost us dearly. And how the two tier approach (protect venerable / keep...

In the second part of a three-part interview, hosts Joe Grogan and Eric Ueland glean more gems from University of Chicago economist, Tom Philipson. Discussed are the damaging results of the two-year decline in US real wages, market volatility caused by government largesse, and the asymmetrical focus on bureaucrats over actual economic supply and demand metrics. Part one of this discussion begins w...

From the public announcements of discontinued research, the fuzzy CBO math that is under-counting the reductions in cures, to the bloated use of taxpayer dollars to implement price control. Its a data rich discussion that's sure to send shivers down the spines of policymakers, practitioners , and patients alike. Tom can be found: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomas-j-philipson-02878024/