२४ जानेवारी, २०२४

"The White House has its own pharmacy—and, boy, was it shady under Trump."

Headline at ArsTechnica.

Subheadline: "It wasted $750K during the Trump years and freely handed out Ambien and Provigil." The article links to a recent report from the Department of Defense’s Office of the Inspector General, which covered the years 2009 and 2018. 

Read the report to see what it has to say about whether things were worse during the Trump administration. It looks as though the main problem was the failure to substitute generic drugs for name brands, which seems to resonate with Trump's own business, so heavy on the name brand.

This story made me think about the JFK conspiracy scene in the movie "Slacker":

 

"JFK and Jackie were speed freaks and they were just hopped up on amphetamines day in and day out.... and at the White House, they were just visited all the time by this doctor they came to call 'Dr. Feelgood.' It's just crazy. It's just crazy."

Is that true? Here's a New York Magazine article from 2013, "The Strange Saga of JFK and the Original ‘Dr. Feelgood’":
Throughout most of his life, JFK was far sicker than he ever let on publicly.... As a result, Kennedy took a crazy-quilt array of drugs, including corticosteroids, both oral and implanted as pellets, procaine and other painkillers, and intermittent but huge doses of antibiotics. Plus amphetamines and a slurry of other goodies from Max Jacobson, the original “Dr. Feelgood.” (Jacobson enjoyed a burst of pop-currency currency earlier this year, when “Mad Men” featured a character that was apparently based on him.)

By the way, Trump has lost a lot of weight, and that naturally has led people to speculate that he's using Ozempic, but, for the record, he says he did it "the hard way." 

२९ टिप्पण्या:

Wince म्हणाले...

Does the Biden campaign really want a deep-dive into drug use in the White House?

wild chicken म्हणाले...

I've come to the conclusion that our entire ruling class and media are on Adderall, Ambien, Xanax, and Zoloft, or their generic versions.

Tina Trent म्हणाले...

Ah, whatever. JFK's Dr. Feelgood, anyone?

wild chicken म्हणाले...

I had to look up Provigil. Another stimulant!

Man, to think I went through most my life unenhanced.. I was a shift worker too! My first job was graveyard. I had to quit because I couldn't handle it.

If I'd stayed on I could have retired at 48 with a fedgov pension.

I was robbed...

Todd म्हणाले...

One would think from the headline that Trump was behind counter during breaks between meetings, managing things.

I wonder how well the pharmacy is doing during this admin, I mean with crack-head Hunter and all. I guess if he can walk cocaine into the Whitehouse, he can walk anything he wants out of the pharmacy; he probably just sends the secret service to get the "stuff" for him.

Jamie म्हणाले...

Nice headline - "shady" doesn't imply "wasteful of taxpayer funds," it implies "look at all the addicts!"

Humperdink म्हणाले...

The standing joke was that if Barry Bonds was ever elected to the Hall of Fame, his pharmacist should get a bust also.

Same should be if Biden is re-appointed.

Mr Wibble म्हणाले...

I've come to the conclusion that our entire ruling class and media are on Adderall, Ambien, Xanax, and Zoloft, or their generic versions.

Basically. DC is full of Type-A kids whose parents helped them get Adderall prescriptions to give them an edge, and who are now on Xanax, Ambien, and Zoloft in order to deal with the stress of their lives. That's why the WH was so evasive about the cocaine: it wasn't Hunter's, but they can't admit that because it would raise the question of "how many people in the West Wing are drug addicts?"

cfs म्हणाले...

Wow! Suddenly the media is interested in the White House pharmacy. But only as it pertains to Trump of course.

Over the past couple of decades media has done several investigative reports on the amount of psychiatric and other drugs prescribed at the Congressional pharmacy. All our representatives are hyped-up on one type of drug or another. Many take drugs for Alzheimers.

Even Vox did an article on the subject several years ago.

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/10/11/16458142/congress-alzheimers-pharmacist

https://www.statnews.com/2017/10/11/pharmacist-congress-drug-delivery/

Randomizer म्हणाले...

Nice mention of Provigil. I have been taking Provigil since my doctor prescribed it six years ago for a sleep disorder. It is practically a miracle drug. One pill in the morning, and I don't doze off in the middle of the day. It keeps me alert and focused until I'm ready for bed at the end of the day.

Two side effects that I noticed. It is an appetite suppressant and did make me a little more chatty. I would not be surprised it Trump takes it.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne म्हणाले...

By the way, Trump has lost a lot of weight, and that naturally has led people to speculate that he's using Ozempic...

He's also dealing with 3 court cases and a presidential campaign. That's enough to make anyone lose weight. He goofed during a speech and mixed up Niki Haley and Nancy Pelosi and they started screaming that he's showing signs of Alzheimer's. See above; I'm willing to cut him some slack considering what's going on.

Meanwhile; Joe Biden is constantly calling lids in the early afternoon and spent most of December on vacation.

We don't hate the Left and the media enough.

n.n म्हणाले...

Medicare, Medicaid/Obamacare, and their private consortium.

wendybar म्हणाले...

"He goofed during a speech and mixed up Niki Haley and Nancy Pelosi and they started screaming that he's showing signs of Alzheimer's."

but is it really a mix up?? Or did the media run with the ACTUAL truth?? https://x.com/JackPosobiec/status/1748866017252573457?s=20

Quaestor म्हणाले...

Generics are often manufactured overseas, mainly in China. Why contribute to the trade deficit?

Dude1394 म्हणाले...

So the pharmacy prescribed the cocaine Hunter left at the white house.

rehajm म्हणाले...

It wasted '750K'...

Any government waste is bad but let's have some priorities. You have to add three zeros to raise the amount to a rounding error...

...not coincidentally, this week there was this headline in the economic brief of major bank: Macro Strategy—Unprecedented Pandemic Liquidity Still Suppressing Credit Spreads translated: so many US Treasury trillions are still sloshing around the world it is distorting normal market responses to central bank actions, blunting The Feds weapons. That's not good...

Narr म्हणाले...

The DoD's OIG? $750k?

How about they inspect the trillion-dollar Pentagon budget?

Ha.

Temujin म्हणाले...

We're down to The White House Pharmacy as a talking point?
Good luck with your re-election.

Leland म्हणाले...

It is ArsTechnica. Reading it is like reading the comments of Howard and Rich. A waste of everyone's time.

walter म्हणाले...

Let's FOIA Team Juice.

Joe Smith म्हणाले...

Now do Travelgate under the Clintons.

No?

Howard म्हणाले...

This bottom of the barrel chicken shit gotcha bull crap is a strong indication that the DNC thinks Biden is in big big trouble

rehajm म्हणाले...

I would not be surprised it Trump takes it.

That's the implication they wanted. Nice job. My guess: since Trump has never self-medicated with so much as a pint of Guinness...

Lloyd W. Robertson म्हणाले...

Since you mention drugs and JFK, I thought you would touch on Mary Pinchot Meyer and LSD.

People magazine.

BUMBLE BEE म्हणाले...

Military Health System officials were unable to identify which organization was responsible for overseeing the office, though it is governed by the rules of the Navy, according to the medical unit

https://www.statnews.com/2024/01/23/white-house-pharma

BUMBLE BEE म्हणाले...

https://www.statnews.com/about/

iowan2 म्हणाले...

So that's the "story"? White house pharmacy pushed named brand pharmaceuticals?

Over a 10 year period, the last two under Trump. Who happens to be the President, but was strangely involved the operation of the pharmacy?

The media pushes fake news like this and bars the airing or talking about the leading Candidate running for President.

Mason G म्हणाले...

"We don't hate the Left and the media enough."

Would that even be possible?

Tina Trent म्हणाले...

I'd like to have both Trump and Biden disclose their entire medical records. Biden is on something that sometimes makes his pupils very large. What's that?