Jan 19, 2017

Drug company lobbyist to be Trump's FDA temp

Evan Vucci / AP

STAT has a scoop that the Trump transition team has tapped lobbyist Jack Kalavritinos for a major role on the "beachhead" team to run the Food and Drug Administration after President-elect Trump's inauguration on Friday.

Who? Kalavritinos was the head of global lobbying for hospital supplier Covidien, which moved its global HQ to Ireland after being acquired by Medtronic in 2014 to take advantage of lower tax rates.

Does Trump know? "Here's what he said about drug company lobbyists at last week's press conference: "Pharma has a lot of lobbies and a lot of lobbyists and a lot of power and there's very little bidding on drugs."

Go deeper

Axios

Updated 2 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

Global: Total confirmed cases as of 6 p.m. ET: 6,804,044 — Total deaths: 362,678 — Total recoveries — 2,788,806 — Map.
U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 6 p.m. ET: 1,909,077 — Total deaths: 109,497 — Total recoveries: 491,706 — Total tested: 19,231,444 — Map.
Public health: Why the pandemic is hitting minorities harder — Coronavirus curve rises in Florida — How racism threatens the response to the pandemic — Some people are drinking and inhaling cleaning products in attempt to fight the virus.
Tech: The pandemic is accelerating next-generation disease diagnostics — Robotics looks to copy software-as-a-service model.
Business: Budgets busted by coronavirus make it harder for cities to address inequality — Sports, film production in California to resume June 12 after 3-month hiatus.
Education: Students and teachers flunked remote learning.

Other resources (<1 min. read)

Rebecca Falconer, Orion Rummler, Rashaan Ayesh

Updated 2 hours ago - Politics & Policy

George Floyd updates

Protesters in Washington, D.C. on June 6. Photo: Samuel Corum/Getty Images

Thousands of demonstrators are gathering in cities across the U.S. and around the world to protest the killing of George Floyd. Huge crowds have assembled in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and Chicago for full-day events.

Why it matters: Twelve days of nationwide protest in the U.S. has built pressure for states to make new changes on what kind of force law enforcement can use on civilians and prompted officials to review police conduct.

Go deeper (1 min. read)

Caitlin Owens

3 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Why the coronavirus pandemic is hitting minorities harder

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Photo: Mark Makela/Getty Images

The coronavirus’ disproportionate impact on black and Latino communities has become a defining part of the pandemic.

The big picture: That's a result of myriad longstanding inequities within the health care system and the American economy.

Go deeper (2 min. read)