Now, Merck’s Q4 2025 Lobbying — With Three Year Data, Merck v. Pfizer — 2023 Was A More “Normal” Spend, At $14 Million — For Pfizer.

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The detail below is just from Q4 2025 — but the figures are for the full years, in each case.

Overall, Pfizer is now well below its prior pace, for the last two years — for the decade preceding these last two years, $14 million a year was normal. [Afterall, it is about 40% larger than Merck on asset size, and footprint.]

Here and now, though — by comparing Merck, to last night’s Pfizer summary disclosure listings, you will notice that either Merck describes its efforts in more rigorous detail, or Pfizer is slightly cutting corners, by not really disclosing the precise sorts of suasion it seeks, on the various pieces of pending legislation. Do take a look — they spent essentially the same amount in 2025 — at $11 million (and this year Amgen is up nearer $13.5 million):

…[Both chambers of Congress:] H.R. 3, (117th Cong.) Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act; H.R. 19, (117th Cong.) Lower Costs, More Cures Act of 2021; H.R. 830, Help Ensure Lower Patient (HELP) Copays Act; H.R. 1503/S. 2916, Prescription Information Modernization Act of 2023; H.R. 2679, Pharmacy Benefits Manager Accountability Act; H.R. 2691, Transparent Prices Required to Inform Consumer and Employers (Transparent PRICE) Act; H.R. 2816, Pharmacy Benefit Manager Sunshine and Accountability Act; H.R. 2880, Protecting Patients Against PBM Abuses Act; H.R. 2940/S. 1355, Pioneering Antimicrobial Subscriptions to End Upsurging Resistance Act (PASTEUR) Act of 2023; H.R. 3290, To amend title III of the Public Health Service Act to ensure transparency and oversight of the 340B drug discount program; H.R. 3285, Fairness for Patient Medications Act; H.R. 3633, PREVENT HPV Cancers Act of 2023; H.R. 4368/S. 2131, Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2024 H.R. 4895, Lowering Drug Costs for American Families Act; H.R. 5376/S. 2474, Share the Savings with Seniors Act; H.R. 6283, Delinking Revenue from Unfair Gouging (DRUG) Act; H.R. 7174, To amend title XI of the Social Security Act to equalize the negotiation period between small-molecule and biologic candidates under the Drug Price Negotiation Program; H.R. 7635, The 340B PATIENTS Act of 2024; H.R. 8467, Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2024; S. 150, Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act of 2023; S. 1339, Pharmacy Benefit Manager Reform Act; S. 1895 (116th Congress) Lower Health Care Costs Act; S. 2333, Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Response Act; S. 2543 (116th Congress) Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act of 2019; S. 4229, Reducing Drug Prices for Seniors Act….

Issues relating to 340B program integrity; 340B of the Public Health Services Act; 340B issues; 340B drug pricing program; Drug pricing; Drug pricing and reimbursement issues; Anti-microbial Resistance; Cost and value of medicines; Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) immunization; Vaccines catch up; Vaccines issues; Package inserts, labeling issues, and E-Labeling authorization legislation; Pharmaceutical Supply Channel issues; Drug shortage issues; Inflation Reduction Act (P.L. 117-169), issues relating to drug pricing provisions; Issues related to the Patent and Trademark Law Amendments Act (PL 96-517); FY-2024 Budget and Appropriations Legislation; Intellectual property protection and trade issues; WTO IP Waiver for COVID therapeutics; Animal Health; Animal Health Technology Issues; National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) draft Interagency Guidance Framework for Considering the Exercise of March-In Rights Animal Health Policy Issues: ADUFA & Funding for Electronic Animal Traceability; One Health Issues; General pharmaceutical issues; Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP); Diversity in clinical trials; Accelerated approval reform; Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) policy issues; Pharmacy Benefit Manager reforms; Food and Drug Administration issues; Public Health Issues….

[Various Agencies:] Issues relating to Medicare; Medicare Part B and D drug pricing issues; 340B program integrity; 340B of the Public Health Services Act; 340B drug pricing program; Drug pricing; Drug pricing and reimbursement issues; FY-2024 Budget and Appropriations Legislation; Medicaid drug rebate program (MDRP); Medicare coverage of COVID antiviral medicines….

Issues relating to Tax reform and tax policy, generally; Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (P.L. 115-97); Inflation Reduction Act (P.L. 117-169), provisions relating to budget reconciliation and taxes….

There you have it — I’ll get to Amgen and Lilly on the plane — as I’m on a jet early tomorrow, to the Rockies — baby-grrls here all afternoon and evening tonight! Woot!

नमस्ते

This Profoundly Saddens Me — And Raises Very Important Privacy And Civil Liberties Questions… [Spoiler Alert.]

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As many will recall, we have thrilled to Banksy’s many artistic and social commentary endeavors — on a global basis.

For now, I won’t even reveal the name of the news organization that has done it (let alone link it), but one of the news agencies has released the true name of Banksy. Google it at your considerable own risk — to the mystery and wonder that has been the hallmark of his art installations, over the decades.

In many ways, this doxxing is… a fundamental violation of his right to put out the art he most desires: should he stencil subversive art in any non-free nation (and maybe even in several “free” ones) — his life will be in grave danger.

So — as an Anon., myself — I am deeply disappointed. This would be one time (since his art killed no one) where I highly question the public’s “right to know“… his name and movements.

In the internet age — and with Mossad, MAGA and the KGB on the rise — this one piece of “journalism” may already force him into a self-imposed exile.

Were I Banksy, I might find a tropical island — and retire from bricks and mortar art — launching from inside an entirely foil-clad room, in a non-extradition country — and digital artworks, exclusively. That is, unless he can transmit the same to willing “helpers” — not previously associated with him, to carry on the work — just as DaVinci kept a studio full of artisans.

Damn — maybe we will set up… a volunteer sheet. Grin — pharma lobbying updates, next.

नमस्ते

Very Tardy — With Full Year 2025 Lobby Spend Disclosures, Here — Before Q1 2026 Disclosures Appear In A Few Weeks. Grin…

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It is like wedding gifts, right? Emily Post told me I had a full year to get these out… so I am, now.

More substantively, now — there will be a series of comparisons — to Amgen, Libby and likely Baxter and Abbott — and maybe even Amazon’s health units. [Depends on how ambitious I get in the Rockies — while she naps.]

Here is what Pfizer spent on in Q4 — the prior three quarters were detailed here, in more or less real time. Just use the search box, if you are abidingly curious. But I’d call this a spending tie, between Merck and Pfizer (spoiler alert: Amgen blew them both away in 2025 — over $13 million, or by almost 30%). Here is the detail, on Pfizer:

…[Senate:] Vaccine Policy, Coverage and Access; Executive Order 14297 – Delivering Most-Favored-Nation Prescription Drug Pricing to American Patients; H.R. 5256 – 340B Access ACT; Inflation Reduction Act (IRA): Maximum Fair Price (MFP) Effectuation, Biosimilars Special Rule; Drug Pricing; PBM Reform; H.R. 4581 – 340B PATIENTS Act of 2025; H.R. 5509 – Safe Step Act; S. 2903 – Safe Step Act; S. 2296 – National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2026; S. 1053 – FIGHT China Act; Cancer Research; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Policies….

[US House:] H.R. 5256 – 340B Access ACT; Inflation Reduction Act (IRA): Maximum Fair Price (MFP) Effectuation, Biosimilars Special Rule; H.R. 4581 – 340B PATIENTS Act of 2025; 340B Reform; 340B HHS Pilot Program Model; Insurance Coverage of Prescription Drugs; Direct-to-Patient Prescription Drug Purchase Platforms and insurance coverage; PBM Reform; P.L. 117-169 – Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022; Drug Pricing; Medicare/Medicaid….

….
[Various Agencies:] International Supply Chain; Global Access; Market Access; Most Favored Nation Policies; Tariffs; Generics; Foreign Freeriding Issues; Non-Tariff Trade Barriers; Trade Issues….

Now you know. Merck, tomorrow — then Amgen; then… Lilly. Grin.

नमस्ते

Epilogue/Tangent: Now, Reality Is On File — In Manhattan — Refuting SBF’s Mom’s BS… Onward.

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I wanted to wait until the government had its chance to reply, before even linking SBF’s mom’s filing — seeking a new felonies trial, for her lil’ boy.

That filing is — to put it mildly… fatuous — stem to stern.

The above (in my first line) is the only link I will offer for it.

Below, I quote at length from the AUSAs’ cogent reply to it.

This is a perfect statement of the applicable felony laws, and a muscular argument against the boy’s, and his mom’s… wildly-narcissistic belief that the federal criminal laws should only apply to the little people.

Let’s listen in / read along:

…The defendant was convicted of orchestrating one of the largest frauds in history, stealing more than $8 billion from the customers of his cryptocurrency exchange, FTX.com. The defendant represented FTX as a safe and trustworthy exchange where customer money was protected. In reality, the defendant covertly diverted billions of dollars of FTX customer money to his cryptocurrency trading firm, Alameda Research. He spent the money on Alameda’s expenses, speculative investments, and charitable donations, and used it to repay Alameda’s lenders, make illegal political campaign contributions, and enrich himself. The defendant’s misappropriation of his customers’ deposits was exposed in November 2022, when FTX declared bankruptcy after customers attempted to withdraw more money from FTX than the exchange had on hand, revealing a multibillion-dollar shortfall in FTX’s balance sheet.

The evidence at trial included seventeen witnesses, among them three cooperating witnesses who conspired with the defendant to commit fraud, other former FTX and Alameda employees, a financial expert who traced the defendant’s misappropriation and spending of FTX customer funds, and customer, investor, and lender victims of the defendant’s scheme. The Government also presented documentary evidence including portions of the FTX codebase, financial records, internal company emails and financial analysis, fraudulent balance sheets, the defendant’s tweets and testimony before Congress, and private messages between the defendant and his coconspirators….

The defendant’s motion fails at every level. His three proffered witnesses — Daniel Chapsky, Ryan Salame, and Nishad Singh — were known to the defense well before trial, their potential testimony was either foreclosed by the defense’s own strategic decisions or is based on unsworn, post-conviction statements, and none of it would have been material to the outcome in any event….

In essence, he personally repeatedly-confessed to these crimes, in sworn testimony before Congress, and in written tweets — and texts to friends.

See ya’… [Stanford Law School] ma’.

Out — this is a dead letter — from his momma’.

नमस्ते

Keep A Positive Meditation — That This Does NOT Turn Out To Be A NEW Ebola Flare-Up — In Democratic Republic of Congo…

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It seems there has been a hemorrhagic fever related death (once again — suspected to be Ebola), in Kasai Province, DRC. [You’ll recall that he last flare up was only declared over, in December of 2025.] CIDRAP reports that we are awaiting the results of definitive PCR tests — but a handful of people there are sick, likely from contact with the one fatality — which is presumed to be the index case.

Here’s to hoping that it is not Ebola — but even if it is “only” Lassa- or Marburg’s — the arrest will be much tougher, since Trump has taken away all funding for USAID. Damn. Here’s CIDRAP on the latest, overnight:

…Media outlets in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are reporting a possible outbreak of a hemorrhagic fever disease, feared to be Ebola, in Kasai Province.

One fatality was reported late last week, and there are several reports of sick people and a health clinic that is operating without gloves or other personal protective equipment. Local officials say testing of patients is underway, and they are awaiting the results. The DRC has not reported any new cases since September 2025, when 64 cases were identified in Kasai province. Forty-three people died in that outbreak….

Onward — resolutely, and back to the High Rockies, again to be with my mom — starting Saturday… for a week (and to practice patience — with rapidly-advancing Alzheimer’s). Smile…

नमस्ते

Hudson Tunnel Federal Slap-Down, For Tangerine 2.0 Forces… On Appeal.

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So, Tangerine’s appeal of his complete loss in Manhattan’s federal trial courts here will not be heard until next year — in all likelihood.

I love it! Here’s that order — and a bit:

…ORDER of USCA (Certified Copy) as to [46] Notice of Interlocutory Appeal, filed by United States Department of Transportation [et al.]….

USCA Case Number 26-0282.The practical effect of the challenged injunction is to leave [Trump’s] DOT obligated to make regularly scheduled payments of millions of dollars to the GDC.

“[T]he loss of money is not typically considered irreparable harm” unless “the funds cannot be recouped and are thus irrevocably expended.” National Institutes of Health v. Am. Pub. Health Ass’n (“NIH v. APHA”), 606 U.S. —, 145 S. Ct. 2658, 2659 (2025) (internal quotation marks omitted). While DOT asserts that, if successful on the merits, it will not be able to recoup its payments to GDC given that entity’s exhaustion of its resources, the record casts doubt on that assertion, indicating that (1) on March 12, 2026, the Court of Federal Claims is expected to issue a ruling in GDC’s case challenging DOT’s suspension of payments, and such a decision — going either way — may well end (or, at least, significantly narrow) the instant action; (2) DOT’s next payment obligation does not arise until sometime after March 12, 2026; and (3) in any event, DOT acknowledges that some of its payment obligations to GDC are pursuant to loans guaranteed by New York and New Jersey, which are not shown to be unable to meet their obligations.

Thus, because DOT fails to show the irreparable injury required to secure a stay pending appeal, its motion is properly denied on that ground. Cf. Care One, LLC v. NLRB, 166 F.4th at 343 (observing that court has “routinely — even summarily — upheld the denial of a preliminary injunction based on a movant’s failure to demonstrate irreparable harm without considering other requirements for such relief,” specifically, “likelihood of success on the merits” (internal quotation marks omitted)).

In the absence of any showing of irreparable harm, DOT must do more than show that the merits of its jurisdictional challenge are debatable to secure a stay pending appeal. See Mohammed v. Reno, 309 F.3d at 101 (suggesting, on stay motion, “probability of success that must be demonstrated is inversely proportional to the amount of irreparable injury [movant] will suffer absent the stay” (internal quotation marks omitted)). DOT has not done that here….

“Inversely proportional”… hilarious!

नमस्ते

I Promise: This Is The Last One, On This Largely Trivial Topic. Truly.

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Based on the latest SpaceTrack data, Goddard’s and NORAD’s latest disclosures, we see that a few hours ago, whatever was left has fallen harmlessly into the Pacific due west of the Galapagos Islands — a great distance to the west of… Ecuador — in South America.

Here’s ABC’s confirming blurb, then:

…An old NASA science satellite plunged uncontrolled from orbit and reentered over the Pacific on Wednesday.

The U.S. Space Force said the Van Allen Probe A came in west of the Galapagos Islands.

Dutch scientist Marco Langbroek said all re-entries are difficult to predict, but this one was especially challenging given its eccentric, lopsided orbit….

NASA expected some of the 1,323-pound (600-kilogram) spacecraft to survive entry, with most of it burning up in the atmosphere. The space agency put the risk of bodily harm at 1-in-4,200….

Thankfully, that didn’t happen. [Nerd confession: from yesterday’s data, I had worked out a 3D / math curve, for where it might be passing overhead overnight — and fit that to a Google Maps globe. (Mine predicted a splash into the ocean due East of the Philipines — so… not perfect!)

All of that last trek was on a nine degree angle, like a tipped hat brim, relative to the Equator — to the South. And that in turn, put it almost exclusively over deep and warm ocean waters. However, it did make at least one additional complete orbit of the Earth, before “burning in“.]

Truly — I will let it go now [obviously, thankfully, with no fishing boats in that vicinity.] Onward — grinning.

We will have 2025 year end lobby spend trends, starting either tomorrow — or, if I get ambitious — later this evening. Merck v. Pfizer, first….

नमस्ते

Lassa Is Running Very Hot This Year, In Nigeria — Particularly. We Need An Approved Vaccine.

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Just two mornings ago, we mentioned the scourge of Lassa fever, now wracking four or five West African nations. Today, the excellent Outbreak News Today substack zooms in on… Nigeria. And the results are… grim, here only one-quarter in, to 2026. The virus spreads most readily, in the dry season — and already 99 patients are dead — with over 600 confirmed cases, spread all over the country. See my heat map, at right.

Here is all of that, but this virus is every bit the potent killer that Ebola has historically been. We need an approved vaccine — and ring vaccination protocols, for contacts — with vials, at the ready. And we need it… like yesterday:

…The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) is calling for strengthened state-level response measures as Lassa fever cases continue to rise during the peak transmission period of the dry season….

Cumulatively as of week 8, 2026, 99 deaths have been reported with a Case Fatality Rate (CFR) of 24.5% which is higher than the CFR for the same period in 2025 (18.8%).

Of particular concern is the increase in infections among healthcare workers, with 28 confirmed infections and 3 deaths recorded this season.

Lassa fever follows a predictable seasonal and geographic pattern in Nigeria. High-burden states are known, peak months are well documented….

Now you know. And this too will be Tangerine’s legacy — tens of thousands of excess deaths, globally, due to his gutting of USAID. Damn him. Onward, resolutely — just the same.

नमस्ते

UPDATED — Revised Timetable Has Van Allen Probe-A Flaming Out, At Around Noon Tomorrow — I Think…

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In truth, I cannot be certain that I am reading this freebie-website’s data correctly. It apparently collects NORAD tracking feeds, and updates them on the fly, about once every six hours. It seems to be a pretty cool place — as a not-for-profit .org. [Prior post on this, here.]

In any event, its latest feed — imaged at right from NORAD for the decaying orbit of Van Allen Probe-A, indicates about 11:50 am tomorrow, Eastern — as burnin’ time. We will keep you posted — and we will check again early mañana — to see if there are other updates:

…38752 | 2026-03-10 23:33:00 | 2026-03-10 23:36:40 | 2026-03-11 11:50:00….

For what it is worth, well… there you have it.

Smile — even as nickel-sized hail falls noisily here at the moment — no tornadoes — so all good.

नमस्ते

John Hinderaker Now Admits: We’ve Failed — We Just Created A Repressive Military Junta, In Iran — “But It Is Really A Win!” Yikes!

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Updated — now both John and Paul must have gotten angry calls from the armies of MAGA-minions, in DC Trump World: “make the story about how great we are — since our goal was NEVER going to be a free society, with elections, in EITHER Venezuela or Iran” — but focus mostly on… Iran.

D A M N.

Of the two, John’s is the most transparently… stupid (and thus deplorably evil): he would tell us that having a “Mao-style barrel of the gun” power structure (as opposed to a radical religious controlled one!?) is a great victory for our Dear Leader. No, really this is a big win, he says: we’ve created a more repressive regime, and one less stable for our oil interests. “Heckuva’ job there, Brownie!”

Hinderaker goes so far as to say… we should put our sons’ and daughters’ blood on the line, and march our troops in, toward Tehran — all to let the IRGC slaughter them. [It is thus clear that none of John’s relatives are serving in any branch of the US military.]

He pretends that he never wrote [actually, demanded!] that Trump should be aiming for a free society / full “regime change” in Iran — just a month ago, when Iranian protesters were being shot by the hundreds, in the streets.

Damn his malignant lying.

And in further nonsense — Paul Mirengoff now says we’ve “already won”. [He also demanded that Trump save the Iranians and hold free elections, just last month.] Paul says it is the press’s fault — that Americans hate this war — and the “win” is being suppressed. Insane — [he apparently didn’t see the VIDEO of our Tomahawk hitting the little girls’ school]. That’s no “suppression” — that’s factual accountability. Damn.

What are these two senile old geezers… smoking, anyway?

Quagmire ahead, to a near certainty. Pakistani warships are escorting tankers through the Strait… well, that’s “another Donnie-tastrophe” — and just so… precious!

Y I K E S.