Podcasts about information foi

Where is the UK data protection reform headed? How are we to deal with behavioural advertising in the context of sports betting and gambling? Will the UK stay clear of regulating or supervising AI à la EU?  Tim Turner has worked on Data Protection, Freedom of Information (FOI) and Information Rights law since 2001. He started at the Information Commissioner's Office as a Policy Manager on FOI issues. After that, he was a Data Protection & FOI Officer for two councils and then an Information Governance Manager for an NHS (National Health Service) organisation. He has been offering data protection training and consultancy since 2011. Also, Tim is the author of the very popular DPO Daily newsletter and LinkedIn feed.  References: Tim Turner on LinkedIn 2040 Training The DPO Daily on LinkedIn ICO: Action taken against Sky Betting and Gaming for using cookies without consent UK betting giants under fire for ads targeting at-risk gamblers (The Guardian) UK Data Reform: What's Proposed (Bird & Bird) Stephen Almond (ICO): data protection laws as a primary tool for AI governance (Masters of Privacy)  

Prince Harry's visa records in the United States were disclosed following a Freedom of Information (FOI) request.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Natasha Gonek is a professional investigator based in Alberta, Canada, known for her work with regulatory healthcare colleges and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. She has gained attention for her detailed analysis of nearly 9,000 pages of Freedom of Information (FOI) documents from the Edmonton Police Service, focusing on their internal pandemic protocols during the COVID-19 period. Natasha is a part of The Caught Foundation, a Canadian organization dedicated to combating human trafficking and child exploitation through a multi-faceted approach. Partnering with law enforcement professionals, it works to raise awareness, support victims, and assist in reclaiming stolen lives.Amy is a parent whose daughter is currently being trafficked here in Alberta.Cornerstone Forum ‘25https://www.showpass.com/cornerstone25/Get your voice heard: Text Shaun 587-217-8500Substack:https://open.substack.com/pub/shaunnewmanpodcastSilver Gold Bull Links:Website: https://silvergoldbull.ca/Email: SNP@silvergoldbull.comText Grahame: (587) 441-9100Bow Valley Credit UnionWebsite: www.BowValleycu.comEmail: welcome@BowValleycu.com Use the code “SNP” on all ordersProphet River Links:Website: store.prophetriver.com/Email: SNP@prophetriver.com

In this episode, we speak with Lucca Ewbank, Program Manager, Transport at InfluenceMap, who shares how the non-profit think tank uses data-driven analysis to assess corporate engagement with climate policies, and holds the corporate and financial sectors accountable for their role in climate change.Ewbank discusses:The significant disparity between what airlines say publicly versus what they advocate for in private meetings with policymakers, uncovered through Freedom of Information (FOI) requests that reveal how industry associations often oppose stronger climate regulations.The clear split within the aviation sector between “positive leaders” (typically low-cost carriers) who support more ambitious climate policies, and “laggards” (legacy carriers) who often oppose extensions of emissions trading schemes.Concerns about sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) policies, particularly how some industry players advocate for feedstock calculations that might underestimate emissions.The aviation industry's consistent opposition to demand management measures, with examples of airlines taking legal action against flight caps at airports.The role investors can play in encouraging positive climate policy engagement by holding companies accountable for their lobbying activities and pushing for transparency between public commitments and private advocacy.Ewbank emphasises that while there are encouraging signs from some industry leaders, aviation emissions continue to grow rapidly even as other sectors reduce their climate impact, with EU aviation emissions rising 9.5% in 2023 while overall EU emissions fell by 8%.If you LOVED this episode, you'll also love the conversation we had with Matt Finch, UK Policy Manager at Transport & Environment, who discusses the need for more ambitious policies and actions to address aviation's environmental impact. Check it out here. Learn more about the innovators who are navigating the industry's challenges to make sustainable aviation a reality, in our new book ‘Sustainability in the Air'. Click here to learn more.Feel free to reach out via email to podcast@simpliflying.com. For more content on sustainable aviation, visit our website green.simpliflying.com and join the movement. It's about time.Links & More:InfluenceMapNew research shows major US airline and biofuel industries push for weaker US sustainable aviation fuel policy - InfluenceMap US Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) policies and corporate engagement - InfluenceMap EY, Capgemini & InfluenceMaThis episode is brought to you by 4AIR. 4AIR is leading the way with the industry's first framework to address aviation's climate impact—offering clear, verifiable pathways to reduce and counteract aircraft emissions. For more information, please visit: https://www.4air.aero/

Natasha Gonek is an experienced investigator known for her work on evaluating the internal protocols of the Edmonton Police Service through Freedom of Information (FOI) requests. Tim Kasprick is a former health information management professional who resigned from the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) in 2021, he has spent 20 years working with Freedom of Information requests. Cornerstone Forum ‘25 https://www.showpass.com/cornerstone25/ Contribute to the new SNP Studio E-transfer here: shaunnewmanpodcast@gmail.com Get your voice heard: Text Shaun 587-217-8500 Substack:https://open.substack.com/pub/shaunnewmanpodcast Silver Gold Bull Links: Website: https://silvergoldbull.ca/ Email: SNP@silvergoldbull.com Text Grahame: (587) 441-9100

Besides eating a high-protein diet, few nutrition changes make as big of a difference in people's health as eliminating calorie-containing beverages from their diets. This includes 100% fruit juice. Unfortunately, on any given day, about half of adults and two-thirds of children consume sugar-sweetened beverages.Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption among U.S. Youth, 2011-2014. https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/44039. Accessed 2 Jan. 2023. Fruit juice is the most common of such beverages. Contrary to public health recommendations, heavily influenced by the companies who sell the beverages, fruit juice, soda, and other sugary beverages have no place in a "healthy diet." The "Fruit Juice Is Healthy" Hoax One cup of apple juice contains 28 grams of carbohydrates, 24 grams of which come from sugar. An 8-ounce serving of Coca-Cola contains 24.6 grams of sugar. In both beverages, most of the sugar comes from fructose.  The reality is the two beverages aren't much different from one another. Sprinkle in a negligible amount of vitamins into the Coca-Cola, and they'd be virtually the same from a nutrition and metabolism standpoint. How could this be? How could the U.S. dietary guidelines explicitly state that fruit juice is an acceptable replacement for whole fruit if it's not much better than soda? How could the labels on fruit juice bottles lead you to believe they're good for you when they're not? A glimpse into the relationships between the government, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and the food industry helps you understand. It isn't that different from the relationships between the government, the American Medical Association, and the pharmaceutical industry regarding vaccines. One hand feeds the other in an ongoing cycle that benefits these groups, often at the expense of the people using their products. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND), formerly known as the American Dietetics Association, licenses registered dietitians (RDs), the supposed "experts" on nutrition in the healthcare system. If you've dealt with a disease or a family member has, you've probably met with a dietitian. Funny enough, when I was in the hospital after I broke my neck, I asked for extra chicken on one of my entrees. They told me it wasn't allowed without a consultation with a dietitian. I laughed at the absurdity. That said, not all dietitians are bad. I've worked with many amazing dietitians over the years. They were the ones who took it upon themselves to understand nutrition science rather than take the word of the professors they learned from in school. A paper published in Public Health and Nutrition titled The corporate capture of the nutrition profession in the USA: the case of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics provides a unique view into how the organization is influenced.  A non-profit organization called US Right to Know got access to some of the AND's internal communications through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request. The communications revealed: In 2015, when AND's partnership with Kraft was disclosed and criticised by the public, the AND/ANDF BOD dropped the deal. However, the documents gathered through FOI show they privately continued to engage with corporations by: (i) investing AND funds in shares of Nestlé, PepsiCo and several pharmaceutical company stocks; (ii) accepting corporate contributions without disclosing their size, (iii) allowing BOD (board of directors) members to work for or consult for companies with interests that conflict with the mission of the AND, (iv) discussing internal policies within the BOD to fit industry needs, ignoring the work of the SATF, (v) allowing corporations to support AND's members research and (vi) releasing public positions favouring corporations. Carriedo A, et al. The corporate capture of the nutrition profession in the USA: the case of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. In essence, the AND:

Wales has the highest imprisonment rate in Western Europe for men and the third highest for women but until recently we simply didn't know about it. Unlike Northern Ireland and Scotland, Wales doesn't have control over its own justice and policing system and instead it is part of the 'England and Wales' system. Many would argue that this is de facto an 'England, including Wales' system as Wales is a relatively small part of the system and largely an afterthought and until very recently there simply wasn't any Wales-specific data published by the UK Government. Thanks to years of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests and other new research Dr Rob Jones and Prof. Richard Wyn Jones have been able to produce a groundbreaking book exploring the state of the Welsh criminal justice system and the problems caused by trying to maintain a Westminster-centric system in the age of devolution. In this recording, Richard and Rob discuss the challenges facing these core public services as they try to serve two different masters of two very different political persuasions in London and Cardiff. Recorded live at Storyville Books, Pontypridd and with kind permission of University of Wales Press and also available as a video: https://youtu.be/wNBjmkh8NFE Storyville Books: https://www.storyvillebooks.co.uk Buy The Welsh Criminal Justice System: On the Jagged Edge from UWP: https://www.uwp.co.uk/book/the-welsh-criminal-justice-system/ You can find the latest from Hiraeth on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/HiraethPod Our website is here: www.walespolitics.com And, if you are able to do so, please consider supporting us on Patreon from just £3/month: www.patreon.com/hiraethpod

Episode 362: The Ariel Phenomena of September Dan is an American citizen who has resided in Islamabad, Pakistan for over 10 years. He currently serves as director and international public spokesperson for the global grassroots effort 9/11 Pilot Whistleblowers. The website is 911pilots.org and the YouTube channel there is “911pilots”. Aidan holds a Bachelors's degree in electronic engineering and is a Freedom of Information (FOI) researcher regarding the 9/11 attacks. Government 9/11 records obtained by Monaghan have been reported by the Beacon-News Online of the Sun-Times News Group, KLAV AM in Las Vegas, NV, the documentary “Loose Change: An American Coup” and several books. His 9/11 research includes two peer-reviewed studies.

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sued the Federal Government, asking for details of the ₦729bn payment to 24.3m poor Nigerians across the country. SERAP Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, disclosed this in a statement issued on Sunday, adding that the suit with the number FHC/L/CS/853/2021 was filed at the Federal High Court in Lagos.He said the group is seeking “an order directing and compelling the Federal Government to clarify whether the proposed payment to poor Nigerians is part of the ₦5.6 trillion budget deficits.”SERAP wants the court “to compel the Federal Government to disclose details of proposed payments of ₦729bn to 24.3 million poor Nigerians, including the mechanisms and logistics for the payments, list of beneficiaries, and how they have been selected, and whether the payments will be made in cash or through Bank Verification Numbers or other means”.The suit followed the group's Freedom of Information (FoI) request to the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs,Development, Sadiya Umar-Farouk.

Atlantic Underground Podcast Episode #64 (Guests Patrick King and Christine Massey)   Today's guests are Patrick King and Christine Massey. Both have played a key role in paving the way to truth by exposing the COVID-19 narrative. Pat has been the center of a controversial court case in Alberta and Christine Massey, M.Sc conducted an extensive report over a period of more than a year. The central question raised in her study is the following: “is there reliable evidence that SARS-CoV-2  has been isolated  from an “unadulterated sample taken from a diseased patient”? Christine Massey submitted Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to some 90 Health /Science institutions. Does the Virus Exist? The responses to these requests confirm that there is no record of isolation / purification of SARS-CoV-2 “having been performed by anyone, anywhere, ever.”  Disclaimer: The views expressed by guests on this podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Atlantic Underground Podcast.   Become a patron and help the podcast grow https://patron.podbean.com/atlanticunderground   Listen on Podbean https://atlanticundergroundpodcast.podbean.com/   Follow us on LBRY/Odysee https://lbry.tv/@AtlanticUndergroundPodcast:6   Subscribe to our YouTube Channel  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCa8F-C6FUy1Zq2eMQzWKUvA   Our Website https://atlanticundergroundpodcast.blogspot.com/ Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/atlanticundergroundpodcast/ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AtlanticUnderg1 Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/atlanticundergroundpodcast/ Follow us on Bitchute: https://www.bitchute.com/channel/JvQ1r4z0GFLD/ Follow us on Brand New Tube https://brandnewtube.com/@atlanticundergroundpodcast Follow us on Telegram https://t.me/atlanticundergroundpodcast Follow us on Rumble https://rumble.com/c/c-296012 Follow us on Minds https://www.minds.com/atlanticundergroundpodcast/   Pat King Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/therealpatking Pat King Twitter https://twitter.com/CANADIA40536393?s=09&fbclid=IwAR3WAHKeGiBPgDG1afaiEfActzkATFDJyWw7SIZK_cVJmXR6IQicZPPtfQc Pat King Instagram https://www.instagram.com/real_patrick_king/   Questions To Ask Before Accepting A Mandated Vaccine https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rYEMOqVKy-46_wStJEbM6w9OkoDDoPgEZT6wa3KC-sU/edit?usp=sharing   Christine Massey Website  FOI Requests For Sars-Cov 2 https://www.fluoridefreepeel.ca/fois-reveal-that-health-science-institutions-around-the-world-have-no-record-of-sars-cov-2-isolation-purification/  

The FDA, Shock Troops for the Pharmaceutical Industrial Complex   Richard Gale and Gary Null PhD Progressive Radio Network, May 17, 2021     As of this week, over 194 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccines have been administered in the US. Consequently, a growing majority of Americans are delighted that life may return to normal because most believe they are now protected from infection. Clearly that is not the case. Bill Maher tested positive for Covid last week and had to cancel his television show for his first time since 1993. This was despite Maher having been fully vaccinated. Moreover the vaccines’ serious adverse effects are being downplayed by health officials and the media. Who will experience an adverse effect appears to be arbitrary; therefore, it is a game of Russian Roulette as to whether a person will be critically injured or be protected from the virus. One of the world’s most accomplished rock guitar musicians Eric Clapton received both doses of AstraZeneca’s Covid vaccine and had such severe reactions he feared he might never play the guitar again.  Clapton posted a message:   “About six weeks later [after receiving the first shot] I was offered and took the second AZ shot, but with a little more knowledge of the dangers. Needless to say the reactions were disastrous, my hands and feet were either frozen, numb or burning, and pretty much useless for two weeks, I feared I would never play again, (I suffer with peripheral neuropathy and should never have gone near the needle.) But the propaganda said the vaccine was safe for everyone.”   However it is not simply a miniscule few who are suffering undesirable Covid-vaccine events such as blood clots and other cardiovascular complications, anaphylaxis, severe allergic reactions, various neuropathies, abnormal menstrual bleeding and suspected miscarriages, extreme muscle weakness, fatigue, etc.  If this were the case, an argument could be made for siding with benefits over risks. Covid vaccines have only been administered for less than six months, and it is becoming increasingly clear that the risks may outweigh the benefits. Suspected numbers of miscarriages following Covid vaccines is especially worrisome. A government study published in the New England Journal of Medicine attempted to analyze and downplay the risk. Yet at the same time, the study observed a trend of 11.6% of spontaneous abortions occurring less than 13 weeks after the mRNA vaccination.  It is becoming increasingly obvious that these vaccines’ safety profiles is far less than Anthony Fauci, the FDA and the CDC are touting   More younger adults are experiencing adverse vaccine symptoms than from the risks due to acquiring a wild coronavirus. Worldwide reported adverse effects and deaths are escalating dramatically. In the CDC’s Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS), reported Covid-19 vaccine deaths have now reached 4.434 as of May 13th 2021 which is more vaccine-related deaths from conventional vaccines recorded in VAERS during the past 21 years.  Since VAERS is a passive reporting system, the actual serious adverse effect rate may be as high as 1in 10 shots. No other vaccine on the CDC’s vaccination schedule has such a poor record of safety.   As with Bill Maher, fully vaccinated people are still being infected and testing positive. Younger healthy adults, who earlier had an insignificant chance of becoming sick or dying from the SARS-CoV-2 virus, are now being injured and in some cases dying from the vaccines.    A recent study published in JAMA observed delayed hypersensitivity vaccine reactions well after injections. The University of Pennsylvania estimates that between 5 to 10 percent of recipients of the mRNA vaccines have “severe adverse reactions” – an inordinately high percent compared to every other non-Covid vaccine. And a group of medical institutions including the University of Greifswald School of Medicine, and the Medical University of Vienna are proposing a new medical condition, “vaccine-induced prothrombotic immune thrombocytopenia,” now be associated with the AstraZeneca and Johnson and Johnson vaccines. A recent paper warns about the dangers of vaccine-induced prion disease. The list of adverse effects continues to mount.  Pfizer document refers to the possibility of Covid vaccine shedding to the unvaccinated.  Doctors are coming forward and accusing the CDC of scrubbing the statistics of actual vaccine-related deaths. The risks were quite obvious in the vaccine makers’ own clinical trial documents before the FDA awarded Covid vaccines with emergency use approval to launch a nation-wide vaccination program. Whether or not health officials at the CDC or FDA thoroughly deliberated on the many warnings or simply ignored them is open to debate.  But the evidence strongly leans towards the latter.   Earlier, we presented the historical evidence of widespread corruption at the CDC; however, the FDA is far more influential because it is the final watchdog that determines a drug’s efficacy and safety profile. In the most perverse scenario, the FDA relies upon outside experts to sit on its advisory committees to review a drug’s or a vaccine’s safety. Many of these experts have a gross conflict of interests with the pharmaceutical industry.  This institutional dilemma is steeped into the FDA’s very DNA. As far back as 2006, Public Citizen discovered that 1 out of 3 of outside consultants and advisory members to the FDA had financial conflicts. The situation has only worsened over the years.   A Pogo investigation in October last year, uncovered several advisers on the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee who had direct ties with the Covid-vaccine companies, including direct payments for consulting fees. Dr. Archana Chatterjee, for example, has received over $200,000 from agreements with these companies. The same is true for the Committee’s chairman, University of Michigan Dr. Arnold Monto who received fees from the largest vaccine firms including  Pfizer, Sanofi, GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis. The previous chair, Dr. Hana El Sahly from Baylor University, had to recuse herself due to her role in supervising Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine clinical trials. Earlier, Monto was the principal investigator for Sanofi’s influenza vaccine. Another is the president of Meharry Medical College where coronavirus clinical trials were conducted. Three other Committee members likewise held close conflict-of-interest relationships with vaccine makers.  Shortly before issuing emergency use approval, a second Pogo analysis concluded that the FDA Committee whitewashed the warnings indicated by the Covid-19 vaccine trials. The meeting was adjourned by the FDA director for the Office of Vaccines Research and Review in favor of green-lighting the vaccines before Committee members suspicious of the clinical results could weigh-in. Prof. Carl Elliott, a medical ethicist at the University of Minnesota, summarized the problem of corporate bias now plaguing the FDA. “You do something positive for a company that you feel confident is going to pay you back for it later on,” Elliot stated. “And they do.”  The FDA‘s current rules regarding conflict of interest is strictly limited to the honor system.  In Europe, on the other hand, the European Medicines Agency strictly prohibits experts with ties to private industry from sitting on its advisory committees.    Even with FDA efforts to crack down on conflicts of interests due to Congressional pressure, the industry has found other means to get their representatives onto advisory panels. And the heads of the agency willingly turn a blind eye.  A Science exposé reported on the growing strategy of “pay after” conflicts of interests. Outside advisors will declare no conflicts but then rule in favor of a drug or vaccine only to be reimbursed afterwards. The journal’s review of compensation records uncovered “pay after” schemes for the approval of 28 psychopharmacologic, arthritis, cardiac and renal drugs.” The investigation also uncovered:   “Of the more than $24 million in personal payments or research support from industry to the 16 top-earning advisers—who received more than $300,000 each—93% came from the makers of drugs those advisers previously reviewed or from competitors.”   Probing still deeper, the Pacific Legal Foundation released an analytical review of 2,952 rules issued by the Department of Health and Human Services over a 17-year period. The Foundation determined that 75 percent of these rules were unconstitutional and “issued by low-level officials and employees with no authority to issue rules.” With respect to the FDA dozens had no democratic controls and involved tens of millions of dollars ruled over by career bureaucrats.     Every American who is prescribed a drug by a physician has the belief that the pill has undergone rigorous trials to scrutinize its safety and will be effective. And when there are known potential adverse effects, we blindly assume the attending physician knows these dangers. However, this is a myth perpetuated not only by drug makers but also by our own federal health agencies.   As we have reported on many occasions, iatrogenic deaths, deaths caused by medical error and prescribed medications is now the third leading cause of mortality in the US. The Institute of Medicine has warned about “the nation’s epidemic of medical errors.” A large percent of these errors are related to adverse drug events (ADEs). The FDA states, “ADRs are one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in healthcare.” Dr. Curt Furburg published an article in the Archives of Internal Medicine proposing sweeping changes throughout the FDA.  Furburg and his colleagues wrote, “We see eight major problems with the current system of assessment and assurance of drug safety at the FDA.” A fundamental problem is the FDA’s initial review for drug approval that often fails to detect serious ADRs: “A study by the US General Accountability Office (GAO) concluded that 51% of all approved drugs had at least one serious ADR that was not recognized during the approval process.”   A 2003 investigation published in The Independent in the UK reported “under pressure from the pharmaceutical industry, the FDA routinely conceals information it considers commercially sensitive, leaving medical specialists unable to assess the true risks [of approved drugs].” One case involved a very popular over-the-counter drug, the painkiller ibuprofen. The investigators’ search uncovered concealed data showing that ibuprofen increased heart attack risks by 25 percent. Even Freedom of Information (FOI) filings to the FDA do not produce all the information being requested. For example, a group of Swiss investigators filed an FOI to procure trial data about the musculoskeletal pain drug Celecoxib and received back only 16 of the 27 trials conducted on it. A separate FOI concerning a similar drug, Valdecoxib, had pages and paragraphs deleted because sections of the document were marked as “trade secrets.” An even worse case involving a leaked report concerning internal memos and secret FDA reports provided detailed evidence that the FDA approved 9 different antidepressants, representing a total of 22 studies enrolling 4,250 children, while knowing full well that the risk of “suicide-related events” was twice as high as children taking a placebo. These are just several examples among numerous others, which may best be summarized by a Forbes article entitled “The FDA is Basically Approving Everything.”   Isn't it time for real truth telling? The FDA, which was budgeted for $5.9 billion in FY 2019, is ruled and governed by a small group of political scientists who have abdicated their ethical responsibilities as physicians and medical professionals. With all the controversy and debate over the efficacy and safety of new mRNA vaccines and the aggressive emergency approval of the ineffective anti-Covid drug remdesivir, we may consider a Harvard University article published in the Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics entitled “Institutional Corruption of Pharmaceuticals and the Myth of Safe and Effective Drugs.”  For the past four decades, the paper states,    “patients have suffered from a largely hidden epidemic of side effects from drugs that usually have few offsetting benefits. The pharmaceutical industry has corrupted the practice of medicine through its influence over what drugs are developed, how they are tested, and how medical knowledge is created. Since 1906, heavy commercial influence has compromised Congressional legislation to protect the public from unsafe drugs. The authorization of user fees in 1992 has turned drug companies into the FDA’s prime clients, deepening the regulatory and cultural capture of the agency.”     We are witnessing the pharmaceutical industry increasing its demands for shorter than average times for the FDA to review new drug submissions; alternatively they have an option to pay the FDA costly fees to have these drugs fast-tracked under its Accelerated Approval Program, thereby jumping over many regulatory hurdles to bring their products to market more quickly. According to a 2019 review of the Program, conducted by the University of Nebraska’s Institute for Operations Research, “from 1992 to 2008, 36% of post-market studies had not been completed, and 50% of the uncompleted studies took on average of 5 years to even begin.”  Yet throughout the duration of years, these drugs continued to be prescribed and reap enormous profits for the companies benefiting from the FDA’s loopholes.    As a consequence, the FDA’s entire regulatory protocol has consistently deteriorated with each passing year. From a system originally mandated to function as a guardian to protect patients from dubious industry commercial interests, it has been transformed into an anti-preventative pipeline favoring drug companies’ bottom line and their shareholders.    In 2013, the Union of Concerned Scientists released its investigative report, four years after the Obama administration launched a process to increase transparency in the federal sciences agencies --- another well-meaning Obama initiative that failed to make any fundamental change. The Union concluded that the  FDA had created a culture lacking scientific integrity, including no formal procedures for investigating scientific misconduct.    The FDA’s serious failures to carry out its duties to monitor and regulate drug companies are well exemplified in the case of the North Carolina outsourcing firm Cetero.  After several years of gross negligence to thoroughly review pharmaceutical drugs, mostly generic knock-offs submitted for licensure, the agency finally uncovered Cetero’s five-year history of faking documents and data or early clinical trials and bioanalytics.  While we expect contractors who carry out clinical trials for large drug companies to be busy at work conducting research on the recorded trial data, on over 1,900 occasions there were no personnel in the Cetero facilities. Approximately 1,400 trials for roughly 100 drugs were faked. Whereas the FDA did little to conduct a thorough investigation, the European Medicines Agency on the other hand discovered that Cetero and its Big Pharm partners, including Roche and Genentech, failed to submit 80,000 reports on American approved drugs that killed over 15,000 Europeans. We need to consider that the Mayo Clinic is on record stating that the last ten years of cancer research are utterly useless due to systemic fraud,    To understand the systemic rot eating away the FDA, we may take note of the research of Dr. Charles Seife and his students at New York University. Seife and his team undertook the task to investigate and analyze the extent to which the FDA covers up evidence of fraud and corruption in medical drug trials. They reviewed FDA documents for about 600 clinical trials. One of Seife’s primary questions was the frequency that FDA officials discover flagrant and intentional misconduct and subsequently decide to bury the evidence and prevent it from becoming public to the medical community.  He discovered such actions to be an official pattern within the agency. Given the high rate of content deleted or blacked out from the documents the FDA provided, the investigators could only determine which pharmaceutical company or drug was involved in 1 of 6 of the reviewed trials. For one trial alone, where FDA inspectors found significant fraud and misconduct, 78 different medical publications printed articles based upon that single study.  In an article for Slate, Seife writes,    "Nobody ever finds out which data is bogus, which experiments are tainted, and which drugs might be on the market under false pretenses. The FDA has repeatedly hidden evidence of scientific fraud not just from the public, but also from its most trusted scientific advisers, even as they were deciding whether or not a new drug should be allowed on the market. Even a congressional panel investigating a case of fraud regarding a dangerous drug couldn't get forthright answers."   In one case, a new anti-blood clotting drug, rivaroxaban, involved four large trials recruiting thousands of patients in clinical sites in over a dozen countries. According to Seife, one of the trials "was a fiasco."  In half of the sixteen clinical sites, the FDA discovered "misconduct, fraud, fishy behavior or other practices so objectionable that the data had to be thrown out." One Colorado site falsified data. At the Mexican site, there was "systematic discarding of medical records." Despite these overwhelming problems, the drug trial was published favorably in the prestigious British journal The Lancet. The FDA found similar problems in the three other trials; in one the data was ruled "worthless." The FDA advisory committee of "expert" reviewers were only informed that inspectors discovered only "significant issues" at two sites in one of the trials. Rivaroxaban was nevertheless approved in 2011. Since then lawsuits for wrongful death from the drug continue to increase.    One of the deeper flaws within the FDA’s mode of operations is that it solely relies on the studies and clinical trials conducted by drug makers without conducting any studies of its own. Consequently these private firms have complete control over the clinical data and can provide such data or not at their own discretion. For example, if a company conducts 20 clinical trials on a potential new drug and15 trials conclude it is absolutely useless or results in serious reactions and deaths, the company is only required to submit documentation for the 5 trials that are favorable.    Over the years, Congressional subcommittees have voiced warnings to FDA officials to clean up their act. A House Government Reform Committee reported that both the CDC’s and FDA’s advisory committees for vaccines were thoroughly compromised with pharmaceutical conflicts of interest.     One of the most glaring examples of FDA misconduct, deceit and cover-up to protect pharmaceutical interests in the agency’s history was the federal case against Merck and its anti-inflammatory drug Vioxx. Dr. David Graham, a former Associate Director for Science and Medicine in the FDA’s Office of Drug Safety, testified before the US Senate. Dr. Graham has impeccable credentials qualifying him as an expert on the failures of pharmaceutical drugs. He graduated from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and trained in Internal Medicine at Yale and in adult Neurology at the University of Pennsylvania.    Dr. Graham told the Senate:   “During my career, I believe I have made a real difference for the cause of patient safety. My research and efforts within the FDA led to the withdrawal from the US market of Omniflox, an antibiotic that caused hemolytic anemia; Rezulin, a diabetes drug that caused acute liver failure; Fen-Phen and Redux, weight loss drugs that caused heart valve injury; and PPA (phenylpropanolamine), an over- the-counter decongestant and weight loss product that caused hemorrhagic stroke in young women.   “My research also led to the withdrawal from outpatient use of Trovan, an antibiotic that caused acute liver failure and death. I also contributed to the team effort that led to the withdrawal of Lotronex, a drug for irritable bowel syndrome that causes ischemic colitis; Baycol, a cholesterol-lowering drug that caused severe muscle injury, kidney failure and death; Seldane, an antihistamine that caused heart arrhythmias and death; and Propulsid, a drug for night-time heartburn that caused heart arrhythmias and death. . . .   “I have done extensive work concerning the issue of pregnancy exposure to Accutane, a drug that is used to treat acne but can cause birth defects in some children who are exposed in utero if their mothers take the drug during the first trimester. During my career, I have recommended the market withdrawal of twelve drugs. Only two of these remain on the market today—Accutane and Arava, a drug for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis that I and a co-worker believe causes an unacceptably high risk of acute liver failure and death.”   The Los Angeles Times reported that witnesses told the Senate panel that Merck and the FDA knowingly had data well before the approval and licensure of Merck’s Vioxx painkiller that proved the drug’s serious cardiovascular health risks. Nevertheless, the FDA granted it approval without resolving the risks, and Vioxx was aggressively marketed.   Testifying about Merck’s Vioxx, Dr. Graham states:   "Today . . . you, we, are faced with what may be the single greatest drug safety catastrophe in the history of this country or the history of the world. We are talking about a catastrophe that I strongly believe could have, should have been largely or completely avoided. But it wasn’t, and over 100,000 Americans have paid dearly for this failure. In my opinion, the FDA has let the American people down, and sadly, betrayed a public trust."   According to Dr. Graham. “Not only did the FDA ignore known risks from Vioxx and related drugs but . . . it tried to prevent Graham and others from publicizing their own research that proved the extent of these risks.”   Members of Congress have echoed Graham’s concerns. Charles Grassley (R–Iowa) said he was concerned that the FDA “has a relationship with drug companies that is too cozy.”  Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D–New Mexico) said the problem was within the FDA’s own culture.“ This culture is one whereby the pharmaceutical industry, which the FDA is mandated to regulate, is the FDA’s most favored and lucrative client.   Sixteen years have passed since Dr. Graham’s public statements exposing the life-threatening policies and corruption that infest the FDA. It’s difficult to comprehend why the agency has been unable to clean up its act. Instead the FDA’s culture of deceit has only worsened. Nevertheless, the evidence clearly shows that our government health officials would rather support pharmaceutical profiteering than the health and safety and American citizens. In fact, 45 percent or $2.7 billion of its budget derives from private pharmaceutical “user fees.”   The disturbing data suggest that the FDA’s evaluation of pharmaceuticals for safety and efficacy may be so flawed that only 4% of all trial results are identified as such. As a result, FDA scientists and officials responsible for approving drugs to the market are kept largely uninformed about the egregious scientific misconduct involved in obtaining study data. Further, these erroneous and fraudulent studies are published in peer-reviewed scientific literature and accepted as valid science. The American public is ‘virtually defenseless’ if another medication proves to be unsafe after it is approved.   But it gets worse.  The agency has been warning against highly effective off-patent drugs to treat early SARS-CoV-2 infections such as hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and ivermectin.  Shortly after the pandemic was formally announced, and with no promising treatment in sight, the FDA recommended HCQ but then reversed its decision in June after Anthony Fauci publicly announced the coming arrival of Gilead’s novel drug remdesivir. The FDA’s approval of remdesivir baffled many scientists, according to the journal Science, who were keeping a close watch on the drug’s clinical reports, which showed a “disproportionally high number of reports of liver and kidney problems”Nor did remdesivir lessen hospital stays or lower mortality rates.   Two months ago the agency issued a warning statement against the use of ivermectin. “The very next day,” reported the Alliance for Natural Health, “Merck announced positive results from a clinical trial on a new drug called molnupiravir in eliminating the virus in infected patients.”  Again, the FDA had been working in concert with the pharmaceutical industry to advance expensive experimental drugs rather than cheaper and proven drugs with decades of research to back their safety records.    In addition, the FDA has waged a war against alternative medical systems for many decades, including natural supplements. Last September, the agency attempted to ban N-acetylcysteine (NAC) after it showed promise to reduce cytokine storms associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection. The supplement had already been shown to improve lung problems due to respiratory infections such as pneumonia and acute respiratory distress symptom. Three years ago, an FDA advisory committee met to consider banning five supplements made by specialized compounding pharmacies: alpha lipoic acid, CoQ10, pyridoxal-5-phosphate, creatine monohydrate  and quercetin dehydrate. Earlier the FDA had banned curcumin, boswellia and aloe vera from pharmacologic compounding. One of the key executors of the agency’s revitalized assault against supplements and the natural health industry was Trump’s appointment of Scott Gottlieb as FDA Commissioner. Following his two years at the FDA’s helm, Gottlieb quit and joined Pfizer’s Board of Directors.   The FDA’s argument is rather straightforward, albeit dubious; since supplements, including Vitamin C and D, Omega-3 fatty acids, and even minerals such as magnesium and zinc have not been formally submitted to the FDA for evaluation to be registered as “approved drugs,” it is against the law to make any health claims about their health benefits.  This is despite the thousands of peer-reviewed studies in the National Library of Medicine to support their efficacy. The average median cost to conduct clinical trials to meet FDA standards for approval, according to a Johns Hopkins University evaluation, is $19 million and upwards to $2-3 billion. In other words to get Vitamin D officially recommended as a viable preventative defense against Covid-19 would require a minimum of $19 million in addition to numerous fees and other legal costs prior to and after submission. And that doesn’t even address the problem of ownership since Vitamin D is a natural substance and excluded from patenting. In the meantime, supplement manufacturers are prohibited from stating the vitamin’s benefit to the public thereby contributing to a gross disservice.    “Clearly these are the actions of an agency looking to restrict the supplement market,” according to the Alliance for Natural Health, “and remove as many products as possible in as many ways as possible.”  One reason is that if a vitamin or supplement were to go through the FDA licensure treadmill, the agency could potentially require a supplement’s access by prescription only. It would no longer be available over the counter. And this in turn would be another boon for the drug industry, which is already developing synthetic supplemental knock-offs that are patentable.    Much of the blame lies on the shoulders of politicians on both sides of the aisle and the mainstream media who have enabled the FDA and CDC to run amok and then propagate the pharmaceutical industry’s nonsense. A recent Harvard University and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation survey reported that public trust in America’s health care system has rapidly fallen during the pandemic to 34 percent. Only 37 percent stated they had much trust in the FDA.    This trend may very likely continue as a growing number of physicians and medical experts are sounding alarms over the flagrant incompetence of our federal officials leading the national efforts against Covid-19 and the approval vaccines with highly questionable safety records and expensive novel drugs that fail to warrant use. Worldwide, tens of thousands of otherwise orthodox medical professionals are charging Anthony Fauci, the CDC, FDA and the World Health Organization with gross mishandling of the pandemic.  Lawsuits are underway against national health ministries around the world for deceiving their populations with fraudulent PCR testing, fake mortality rates and unwarranted public health policies that have produced extreme harm and suffering.  As the situation deteriorates more suits will be anticipated.    Sadly there is no reason to expect the FDA to undergo a structural change. For decades Congressional committees have warned the agency about it’s ignoring the public health of Americans and its revolving door policies with drug makers. Yet matters continue to worsen. A complete overhaul by adopting policies similar to the European Medicines Agency such as independent leadership divorced from the pharmaceutical complex and full public funding, would be a decent start. Another  solution could be the creation of separate and independent National Drug Safety Board without ties to private industry or overlapping conflicts of interest with the existing health agencies in dire need of reform. However that tipping point has not been reached to expect any of our politicians to switch sides and for once serve the public’s health interests  

On this edition of Cory Talks... It's the 2020 series finale episode. And it's the longest podcast I've done so far coming in at 67 minutes. Please don't miss this one and certainly do not feel you have to listen to it all at once. There's breaks after around each 20 minutes. While Victoria continues on its path to COVID Normal, not so good news out of South Australia which initiated a brief lockdown this past week. It ended earlier than expected because a man lied to contract tracers about his association with a pizza shop. Still health officials were working hard to bring this outbreak to a swift conclusion. Meantime the inquiry into contract tracing in Victoria has seen disappointment levelled at the Department of Health and Human Services over their handling of contact tracing. Australian Defence Force chief Angus Campbell held a media briefing on Thursday over the damning report into Australian Special Forces members abhorrent actions in Afghanistan. *WARNING* the audio contained in this edition of the podcast will be confronting to some. The media diversity Senate Inquiry is going to happen looking into Rupert Murdoch's influence on the Australian media scene, as the attacks on its two poster children, former Prime Minister's Kevin Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull intensifies. A Melbourne based podcaster claims he "tested the system" by getting someone to forge fake digital signatures for the petition. A $1.2 billion AUD victory for those wrongly assessed by the government as owing money to the nation. Freedom of Information (FoI) documents cast light onto Prime Minister Scott Morrison's mirky past when at Tourism Australia and Tourism New Zealand. Rabid celeb chef Pete Evans gets rebuked for a social media post. A big shout out to a really nice and generous person. Filmmaker and musician Patrick McGuinn sent me five of his films after a compliment on YouTube I posted in reference to one of his films. Hear the story on this episode. This being the final show for 2020, I have not one, not two, but three special guests... Guest: - Grant Baensch (@grantbaensch on most social platforms) joins me to talk about his love of the King, Elvis Presley and a radio show he does in tribute. Guest: - Ellie D (@elliedofficial on most social platforms) tells us what's ahead in 2021 for her podcast and YouTube Documentary Series - Behind The Music with Ellie D, plus another project in the new year. www.elliedofficial.com Guest: - Johnno Smallman (@thebizzwithjohnno on Instagram) reviews his year of entertaining us all with his live Instagram Shows during a year where we desperately need entertainment, and what's in store for 2021. The Bizz with Johnno on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwErbx3kGBRTSaboCnXJ1VA Don't forget to subscribe if you haven't already and turn notifications on so you can be alerted when there's new episodes out. What's happening in 2021 for me? Well time will tell. I'll most probably be back before January 20 for the American Presidential Inauguration. Cory Talks on Twitter - www.twitter.com/CoryTalksPod Cory Talks website - www.corytalks.com Cory Talks email - send via the website I source information from a variety of sources, most commonly ABC News Australia, Independent Australia and The Guardian. CORY TALKS. A PODCAST FROM CORY DIGITAL MEDIA. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/corytalkspodcast/message

Episode 255: 9/11/2020 By reading between the lines, connecting dots hidden in plain view and seeking corroboration of the alleged version of September 11 events from regional and federal governments by way of Freedom of Information laws, September 11 researcher Aidan Monaghan provides evidence of not only a seeming cover-up surrounding the events of September 11 but has also developed scientifically based and peer-reviewed alternatives for the reported events that unfolded over the skies of America that day. Aidan Monaghan holds a Bachelors's degree in electronic engineering and is a Freedom of Information (FOI) researcher regarding the 9/11 attacks. Government 9/11 records obtained by Monaghan have been reported by the Beacon-News Online of the Sun-Times News Group, KLAV AM in Las Vegas, NV, the documentary “Loose Change: An American Coup” and several books. His 9/11 research includes two peer-reviewed studies.

Episode 255: 9/11/2020 By reading between the lines, connecting dots hidden in plain view and seeking corroboration of the alleged version of September 11 events from regional and federal governments by way of Freedom of Information laws, September 11 researcher Aidan Monaghan provides evidence of not only a seeming cover-up surrounding the events of September 11 but has also developed scientifically based and peer-reviewed alternatives for the reported events that unfolded over the skies of America that day. Aidan Monaghan holds a Bachelors's degree in electronic engineering and is a Freedom of Information (FOI) researcher regarding the 9/11 attacks. Government 9/11 records obtained by Monaghan have been reported by the Beacon-News Online of the Sun-Times News Group, KLAV AM in Las Vegas, NV, the documentary “Loose Change: An American Coup” and several books. His 9/11 research includes two peer-reviewed studies.

Ene Nwakpa, Executive Director of Right to Know Nigeria joins with the Step Up Nigeria team to discuss the role of Freedom of Information (FOI) in tackling corruption. Beyond the role of freedom of information in tackling corruption, find out about Step Up Nigeria’s projects and work. The post Ep.5 Freedom of Information (FOI) in tackling Nigeria’s corruption appeared first on Step Up Nigeria.

This was round table discussion looking at how Australia and the UK compare in terms of the openness of their government, based on the views of two academics involved in the Open Government Partnership assessment process. Reflecting particularly on the two government's Open Government Partnership commitments, it also looked more broadly at the performance and workings of their respective Freedom of Information (FOI) regimes and other experiments in openness. Speaker: Daniel Stewart (ANU and Australia IRM). Discussant: Ben Worthy (Birkbeck College and UK IRM).

In today's very special episode, Derek travels to Winnipeg to sit down with Dr. Kevin Walby, Associate Professor in the Department of Criminology at the University of Winnipeg, and Alex Luscombe, PhD student in the Centre for Criminology at the University of Toronto, to discuss their work using Access to Information (ATI) and Freedom of Information (FOI) requests as data sources in their research. Tune in for a really interesting discussion of some of the benefits and pitfalls of using this type of data to make the backstage of government a little bit more visible!  We would like to thank the Department of Criminal Justice and the Centre for Interdisciplinary Justice Studies at the University of Winnipeg for helping us record this podcast! Please follow the Institute on Twitter! You can follow the show on Twitter!   Follow us on Twitter: @WTNcast | @Derekcrim | @Thomasncooke Email us: wtncast@gmail.com Subscribe to the podcast: https://wtncast.podbean.com/feed/ iTunes: What's That Noise? on iTunes!

Both the Freedom of Information (FOI) and open data schemes are well established but they don’t always work together to achieve a common aim of making information more accessible. Matt Burgess will examine how FOI and open data can be combined to enhance the UK’s openness. Drawing on real-world examples, he will suggest how those promoting transparency can identify ways of encouraging more important information to be published. Matt Burgess is a journalist and author, who has a special interest in the Freedom of Information Act. He has written the book, Freedom of Information: A Practical Guide for Journalists, and runs the FOI Directory website.

In the first of a new series of The Report, Simon Cox investigates the events of late October when an Occupy London protest led to the closure of St Paul's Cathedral. Much of the coverage has been dominated by the row over the decision by St Pauls to close the cathedral and the protester's relationship with the Church. But The Report reveals a third key player in the story: The City of London Corporation. The BBC has learned how the City of London Corporation struck a deal with the Labour Government in return for a 250 million pound contribution to the Crossrail project. An internal document sent to councilors in 2007 and seen by the BBC says one of the pre-conditions of a major contribution to Crossrail would have to be "delivery of a net real terms improvement in Government funding of the City Corporation". The Government then agreed to re-instate a fund known as the "City Offset"" from April 2010 of around 10 million pounds a year. This had previously been scrapped by Labour in 2003. The Corporation, which is the local authority for the city, has substantial private funds that are exempt from Freedom of Information (FOI) requests. The occupy protesters are demanding that the Corporation opens up its private funds to public scrutiny and reveals the extent of the Corporation's lobbying since 2008. Producer: Daniel Tetlow Reporter: Simon Cox.

This is the fourth episode of Ibrahim Hasan's monthly podcast program, designed to bring busy public sector practitioners up to date with the latest developments in Freedom of Information(FOI) law, has just been published. This is the only FOI Podcast of its kind in the UK and has been mentioned in The Times (17th Oct 2006). There were almost 1000 downloads of last month's program. Due to the Christmas break, we have a packed program for you this month. Ibrahim discusses the latest FOI developments over the last two months including: : news about the governments fees consultation : access to commercially sensitive information : the application of FOI to the BBC : the vexed question of access to dead peoples' information : MP's expenses claims : access to lists of addresses of council properties : AND whether information about David Beckham can be released There is also comment and analysis from Martin Rossenbaum of the BBC and Elaine Fletcher of Eversheds solicitors. Ibrahim is one of the UK's leading solicitors and trainers on information law (www.informationlaw.org.uk)