They immediately wanted to get donations...
Nope-
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Covid put a spotlight on a problem that has been around for many years.
Vaccine manufacturers in the US are basically shielded by the federal government from any sort of liability
That is for very obvious reasons very bad.
But pharma is a group that when it comes to campaign contributions, lobbying, party contributions, TV advertising is second to none: https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/top-industries
Politicians are for sale, and big pharma has no problem throwing A LOT of money their way.
This is a case where the publics best interest was sold out to special / minority stake holders that could shape the legal / regulatory framework because they know how to influence the political apparatus that runs on money, with the public unaware of what is going on.
Big pharma always gets what they want in the end.
The first thing Biden did when he took office, literally within hours, was strike down Trumps first term executive order controlling pharmaceutical costs by not allowing them to charge more in the US than what they charge outside the US for the same drug.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6407585/. That was immediately scrapped by Biden.
This is a highly protected industry by government (from foreign competitors), it’s legally protected against litigation, they have little controls even if in a monopolistic position... That’s what happened when those playing in the monopoly game have the power to whisper into the ears of those making the rules of the game, ensuring these always benefit them.