A report released this week by a US congressional subcommittee confirmed that meatpacking companies conspired with the Trump administration to keep processing plants open during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, falsely claiming there was an impending meat shortage.
The House Select Committee on the Coronavirus Crisis found that Tyson Foods drafted a statement that became the basis for an executive order by the Trump administration declaring meatpacking facilities “critical infrastructure” to force them to remain open in defiance of orders by public health officials. Meat processing plants were significant early vectors of transmission of the deadly coronavirus.
Tracking by Investigate Midwest found that through October 2021 at least 400 meat plant workers had died from COVID-19 and 86,000 had been infected. A study by researchers at Columbia University and University of Chicago found that between 236,000 and 310,000 coronavirus infections through July 21, 2020, in the US occurred near a meatpacking plant, comprising 6 to 8 percent of all infections at the time.
The House committee reported, “While meatpacking companies—Smithfield and Tyson in particular—asserted that reduced plant operations and worker absenteeism were making the food supply chain ‘vulnerable,’ 69 documents obtained by the Select Subcommittee suggest that this narrative lacked any basis in fact and show that others in the industry believed it was false.”
It reported that there were in fact “...
“When companies use kickbacks to influence prescribing, they erode trust in healthcare providers,” said special agent Helsing. Takeda Pharmaceuticals, U.S.A. Inc has agreed to $13,670,921 amid alle...