US buys $290 million in anti-radiation drugs amid Putin’s nuke threats

The Biden administration purchased $290 million of anti-radiation medication this week because the president warned of “the prospect of Armageddon” being sparked by warmongering Russian chief Vladimir Putin.

The Division of Well being and Human Providers (HHS) confirmed that the key provide of Nplate was a part of “ongoing efforts to be higher ready to avoid wasting lives following radiological and nuclear emergencies.”

The US has purchased $290 million in anti-radiation medication amid heightened Russian threats of nuclear conflict.

AP

The drug — which can be utilized on children in addition to adults — is “authorized to deal with blood cell accidents that accompany acute radiation syndrome [ARS] in grownup and pediatric sufferers,” the division stated in Tuesday’s announcement.

The Division of Well being and Human Providers stated the funding was a part of “efforts to be higher ready to avoid wasting lives following radiological and nuclear emergencies.”

Amgen

Such radiation illness “happens when an individual’s whole physique is uncovered to a excessive dose of penetrating radiation, reaching inner organs in a matter of seconds,” the alarming HHS launch famous.

“Signs of ARS accidents embrace impaired blood clotting because of low platelet counts, which might result in uncontrolled and life-threatening bleeding.”

Nplate, made by California-based Amgen, stimulates the physique’s manufacturing of platelets “to scale back radiation-induced bleeding.”

The $290 million funding got here from Mission BioShield, the 2004 regulation that gives funding that encourages corporations to “develop the medical countermeasures which can be essential to nationwide safety.”

The preliminary announcement didn't element how — or the place — the drug can be distributed.

An HHS spokesperson insisted that the funding was a part of “ongoing” nuclear prep, and had “not been accelerated by the scenario in Ukraine.”

Nonetheless, it was authorized simply days earlier than President Biden publicly admitted that Putin was “not joking when he talks about using tactical nuclear weapons or organic or chemical weapons.”

The $290 million provide was introduced days earlier than Biden acknowledged Putin was “not joking” together with his nuke threats.

AP

“We have now not confronted the prospect of Armageddon since [President John F.] Kennedy and the [October 1962] Cuban Missile Disaster,” the president warned throughout a New York fundraiser for the Democratic Senatorial Marketing campaign Committee.

Putin has threatened to show to nuclear warfare over the past a number of months as his efforts to overpower Ukraine fail. Final month, he stated the Kremlin would “actually use all of the means at our disposal” to guard the nation.