US buys Nplate radiation sickness drug

Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly signaled that he might resort to utilizing nuclear weapons to guard the nation’s territory beneficial properties in Ukraine. 

President Joe Biden has additionally warned that the world is liable to a nuclear “Armageddon” amid the struggle in Ukraine. 

“We have not faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis,” he mentioned on Oct. 6. 

People on social media have since claimed that the U.S. is spending a whole bunch of thousands and thousands of {dollars} to buy an “anti-radiation” drug in preparation for a possible nuclear assault. 

A VERIFY reader in Texas reached out to the crew to ask whether or not the claims shared on social media are true. Google search data also show individuals are asking whether or not the U.S. is shopping for a radiation sickness drug. 

Is the U.S. authorities shopping for a drug to deal with the consequences of radiation sickness?

Yes, the U.S. authorities is shopping for a drug that can be utilized to deal with the consequences of radiation sickness.

The U.S. authorities is spending $290 million to buy a provide of a drug that can be utilized to deal with purple blood cell accidents from radiation sickness, the Department of Health and Human Services announced on Oct. 4.

Nuclear weapons produce radiation, publicity to which may result in demise or sickness, together with long-term hostile well being results comparable to most cancers.

More from VERIFY: Yes, Russia promised in 1994 to by no means assault Ukraine if it gave up its nuclear weapons

Acute radiation syndrome, also referred to as radiation sickness, happens when an individual’s total physique, or most of it, is uncovered to a excessive dose of penetrating radiation that reaches their inside organs in a really brief time period. It can cut back the quantity of clot-forming platelets within the blood, which may result in uncontrolled and life-threatening bleeding.

Nplate, a drug manufactured by Amgen USA Inc., was first approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2008 for long-term therapy of an autoimmune illness that may trigger extreme bleeding. 

In January 2021, the FDA authorised Nplate for treating accidents attributable to radiation sickness in adults and youngsters, together with newborns. 

The federal authorities is buying the availability of Nplate with funding from Project BioShield, which was established by a regulation signed in July 2004. Project BioShield funding is “used to address national security threats as identified by the Department of Homeland Security’s Material Threat Determination process,” in response to HHS.

Products could be bought below Project BioShield if they’re licensed, authorised or cleared by the FDA, or if they could be made obtainable below an emergency use authorization (EUA) throughout a public well being emergency. 

While HHS didn’t reply to a query about whether or not Russia’s struggle in Ukraine prompted the acquisition of the radiation sickness drug, the company mentioned it’s a part of its “long-standing, ongoing efforts to be better prepared to save lives following radiological and nuclear emergencies.”

This is the primary time Amgen has equipped Nplate to the federal authorities, a spokesperson for the corporate informed VERIFY.

Amgen will preserve the federal government’s provide of Nplate, which HHS says decreases value for taxpayers and permits the drug to be rotated into the industrial marketplace for use earlier than it expires. 

More from VERIFY: No, iodine tablets received’t shield you from most radiation results in a nuclear assault