'Trudeau Admits That Canada Is Being Overwhelmed By Mass Immigration'

 In a rare admission that all is not well in the socialist paradise of the north, Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated this week that the country has seen a 'massive spike in temporary immigrants' which is 'far beyond what Canada can absorb.'  The nation's percentage of temporary migrants (illegals using asylum loopholes to dodge proper immigration standards) has jumped from 2% of the total population in 2017 to over 7.5% of the total population in 2024.

In 2023 Canada marked its most rapid population growth in 66 years, with migrants making up over 97% of all new residents.  Only 2% came from a natural increase. 

Though Trudeau continues his attempt to virtue signal by praising the general concept of mass immigration and lies about the supposed benefits that illegal immigrants bring to the economy, reality cannot be denied.  It is proven time and time again that illegals represent a net drain on any economy they come into contact with - If they truly add value, then why don't they add value to the economies in their home countries?

The legal population of Canada is realizing this fact and is becoming increasingly hostile to Trudeau's open borders policies.  Trudeau's national approval rating fell to all time lows of 30% in December 2023 and has hovered near that marker ever since.  This may be why he has suddenly chosen (reluctantly) to acknowledge the immigration problem.

The use of the term "temporary immigrants" is obviously political spin.  The goal of the majority of migrants is to stay in Canada permanently, otherwise, the problem would be greatly reduced.  Immigration Minister Marc Miller said on March 21 Ottawa would set targets for temporary residents allowed into Canada to ensure “sustainable” growth in the number of temporary residents entering the nation. Over the next three years, Miller said the goal is to reduce the amount of temporary residents to five percent of Canada’s population.

Canada is not only dealing with the runoff from the flood of illegal migrants hitting the US in the past few years under Joe Biden, it has also seen a direct influx of migrants from Islamic countries overseas.  Toronto's Muslim population, for example, recently hit 7.7% of the city's total citizenry.  But going beyond the issue of incompatible cultures is the ever present economic crisis.  Canada's population is 38 million people, around the same size as the population of California.  It does not take more than a few million migrants siphoning welfare benefits and subsidies from the system to cause chaos. 

Canada's poverty rate has been climbing the past year and is expected to jump again this spring along with inflation.  Keep in mind that large population influxes can create more demand for goods which also drives up prices.  The nation's CPI has fallen (for now), but the central bank is likely to keep interest rates high in tandem with the Federal Reserve, which is not planning to cut in the near term as any reduction in rates invites a resurgence in inflation right before the 2024 elections.

Home rental costs are also crushing legal Canadian residents.  The average price for a two-bedroom apartment or house is now $2193 per month.  Limited housing availability in Canada combined with the sharp rise in migrants is leading to disaster.  

Both Joe Biden and Justin Trudeau face considerable backlash for their far-left immigration policies.  Illegal immigration and open borders have become two of the top issues cited by citizens of either country in national polls.  Biden faces a reelection campaign in 2024 and Trudeau faces reelection campaigns in 2025.  At this time, neither leader has the approval numbers to realistically keep office (without some form of chicanery), and this has largely been due to their continuing refusal to stop mass immigration.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/trudeau-admits-canada-being-overwhelmed-mass-immigration

FDA Warning Letters Detail Controversy at NYS Psychiatric Institute

 The FDA has handed down a pair of warning letters to the New York State Psychiatric Institute and a physician-researcher who used to work there.

The letters pertain to the protection of human subjects, and closely follow controversy surrounding research that had been led by psychiatrist Bret Rutherford, MD.

It was previously reported that a participant in a clinical trial of the Parkinson's drug levodopa for depression committed suicideopens in a new tab or window, and that the trial was subsequently suspended.

Now, the FDA warning letters have shed light on agency inspections of the psychiatric institute's institutional review board (IRB) and at Rutherford's clinical site.

In addressing the New York State Psychiatric Instituteopens in a new tab or window, which is based at the Columbia University Department of Psychiatry in New York City, FDA officials indicated that the facility's IRB did not adhere to statutory requirements governing the protection of human subjects.

The IRB failed to prepare, maintain, and follow written procedures for ensuring prompt reporting -- including to the appropriate institutional officials and the FDA -- according to the letter.

For instance, on August 9, 2021, at a convened meeting, the IRB determined that a serious adverse event (SAE) of death by suicide was an unanticipated problem involving risks to human subjects, the letter stated. However, the IRB did not report this to the FDA.

Other instances not reported to the agency included that, on February 7, 2022, the IRB reviewed and discussed serious noncompliance by an investigator related to medication tapers being conducted without being part of an IRB-approved protocol, the letter added. And on July 11, 2022, the IRB determined that an investigator's failure to report an SAE to the IRB, to consistently establish or document eligibility, and to conduct all required assessments, was serious and ongoing noncompliance.

Furthermore, the IRB failed to review proposed research during convened meetings at which a majority of its members -- including at least one member whose primary concerns were in nonscientific areas -- were present, the letter continued.

In the agency's letter to Rutherfordopens in a new tab or window, FDA officials wrote that the psychiatrist failed to ensure that a clinical investigation was conducted according to an institutional plan.

Though specific identifiers were omitted from the publicly posted letter, it pointed to several enrolled subjects who were on antidepressant treatment at the time of a screening assessment and did not undergo a protocol-required medication tapering and washout period.

Specifically, the subjects did not remain off their antidepressant medication for five elimination half-lives or 2 weeks -- whichever was longer -- before randomization, the letter stated.

Ultimately, the FDA noted in both letters that these were not intended to be an all-inclusive list of deficiencies.

The New York State Psychiatric Institute and Rutherford were provided 15 business days from receipt of the respective letters to notify the FDA of actions they have taken or plan to take regarding any violations, according to the documents. Failure to address the matter could result in regulatory action.

In an email, a spokesperson for the psychiatric institute provided MedPage Today with the following remarks: "The New York State Psychiatric Institute is fully committed to protecting the health and safety of all participants in programming. While we cannot comment on an ongoing review, we will continue to work with the FDA regarding this matter."

For his part, Rutherford is no longer a faculty member of Columbia's psychiatry department, and is no longer employed at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. He did not immediately respond to MedPage Today's request for comment.

https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/features/109469

Costco offering members access to weight-loss programs including medication

  Costco Wholesale will offer its members access to weight-loss programs, including prescription drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, from online healthcare services provider Sesame, as the companies expanded their partnership.

The wholesale retailer's members can subscribe to Sesame's weight-loss program for $179 for three months, compared with $195 for non-members, Sesame said in a blog post on Tuesday.

Under the program, a clinician would help the patients with diet, exercise and lifestyle modifications, and may subscribe medications, subject to availability, the blog post said.

The subscription does not cover costs of medication or lab work. The clinicians will work with eligible patients for medication on a pre-authorization, which could reduce cost further, the company told Reuters in statement.

Demand for GLP-1 agonists, a class of highly effective diabetes and obesity drugs, has surged in the last few years, with thousands of prescriptions being filled out every week in the United States.

The membership-only retail chain did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for additional comment. Costco had 130 million members as of Feb. 18, as per the company's website.

Sesame first partnered with Costco last September to offer outpatient medical care to its members.

In March, Costco missed expectations for second-quarter revenue, hurt by lower gasoline prices impact and soft discretionary spend from consumers.

Big-box retailers such as Amazon and Walmart have been offering healthcare services following the pandemic.

Amazon offers virtual primary care service for Prime members through One Medical, which it bought in 2022.

Walmart runs primary care centers at its stores and its membership warehouse club retail chain, Sam's Club, sells GLP-1 drugs through its pharmacies.

https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/COSTCO-WHOLESALE-CORPORAT-4866/news/Costco-offering-members-access-to-weight-loss-programs-including-medication-46350776/

Bloomberg: '10,000 Migrant Crossings A Day' Has 'Upended The Election'

 While Paul 'not my child porn' Krugman and other idiots want you to believe that illegal immigration is actually a good thing for America and will boost GDP by $7 trillion, Bloomberg is a bit more realistic...

Even worse for Joe Biden's handlers (i.e. whoever's running the government) is that Bloomberg wrote this up as a 'human interest' story:

The coils of barbed wire at the edge of Poncho Nevarez’s ranch on the Rio Grande were meant as a deterrent. Instead, they just tore at the bodies and clothes of desperate migrants who clambered through to Eagle Pass, Texas.

The fence installed by the National Guard was, in Nevarez’s view, both horribly barbaric and largely ineffective, like so much of the border-enforcement push that’s popped up around his 500 acres—the state police, the helicopters, the drones and river buoys.

“None of this stuff solves the problem,” said Nevarez, a former Democratic state lawmaker, as he stood next to a mound of discarded clothes, diapers and other detritus left behind by migrants on his land.

Here's the crux of the argument:

Immigration has erupted into a defining issue of the 2024 ballot, with a Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll finding it second only to the economy as voters’ top concern. Courts are bogged down by unprecedented levels of cases—federal agents encountered 10,000 people a day crossing the southern border in December—and the tumult has exposed the US system as underfunded, opaque and bursting at the seams.

“This is gonna decide who becomes the president, how it’s handled,” Nevarez said.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump has made the border his signature issue in his 2024 campaign - vowing to launch the largest deportation operation in US history if he's reelected. Bloomberg would like you to know he's also a racist, "sometimes borrowing rhetoric from White nationalist groups that warn about a “poisoning” of the nation’s blood."

"This is a Joe Biden invasion," Trump said during a February visit to Eagle Pass, Texas.

Meanwhile this Rhodes scholar...

As Bloomberg further notes, Biden has been 'put on the defensive' - and claims his hands are tied unless Congress gives roughly $60 billion more US tax dollars to Ukraine in order to defend its borders (as opposed to, say, more Executive Orders like Trump instituted).

How did this happen?

After Biden invited a sea of immigrants to America - tearing up Trump's immigration Executive Orders on day one of his administration - more than 10 million of them did just that, quickly overloading border-state resources. The solution wasn't Trump's... it was Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who began bussing illegal immigrants to liberal 'sanctuary cities' around the country - which have been brought to the brink of financial ruin by the influx of 'GDP boosters.'

What's more, the 'free ride' buses appealed to some migrants arriving in Texas, according to Valeria Wheeler, executive director of  the Mission: Border Hope in Eagle Pass, which provides temporary shelter for migrants before they move on.

"Right when they enter our place, they’re like, ‘We want to go in the free buses,'" she said, adding that they "help a lot of asylum seekers to move forward and go to their final destination or other places."

"They said they could not handle it anymore," Abbott said in an interview, referring to Texas mayors, county judges and police chiefs about communities overrun with migrants dropped off by the Border Patrol.

So Abbott and his aides came up with a plan—which critics called politically motivated—to bus migrants to Democratic “sanctuary cities.” The first bus dropped migrants from Colombia, Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua near the Capitol. After that, others went to New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Denver and Los Angeles.

Other border hawks, including the governors of Florida and Arizona, followed suit with similar moves. As of early March, Texas had bused out more than 105,000 people.

“Every state is now a border state, every town is now a border town,” Trump said Tuesday during a campaign speech in Michigan. -Bloomberg

According to Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza, a Democrat, "From a political perspective, you have to look at his move as his genius," she said, referring to Abbott - who responded to the surge in migration by sending state troopers and the National Guard to reinforce the area along the Rio Grande, which is now surrounded by barbed wire and shipping containers as camouflaged troops patrol the area with rifles.

Texas police and National Guard troops take over a city park on the Rio Grande, surrounding it with barbed wire and shipping containers (via Bloomberg)

Bloomberg reports that the crackdown is having an impact, citing Lieutenant Christopher Olivarez, a spokesman for the Department of Public Safety, who noted that arrivals in Eagle Pass, TX fell to an average of a few hundred per day vs. 2,000 per day at the end of last year.

Meanwhile, Texas border patrol has seized 469 million lethal doses of fentanyl, according to the governor's office.

"When you do have an influx of people coming across, it’s gonna tie up every resource that we have along the border," said Olivarez, so the cartels will "exploit more areas."

Perhaps this galaxy brain Obama economist can explain why all the economy-boosting illegal immigrants aren't translating to a slam-dunk win for Biden?

She's also big mad, talking about 'ringleaders' and other malarkey.

Maybe Bloomberg is in on it too?

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/bloomberg-admits-10000-migrant-crossings-day-has-upended-election

Arbutus Biopharma stock jumps after patent victory in fight with Moderna

 Arbutus Biopharma (ABUS) sees a surge in stock price following a win in a Covid vaccine patent dispute against Moderna.

https://seekingalpha.com/news/4086921-arbutus-biopharma-jumps-after-patent-victory-in-fight-with-moderna

Neurocrine Starts Phase 2 in Major Depressive Disorder Study

 Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: NBIX) today announced that the first patient has been randomized for its Phase 2 clinical study to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of investigational compound NBI-1070770 in adults with major depressive disorder. NBI-1070770 is a novel, selective, and orally active, negative allosteric modulator (NAM) of the NR2B subunit-containing N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA NR2B) receptor.  

https://www.biospace.com/article/releases/neurocrine-biosciences-announces-first-patient-dosed-in-phase-2-clinical-study-evaluating-nbi-1070770-in-adults-with-major-depressive-disorder/

Glaukos permanent reimbursement code for implant

 Glaukos Corporation (NYSE: GKOS), an ophthalmic pharmaceutical and medical technology company focused on novel therapies for the treatment of glaucoma, corneal disorders and retinal diseases, today announced the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has assigned a unique, permanent Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) J-code for iDose® TR (travoprost intracameral implant) 75 mcg, a prostaglandin analog indicated for the reduction of intraocular pressure (IOP) in patients with ocular hypertension (OHT) or open-angle glaucoma (OAG).

The new J-code for iDose TR, J7355, is set to become effective July 1, 2024. It is expected to increase patient access in the U.S. and has been published here on the CMS website.

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240403177919/en/