KELI From Inkwell, this is the Independent News Drop. It's Monday, June first. The time is six a.m. Central. I'm Keli, with Hast.
HAST Good morning. We're leading with a structural story about the pandemic, regulatory law, and how the press covered the pieces separately.
KELI The dispatch at Inkwell has been tracking this one. Here's what happened on the record: The FDA's Emergency Use Authorization statute requires a finding that no adequate approved alternatives exist before any vaccine can get EUA. That's the law. At the same time, the National Institutes of Health held co-inventorship patents on the Moderna mRNA platform. Moderna later settled with NIH for four hundred million dollars. NIAID received another six hundred and ninety million in royalties during the pandemic. And David Morens, a senior adviser to Dr. Anthony Fauci, wrote in a personal email that he routed communications through Gmail because his NIH email address gets FOIA'd. He couldn't be FOIA'd on personal email. All of those facts entered the public record separately. AP covered the settlement. ProPublica covered the royalties. The email went into sworn testimony. The press never assembled the structure underneath.
HAST So what's the structure?
KELI The regulatory finding — that no alternatives existed — was legally required. The agency making that finding held financial interest in the product being approved. That's not illegal. It's built into how EUA works. But it means the same entity that had to certify no alternatives existed also stood to profit from that certification. The press covered each fact. It never connected them into one story. Watch the coming weeks. If you see a major newsroom suddenly publish a comprehensive timeline of NIH patents, royalties, and the EUA statute all in one piece, you'll know they're playing catch-up.
HAST Sticking with health care, but lighter footing. The virtual doctor's visit is becoming the norm.
KELI An emergency physician at a major medical center wrote an opinion piece this morning in STAT News arguing that it's time to redesign how patients even enter the health system. The waiting room — physical, in-person — is almost gone. Video appointments now handle intake, triage, initial consults. The argument is we should stop pretending that's a temporary fix and actually rebuild the pipeline around it. Same-day turnaround, no sitting, fewer staff needed on-site. It's a continuation of something we've watched accelerate since the pandemic.
HAST Different scale now. Denver took a direct hit from weather overnight.
KELI A hailstorm moved through the Denver metro area with stones reported as large as golf balls. Schools dismissed early. Highways had visibility down to near zero. Al Jazeera has the details. Power outages across three counties. No deaths reported as of this hour, but damage assessments are still underway. That one should clear by midday.
HAST Back stateside, Texas is testing new ground on age verification.
KELI A federal appeals court allowed Texas's app-age-verification law to go into effect. The state requires app stores — Apple, Google, others — to verify a user's age and get parental consent before a minor can download apps flagged for older users. This is Texas's first major enforcement push. The law was blocked before. Now it moves forward while legal challenges continue. Watch for app stores to either build the verification system or file another round of injunctions.
HAST Myanmar's president is in India, and that movement matters more than it sounds.
KELI Myanmar has been isolated internationally for years after the military coup. A presidential visit to India signals a pivot toward broader diplomatic engagement. India's been Myanmar's closest partner through the sanctions period. This visit — trade talks, security discussions, the usual protocol — is being read as a signal that Myanmar is trying to normalize some relationships. BBC has the reporting. Don't expect dramatic shifts, but these moves usually precede a longer game.
KELI One date marker before we close: June first, nineteen forty-one. The Battle of Crete ended as the island capitulated to German forces. From Inkwell, this is the Independent News Drop. We'll be back this evening.