Free Miracle Cure by Michael Palmer Page B

bladder now and silently cursed himself for not addressing that situation during the break. Just the same, whether out of fatigue, irritation, anxiety, or some combination of the three, he took several swallows of the ice water Teri had poured for him, and then motioned for her to respond to the statement.
    “We’re not certain we follow you, Senator,” she said. “The FDA is certainly proud of the speed with which we got both lovastatin and AZT approved for public use.”
    “And well you should be, Doctor Sennstrom. Because both those drugs had huge lifesaving potential for a large number of people.…”
    Louderman paused, looked up at the bank of cameras, then once again shuffled the papers in front of him.
    Here it comes
, Weisman wrote, filling the O in with a frowning face.
    “…  Dr. Baird and Dr. Sennstrom,” Louderman said finally, “are you aware of a drug named Vasclear currently under Phase Two clinical studies?”
    “We are aware of the drug, yes,” Baird responded.
    “Could you tell us all what the drug does?”
    “I can tell you what it’s
purported
to do. It is being investigated for properties it
may
have that reportedly enable it to dissolve arteriosclerosis.”
    “Dissolve arteriosclerosis.… Do you mean it can cure hardening of the arteries?”
    At that moment, Baird remembered that Newbury Pharmaceuticals, the small drug firm developing Vasclear, was based in Boston, Louderman’s home turf. Suddenly,he understood the why and wherefore of the entire session. An ambush, indeed. He covered the microphone.
    “Barry,” he whispered, “we know where Louderman’s going now. If we feel he’s squeezing us too tightly on this, I want you to go out in the hall, see if you can reach the President, and have him put a stop to it.”
    He turned back to Louderman.
    “From what I know of the drug, Senator, and I admit that is not a great deal at this point, curing hardening of the arteries is a possibility. I would caution you and everyone watching this hearing that research on Vasclear is quite preliminary.”
    “A drug that cures hardening of the arteries and you don’t know a great deal about it?”
    “A drug that
may
cure hardening of the arteries, Senator. We have literally hundreds of investigational new drugs we are currently following. And as I said, research on Vasclear is quite preliminary.”
    “I beg your pardon, sir,” Louderman countered, “but the research on this medication is actually quite far along, and the American people should know that the results to date have been astounding. I know for a fact that the scientists of Newbury Pharmaceuticals have twice submitted a new-drug application to
your agency
requesting the same sort of consideration that was given to
that AIDS drug
, and twice they have been turned down by
your people.”
    Go!
Baird wrote on the legal pad. Barry Weisman took the cellular phone from his briefcase, slipped it into his jacket pocket, and hurried from the hearing room. Baird stalled with another sip of water. From what he knew, the Vasclear research did hold great promise. But he also knew that Louderman’s staff had been pressuring the team assigned to evaluate Newbury Pharmaceuticals Company’s clinical data.
    The income from a drug that could eliminate arteriosclerosis would be staggering. Louderman was angling toward the Republican presidential nomination. His early public support of the drug would be a huge political coup, and somehow, profits from the drug were sure to find their way into his campaign coffers.
    However, from what Baird had been told by his staff, as remarkable as the early Phase Two data on Vasclear was, more study on humans needed to be done.
    “Excuse me, Doctor,” Louderman was saying, “but would you please answer my question?”
    “I … um … I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to repeat it, Senator.”
    “Your agency pushed through both lovastatin and zidovudine because they were lifesaving drugs. Wouldn’t