While Putin increases his nuclear threats, the United States spends $290.5 million on anti-radiation drugs
As the Russian president has threatened to use nuclear weapons, the US government has purchased a large quantity of medications used to treat radiation injuries.
The Telegraph reported on Thursday (October 6) that the United States Department of Health and Human Services has announced a $290 million purchase of the medication Nplate to treat acute radiation sickness (ARS) (HSS).
The publication reported that the authorities had certified the purchase as the first of the medicine made by the California pharmaceutical company Amgen.
This investment was made after Vladimir Putin’s recent threat of nuclear war.
His speech last month pledged to use “all the means at our disposal” to safeguard Russia and its citizens. He firmly stated, “This is not a bluff.”
The U.S. government has denied that the purchase of Nplate was a direct result of the conflict in Ukraine.
As reported by The Telegraph, quoting an HSS official, “This is part of our ongoing work for preparedness and radiological security. It has not been accelerated by the situation in Ukraine”.
According to the report, the United States has had an inventory of Leukine, a medicine that can be used to treat ARS, since 2013.
The HSS reportedly collaborated with Novartis, another pharmaceutical firm, in 2017 to research the potential of a medicine used to treat patients with thrombocytopenia (a condition characterized by abnormally low blood platelet counts), to safeguard people in the case of a nuclear crisis.
According to the HSS release, Nplate was purchased “to save lives, following radiological and nuclear emergencies.”
