Feldman's Faves: February 22, 2022

GOOD MORNING EVERYONE

I hope you all had a nice, relaxing and enjoyable Family Day Weekend. It is good to see that we are moving forward on a path back to a post-Covid world. I say these words with extreme caution given that progress has proven to be anything other than a straight line. We have come a long way and I am optimistic that there are better days ahead for all of us (at the least on the Covid front). As a result, this week’s theme is COVID related, because why not….

UNCONTROLLED SPREAD By: Scott Gottlieb – A few months ago I spoke at the 13D Active Passive Investor Conference in NYC (as I do every year) and the same cast of characters was there speaking about shareholder activism. This conference usually has people like Bill Ackman, Carl Ichan, Jeff Smith and all of the who’s who of this world giving their investment theses and views of the state of this market. So obviously, the usual highlight of the conference is the speech I make about Canadian legal issues (otherwise known by most as a great time to take a coffee break…). It was in this backdrop that the conference organizers did something a little different this year and invited Scott Gottlieb, the former head of the FDA to discuss his views on how the government handled the initial days of the Covid 19 crisis what it could do better in the future. In addition, Scott gave away free signed copies of his book, which I finally got around to reading this weekend. I will say, that the speech he gave summarizing the book was much better than the book itself. The book is long, repetitive and can be a little boring. HOWEVER, there are some really interesting nuggets in there that on balance make Uncontrolled Spread worth reading. One of these nuggets, is Gottlieb’s description of how the initial response to the pandemic was “flu based”, which led to a number of errors early on (yes I did “Lysol-wipe” bananas and once put a take-out salad in the microwave before allowing my family to eat it…). In all seriousness, there was more hand sanitizing and less mask wearing at the outset, which had tragic results. Another point of interest is his description of the CDC as a reactive versus proactive organization that is not well equipped to handle real time crises and his suggestion for making pandemic response, a Homeland Security matter, rather than one for the “ivory tower” that is the CDC (a little harsh but not totally unfair). The final key takeaway of interest to me is his advice on what must be done to stockpile PPE, create homegrown vaccine programs and establish redundancies now so that we are better prepared for the future, a lesson that applies to Washington, Ottawa and everywhere else in the world. Gottlieb is an insider who understands science, medicine and politics very well. He is also on the board of Pfizer, so his insider perspective on this topic specifically is very enlightening. You just need a bit of patience and grit to get through it. Here is a good review from PBS: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/new-book-shows-how-failure-to-implement-quick-accurate-testing-compounded-covids-spread

The McKinsey Podcast - Nurses and the great attrition – To carry this discussion forward, Gottlieb mentions how doctors and nurses (and all front line care workers) were stretched beyond anything reasonable during the pandemic – something we all know. In fact, he tells the story of how in 2020, medical students at NYU were given the choice to graduate without taking final exams if they agreed to work in the Covid wards. That’s how bad it was. The people that really took the brunt (and are still doing so, are the nurses, who are asked to be super human in the face of tragedy and danger to themselves every single day – and they never get a break). As a result, the level of attrition in the nursing field is staggering but not surprising. This PODCAST tries to go deeper into how and why this is happening and what can be done to mitigate this problem and provide the support desperately needed by these truly essential workers. Here is an excerpt: “Many nurses are reevaluating their commitment to direct patient care. Now, during a time of unprecedented need, what can health systems and other employers of nurses do to inspire this backbone of the healthcare workforce to stay? Hear from Gretchen Berlin, RN and McKinsey senior partner on the state of nurses, and specific suggestions to improve their work experience, practically and emotionally”: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-mckinsey-podcast/id285260960?i=1000548285170

Thank you for your ongoing engagement and participation.

And remember to stay safe, stay healthy and to docket daily.

Jon