Amid concerns about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent nuclear threats came a bit of startling news: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said Tuesday that it spent $290 million on a drug to treat radiation sickness.
The department said in a statement that the purchase of the drug, called Nplate, is part of its “long-standing, ongoing efforts by the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response to better prepare the U.S. for the potential health impacts of a wide range of threats to national security.”
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
In other words, despite President Joe Biden's warning that the risk of nuclear “Armageddon” is the highest it has been since the Cuban missile crisis, the purchase of the drug for radiation sickness is coincidental, according to the HHS.
Nplate, manufactured by U.S. drugmaker Amgen, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2021 to treat injuries caused by acute radiation syndrome, also known as radiation sickness. (It was also approved in 2008 to treat an autoimmune disorder that causes excessive bleeding.)
