Purdue Pharma and the opioid epidemic

Brad Dixon

A pair of investigative reports by the LA Times has shed further light on how Purdue Pharma’s marketing strategy for its painkiller OxyContin has contributed to the ongoing opioid epidemic in the United States.

Purdue Pharma launched OxyContin in 1996 based on the claim that the drug would relieve pain for 12 hours. The extended duration of the drug distinguished it from shorter-acting, but cheaper generic narcotics. Purdue marketing materials emphasized the convenience of “twice-daily dosing,” which it said would provide “smooth and sustained pain control all day.”

Except it did not work as marketed. For many patients the pain relief ceased before the full 12 hours. Aware of the problem, the company nonetheless continued to encourage doctors to prescribe the drug for 12-hour relief to ensure that insurance companies would cover the pricier narcotic and safeguard the billions in revenue the drug brought the company, according to an article published by the Times this past May.

At the same time, Purdue downplayed the risks of addiction and encouraged doctors to prescribe the drug widely for more common aches and pains.

The 12-hour interval could be “the perfect recipe for addiction,” Theodore J. Cicero, a neuropharmacologist at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, told the Times. The combination of the reappearance of pain and acute withdrawal “becomes a very powerful motivator for people to take more drugs.”

Now based in Stamford, Connecticut, Purdue Pharma was founded by a pair of physicians in 1892. The company was acquired in 1952 by two doctors, the brothers Raymond and Mortimer Sackler. In the 1970s and 1980s, the company focused on developing pain medicines, launching an extended release formulation of morphine, MS Contin, in 1987.

In the late 1980s, the company began developing an extended release version of the narcotic oxycodone (commonly known as Percocet). According to company executives, OxyContin would “cure the vulnerability” to generic competition.

Clinical trials of OxyContin in the early 1990s found the drug to be safe and longer acting, but for substantial numbers of patients the pain relieving effects wore off before the company’s 12-hour interval goal. In one study, 95 percent of the patients resorted to a “rescue medication” at some point in the study because the effects of the painkiller had worn off prematurely.

When a doctor who was field testing the drug as part of the FDA approval process began giving it in 8 hour intervals, the company intervened, stressing that it was intended for 12 hours. This interval was emphasized not out of concern for the well-being of patients, but because it would differentiate the drug from shorter-acting, generic painkillers.

The company declined to test the drug at shorter intervals, allowing it to argue that OxyContin had only been tested for 12-hour doses.

OxyContin received FDA approval in December 1995 with a label indicating its effectiveness for 12-hour intervals. The doctor who led the FDA’s medical review of the drug, Dr. Curtis Wright, left the FDA two years later to join Purdue, assisting the company with new product development.

For the launch of the new painkiller, Purdue doubled its sales force to 600 and spent $200 million on marketing, taking out ads in medical journals promoting the 12-hour dosing. “REMEMBER, EFFECTIVE RELIEF JUST TAKES TWO,” reads one ad.

Drawing from evidence that emerged from court documents and a US congressional investigation, a 2011 article in the British Medical Journal observed that the company’s marketing strategy was “particularly remarkable” given the danger of addiction and overdose posed by the drug.

“The manufacturer targeted physicians who prescribed OxyContin frequently, paid its sales representatives large bonuses as an incentive to increase OxyContin sales, and issued coupons entitling new patients to free samples at participating pharmacies,” the article noted.

Company sales reps sought to convince doctors that the highly addictive narcotic should not be limited to cancer patients or the terminally ill, pitching the drug for more common conditions such as back aches and knee pain. Purdue wined and dined doctors, filled their offices with company swag, flew them out for weekend junkets at expensive resorts and encouraged them to promote the drug among their colleagues.

The marketing blitz was a success. By its fifth year on the market, OxyContin was a blockbuster drug, with $1 billion in annual revenue. By 2010, it was pulling in three times as much. Since its launch, the drug has generated an estimated $35 billion in sales. The Sackler family became fabulously wealthy, with Forbes magazine pegging their wealth at $14 billion.

Meanwhile, patients suffered. For many, the drug wore off before 12 hours, resulting in the return of pain, symptoms of withdrawal and intense cravings for the drug.

In response to patient complaints, doctors began prescribing the drug for shorter intervals. This posed a threat to company’s bottom line as insurers were less willing to pay for the drug if it provided no added benefits above the generic alternatives.

Company officials focused on training sales reps to convince doctors to stick with the 12-hour dosing regimen. Instead of taking the drug more frequently, company sales reps encouraged doctors to prescribe the narcotic at higher doses, which often put patients into a zombie-like state, and increased the chances of addiction and overdose. This recommendation further lined the company’s pockets—while a bottle of 10mg pills went for $97, a bottle of the maximum dose of 80mg sold for $630.

Purdue was not just making money off of legitimate doctor prescriptions. As the Times reported in a follow-up article in July, the company also failed to intervene when it became clear that certain physicians and pharmacies were funneling OxyContin pills onto a burgeoning black market.

Purdue had access to prescription data from pharmacies, which it used to target doctors writing smaller numbers of prescriptions to encourage them to write more. This data also allowed them to identify suspicious cases of physicians writing unusually large numbers of prescriptions, often at the 80mg level that was preferred in the illegal drug trade.

For example, the Times profiled one “clinic,” Lake Medical, in Los Angeles set up in 2008, which by the end of the year had written prescriptions for more that 73,000 pills. The illegal trafficking scheme had individuals known as “cappers” pick up homeless persons from the Skid Row area, bring them to the clinic for a perfunctory “exam” where they would be written prescriptions, and then drive them in groups to pharmacies to fill the prescriptions. The OxyContin was then returned to the clinic to be packed for bulk sale on the black market.

Purdue placed physicians suspected of writing fraudulent prescriptions on an internal database known as “Region Zero.” By 2013, the company had 1,800 physicians on the list, but only reported 8 percent of them to authorities.

Federal law requires drugmakers to report suspicious activity to the Drug Enforcement Agency. Nonetheless, the federal government has declined to charge Purdue with any wrongdoing.

In the case of the Lake Medical clinic, the company ignored concerns raised by pharmacists at one pharmacy, who began turning away Lake Medical prescriptions on their own. Investigations by federal, state and local officials finally shut down the clinic in 2010. Not until 2013—by which point the physician had already pled guilty and a case had been built against the other drug ringleaders—did Purdue contact the U.S. Attorney’s office to offer assistance.

“It would be irresponsible to direct every single anecdotal and often unconfirmed claim of potential misprescribing to these organizations,” the company’s general counsel, Phil Strassburger, told the newspaper.

In 2010, the company introduced an abuse-deterrent formulation of the drug. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2012 found that while patient abuse of OxyContin declined, addicts typically replaced the narcotic with heroin, which poses even greater health risks.

Patients began filing court cases against the company in the early 2000s, but Purdue managed to get most of them dismissed, while other lawsuits were settled confidentially with the court records sealed. In a 2004 court case in West Virginia, the future Attorney General Eric Holder helped the company reach a settlement just days before the case was set to go to trial. Purdue agreed to pay $10 million to support drug abuse prevention programs, but admitted no wrongdoing.

In 2007, the company’s top three executives pled guilty to fraud for downplaying OxyContin’s risk of addiction, and Purdue was ordered to pay $635 million. The fine was a small price to pay for the billions of dollars brought in by the drug.

This past May, Purdue lost its legal battle to keep court records and testimony sealed. A Kentucky judge granted a motion to unseal the records for a court case that the company had settled in December of last year by agreeing to pay $24 million while admitting no wrongdoing. The records, however, remain sealed as the company appeals the decision.

OxyContin has certainly played no small part in the current opioid epidemic and rise in drug overdoses in the United States.

A report published by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) earlier this year documented the dramatic rise in drug overdoses in the United States. In 2014, there were 47,055 drug overdose deaths, an increase of 6.5 percent over the previous year. The CDC found that 61 percent (28,647) of these overdoses were from opioids. Between 2013 and 2014, opioid drug overdoses increased by 14 percent. The primary opioid drugs resulting in the overdoses were heroin and prescription painkillers.

“Opiod pain reliever prescribing has quadruped since 1999,” states the CDC report, “and has increased in parallel with overdoses involving the most commonly used opioid pain relievers.”

While Purdue’s ruthless pursuit of profit has no doubt accelerated the rates of opioid addiction and drug overdoses, these alarming statistics reflect the immense social crisis faced by millions in the United States. The rising rates of drug abuse, addiction and overdoses take place in a context in which workers and youth face long-term unemployment, deteriorating working conditions, stagnant or declining wages, austerity and the dismantling of basic social services.

Clinton, Obama tout tepid US jobs report

Shannon Jones

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama wasted no time hailing Friday’s Labor Department employment report for the month of July, which showed a modest net increase in the number of jobs and a small increase in wages.

The department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said total employment rose by 255,000, leaving the official unemployment rate unchanged at 4.9 percent. Average hourly earnings rose an adjusted 0.3 percent, marginally more than the projected increase of 0.2 percent.

“Today’s strong jobs report is further proof that Democratic leadership in the White House is the right choice to keep our economy growing,” interim Democratic National Committee Chair Donna Brazile said in a statement.

On Twitter, the White House boasted of the creation of 15 million new jobs over the past six-and-a-half years, a statement that was re-tweeted by Clinton.

Harry Reid, the leader of the Senate Democrats, declared that the economy had “experienced the longest streak of private-sector job growth on record” in the face of what he called “unprecedented Republican obstruction and gridlock.”

Despite such bluster, a closer look at the employment numbers reveals many indications of continuing economic stagnation and deepening hardship for wide layers of the population.

Far from producing a genuine recovery for the vast majority of the American people, the economic policies of the Obama administration, which can be summed up as limitless subsidies for the financial industry after the 2008 Wall Street crash and harsh austerity for the working class, have fueled a record growth of inequality and a drastic decline in the social position of the working population.

The payroll figure for July was lower than that for June and followed a miserable report for May. Net payroll gains in May totaled only 38,000 jobs, the lowest monthly figure in more than five years, and even with a net increase of 287,000 in June, the average monthly increase for the first half of 2016 was well below the pace for 2015.

Moreover, government figures on economic growth show the economy expanding at an annual rate of only 1 percent, about half the pace for the period since the official end of the “Great Recession” in June of 2009—and that rate, about 2 percent, is far below the rate of growth for previous recoveries since World War II.

The most important domestic factor in the slowing rate of growth is a sharp decline in business investment, which fell in the second quarter by 9.7 percent, the third straight quarterly decline. This is a reflection of the growth of economic parasitism, as cash-rich corporations put off productive investment in order to finance stock buybacks, dividend increases and mergers and acquisitions.

What Clinton, Obama and the Democratic Party fail to mention is that the vast majority of new jobs are part-time, temporary or low-wage positions. Friday’s jobs report for July reflected this trend, with the measure of underemployment, which combines the number of officially unemployed people with the number of those who have stopped looking for work and those working part-time because they cannot find a full-time job, rose to 9.7 percent from 9.6 percent in June. The increase was largely due to a rise in the number of involuntary part-time workers.

The labor force participation rate, which measures the percentage of people in the civilian non-prison population who are 16 or older and either working or actively seeking work, remained extremely low by historical standards in July, coming in at 62.8 percent. This is a continuing indicator that millions of workers and young people have been permanently driven out of the labor market and are living at the margins of society.

In fact, the rate for men ages 25-54, considered the prime working years, was only 88.4 percent in July, matching the worst level of the year. The labor force participation rate for this demographic reached 97.9 percent in 1954.

The number of long-term unemployed, those out of work for 27 weeks or more, rose in July by 41,000 to 2 million. There are now as many long-term unemployed as there were at the low point of the 2002–2004 recession. The share of the total number of jobless who are long-term unemployed is over 26 percent.

In July, there were 2 million workers marginally attached to the labor force who were not counted in the official unemployment numbers because they had not looked for work within the past four weeks. Among the marginally attached, were 591,000 discouraged workers, those not currently looking for work because they believe there are no jobs available for them.

Among the job categories recording some of the biggest job gains were traditionally low-wage sectors such as hospitality (43,000) and food service (21,000). By comparison, employment in construction rose 14,000 and manufacturing by just 9,000.

Employment in the mining industry, which includes oil and gas extraction, declined by 6,000 in July, pointing to the impact of a slowing world economy. Since reaching a peak in 2014, the number of jobs in this industry has fallen by 220,000, or 26 percent.

According to a report by CareerBuilder, low-wage jobs, defined as those paying less than $13.81 per hour, are expected to grow by 5 percent between 2016 and 2021. Middle-income jobs, defined as those paying between $13.84 and $21.13, are expected to grow by just 3 percent. Besides the absurdity of classifying those in the $13-$21 pay range as “middle income,” the analysis points to the continuing prevalence of poverty-level and near-poverty-level jobs in the US economy.

Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder, said, “The US is facing a sustained trend of declining middle-wage employment that has serious implications not only for workers, but for the economy overall.”

An analysis of Friday’s jobs report by the Economic Policy Institute notes that the official numbers do not include what the EPI calls “missing workers,” i.e., potential workers who because of the lack of job opportunities are neither employed nor actively seeking work. Based on the most current data available, there were 2,330,000 “missing workers” in July. If they were included in the official statistics, the unemployment rate would be 6.2 percent.

The pace of layoff announcements increased in July. Employers announced 45,346 job cuts, a 19 percent increase over June. The energy sector accounted for 17,725 of those job losses.

One million Indian bank workers strike against privatisation

Arun Kumar

One million employees from nearly 80,000 branches of state and private sector banks in India joined a one-day strike on July 29, chiefly against the privatisation of state-owned banks by the Bharatiya Janatha Party (BJP)-led government.

India’s financial sectors were virtually paralysed, affecting about 75 percent of the daily average of paper-clearing transactions. The strike was called by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella body of nine trade unions.

Lack of recruitment over the past two decades has led to more than 300,000 vacancies in the public sector banks, increasing the workload of the remaining workers. Bank employees are also opposing the outsourcing of jobs and demanding that new appointments be made through the Banking Services Recruitment Board.

The privatisation and merger of state banks is part of the government’s broader plan to privatise public enterprises to attract foreign investment. In June, the government announced it was opening up nine previously restricted economic sectors, including civil aviation, single-brand retail stores such as Apple and IKEA, pharmaceuticals and military production, to 100 percent foreign direct investment and ownership. Prime Minister Narendra Modi boasted that India would be “the most open economy in the world for FDI.”

Fearing that the strike would spread into other sectors, Chief Central Labour Commissioner A. S. Nayak called a “conciliation” meeting on July 26, which was attended by the unions, the Indian Banks Association (IBA) and the finance ministry. He appealed for “dialogue so that this strike is averted.”

The UFBU was nevertheless compelled to go ahead with the strike because of growing restiveness among bank employees against the government’s move to privatise banks, which would result in the destruction of tens of thousands of jobs and hard-won conditions.

The UFBU has been working to head off the conflict. Two weeks earlier, the unions called off a planned stoppage on July 12 and 13, accepting the Delhi High Court’s order to restrain the strike, issued at the behest of the State Bank of India (SBI).

The July 29 strike was limited to one day and isolated from workers in other industries who face similar attacks. All India Bank Officers Association (AIBOA) general secretary S. Nagarajan, told the press that the strike was only a “warm-up” to a “bigger” one. In reality, the union officials are working with the government to shut down the struggle as soon as possible.

Early last year, when the bank unions called for a 25 percent pay rise, the IBA refused and the unions later agreed to just 15 percent. “Our members are happy with the hike,” All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) general secretary C.H. Venkatachalam claimed. Highlighting the subservient role of the unions, he added: “I hope the settlement now will motivate people to work hard to achieve new objectives for the banking industry and set new standards towards customer satisfaction.”

All nine unions in the UFBU participated in the latest negotiations. Undoubtedly, the aim of such talks was to scuttle the workers’ opposition. Several UFBU unions are affiliated to the Stalinist parties that have long supported or participated in Indian governments.

Both the AIBEA and AIBOA are linked to the trade union wing of the Communist Party of India (CPI). Another union, the BEFI, has fraternal relations with the Centre of India Trade Unions, which is affiliated to the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPM. Both parties have worked with successive governments to implement pro-market “reforms.”

The bank workers’ strike is part of the emerging class struggles in India and globally triggered by the deepening global capitalist slump. However, the unions are attempting to contain the confrontation.

The unions claim that the main reason for the problems in the banking sector is bad loans. They accuse the Modi government and the Reserve Bank of India of failing to take tough measures to recover the loans. The unions want defaulters to be publicly named and punished.

Even if the government recovered the bad loans, that would not resolve the financial crisis. Rather, the intensifying world downturn will only propel the global institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, to ramp up their demands for bank privatisation.

The BJP government intends to merge five associate banks and the Bhartiya Mahila Bank with the SBI, the state-owned lender, by next March. On the day of the strike, SBI chief Arundhati Bhattacharya said: “People have to understand that the change is inevitable. There have been strikes at many occasions but we have to educate them and take them on board.”

The government is also planning to reform labour laws for the benefit of investors and to strengthen the police apparatus to suppress working class opposition to the government’s measures.

That means the bank workers’ struggle against privatisation involves a direct confrontation with the BJP government’s entire pro-market program. The unions have for years prevented any mobilisation of the working class against the pro-business offensive, which has been facilitated by both the Stalinist parties—the CPI and CPM.

In order to defeat the assault on jobs and conditions, bank workers will have to break from these parties and unions, and turn to the opposed perspective—the struggle for a workers’ and peasants’ government based on an internationalist and socialist program.

Refugees confront inhumane conditions at mass accommodation centres in Berlin

Carola Kleinert

In the campaign for the Berlin state elections, the Senate (state executive) is attempting to keep the issue of refugees out of the public eye. Lageso, the state office for health and social services, notorious for its inhumane treatment of refugees and the lines of refugees waiting for days and nights, is currently being moved to a new building out of public view.

The thousands of people who have fled from war and poverty to Berlin continue to face unbearable conditions and are still being housed in mass accommodation centres. They still have to wait for hours in line for appointments and to receive the meagre asylum support benefit, even if those waiting are no longer visible since the Lageso office moved from its location in Moabit to the International Congress Centre building (ICC).

Although the number of refugees arriving in Berlin has dropped sharply due to the EU closing off its borders, many of those who have made it to the city continue to live in unbearable mass camps and sports halls, condemned to inactivity and helplessness.

Nothing has yet come of the grand plans for container villages or the prefabricated buildings permitted under specially reduced building standards. Where sports halls and other large accommodation facilities have been cleared, Lageso has simply redistributed the refugees to other sports halls on the edge of the city, to airport hangars and emergency accommodation at the ICC.

Prestigious buildings are the main ones to be cleared, such as the Horst Korber centre at the Olympic stadium, as well as Trade Hall 24 in preparation for the IFA consumer electronics fair. The several hundred refugees housed there were only informed about their relocation days before.

The ICC is infested with bugs. Decontamination officers must be called out regularly, and aid organisations speak of crying children whose bodies are covered in bite marks. If a state-run kindergarten suffered a similar infestation problem, it would be closed for disinfection; playgrounds would be ordered closed for weeks to combat rat infestations. But the Senate applies other standards when it comes to refugee children.

The hangars at Tempelhof airport are particularly feared for being overcrowded, with a lack of space and loud noise, and their isolation from the external world. Maria Kipp, a spokeswoman for the operator Tamaja GmbH, said recently that there had been an increase in depression, voluntary muteness and attempted suicide.

Accomodations at Tempelhof

Desperation is widespread among refugees. Their hopes of a normal existence in Germany, with democratic rights, career and education opportunities have largely been destroyed.

This development is also confirmed by experts in other states. Several studies suggest that between 40 and 50 percent of the refugees arriving in Germany over the past year are now psychologically ill and suffer from conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Around one in five refugee children suffers from PTSD, but hardly any receive psycho-therapeutic treatment, the federal chamber of psychotherapists revealed last autumn.

But the media remains silent about the fact that such conditions are not only linked to the traumatic experiences of war and flight, but are increasingly due to the situation in the country receiving them, Germany.

In the psychosocial centre in Düsseldorf, someone seeking help described his experience in a reception camp: “We all have to wait in line, like a line of prisoners, you know? Queue up again and wait for food, you know? It was just like in the prison where I came from, waiting for food. … No different. Where am I? And under strict control, strict security measures, everything, you know? … Is this it for the rest of my life?”

The character of many of the accommodation facilities in barracks or former prisons: the large number of people in a room, or in the case of Tempelhof, tents and roofless trade show stands; the raids and deportations; the ban on work and extreme poverty, are all factors contributing to illness, according to therapists.

In Berlin, protests have flared up in recent weeks, particularly among young refugees. In July, several dozen young Iraqis and Syrians protested in front of the Jahn sports hall on the Columbiadamm, which was being cleared. They camped out for several days in the open air and refused to move into the airport hangars as ordered.

Refugee protest in Berlin

Somewhat later, nine refugees began a hunger strike in front of the old Lageso offices in Moabit. They moved to the ICC, where the payment centre is temporarily located, and carried placards demanding a living space with privacy and access to German lessons to be able to study, for training and access to the labour market. Up to 40 refugees, including families with children, also participated in the protest.

In a vigil at the department of foreign affairs during the past week, 30 refugees demanded that they be allowed to bring their families, who are stuck in war zones, to be reunited in Germany. With the recent restrictions on asylum, the German government has further curtailed the possibilities for Syrian families to be reunited.

Participants in the ICC protest explained to the WSWS why they could no longer tolerate the unbearable conditions without protest.

Mohammed, a young Kurd from Iraq, has only been granted temporary right to remain for six months. He had been in emergency accommodation in Köpenik, “Where we get nothing to eat from 5pm to 8am the next morning.” They are isolated there with nowhere close by to go shopping. He has to travel to the other side of Berlin for German lessons. But he cannot make it back to the accommodation promptly for 5pm for an evening meal, meaning he has to go hungry until the next morning.

He no longer has any desire to return to the accommodation. “The conditions are indescribable, and I have no words for the packaged food.” They were consoled with promises every time, said the 19-year-old, who wants to study. “They say it will be better in a new camp, we will be able to cook for ourselves and not have to wait for hours for a piece of bread. In that way, they encourage us into new accommodation. From Messe South to Tempelhof, and then to Köpenik–always the same.”

Ibrahim reported catastrophic conditions in his emergency accommodation in Spandau, which has only “four toilets for a thousand people.” The rooms are completely overcrowded. “We have no opportunity to find peace for a while.” He and those suffering with him have been resettled five times. In May, 14 families at the Spandau camp refused to move into the airport hangars at Tempelhof and managed to secure entry into a community accommodation centre. However, single men like Ibrahim have no prospect of securing such places. As he has participated in the protest, he has now lost his place in Spandau.

Last Saturday, a tense situation exploded in front of a mass accommodation centre on Storkower Street in Pankow, where mainly Syrian and Iraqi refugees live. A security guard banned a young Syrian from making a speech to a crowd of residents because he was allegedly breaching the peace. A brawl subsequently developed with centre residents, in which pieces of wood, chairs and iron bars were thrown. Two refugees had to be treated in hospital, and two guards suffered mild bruising.

German defence minister announces domestic use of Armed Forces

Johannes Stern

The Bundeswehr, Germany’s armed forces, are being prepared to be used domestically. This was confirmed by Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen (CDU, Christian Democratic Union) on Wednesday in an interview with the newspaper Bild. Joint exercises will start in a few weeks.

“Yes. In late summer, we will decide at the Conference of State Interior Ministers which scenarios we need to practice. In an emergency, the alarm chain must be ready, the responsibilities clear and sufficient staff available,” said von der Leyen. “Therefore, we will first undertake a command-level exercise, which will test the interaction between the federal government and the police authorities of several states.” Three federal states had “already expressed an interest.”

The defence minister left no doubt that “in an emergency”, the Bundeswehr would not only handle logistics, but would also “provide military support.”

“I n acute cases, the police will decide what is needed to cope with a terrorist situation. In principle, the Supreme Court has made it clear that in extreme cases, the support of the military can be requested.”

In an interview in the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Lieutenant General Martin Schelleis, responsible for the army domestically as Chief of Joint Support, provided an overview of the extensive measures that are being prepared behind the backs of the population.

Upon request, according to Schelleis, the Bundeswehr can provide things like “technical capabilities such as low altitude mobile air surveillance to identify fast-flying aircraft”, or advise in the event of nuclear, biological or chemical threats, “possibly even using mobile laboratory capabilities.”

In addition, the Army could assist the police with armoured vehicles. Military police officers were already undertaking some police duties in foreign missions, “which do not fundamentally differ from those in Germany,” said Schelleis.

“In various missions abroad, our soldiers have also acquired considerable experience organizing checkpoints, dealing with explosive threats or guarding buildings. They bring knowledge and skills that could be used in a terrorist situation,” the general said.

Schelleis' statements illustrate the far-reaching consequences of the planned use of the Bundeswehr inside Germany. In an emergency, the Bundeswehr also brings to the home front the “knowledge and skills” it has acquired in war operations in Kosovo, Afghanistan or Mali—the disciplining and violent repression of the indigenous population!

The police-military deployment of the Bundeswehr so obviously violates the German constitution that even advocates of a strict law-and-order policy have expressed criticisms. In a guest commentary in the business dailyHandelsblatt, the head of the police union Rainer Wendt warned that the next “war games inside the country” could “override what is the most valuable thing our society has to offer, our constitution. The men and women who drafted our constitution knew exactly why they imposed strict limits on the deployment of the armed forces domestically.”

Wendt, who advocates a massive upgrade to police powers and equipment, does not directly address this. But the prohibition against Bundeswehr missions inside Germany, as well as the separation of the police and army, was anchored in the post-war constitution precisely due to the experiences under the Kaiser's Empire, the Weimar Republic and the Nazi dictatorship. The German military, and the Nazis' paramilitary combat formations, together with the intelligence services and the police, had served as brutal instruments of domination and oppression at home.

This calamitous tradition is now to be revived. The new “2016 White Paper on German Security Policy and the Future of the Bundeswehr” formulates Germany's official security policy doctrine. It states in the section, Deployment and Role of the Bundeswehr in Germany, that “in order to assist the police in effectively managing emergency situations, the armed forces may, in certain conditions, perform sovereign tasks and exercise powers of intervention and enforcement.”

Both the White Paper as well as German politicians justify the use of the Bundeswehr by citing the recent terrorist attacks in Europe. In the Bildinterview, von der Leyen said, “Paris has opened all our eyes. For me, scepticism now is preferable to an accusation later that we were not prepared.”

In reality, measures such as the imposition of a state pf emergency as in France or the use of the army domestically by no means prevent future terrorist attacks. In a statement on the massive police deployment in Munich, the PSG warned:

“This did not make the situation any safer, on the contrary. Above all, the wars conducted by the US under the pretext of the ‘war on terror’, and in which Germany has increasingly been involved, have transformed countries like Iraq, Libya and Syria into breeding grounds for terrorist networks where there had previously been none. Moreover, there are numerous links between Western secret services and Islamic terrorists, which are supported and financed by the allies of Western powers like Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey.”

It continues: “The real target of increasing state powers in the name of the ‘fight against terrorism’ is the working class and every social and political opposition. Under conditions in which social contradictions are intensifying, the European Union is breaking apart and the next financial crisis looms, the ruling class is preparing for fierce class battles. Growing militarism abroad is accompanied by the militarization of domestic politics.”

The White Paper advocates a European foreign and defence policy dominated by Berlin, to defend the geopolitical and economic interests of Germany worldwide. To this end, the military budget will be almost doubled from the current cost of nearly 39 billion euros. In the section, NATO and the European Union, the White Paper states: “The federal government has set itself the task and will work to ensure long-term and in the context of the resources available to reach the target of two percent of GDP for defence spending and at the same time strives for an investment rate of 20 percent in the area of defence.”

As in the 1930s, the German elites know they have to establish a dictatorship in order to push through, against the resistance of the population, their plans for a massive rearmaments programme and for war. This is the real reason for the exercises being carried out between the police and armed forces and for the deployment of the army inside Germany.

Rothamsted International Research Scholarship in Agriculture for African and Developing Countries 2017

Brief description: The Rothamsted International Fellowship Scheme (RIFS) supports scientists from developing countries to train at Rothamsted Research for 6-12 months on a research project they develop jointly with a Project Leader at Rothamsted.

Application Deadline: 7th November 2016.

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: Developing countries as defined by the DAC list

To be taken at (country): UK

Eligible Field of Study: Fellowship proposals must be in agricultural, biological, environmental, mathematical or computational sciences, and must be aligned with Rothamsted’s Research Strategy.

About the Award: Rothamsted is the longest running agricultural research station in the world, providing cutting-edge science and innovation for nearly 170 years.

Our mission is to deliver the knowledge and new practices to increase crop productivity and quality and to develop environmentally sustainable solutions for food and energy production.

No single approach can deliver sustainable agriculture with high productivity and value. A broad perspective that encompasses the whole plant system is needed and a careful balance of approaches is required. Rothamsted integrates biotechnology with other areas of science such as agronomy and agro-ecology so both existing and new knowledge can be implemented through agricultural practice.

Type: Fellowship

Eligibility: The Candidate must meet the following criteria.

• be of doctoral status, with at least two years post-doctoral experience. Candidates without Higher Degrees must have equivalent research experience to be considered eligible for the scheme. Applications will not be considered where the main objective of the visit is research leading to a higher degree for the Candidate.
• The Candidate must be a citizen of a developing country, or have been based exclusively within a developing country. Please note that developing countries are defined as the countries listed on the DAC list of ODA recipients.
• It is essential that the Candidate returns to employment in their home country where the work conducted in the fellowship can be applied. Candidates who have extensive and/or continuous employment in a developed country are not likely to be awarded an RI Fellowship. If the Candidate has previously travelled overseas to carry out research, there must be evidence that the skills gained have been applied in their home country.
• The Candidate should know their Rothamsted Project Leader (either directly or indirectly), or have been highly recommended.
• In addition to the support of the Rothamsted Research Project leader, applications must also have the support of the Head of Department where the fellowship will be hosted.
• The proposed research should also have direct relevance to development issues in the Fellow’s home country.

Selection Criteria: 

• Eligibility and quality of the Candidate.
• Scientific merit of the proposal.
• Clarity of aims and feasibility experimental design.
• Relevance to Rothamsted’s Research Strategy.
• Scope for future collaborations between the Candidate and the Rothamsted Project Leader.
• Social and economic impacts on the Candidate’s home country.

Number of Awardees: Not stated

Value of Fellowship: The fellowship provides funding for:

• an accommodation and subsistence allowance;
• one return journey between the home country and Rothamsted;
• a contribution towards institute/ project research costs.

Duration of Fellowship: Fellowships must be between six to twelve months in duration.

How to Apply: 

1. Candidates need to make sure that their project idea is in-line with the research strategy at Rothamsted, which is summarised here: http://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/sites/default/files/RRes_Strategy_Leaflet.pdf.
2. Candidates must then identify which Project Leader at Rothamsted to approach to develop this idea further. Candidates may identify the Project Leader either through their own direct contact with that person, recommendations via colleagues, scientific literature searches or through the relevant  department at Rothamsted (see this webpage for details of the departments http://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/departments).
3. Once a Project Leader at Rothamsted has been identified, the candidate should complete the application form together with the Rothamsted Project Leader. The application form and further guidance notes should be obtained from the Project Leader at Rothamsted – application forms cannot be downloaded from this website.
4. Applications must be submitted by the Project Leader at Rothamsted by 09:00 UK time (GMT) on 07 November 2016.
5. This is a competitive scheme and proposals are reviewed by an expert Panel. The Panel’s decision is then  communicated to the candidate and Project Leader. This typically occurs within two months of the application deadline.

Visit Fellowship Webpage for details

Award Provider: Rothamsted

Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships for Foreign Students and Artists 2017/2018

Brief description: The Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship is offered for PhD, Postdoctoral and Research for Foreign Students from Africa and other Countries to Study Abroad in Switzerland.

Application Deadline: Varies by countries, typically 30 November. Announced this year as September – December 2016

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Field of Study: All academic fields

About Scholarship: The Swiss government, through the Federal Commission for Scholarships for Foreign Students (FCS), awards various postgraduate scholarships to foreign scholars and researchers:

• The research scholarship is available to post-graduate researchers in any discipline (who hold a master’s degree as a minimum) who are planning to come to Switzerland to pursue research or further studies at doctoral or post-doctoral level.
  Research scholarships are awarded for research or study at all Swiss cantonal universities, universities of applied sciences and the two federal institutes of technology. Only candidates nominated by an academic mentor at one of these higher education institutions will be considered.
• Art scholarships are open to art students wishing to pursue an initial master’s degree in Switzerland. Art scholarships are awarded for study at any Swiss conservatory or university of the arts. Only those who have already been awarded a place to study may apply. This scholarship is available to students from a limited number of countries only.

These scholarships provide graduates from all fields with the opportunity to pursue masters, doctoral or postdoctoral research in Switzerland at one of the public funded university or recognised institution.

Scholarship Offered Since: not specified

Scholarship Type: Masters (for the arts scholarship), PhD, Postdoctoral and Research Scholarships

Selection Criteria and Eligibility: The FCS assesses scholarship applications according to three criteria:

a) Candidate profile
b) Quality of the research project or artistic work
c) Synergies and potential for future research cooperation

The FCS will select scholarship holders for the 2017–18 academic year by the end of May 2017.

Applications are subject to preliminary selection by the relevant national authorities and/or the Swiss diplomatic representation. The short-listed applications are then assessed by the Federal Commission for Scholarships for Foreign Students (FCS) which subsequently takes the final decision.

The FCS is composed of professors from all Swiss public universities. Scholarship awards are decided on the basis of academic and scientific excellence.

Candidates for the University Scholarships must;

• hold a university degree (Bachelors/Masters) on commencement of the scholarship.
• be able to demonstrate their academic abilities and what they aim to achieve.
• contact the institution and/or the professor supervising their period of research. Universities may request supplementary information and/or set certain additional conditions to determine whether or not you qualify for admission.
• be under the age of 35 (born on or after 1 January 1976).
• be suitably proficient in the language of instruction (French, German, Italian or English) in order to draw full benefit from their studies in Switzerland.

Please refer to the country-specific fact sheets for general and specific eligibility criteria.

Number of Scholarships: not specified

Value of Scholarship: The scholarship covers a monthly payment , exemption of tuition fees, health insurance, air fare, special lodging allowance, etc. See the fact sheets for exact scholarship benefits.

Duration of Scholarship: for the period of study

Eligible Countries: International students from more than 180 countries.  See the official website for complete list of eligible countries.

To be taken at: Any of the ten (10) Swiss Public Universities, the two (2) Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology, the public teaching and research institutes and the Universities of applied sciences

How to Apply: Visit the scholarship webpage and select your country for country-specific application instruction.

Sponsors: Swiss Government, through the Federal Commission for Scholarships for Foreign Students (FCS).

Getty Scholar Grants for International Senior Researchers 2017

Brief description: The Getty Scholar programs aim to fill a need for opportunities for senior-level professionals, fellows, scholars and writers to pursue research on topics that bring new knowledge and fresh perspectives to their field.

Application Deadline: 3rd October, 2016

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: All nationalities

To be taken at (country):  USA

Eligible Fields of Study: arts, humanities, or social sciences.

About the Award: Getty Scholar Grants are for established scholars, or writers who have attained distinction in their fields. Recipients are in residence at the Getty Research Institute or Getty Villa, where they pursue their own projects free from academic obligations, make use of Getty collections, join their colleagues in a weekly meeting devoted to an annual research theme, and participate in the intellectual life of the Getty.

While in residence, Scholars participate in the intellectual life of the Getty, making use of research collections at the Getty Center and Villa, and in the greater Los Angeles area. They also become active participants in the cultural life of the city.

Type: Grants

Eligibility: Applications are welcome from researchers of all nationalities who are working in the arts, humanities, or social sciences.

Current Getty staff and members of their immediate family are not eligible for Scholar Grants. Recent recipients who have received a Getty Scholar award within the past three years may be removed from consideration.

Selection Criteria: Getty Scholar Grants are awarded on a competitive basis. Applications are evaluated based on the following: (1) the overall quality of the application; (2) how the proposed project bears upon the annual research theme; (3) the applicant’s past achievements; and (4) how the project would benefit from the resources at the Getty, including its library and collections.

Value of Scholarship: A stipend of up to $65,000 per year will be awarded based on length of stay, need, and salary. The grant also includes an office at the Getty Research Institute or the Getty Villa, research assistance, an apartment in the Getty scholar housing complex, airfare to and from Los Angeles, and makes healthcare options available.

Duration of Scholarship: Getty Scholars may be in residence for one of six periods ranging from three to nine months: September to December; January to March; April to June; September to March; January to June; or September to June.

How to Apply: Candidates are required to complete and submit the online Getty Scholar grant application form (which includes uploading a Project Proposal; Curriculum Vitae; and optional Writing Sample by the deadline) available on the Webpage.

For the best user experience, we strongly recommend use of the Google Chrome browser. You may also use Firefox or Safari. The Internet Explorer 11 (IE) browser is not fully compatible with our portal.

Please prepare the attachments according to the instructions below. Once the form link is available it will be posted here and you may proceed to register, fill out a short form, upload your materials, and submit the application.

• Project Proposal: Each application must include a description of the applicant’s proposed plan for study and research (not to exceed five pages, typed and double-spaced). The description should indicate (1) how the project bears upon the scholar year theme and (2) how the project would be advanced by the resources at the Getty, including its library and collections.
• Curriculum Vitae
• Optional Writing Sample

Letters of reference are not required for this application.

Visit Grants Webpage for details

Award Provider: Getty

Important Notes: Candidates are notified of the Getty Research Institute’s decision approximately six months following the deadline.

Africa Regional International Staff/Student Exchange (ARISE) 2016. Funded to Choice Universities

Brief description: The ARISE Programme invites Applications from African nationals registered for Masters or Doctoral studies in the fields of Agriculture, Medical Sciences, Engineering and Energy.

The Africa Regional International Staff/Student Exchange (ARISE): Food Security and Sustainable Human Wellbeing

Application Deadline: 25th August 2016

Offered annually? No

Eligible Countries: African countries

To be taken at (Universities): Addis Ababa University, University of Rwanda, University of Cape Town, University of Ghana, Makerere University and University of Nairobi.

Eligible Fields of Study: Agriculture, Medical Sciences, Engineering and Energy.

About the Award: The Africa Regional International Staff/Student Exchange: Food Security and Sustainable Human Wellbeing (ARISE) is a programme designed to provide resources and opportunities for student and staff mobility throughout four regions of Africa.

ARISE offers support for Masters and Doctoral studies as well as shorter research and administrative visits between consortium partners in the following thematic fields: Agriculture, Engineering, Energy and Health Sciences.

Type: Masters or Doctoral studies

Eligibility: To qualify, students must:

• be registered for a full degree Masters or Doctoral programme at a home African university to spend time (minimum 10 months) at one of the ARISE partner institution.
• return to their home institution after the exchange period to complete their degree.

Selection Criteria: Application Requirements for Masters and Doctoral exchanges:

• Candidate must be a registered student at home university.
• Must secure an academic host at the host university.
• Applications are considered on merit and must meet academic requirements

Number of Awardees: Not stated

Value of Scholarship: The Scholarship covers

• Roundtrip flight ticket and visa costs (using a preferred travel agent and calculated against direct linear distance)
• Direct participation costs such as tuition fees, registration fees and service fees where applicable
• Comprehensive Travel Insurance (Health, Accident and Travel)
• A monthly subsistence allowance for the mobility period. Monthly Subsistence: €600 Masters, €900 Doctorates, €1000 staff members

Duration of Scholarship: 

• Masters: 24 months
• PhD: 36 mnths
• Staff: 6 months

How to Apply:  Interested candidates should apply here

Visit Scholarship Webpage for details

Award Provider: The Africa Regional International Staff/Student Exchange (ARISE)