Diary Prequel Package — page 428

ons Good to see the I so rarely go out to lunch -- so I was completely crushed that I missed the extraordinary moment when one of the world's leading doctors paid me a house call. Thank you so much for the wonderful letter and incredible gift. I can tell people now that while infamously do NOT have a medical degree I DO have a certificate from the NIH!!!! On a serious note, I cannot tell you how grateful I am personally for your counsel, candor and wisdom during my tenure at the White House. And as an American, I can't tell you how grateful I am for your leadership for our country and the world. I hope our paths cross again some day. Until then, I am your greatest fan and admirer.... With thanks, Ron Sent from my iPhone Feb. 20, 2015 - Outbreak of CRE (Carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae) infections at UCLA related to a contaminated duodenoscope for ERCP (endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography). Went on WTOP to discuss the CRE situation at UCLA. Never a dull moment! Feb. 21, 2015 - Went on CNN to discuss the 7 cases of CRE that occurred with 2 deaths at UCLA in association with contamination of duodenoscope used for ERCP. Press is trying to blame FDA since FDA knew about the problem with duodenoscope contamination for a few years. I did not throw FDA under the bus since there is not much they can do about it except to alert hospitals to clean the instruments as best as possible. Cannot pull the 20,000 or so instruments (made by Olympus) since 500,000 procedures are done in the USA each year and many are life-saving and avoid serious surgery. It is a risk/benefit issue. Peggy Hamburg ran into Chris in Safeway and Peggy must have seen the CNN interview since she told Chris to thank me for not throwing FDA under the bus. Feb. 23, 2015 - I am finally convincing Tom Frieden not to oppose the therapeutic RCT for ZMapp that Cliff wants to expand from Liberia to Sierra Leone since there are very few cases of Ebola in Liberia and still several new cases each day in Sierra Leone. The RCT for the vaccine trial is coming along well in Liberia. I was supposed to go to Liberia yesterday, but have postponed the trip since my back is hurting badly and also because the president of Liberia (Ellen Johnson Sirleaf) is visiting HHS and I need to be there to help greet her. Measles still in the press. Will discuss live tonight on BBC TV with Katty Kay Feb. 24, 2015 - Went to NYC for the DDCF Board of Trustees Meeting. Good to see the Board. Have missed a couple of meetings due to the Ebola crisis.