The president has suggested he’d override his own regulators to rush out a coronavirus vaccine. Can ethically dubious drug companies be trusted to pump the brakes?

Was ever an October surprise so publicly plotted?

President Donald Trump has repeatedly said, despite nearly all evidence to the contrary, that a vaccine for SARS-CoV-2 will be available before Election Day.

When the heads of U.S. health agencies contradicted him in public hearings, he said they were wrong. When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration planned to release more stringent requirements for approving the emergency use of a vaccine, Trump immediately threatened to overrule the agency.

Now, as Election Day approaches, health experts worry there may not be enough safeguards in place to prevent Trump from rushing an insufficiently tested vaccine to the public. The damage from such a move could resonate for years, undermining public trust in vaccines and medical authorities.

And so, in a bizarre and frightening turn, pharmaceutical companies with ethically patchy pasts could become one of the last ethical lines of defense against their own drugs being marketed before they’re ready. Read more at The New Republic.