I thought the same, and it doesn't necessarily discredit his earlier work.

But here is a guy whose entire career is sidelined and shunned by the Establishment, whose work is an object lesson that "Science" doesn't work like you think it should and that they'll silence anyone who doesn't fall in line. Suddenly he's all, "Well how do I know these adverse event reports are legit? It's just what people say!" The real clincher is when he gets the tiniest bit of pushback, he's like, "Welp, I gotta get going!"

The ham-fistedness and continued burning of sleeper assets they've spent literally decades building demonstrates They are really getting desperate.