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posted by Fnord666 on Saturday January 13 2018, @04:33PM   Printer-friendly
from the kneejerk-reaction dept.

Potassium iodide distributors have a friend on Twitter:

A Twitter battle over the size of each "nuclear button" possessed by President Donald Trump and North Korea's Kim Jong-un has spiked sales of a drug that protects against radiation poisoning.

Troy Jones, who runs the website www.nukepills.com, said demand for potassium iodide soared last week, after Trump tweeted that he had a "much bigger & more powerful" button than Kim — a statement that raised new fears about an escalating threat of nuclear war. "On Jan. 2, I basically got in a month's supply of potassium iodide and I sold out in 48 hours," said Jones, 53, who is a top distributor of the drug in the United States. His Mooresville, N.C., firm sells all three types of the product approved by the Food and Drug Administration. No prescription is required.

In that two-day period, Jones said, he shipped about 140,000 doses of potassium iodide, also known as KI, which blocks the thyroid from absorbing radioactive iodine and protects against the risk of cancer. Without the tweet, he typically would have sent out about 8,400 doses to private individuals, he said. Jones also sells to government agencies, hospitals and universities, which aren't included in that count.

Alan Morris, president of the Williamsburg, Va.-based pharmaceutical firm Anbex Inc., which distributes potassium iodide, said he's seen a bump in demand, too. "We are a wonderful barometer of the level of anxiety in the country," said Morris.

Note: A comment on the article claims that Nukepills is massively overcharging for the substance.


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  • (Score: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Sunday January 14 2018, @08:34AM (1 child)

    by realDonaldTrump (6614) on Sunday January 14 2018, @08:34AM (#622123) Homepage Journal

    We need a lot of cobalt. For our nuclear arsenal and for many things for our military. We need so much that, unfortunately, we need to import a lot of it. From troubled countries like DR Congo and Canada. But Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Act has been holding back our industries. I want Congress to RESCIND IT! But I've sent our amazing military to Niger, where there are amazing deposits of cobalt. Don't worry, folks, we'll get that cobalt, one way or another.

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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by HiThere on Sunday January 14 2018, @06:10PM

    by HiThere (866) Subscriber Badge on Sunday January 14 2018, @06:10PM (#622218) Journal

    I think you're a joke, and I really hope so. But I sure wish I felt more certain about it.

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