While black Americans continue to suffer and die from treatable diseases like sickle cell anemia, New York Attorney General Letitia James chose political ambition over public health—ignoring credible whistleblower claims of corporate corruption in the pharmaceutical industry in favor of targeting President Donald Trump with partisan legal warfare.
This is the allegation at the heart of a damning case involving Patrick Girondi, a gene therapy pioneer whose son suffers from beta thalassemia, a disease similar to sickle cell anemia. Girondi spent years developing a safe, low-cost treatment—but he says his work was suppressed, buried, and stolen by powerful biotech firms in collaboration with academic institutions like the Sloan Kettering Institute.
Ignored Warnings, Missed Justice
In 2019, Girondi brought his evidence directly to Letitia James’ office. He documented how his breakthrough therapy—offered at a fraction of the cost of corporate competitors—was allegedly hijacked by Sloan Kettering and handed over to Bluebird Bio, which later raised the treatment price from $750,000 to over $3.1 million per patient.
Instead of investigating the suppression of a potentially life-saving cure, James reportedly told Girondi her office lacked the resources—while pouring massive funding into frivolous legal attacks on Trump, which only enhanced the former president’s popularity.
“The neediest Black lives are sickle cell disease patients,” Girondi said. “You want to forget about going after Trump and let’s go after these bad guys?”
Corporate Collusion and Greed
Girondi’s firm, Errant Gene Therapeutics, became entangled in a years-long legal battle with Sloan Kettering and Bluebird Bio. Evidence presented in court revealed:
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Emails discussing the need to “shut down Girondi”
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An SKI-Bluebird deal touted as eliminating “the most threatening competitor”
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A financial web linking Sloan Kettering CEO Dr. Craig Thompson to Third Rock Ventures, the firm backing Bluebird Bio
Despite being vindicated in court, Girondi was smeared by corporate insiders as mentally unstable—a common tactic used to discredit whistleblowers threatening billions in pharmaceutical profits.
Meanwhile, Girondi’s son Rocco continues to suffer, requiring blood transfusions every 18 days and taking ten pills a day to control toxic iron levels in his body—all because the affordable therapy was buried.
James Chose Power Over Patients
Letitia James had the opportunity to stand up to Big Pharma, expose corruption, and support a black health crisis that disproportionately affects African Americans. Instead, she chose to chase headlines, waste taxpayer money, and politically persecute President Trump in a case so overreaching that it backfired—bolstering Trump’s support ahead of his 2024 comeback.
Now, James is reportedly facing legal scrutiny herself, with whispers of potential jail time for corruption and abuse of office. Her legacy is already being rewritten—not as a hero of justice, but as another failed careerist who chose politics over people.
A New Chapter Under Trump and RFK Jr.
While James turned her back on the sick, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has pledged to make gene therapy for sickle cell disease a top national health priority. The Trump administration, returning in 2025, now has a chance to correct the injustice Letitia James helped perpetuate.
The real question isn’t whether Black Lives Matter—it’s whether political elites actually believe it when those lives aren’t useful to their agenda. Letitia James answered that question in 2019. The world is answering her back in 2025.