This week marks three years since the Taliban captured Kabul and the U.S.-backed government fell in Afghanistan.

In the aftermath, anyone associated with the former Afghan government faces threats to their safety. Under Taliban rule, women’s rights to education, work, freedom of movement and representation are also incredibly restricted.

According to the Vermont branch of the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI), about 600 of the Afghans who have fled have resettled in Vermont.

At a press event held in Burlington on Monday, Amila Merdzanovic, USCRI Vermont field office director, said that every one of those people still have friends and family in Afghanistan.

“I would like all of us to take a moment and sit in silence,” Merdzanovic told attendees, “and remember those who are left behind in hope that they can be reunited with their families.”

As evacuations from Afghanistan continue — in some cases, aided by a retired Vermont judge — Vermont advocates are calling on the government to give green cards to Afghans who supported the U.S. mission in Afghanistan.

Many who’ve already fled their home country for the United States did so under “humanitarian parole,” which does not provide a path to lawful immigration status.

Among the Afghans now living in Vermont are two of that country’s judges: Hamida Punjshiri and Anisa Rasooli. Punjshiri, who arrived only two weeks ago, is one of the senior members of the Afghan judiciary. Rasooli is the first woman to be nominated to the Afghan Supreme Court.

Rasooli said at the event Monday through an interpreter that Afghan judges are in serious danger, especially from the freed prisoners for whom they passed sentences. In some instances, she said, those freed prisoners are now high-ranking officials with the Taliban.

Rasooli called for the U.S. government to help evacuate the judges remaining in Afghanistan.

That kind of federal support, according to retired Vermont judge Patricia Whalen, was nowhere to be found following the Taliban takeover in 2021.

Whalen served both as a family court magistrate in Vermont as well as an international judge in the war crimes chamber in Sarajevo. She also was the director of the Vermont Afghan Women Judges Judicial Education project, a cross-cultural program that hosted dozens of Afghanistan’s judges in Vermont from 2004 and 2014.

And after one of those judges who visited Vermont was assassinated in 2021, Whalen says she and other judges across the world formed a committee dedicated to the security of Afghanistan’s women judges.

“No one wanted to leave Afghanistan, but they did say at one point … that if Kabul did fall, if the Taliban came back, would we help them evacuate? And of course, we said ‘Yes,’” Whalen said on Monday. “But like, trust me, we had no idea how to do that. I mean, absolutely no idea.”

Then the Taliban did capture Kabul. And Whalen said no one from the U.S. government was stepping in to get the judges out.

“The exception to this was Sen. Leahy’s office, who really helped us right from day one,” she said. “But mostly, to be honest, it was more encouragement.”

A 2022 U.S. State Department review of its actions during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and the fall of Kabul shows systematic breakdowns limiting its response to the crisis, including a “significant backlog in the Afghan SIV [Special Immigration Visas] process” under the Trump administration. That’s as the department commended the work its staff did to evacuate 125,000 people in two weeks.

To get out Afghanistan’s women judges, Whalen said she worked from her kitchen table and over the internet with her judicial colleagues. They raised money for 24/7 interpretation, set up a hotline and coordinated evacuations for 215 of the 254 judges — plus family members — who requested help.

“That’s over 1,000 people,” Whalen said. “We still have 39 judges in Afghanistan, and we will get them out.”

The remaining women judges in Afghanistan, she said, are surviving by living in hiding.

“There’s just a lot of really psychological damage that’s being currently done, and the longer they’re there, there’s more damage,” Whalen said.

Khalil Anwari, who is among the Afghans now living in Vermont and is a program manager for USCRI, said at the event Monday there’s legislation that can ease the immigration process. It’s called the Afghan Adjustment Act, and would give green cards to people who supported the U.S. mission in Afghanistan.

“Thousands of Afghans who were evacuated to the U.S. are living in legal limbo,” Anwari said. “Their future is uncertain, their ability to plan for tomorrow constrained by a lack of permanent status.”

He added that these are people who risked their lives alongside the American forces in Afghanistan.

“They deserve our gratitude, but more so they deserve the security of knowing that they have a place in the U.S., a place where they can build their lives and contribute to the, to their communities,” Anwari said.

He also advocated for the Asylum Seeker Work Authorization Act and the Refugee Protection Act on Monday. Those bills would, among other things, shorten the waiting period for work authorization for asylees and cap the minimum number of refugees admitted into the U.S. in a given year to 125,000.

Anwari said these policies are about allowing refugees and immigrants to the United States to better rebuild their lives here — including contributing to the economy and social fabric of communities. This is something that Vermonters have supported generously in the past, according to Anwari and the other speakers at Monday’s event.

“A saying, an anecdote from the Afghan culture, it says, قطره، قطره دریا میشود, which roughly translates into, maybe, ‘Drop by drop a river is formed,’” Anwari said. “I have seen the embodiment of that saying in the actions and the collective actions of Vermonters.”

He added that while Vermont is a small state, it’s a strong thought leader in the country.

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CARMEL, Ind., Aug. 13, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — NeurAxis, Inc. (“NeurAxis,” or the “Company”) (NYSE American: NRXS), a medical technology company commercializing neuromodulation therapies addressing chronic and debilitating conditions in children and adults, today announced medical policy coverage for Percutaneous Electrical Nerve Field Stimulation (PENFS), for Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) of Vermont Medical Members, effective 10/1/2024. This medical policy will bring our national total coverage for PENFS to roughly 23 million, with more decisions from major payers still pending.

IB-Stim™ is a non-surgical device that sends gentle electrical impulses into cranial nerve bundles in the ear. NeurAxis’ PENFS technology is FDA-cleared for functional abdominal pain associated with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in adolescents 11-18 years old. There are currently no FDA-approved drug therapies for children with abdominal pain-related disorders of the gut-brain interaction. The current medical treatments, which are off-label drugs, can often have serious side effects, and most lack scientific evidence of efficacy.

“We are excited regarding the coverage expansion in the state of Vermont, home to the renowned University of Vermont Children’s Hospital,” said Brian Carrico, President and Chief Executive Officer of NeurAxis. “We continue to make progress on our commercialization strategy goals for IB-Stim by increasing payer coverage to drive market adoption of our technology. We are on track to achieve our stated goal of having medical policy coverage for at least 50 million lives by the end of 2024, which will set the stage for a significant revenue ramp in late 2024 and into 2025,” Mr. Carrico concluded.

About NeurAxis, Inc.
NeurAxis, Inc., is a medical technology company focused on neuromodulation therapies to address chronic and debilitating conditions in children and adults. NeurAxis is dedicated to advancing science and leveraging evidence-based medicine to drive adoption of its IB-Stim™ therapy, which is its proprietary Percutaneous Electrical Nerve Field Stimulation (PENFS) technology, by the medical, scientific, and patient communities. IB-Stim™ is FDA cleared for functional abdominal pain associated with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in adolescents 11-18 years old. Additional clinical trials of PENFS in multiple pediatric and adult conditions with large unmet healthcare needs are underway. For more information, please visit http://neuraxis.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on management’s current assumptions and expectations of future events and trends, which affect or may affect the Company’s business, strategy, operations or financial performance, and actual results and other events may differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements due to numerous risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified. There are a number of important factors that could cause actual results, developments, business decisions or other events to differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements in this press release. These factors include, among other things, the conditions in the U.S. and global economy, the trading price and volatility of the Company’s stock, public health issues or other events, the Company’s compliance with applicable laws, the results of the Company’s clinical trials and perceptions thereof, the results of submissions to the FDA, the results of the shareholder vote to enable the issuance of the Preferred Stock, and factors described in the Risk Factors section of NeurAxis’s public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Because forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release and, except to the extent required by applicable law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise these statements, whether as a result of any new information, future events and developments or otherwise.

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Contacts:

Company
NeurAxis, Inc.
info@neuraxis.com

Investor Relations
Lytham Partners
Ben Shamsian
646-829-9701
shamsian@lythampartners.com

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) finds himself in a familiar position Tuesday — on the Vermont ballot — and vying for another term of elected office as he’s done for more than four decades. 

Sanders is running unopposed in the 2024 primary Tuesday with no challengers from the Democratic or independent side, setting himself up for a fourth term in the Senate as he fashions himself as the progressive standard bearer for the country. 

With President Joe Biden, 81, bowing out of the presidential race, Sanders, 82, is taking on the role of elder statesman as he nudges the next generation of Democratic Party leaders into a big government agenda. 

Democratic strategist Brad Bannon told the Washington Examiner that Sanders’s decision not to seek the presidency again as he did in 2016 and 2020 “basically freed him to be this national spokesman for the progressive wing of the party.”

“The party has moved toward Bernie Sanders,” Bannon said. “So he lost his battles for president, but he won the battle for the heart and soul of the Democratic Party.”

“He has a safe seat in Vermont, so he really doesn’t have to worry about politics, so he’s focused on progressive policy,” Bannon added.

Sanders will face Republican Gerald Malloy in the 2024 general election for Vermont’s Senate race. Malloy lost his campaign for the state’s other Senate seat in 2022.

Both candidates ran unopposed in their respective primaries on Tuesday: Sanders, who has been serving in the Senate since 2007 and Congress long before then; and Malloy, who lost to now-Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT) for the open seat left vacant by former Sen. Patrick Leahy in the midterm elections.

The senator will appear on the Democratic primary ballot as he has for several years despite being an independent since 1978. Vermont has open primaries, allowing unaffiliated or independent votes to vote for either candidate.

Malloy raises Sanders’s age and ability to deliver 

Sanders’s popularity in the state of Vermont has allowed him to skate easily to victory over the last few cycles. In 2018, Sanders won the general election with 67% of the vote and with 71% of the vote in 2012. Unlike his congressional colleagues, Sanders does not pursue funding through super PACs or from wealthy donors and instead focuses on small-dollar donations.

DecisionDesk HQ finds Sanders has a greater than 99% chance of winning in November. However, Malloy believes he will be successful this cycle due to high inflation, high taxes, and clean energy policies supported by Sanders and the Biden-Harris administration.

He said in statements to the Washington Examiner that his work in the business industry, as well as federal agencies like the departments of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services, make him a better fit for office.

“My opponent is a socialist, career politician,” Malloy said. “He does not have work, government, business, military, or foreign policy experience. He has had 34 years as a member of Congress. He has delivered very little for Vermont. He speaks of lowering costs or free healthcare, housing, education — false promises as all have gone up, even as he is Senate chair of HELP Committee. He speaks of the working class but has no work experience.”

“His Twitter/X site banner reads ‘The struggle continues.’ It certainly does, by design,” Malloy continued. “His platform: false promises and scare tactics of existential climate crisis. He will be 83 very soon, well into 89 if reelected.”

In 2022 ahead of the midterm elections, Sanders had the highest favorability rating among possible presidential contenders at 46% compared to President Joe Biden’s 43%.

Bannon also noted that if Sanders, at 82, had decided to run for president in 2024, the age concerns that plagued Biden during the second half of his administration would have trailed Sanders as well.

Nathan Gonzales, editor for Inside Elections, echoed Bannon’s comments, telling the Washington Examiner that Sanders hasn’t had a “public elderly episode” that has constituents questioning whether the senator can do his job — unlike Biden, whose gaffes, misnaming of public figures, and lackluster debate performance caused members of his own party to call on him to step aside as the nominee.

“The comparison between Biden and Sanders is a good example that each person ages differently,” Gonzales said.

Sanders hopes Harris will continue on a progressive path

After Biden stepped aside as the presumptive nominee and endorsed Kamala Harris, Sanders, a staunch Biden supporter, also decided to throw his support behind vice president. Sanders has called Biden the “most progressive president” in history, but eyes will now be on Harris to see whether she will continue to jettison left-wing policies she once embraced, including “Medicare for All.”

“She should be very proud of the record of the Biden-Harris administration in taking on the greed of the pharmaceutical industry, lowering the cost of prescription drugs, creating millions of jobs by rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure — we’ve done more in that area than any administration in history,” Sanders said on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday.

Sanders said Harris is running a “very strong campaign” and thinks she is talking to people from all sides to build an agenda that will win in November.

Host Dana Bash asked Sanders whether he is concerned about Harris reversing her stance on several progressive policies such as Medicare for All, legislation that she co-sponsored with Sanders when she was a senator in 2017 that would eliminate private insurance.

Sanders pointed to a poll from his campaign that found most people are in favor of several progressive policy areas that Harris is diverting from.

“I think the agenda that we have talked about for working people, expanding Medicare, expanding Social Security, raising the minimum wage, demanding that the wealthy start paying their fair share of taxes — this is an agenda that is not only good policy, it’s what we should be doing when so many of our working people are struggling, but it is good politics, as well,” Sanders said.

The Vermont senator added that Harris should be coming out with an economic agenda this week, so “we’ll see what she has to say.”

Sanders has little to fear from AIPAC compared to progressive colleagues

With Harris as the presumptive Democratic nominee and Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) as her running mate, the ticket has appeased progressives who had reservations about Harris’s other choices, including Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) for his strong support of Israel.

Sanders announced he would seek reelection in early May, at a critical point for Democrats as the party continued to fracture over the war between Israel and Hamas.

Like most congressional progressives, Sanders has been vocal about the need for immediate humanitarian aid to the Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, as well as openly critical of Biden’s handling of the United States’s relationship with the Jewish state. Sanders did not attend Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech before a joint session of Congress in July.

The Israel-Hamas war has divided progressives from the rest of the Democratic conference, particularly as pro-Israel groups like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee have funneled millions into primary races to defeat members of the progressive “Squad.” As a co-founder of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Sanders had rallied behind Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) in the days leading up to the primary the New Yorker ultimately lost.

“What this campaign is about is telling the billionaire class and their greed and their super PACs that they are not going to destroy American democracy,” Sanders told rally attendees on June 22.

While Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA) was able to survive a targeted AIPAC campaign, Bowman and Cori Bush (D-MO) were ousted thanks in part to the millions AIPAC’s PAC, United Democracy Project, threw behind their opponents. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) is facing a primary challenge from a Democrat who is favored by AIPAC.

Sanders, who has been in politics for over 40 years, first as a mayor in Vermont, is not a vulnerable target of AIPAC. Gonzales said the pro-Israel group has been strategic in its targets in the 2024 cycle and looking for candidates who are beatable at the ballot box — and Sanders does not fit the bill.

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Gonzales added that Bush and Bowman had their “own problems” beyond just their stance on the Israel-Hamas war, “issues that Sanders just doesn’t have.”

“Trying to knock off a one or two-term incumbent is very different than defeating a 30-year legend,” Gonzales said. “Sanders is well-liked in Vermont and candidates aren’t lining up to take him out. You can’t beat somebody with nobody.” The Washington Examiner reached out to Sanders for comment.

The Washington Examiner reached out to Sanders for comment.