Posted on by Californiacontrarian

Politicians Without Borders

We have all heard of “Doctors Without Borders,” a group that goes to poorer countries of the world to practice medicine there even though they do not have medical licenses to practice in that locale. We have something similar here in the U.S., but it is politicians who are practicing medicine without a license. 

This saga all started in March after President Trump tweeted that hydroxychloroquine had the potential to be “one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine” as a treatment for the coronavirus. After that the entire story of hydroxychloroquine became entirely a political story. Those who were anti-Trumpers, Democrats, and those with any TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome) inclinations immediately jumped into the fray even though few had medical training. Here was a situation that these individuals did not need a license to practice medicine. To them it was very clear . . . “If Trump said it, it must be bad!” Never mind that this drug has been used in the U.S. since 1955. Never mind that a gazillion patients have used this drug safely for a myriad of medical conditions over the years. (What are the Covid stats on patients who get Covid, and are already taking hydroxychloroquine for lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, or other autoimmune diseases?) Every drug has potential side-effects, but because Trump said that it could potentially help, they decided to emphasize that that this drug could potentially kill patients. Even though this disastrous outcome is very very rare. They emphasize it . . . again because Trump said it might help. Even some physicians have mocked those other physicians who have been saying that hydroxychloroquine could be helpful with Covid patients, because . . . err,  . . . “they are kooks,” and besides Trump said it might help. BTW: It is interesting that when I asked an anti-Trumper, if he wanted to be treated with hydroxychloroquine if he contacted Covid, he adroitly avoided answering.

Recently the governor of Minnesota, Tom Walz, a Democrat, quietly reversed his prior executive order so that a physician in Minnesota can now prescribe hydroxychloroquine for Covid. This came a few weeks after a similar thing happened in Ohio. (I must have missed this positive hydroxychloroquine news in my local “newspaper.”)

To show the despicable nature of some politicians, in a radio interview in May, Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) reluctantly admitted her husband went from developing COVID-related pneumonia and coughing up blood to “one day, he just got better,” revealing he was treated with hydroxychloroquine. Yet Sen Klobuchar who was in a political race at that time, certainly could not start saying that Trump’s statement about hydroxychloroquine might have been spot-on. (Is there another spelling for the word, “hypocrite” that doesn’t begin with a “K?”) I must have also missed this Klobuchar story in my local “newspaper!” One wonders how many Covid patients might have been saved if hydroxychloroquine had not been politicized? ( A Yale University epidemiologist Dr. Harvey Risch said, “Because we were blocked from using it (hydroxychloroquine) in the United States to the present point, probably at least 100,000 people have died.”)

Let’s be clear about this. The decision to use hydroxychloroquine for Covid should be between the patient and his physician, not between a patient and a politician, and not between a patient and a pharmacist.

Let’s be clear again . . . If I get Covid, I want this drug and I want it early on.

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