COVID-19: My two cents

Today, I want to share some thoughts about the coronavirus that I haven’t yet shared with anyone except for my closest friends and colleagues.

The first is that, in my opinion, this pandemic is the result of more than just a series of medical blunders.

And, as history has taught us, if you don’t speak out when you see injustice, then you are also part of the problem. So, I want to start by doing just that…

From denial to death

First, let me be clear: I’m not calling out Republicans, Democrats, Independents, or whatever political affiliation you happen to identify with. Because as I’ve said here before, this is no time for infighting and politics.

There are just too many people dying in this country and around the world for us not to work together to come up with a solution. (Though there are bound to be disagreements over what that solution is, and it’s unlikely to be the same for everyone—but I digress.)

The truth is, there are certain things that should concern every American, regardless of political leaning. And the recent whistleblower complaint filed by Rick Bright—the former director of the federal agency in charge of COVID-19 drug development—is one of them.

According to the complaint, Bright had issued warnings about the virus all the way back in January. And, he claims, those warnings irked the Secretary of Health and Human Services and other officials, many of whom were set on minimizing the public perception of the threat.

Bright believes he was removed from his post as retaliation. Firing a whistleblower is a clear federal violation—which is wrong, no matter who’s in charge.

And at what cost? Well, at a minimum, we’re talking about the disruption of billions of people’s lives. What’s worse? The effects of this pandemic will last years before life has any semblance of normality again.

But among the most tragic consequences of ignoring facts are the human lives that have been lost as a result. All over petty political infighting.

A potential path forward

Bright also states that his reassignment was partly due to his resistance to pushing hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine as potential cures for COVID-19. And this, I must admit, is where my opinion becomes a little less black and white.

It’s true that hydroxychloroquine wasn’t scientifically proven as a treatment. In fact, the one U.S. study that did come out on hydroxychloroquine demonstrated that it was a failure. But I do think it’s worth noting that it was used in end-stage patients who were likely going to die anyway.

Besides, as I explained last week, most of the tests we’re using also lack proper scientific validation. And Redemsivir, the other promising treatment on the table, doesn’t exactly boast a mountain of evidence, either.

Nor do any of the other solutions that we’re frantically trying to find in the hopes of saving lives and putting an end to this national nightmare. But you know what? That’s just the way things happen in times like these.

Which brings me to my second thought…

As of now, I have had 28 patients test positive for COVID-19. Two of them recovered on their own with the support of the supplement regimen I’ve discussed here previously. (You can learn all about my top immune health recommendations in my Complete Guide to Year-Round Immunity.)

I treated the other 26 with hydroxychloroquine and Zithromax. And all of their symptoms went away after two days. (Before you ask, the age range was 40 to 92 years old—some with underlying conditions and some without.)

Now, I am just one doctor—and this was not a controlled study. But I felt I had nothing to lose in sharing my experience with you. Hydroxychloroquine has many off-label uses, especially for Lyme disease, multiple sclerosis (MS), and more. I got the advice to use it for COVID-19 from physician friends in France, long before it was ever mentioned by our government here in the U.S.

So I felt that, if used correctly and in the appropriate patients, I could still uphold my Hippocratic oath to “do no harm.”

If the results I got could be replicated and confirmed by the medical community, then we may indeed be looking at a quick and easy fix. Or at the very least, a way forward using tools that are already both affordable and widely available to us.

But of course… who would stand to cash in on this historic crisis then?

Source:

“U.S. Watchdog Agency Says Coronavirus Whistleblower Should Be Reinstated.” The New York Times, 05/09/2020. (nytimes.com/reuters/2020/05/09/us/politics/09reuters-health-coronavirus-usa-bright.html)