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Author: TriSec    Date: 05/12/2020 12:07:19

Good Morning.

While the Holyoke Veteran's Home in Massachusetts continues to be a shitshow, today's focus is slightly more west.


Senator Schumer (D-NY) has noted that the V.A. made a "bulk purchase" of a drug touted by the genocidal mass-murderer as a 'magic cure' for coronavirus. Never mind that the drug was quickly debunked by the medical community; there's a concern that untoward things may be happening with veterans in New York, possibly along the lines of the infamous Tuskegee syphilis experiment.


WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate’s top Democrat on Sunday called on the Department of Veterans Affairs to explain why it allowed the use of an unproven drug on veterans for the coronavirus, saying patients may have been put at unnecessary risk.

Sen. Charles Schumer of New York said the VA needs to provide Congress more information about a recent bulk order for $208,000 worth of hydroxychloroquine. President Donald Trump has heavily promoted the malaria drug, without evidence, as a treatment for COVID-19.

Schumer’s request comes after a whistleblower complaint filed this past week by former Health and Human Services official Rick Bright alleged that the Trump administration, eager for a quick fix to the onslaught of the coronavirus, wanted to “flood” hot spots in New York and New Jersey with the drug. Major veterans organizations have urged VA to explain under what circumstances VA doctors initiate discussion of hydroxychloroquine with veterans as a treatment option.

“There are concerns that they are using this drug when the medical evidence says it doesn’t help and could hurt,” Schumer said in an interview with The Associated Press.

He said given the fact the malaria drug, despite being untested, had been repeatedly pushed publicly by Trump, VA Secretary Robert Wilkie must address whether anyone at the department was pressured by the White House or the administration to use hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19.

Schumer said Wilkie also should answer questions about a recent analysis of VA hospital data that showed there were more deaths among patients given hydroxychloroquine versus standard care, including how much patients knew about the drug’s risks before taking it.

In a statement Sunday, VA spokeswoman Christina Noel called it “preposterous” for anyone to suggest that VA would make treatment decisions based on anything other than “the best medical interests of patients.”

“VA only permits use of the drug after ensuring veterans and caretakers are aware of potential risks associated with it, as we do with any other drug or treatment,” she said.

Wilkie in recent weeks has denied that veterans were used as test subjects for the drug and that it was instead administered at government-run VA hospitals only when medically appropriate, with mutual consent between doctor and patient.

Still, Wilkie and the department have repeatedly declined to say how widely the drug was being used for COVID-19, including how many veterans were given the drug, and whether VA doctors were given guidance by VA headquarters on specific scenarios when it should be used.

In a weekly call with veterans’ groups this past week, Wilkie continued to defend VA’s use of hydroxychloroquine. He dismissed the recent analysis of VA hospital data showing no benefits to patients, suggesting the poor outcomes were because the cases involved older, very sick veterans.

“Use of this medication for treatment of COVID-19 is considered ‘off label’ — perfectly legal and not rare,” he wrote in an April 29 letter to veterans’ groups.


But lest we forget, the use of this drug has already specifically been called out as a big NO by the AMA. A new study has come out today confirming that finding.


A new study -- the largest of its kind -- shows that hydroxychloroquine, the drug touted by President Trump, does not work against Covid-19 and could cause heart problems.

The study was published Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. It follows a study published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine that also showed the drug doesn't fight the virus.

Even before these reports were published, the US Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health issued warnings about using the drugs for coronavirus patients.
"The nail has virtually been put in the coffin of hydroxychloroquine," said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert and longtime adviser to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the most recent study, researchers at the University at Albany looked at 1,438 patients with coronavirus who were admitted to 25 New York City area hospitals. After statistical adjustments, the death rate for patients taking hydroxychloroquine was similar to those who did not take the drug. The death rate for those taking hydroxychloroquine plus the antibiotic azithromycin, was also similar.

However, the patients who took the drug combination were more than twice as likely to suffer cardiac arrest during the course of the study. Heart issues are a known side effect of hydroxychloroquine.

"The big takeaway for me from this study is that it's very consistent with the FDA and NIH guidelines that came out in April," said one of the study's senior authors, David Holtgrave, dean of the School of Public Health at the University at Albany. "When deciding on public health interventions and treatments for Covid-19 or any other disease, it's really important to follow the data and follow the science and make sure decisions are being made on the highest quality data possible."


If Senator Schumer's accusations turn out to be true..this would not be accidental. It is malicious, and would be akin to First-Degree murder in my eyes. But again, neither the congress, nor the people, seem to be up-in-arms about this.

Veterans have always been props for Republicans; now it appears the V.A. is taking pages out of Dr. Mengele's playbook.
 
 

5 comments (Latest Comment: 05/12/2020 15:26:13 by Will in Chicago)
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Comment by Raine on 05/12/2020 13:25:38
Dr. Mengele indeed.

Good morning!

Comment by wickedpam on 05/12/2020 13:39:21
Morning

Comment by livingonli on 05/12/2020 14:10:46
Good morning. When the "president" admires Adolf Hitler, this is what you get.

Comment by Will in Chicago on 05/12/2020 14:49:49
Good morning, bloggers!!

I fear that we are going to see new lows. I fear that we will see worse to come in the next few months.

We are lead by an incompetent person, whom if he were a private citizen, would be examined for mental health issues. In the meantime, people are getting ill and dying due to this incompetence.

Comment by Will in Chicago on 05/12/2020 15:26:13
We actually have reasonably warm weather this week for two days -- 59 today and 66 tomorrow. So, I will get a few walks in.