Tag: experts

Why are you still confused about who you should listen to for advice about COVID-19 and who the real experts are?

The usual suspects…

Who Are the Real COVID-19 Experts?

Consider that in Texas, where COVID-19 cases are once again surging, Texas Senator Bob Hall is telling folks that they should no longer be afraid and is touting his very own COVID-19 “experts,” including:

• Dennis Spence DDS, MD – an oral surgeon
• Robin Armstrong, MD – an internal medicine doctor, he gave hydroxychloroquine to dozens of elderly patients in nursing homes without informed consent in his own “observational study.”
• Brian C. Procter, MD – a family medicine doctor who has become one of Collin County’s leading Botox and Juvederm providers, and has made claims about successfully treating COVID-19 patients using “hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin, losartan, aspirin, zinc, and CBD [Cannabidiol oil] as an anti-inflammatory.” Proctor has also come out against wearing masks!
• Richard P. Bartlett, MD – a family practice doctor, he is pushing the idea that budesonide, an inhaled steroid, is a silver bullet cure for COVID-19. Of course, that wouldn’t explain why people with asthma, who already take these drugs daily, die with COVID-19…
• Stella Immanuel, MD – a pediatrician who continues to push the use of hydroxychloroquine.
• Richard Urso, MD – an opthalmologist who seems to think that hydroxychloroquine should be available over the counter..

With so many docs writing scripts for their patients, it’s kind of like it is already…

So are any of these folks experts on COVID-19?

While they are physicians, none seem to have any extra training in public health, virology, or infectious diseases.

Just as I wouldn’t go to Dr. Fauci if I had a cataract, I wouldn’t go to an ophthalmologist if I needed help dealing with a novel viral pandemic…

These folks do not seem to be experts and should likely not be making any treatment or policy recommendations that are outside their areas of expertise.

You should not be listening to them, especially when their recommendations go against the guidance of the real experts on COVID-19, such as:

• World Health Organization
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center
• IDSA COVID-19 Resource Center
• CIDRAP Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resource Center
• FDA – Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
• NIH – COVID-19
• National Foundation for Infectious Diseases
• AMA COVID-19 News and Articles
• European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
• Pediatric Infectious Disease Society
• JAMA COVID-19 Resource Center
• American Society of Health-System Pharmacists
• LitCovid
• COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 preprints from medRxiv and bioRxiv
• Tom Frieden
• Tom Inglesby
• Michael Osterholm

You certainly shouldn’t be listening to politicians touting so-called experts pushing unproven and dangerous cures and treatments, as they have one goal – to make you think the COVID-19 pandemic isn’t that bad…

But how do you explain their “success” they are having with their COVID-19 patients?

The success they think they are having is built on anecdotal evidence.

“The overall cumulative hospitalization rate was 107.2 per 100,000 population. Among the 0-4 years, 5-17 years, 18-49 years, 50-64 years, and ≥ 65 years age groups, the highest rate of hospitalization is among adults aged ≥ 65, followed by adults aged 50-64 years and adults aged 18-49 years.”

COVIDView Weekly Summary

And misses the fact that most folks don’t end up in the hospital when they have COVID-19…

They also do a lot of cherry picking, ignoring any studies or evidence that show what they are doing might not be right.

“Hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, with or without azithromycin or clarithromycin, offer no benefit in treating patients with COVID-19 and, instead, are associated with ventricular arrhythmias and higher rates of mortality, according to a major new international study.”

More Evidence Hydroxychloroquine Is Ineffective, Harmful in COVID-19

Still confused?

More on COVID-19 Experts

• Follow These Social Media Doctors Fighting Medical Misinformation
• What to Do if You Have Been Exposed to COVID-19
• What to Do if You Have Been Diagnosed with COVID-19
• CDC – COVIDView Weekly Summary
• Assessment of Evidence for COVID-19-Related Treatments
• CDC Experts Need More Involvement in COVID-19, Not Less
• Covid-19 and cognitive bias
• COVID-19 Patients Given Unproven Drug In Texas Nursing Home In ‘Disconcerting’ Move
• Doctor Used Republican Connections to Get Unproven, Trump-Endorsed Meds to Treat Unknowing Elderly COVID-19 Patients
• When the Medical Director Abuses the Residents Under his Charge
• Coronavirus Fact Check
• Still Confused About Masks? Here’s the Science Behind How Face Masks Prevent Coronavirus