HJBR Nov/Dec 2024

ANTI-VAX ECHO CHAMBER “I know he received the best treatment at the time,”Gallé replied, “and you are making my point: Rule out ivermectin, hydroxychlo- roquine, there was a treatment for COVID, and so why was the vaccine rolled out under EUA?Are you aware that you cannot authorize an emergency use of any medical treatment if there is alternative treatment available?” I asked Gallé to send me that informa- tion, because of all the back-and-forth I had heard, that sounds like a reasonable reason to suppress known treatments — if getting a shot in the arm of everyAmerican to benefit the vaccine manufactures at the expense of theAmerican public was, indeed, the goal of public health in the U.S. He sent me a link to the FDA. 1 Now, what the representative is missing, public health experts will tell you is that, in general, an EUA is not considered if there is in existence an already known, effective agent accomplishing the same thing. But vaccines (to prevent disease) and therapeutics (to treat disease once you have it) are very different. For example: pertussis vaccine prevents whooping cough; antibiot- ics treat it if you do get it. Even if budesonide that conveys respect and reverence for the wisdom fostered through age and experi- ence. New Orleans and South Louisiana were plagued with epidemics throughout its history — the graveyards stand as visible reminders of how an out-of-control plague can decimate a citizenry. Perhaps we should all take a step back, seek to listen, under- stand, and have real facts in our hip pockets — not hyperbole, and absolutely not just lis- tening to political-leaning sources aimed at dismantling a public health system that we often take for granted and that works pretty effectively protecting us from all sorts of ills. If not, along with your credentials, you may soon need to list your political affiliations to keep patients. Now, if we can just figure out how to work together to cure obesity in this state and improve the healthy food available to our citizens, which cause more deaths than anything else … Rep. Gallé, legis- lators, andMr. Surgeon General, this Journal is all ears. n REFERENCE 1 Food and Drug Administration. “Emergency Use Authorization for Vaccines Explained.” Last updated Nov. 20, 2020. https://www.fda.gov/ vaccines-blood-biologics/vaccines/emergency- use-authorization-vaccines-explained worked to keep people out of the hospital (it did not), there would still very much be the need for a vaccine, and there would still very much be an indication for an EUA. Now, we can argue the point of govern- ment’s interference between a doctor and a patient, and/or the government and one’s own body. But these points should be made with facts, not fabrication. Hawaii, for exam- ple, had some of the strictest COVID regu- lations in the U.S., fostered by the remem- brance of imported diseases that decimated the island’s population generations back. Residents of that state and those who wanted to visit complied with those restric- tions, and Hawaii’s death rate from COVID was miniscule compared to the mainland. Did COVID reach its shores? Yes. But mask mandates, quarantine, and the 6 feet rule were effective; and unlike the statements made in 2021 by Bobby Kennedy Jr. in the state capitol and echoed by the state’s sur- geon general this September, suggesting the elderly should sacrifice their lives and health for the children, Hawaiians typically have respect for their elders, and the young will make sacrifices for their kupuna — a term New Orleans and South Louisiana were plagued with epidemics throughout its history — the graveyards stand as visible reminders of how an out-of-control plague can decimate a citizenry. Perhaps we should all take a step back, seek to listen, understand, and have real facts in our hip pockets — not hyperbole, and absolutely not just listening to political- leaning sources aimed at dismantling a public health system that we often take for granted and that works pretty effectively protecting us from all sorts of ills. 38 NOV / DEC 2024 I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF BATON ROUGE