Gretchen Witless (my nickname for Michigan’s Governor predates, and is better than Trump’s “half Whitmer”) is threatening to lift the licenses of doctors and pharmacists over prescriptions of chloroquine.
She wants to prevent hoarding, so she makes sure no CCP virus patient can get it.
She implies doctors are making sure their families have it. Well, they certainly should.
The doctors are hoarding? I bet there are some unethical doctors of which this is true. I bet two other things:
For the vast majority of docs –
1) If they are prescribing it off label, it isn’t so the general public can add it to their toilet paper storage facility.
2) If they are doing it for their families and other health care workers at extreme exposure risk, isn’t that just like donating some N95 masks? Who more needs the drug than those exposed to CCP virus in the trenches?
Here’s a situation where that might matter…
Our small city has no centralized site for COVID testing. As such, any feeling need to be tested, have to drive to the larger center of Edmonton to get in line at a drive through testing site. Out nurses out here have met and are discussion setting up a testing site here and are looking for volunteer Dr’s to lead. I was asked. Here it is. One of those moments. I’m 59 and have a 40’s wife a 13 y old and 10 y old son and an 89 year old (sure to die if he gets the virus) father in law living with us on oxygen and home care. I want to do the right thing and need to make a decision. “Decision” from the latin root scisserae. Meaning to cut. “Decision” to cut away all things blocking one from the truth and the answer is there to see. Gonna sleep on it. I did a parking lot nasal swab on one of my patients just an hour ago, and looking at her, she was unwell and a high likelihood positive. But doing it 20?30?50 times in a day? Not sure if I want to take the risk. I know if I was a 59 year old bachelor, I would.
For God sake Gretchen. What you should have done is placed an order for Michigan to stockpile it.
Update, 03/31/20 12:30PM,
Another example from a friend:
I have talked about my daughter, ____, from time to time. She made an interesting comment the other day, about her role as a nurse practitioner, in an emergency room setting. Her concern was not about her own participation in serving patients, but she is very concerned about returning back to the house. When we talked, she still was not comfortable with the data on how it spreads, and what she may be carrying back to her family. Her pattern is entering through the “laundry room entrance”, disrobing there with her clothes going directly to the washing machine, putting on fresh garments, and then entering the house. She returns to disinfect everything she might have touched in the process, and then goes on. And her concern is, is this enough? I could tell from her voice that this unresolved question was creating stress.
I think there’s an argument here for prophylactic use.
From Michigan Capitol Confidential:
March 27 – Michigan Licensing Bureau Vs. Dr. Fauci On Off-Label Coronavirus Treatment
March 31 – Feds Permit Malaria Drugs For Coronavirus Patients, State Has Not Rescinded Threat Of Sanctions