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" unnatural " death " in lower classes. According to Derek
Connelly, MD, honorary professor at the University of
Glasgow, in response to the editorial, " Half the deaths
from COVID19 worldwide have occurred in 5 countries:
UK, USA, Brazil, Mexico, and India... the leaders
of some of these countries have a crime to answer
for. " Clare Wenham, PhD, of the London School of
Economics, in a linked editorial, said that " politics had
driven governments' response to the pandemic " and
felt that blame should be assigned to specific leaders.
There have been multiple articles in JAMA addressing
the ethics and mismanagement of the Pandemic. A recent
viewpoint " When Physicians Engage in Practices that
Threaten the Nation's Health, " lead author Phillip Pizzo,
MD, of Stanford University, wrote that " the inadequate US
response to COVID-19 " was " guided by political exigency
and recommendations from a small number of physicians
and scientists who ignored or dismissed science, refused to
promote sensible effective policies such as mask-wearing
and social distancing. " The article uses Scott Atlas, MD,
as an example. Dr. Atlas was a Neuroradiologist who left
Academic medicine, went to a public policy think tank,
and then to the White House Coronavirus Task force.
Dr. Atlas " disputed many public health orders, pressured
the CDC, and made unsupported medical claims. "
Dr. Pizzo's " Viewpoint " states that, " History is a potent
reminder of tragic circumstances when physicians
damaged the Public Health, from promoting eugenics
to participating in human experiments, such as those
that took place in Tuskegee, to asserting that vaccines
cause Autism. " He also asserts that corrective action in
our profession is an important, underused strategy. The
Hippocratic Oath and its corollaries bind us to " Do no
harm. " Dr. Atlas apparently has not maintained active
licensure, certification, or membership in professional
organizations, so medical and professional boards could
not discipline him, but more than 100 faculty experts
wrote an open letter challenging him. The Stanford
Faculty Senate adopted a Resolution to condemn him
for violation of the Stanford Code of Conduct.
In the US, many claim that requiring mask-wearing
and social distancing is a violation of Freedom of
Speech. I personally disagree with this stance as a
physician. The courts uphold that public officials
are not obligated to remain silent in these cases,
especially when the public health is concerned, and a
strategy is harmless but helpful. Freedom of speech

does not require institutional or professional silence.
In fact, this silence contributes to " social murder. "
Physicians are complicit if we do not speak out.
I also ask my colleagues to consider some of their
actions when the pandemic began. For example, while
there was no good scientific evidence for the in-vivo
efficacy of Hydroxychloroquine in COVID treatment
or prevention, some began prescribing it, especially after
certain political leaders touted its success. This decreased
the available amount for those with Rheumatological
diseases for which there was proof of efficacy and need.
Use of the compound in the very ill was responsible for
cardiac complications and no improvement. Numerous
studies since then have shown the lack of efficacy of
that medication. Prudence and common sense, as well as
professional ethics, required that known safe mechanisms
shown to be efficacious in infectious disease outbreaks,
such as masks and social distancing, should have been the
first line. This is an example of politics interfering with
medicine, especially to the detriment of human lives.
I urge my colleagues to consider how we allow
political opinions to shape our practice of medicine,
and not confuse politics and science. While healthy
skepticism of new uncorroborated studies, until
they have been verified, is important, acceptance of
recommendations from dubious, unqualified sources
and politicians, however convenient and consistent
with our personal beliefs, is wrong. Period.
Note: This article is the opinion of the author,
not of PAMED, MCMS, or BCMS.
Sources:

Abbasi, Kamran, " Covid-19: Social murder, they
wrote... " , BMJ 2021:, 372:n314, Feb. 24, 2021.
DeJong, C, MD, et al.,The Risks of Prescribing
Hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19-First, Do no Harm,
JAMA Internal Medicine, pub. Online April 29, 2020.
Greenhalgh, T., et al, Face Masks for the Public during
the COVID Crisis, BMJ 2020;369, Apr. 9, 2020.
Pizzo,P.A., et al, When Physicians Engage in
Practices that Threaten the Nation's Health " :JAMA,
Feb. 23, 2021, Vol. 325, No. 8, pp. 723-724.
Wenham, C, " What went wrong in the Global
Governance of COVID-19, BMJ, 2021:373, n303.

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