Posted on 02/18/2024 1:59:14 PM PST by nickcarraway
— My doctor's refusal to prescribe "just-in-case" Paxlovid speaks volumes
Simborg is a retired physician and a medical informatics expert.
I'm an 83-year-old retired physician. I let my medical license expire over a decade ago and have put my medical care into the hands of very capable people paid for by Medicare -- just like most people my age. Generally, I have been happy with this arrangement and enjoy good health.
From this perspective, I can observe our healthcare system just like any other U.S. citizen. I would like to share one important observation at this time: we are now sleep-walking our response to COVID. This is true both among the general citizenry, as well as among healthcare professionals, who seem hesitant to prescribe the most effective outpatient treatment for COVID -- nirmatrelvir/ritonavir (Paxlovid) -- even for high-risk patients like myself.
Perhaps after the several frenzied years during the worst of the pandemic this is understandable. We're all sick of it -- emotionally speaking. Certainly, it is no longer killing us in the massive numbers we saw previously. But it was the third leadingopens in a new tab or window cause of death after heart disease and cancer in people over the age of 65 during the earlier years of the pandemic, and remains a serious threatopens in a new tab or window to people of my age.
Unlike heart disease and cancer, we have a vaccine that can greatly reduce the likelihood of death from COVID. Yet, according to the CDC, far less than halfopens in a new tab or window of people over age 65 have gotten the latest vaccine. Last month, on a trip to Costa Rica for vacation, I saw only a single person on each of the four flights there and back wearing a mask. It was a flight attendant with the mask loosely slung over her mouth and chin, exposing one of only two important places for the mask: her nose. Very few people wore masks in the airports and there was certainly no social distancing on the shuttle busses (or masks). Yet, the highly infective JN.1 variant was peaking in the U.S. at the time. So much for awareness and concern among my fellow citizens.
But what about the medical professionals, themselves? An incident related to that same Costa Rica trip has me concerned. Prior to the trip, I asked my primary care physician for two "just in case" medications to carry along with me: an antibiotic in case I contracted "touristaopens in a new tab or window" and nirmatrelvir/ritonavir in case I contracted COVID. My biggest concern about the latter was the air travel going there. I was bringing along COVID testing kits, but knew that if I turned positive while in Costa Rica, it would be unlikely I could get nirmatrelvir/ritonavir prescribed there during the first 5 days of symptoms.
I was aware that nirmatrelvir/ritonavir is not approved for "just in case" travel usage, even in high-risk travelers such as myself. But, as a former physician, I also know that physicians are free to prescribe medications "off-label," and I have friends who have been prescribed nirmatrelvir/ritonavir for "just in case" travel occasions. My primary care physician gave me the antibiotic but denied the nirmatrelvir/ritonavir. He said he had discussed it with his colleagues, and they all agree that if everyone prescribed nirmatrelvir/ritonavir "just in case" for travel purposes, we would develop a shortage of nirmatrelvir/ritonavir.
I was astonished by that response. How many people still travel overseas at my age? And how many of them are requesting "just in case" nirmatrelvir/ritonavir? It seems highly unlikely that giving us those prescriptions would cause a supply chain problem at Pfizer. In fact, a study found that less than 15%opens in a new tab or window of high-risk patients who actually contract COVID take the medication! The researchers determined that over 48,000 deaths could have been prevented if just half of the eligible patients in the U.S. had gotten nirmatrelvir/ritonavir during the time period of the research.
There is hardly a run on nirmatrelvir/ritonavir in this country. Our problem is underutilization of nirmatrelvir/ritonavir, not overutilization. Researchers are working to answer this questionopens in a new tab or window of why people at high risk for severe COVID-19 don't receive nirmatrelvir/ritonavir -- or any outpatient antiviral treatment -- when diagnosed with COVID.
As for my primary care physician, why would he and his colleagues decide to raise a potential public health shortage concern as a reason not to prescribe it to me? I'm sure they had no real evidence that the numbers would overwhelm the system. That was pure speculation. He readily prescribed me a "just in case" antibiotic for a minor illness easily managed without a prescription. There is already well-known evidence that we overprescribe antibiotics leading to resistant organisms. Why create a public health concern for nirmatrelvir/ritonavir? I don't think it was a lack of concern for my well-being. Rather, I think it is a lack of concern about COVID.
It reflects a general sense in the medical community -- and the public as a whole -- that COVID is no longer a major threat. The possibility of my contracting COVID, not taking nirmatrelvir/ritonavir, and dying was simply less compelling than the notion that the country might run out of the drug. Perhaps also unstated to me but in the back of his mind was the reluctance to prescribe the drug when it is not approved for this purpose. That would have been more reasonable to me, yet it still felt as though he failed to put my well-being at the top of the list.
Finally, this raises the broader question of our national approach to COVID. Why doesn't the FDA approve nirmatrelvir/ritonavir for "just in case" usage in travel for high-risk individuals? Surely it would cut into those unnecessary death statistics. We could easily monitor its impact on the supply chain and alter the age threshold for such approval if it became a problem. Why isn't there a continued public call for vaccinations? Why has COVID fallen off the cliff of public awareness?
The virus has won. We are now sleep-walking our defense.
Donald W. Simborg, MD, is a retired physician. He is also a founding member of the American College of Medical Informatics, Co-founder of HL7, former founder and CEO of two EHR companies, and former CIO of the University of California San Francisco, currently retired.
America is full of disgusting, morbidly obese, lazy people.
Eating healthy, ample sleep, stress mitigation, and exercising are easy to do and rarely implemented.
Pill popping fatties die more often.
Glad I would never have to sit next to this guy on a plane...one of the many reasons I no longer fly.
You don’t think Vitamin D is a big risk factor?
But the fake vaccine killed more people than the Fauci Flu did. And you have assholes like me that didn’t get the jab and will never get the jab for something I have been immune to since late 1969 when I almost died from the Hong Kong Flu.
I have just about ZERO faith in the Medical Community as a result of this scamdemic.
Ditto. In spades.
“””healthcare professionals, who seem hesitant to prescribe the most effective outpatient treatment for COVID — nirmatrelvir/ritonavir (Paxlovid) —””””
Is Paxlovid really that effective? It seems I have read previous threads stating that Paxlovid is not effective.
Unless they are for covid. See Ivermectin or Hydroxychloroquine during the "pandemic".
Paxlovid seems to cause rebound infections. It does not seem effective at all; just another reformulated drug so big pharma can slap an expensive price tag on it and make fat money
Paxlovid is not successful for treating Covid- it actually makes you more likely to relapse.
There have always been effective treatments for Covid. Dr. Zelenko and Dr. McCullough, Dr. Kory and others were treating patients successfully long before Covid ‘vaccines’ were forced on the public.
The medical regime pretends there are no effective treatments in order to frighten people into getting the toxic ‘vax’ but initially they lied and said there were no treatments because that was a condition (no other treatments available) they needed to issue an EUA on the toxic covid ‘vaccines.’
They also wildly exaggerated Covid deaths at the same time the annual flu just magically disappeared that year. It’s all a hoax and a scam.
| Beware Pfizer’s New Antiviral COVID Treatment Drug Paxlovid | ||||||||||||||
12/30/2021 9:21:43 AM PST · by SeekAndFind · 10 replies NOQ Report ^ | 12/30/2021 | Dr. Joel S. HirschhornThe pro-drug industry mainstream media are insanely positive over the newly FDA-approved Pfizer antiviral COVID treatment pills. The drug, Paxlovid, received an emergency use authorization by FDA for use in patients 12 years old and up who have tested positive for COVID-19 and are at high risk.Now is the time to speak truth about Paxlovid. First, everyone should appreciate that there was very little testing of the short- and long-term safety of this product, exactly what happened with COVID vaccines. Really good testing of a new drug should take many months or even years.Does the public really want to take... | ||||||||||||||
| PAXLOVID and Molnupiravir: Avoid | ||||||||||||||
12/23/2021 10:07:18 AM PST · by Qiviut · 35 replies Steve Kirsch's Newsletter ^ | December 23, 2021 | Steve KirschHow good is the FDA at EUA approval for COVID drugs? Well, so far, to be honest, pretty shitty. The first three Covid drugs approved under EUA were Remdesivir, Baricitinib, and Tofacitinib. All were EUA approved for inpatient use (in hospital) only, demonstrate dismal effectiveness and are replete with black box warnings and side effects such as organ failure, blood clots, serious infections and malignancy. PAXLOVID PAXLOVID was recently approved by the FDA without any external meetings or disclosure. There was no opportunity for public input. Essentially all done behind closed doors. Dr. Ryan Cole on the drug’s mechanism of...
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More pure crap from an “expert”.
Same here. The HK flu attacked all ages and was way more deadly than this Covid virus.
I think vitamin D blood levels is a factor.
My post is an oversimplification. The main thing is daily preventative care more so than medication for illness.
In the evening I have a magnesium drink I have with D3/K2.
I walk, hike, or sprint outside most days.
I do more than is necessary for health.
People should apply the Pareto principle to their health.
Is there anything you actually agree with in this author’s writing?
He sounds like a first-class loon, to me. So, for me the answer is No, I don’t expect Paxlovid to be the panacea he claims it is. Paxlovid will suspend the advance of a virus while you’re on it, but you are still going to need an immune system to get rid of it. At least, that is my understanding.
Something very strange, in my opinion, has occurred during this Covid hysteria. Never has America had so many immuno-compromised or immuno-suppressed people walking the streets as it does, today. They may be organ transplant recipients, or people with AIDS or others, but they have little, if any, functioning immune systems. There seems to be something very wrong in expecting vaccinations or medications to work the same with these people as they do with the general population. Medical “experts” seem oblivious to this.
I agree with him letting his medical license expire. That was the right decision.
He whined about people not wearing masks. I guess he was one of the very few who were. Isn’t he vaxxed? Maybe he should try that Bubble Boy apparatus.
The segment of the American public who is still sensate has lost trust in a government that long ago abandoned its obligation to govern under the dictates of the Constitution. I will never trust another ‘vaccine’ again.
The damage done by government about Covid will last a long time.
Not just in medical terms, but trust in other areas.
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