The Deadly Medical Perspective On The COVID-19 Pandemic: Treatments Alone Or Vaccination Alone Is America’s Silver Bullet.
There are a few distinguished doctors in America who have lost their way in this pandemic.
Like every other aspect of American life these days, these docs are divided and polarized.
On the one hand there is a coalition of leading public health experts and establishment physicians who seem to believe that the vaccine ALONE will save the day. They’ve put all their eggs in the vaccine basket — at dangerous cost to development of rational therapies against COVID-19.
Chief amongst the “vaccine only” champions is Dr. Anthony Fauci of the NIH, who basically runs what amounts to a scientific monarchy in our federal government. His lopsided prejudice for vaccines dominates the national discourse and our federal response to the pandemic disaster. He is acting like a monarch and has full command of our federal government’s public health machine.
Of course, Dr. Fauci would dispute my critique that he has ignored therapeutics by dominantly focusing the NIH’s effort on vaccine development and deployment. After all, he’ll point to Remedsivir and the Regeneron monoclonal antibodies. But the proof is in the pudding.
In truth, COVID-19 disease is an inflammatory disease — and Fauci’s group has dominantly and aggressively ignored some staple generic anti-inflammatory drugs in our national arsenal. Drugs like cyclosporine, which in truth is a lock-and-key fit with the immunological fingerprint of COVID-19 disease.
It’s no surprise that the only known effective therapy against COVID-19 disease the world has developed is the anti-inflammatory drug, dexamethasone. And that that was discovered and developed by the British NOT the United States. THAT, is shameful!
Fauci’s lopsided focus on the vaccine and HIV-like therapies (i.e., anti-replication agents like Remdesivir), at the cost of ignoring staple anti-inflammatories has been a national catastrophe. Because the vast majority of the nearly 600,000 Americans who have died from COVID-19 disease, have died inflammatory deaths. MOST of them without any real attempt at controlling a T-cell and Macrophage mediated immune response gone dangerously rogue
In my personal opinion, Dr. Fauci and the NIH/FDA’s rejection and ignorance of cyclosporine, in particular, will prove to have been a very serious blunder in public health leadership — as I’ve written before.
But the other side of the COVID-19 pandemic discourse isn’t any better. It’s equally dangerous.
Literally thousands of doctors in America, some very distinguished, and across the world are dominantly focused on therapies — at the cost of undermining the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine. Many of these vocal proponents of therapies are also disputing and even actively undermining the fact that the COVID-19 vaccines developed by the trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed are highly effective when used appropriately and when necessary, and capable of preventing COVID-19 infections. In fact, I would say that trump’s mRNA vaccine technology is a miracle of modern medicine that would not have been possible had he not been president. Love him, or hate him, and I was no lover of trump’s — this vaccine will go down in history as one of his administration’s greatest achievements. But I digress.
It’s notable that the ONLY proven therapy against COVID-19 disease is the anti-inflammatory dexamethasone. BUT, there is a lot of theorizing and wishful thinking about other therapies: everything from ivermectin, to Vitamin D to cyclosporine. And a whole lot of docs have a whole lot of America prematurely convinced that these drug actually work — when we simply do not know yet which of them do.
I would state emphatically that when the dominant proponents of therapies undermine the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines as a preventative treatment, they are doing something as dangerous, if not more so, as Dr. Fauci and his group have done in ignoring anti-inflammatory treatments like cyclosporine.
In reality, the truth and recovery are in a cogent and balanced medical and public health approach to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Every balanced and sane doctor knows that PREVENTION and TREATMENT of disease are two sides of the same coin. To dominantly pick one over the other in the face of a raging pandemic is simply disastrous, irrational or insane thinking!
Let me be clear, in the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccines ARE PREVENTION — and drug therapies ARE TREATMENT. It is unethical and dangerous to consider one as being dominant over the other.
An example might be revealing.
As a heart surgeon, I know that coronary artery bypass operations and stents are wonderfully effective TREATMENTS for ischemic heart disease. But, if I advise people that, because we have these wonderful therapies, patients need not worry about PREVENTION of heart disease using weight loss, exercise, dietary modification and cholesterol lowering drugs, I’d be guilty of malpractice. I’d be dangerous to public health.
Equally, if one where to undermine or ignore the need for developing effective and powerful TREATMENTS, like bypass operations or cardiac stents, and instead advise patients to ONLY rely on diet, exercise, weight loss and cholesterol lowering agents when they are at high risk of critical coronary events and would benefit from a bypass or stents— I’d be guilty of malpractice. I’d be dangerous to public health.
So when it comes to the COVID-19 pandemic, the docs who are dominantly in the “either-or” camp with vaccines versus therapies are equally incorrect and equally dangerous to public health.
Vaccines PREVENT COVID-19 infections.
Therapies TREAT COVID-19 infections.
America, and the world, need both.
Because in this global pandemic, we need to PREVENT infections in folks who are NOT immune and are susceptible to getting infected — and we need to TREAT infections in folks who actually get infected.
I find myself shocked by the binary “either-or” thinking America’s public health establishment and many decorated physicians are exhibiting. Because it is dangerously imbalanced and even insane.
No doubt the lopsided Faucian focus on vaccines from NIH and FDA is dangerous to America’s public health. But, equally dangerous, is the anti-vaccine orientation of many physician proponents of therapies.
The simple truth, and the silver bullet is this: Efficient COVID-19 vaccination must be encouraged to PREVENT infection in ALL persons, who are NOT already immune to the virus — AND proper anti-inflammatory and respiratory treatments need to be quickly developed, optimized and used to TREAT COVID-19 illness.
At the moment, the medical profession and the US population are catastrophically divided on the path forward — and we cannot pretend like the pandemic is over and done. Make no mistake, this pandemic is still raging and new variants are evolving daily across the world.
50% of America and the American government/academic establishment are dominantly focused on “one-size-fits-all” vaccination — even resorting to coercive practices and unAmerican policies . This only serves to erode trust from the other 50% of America and medical professionals who believe that all we need are effective therapies — or that the pandemic is overblown by nefarious and totalitarian intent on the part of the other half. These folks are labeled by the other half as being “anti-vaccine”, “anti-science” or “stupid”.
Of course, because the machinery of our government is now in the hands of the “Vaccine only” promoters, it is likely that they will, as they are, attempt to violate America’s foundational and constitutional principles in their attempt to save the nation. Of course, this will be an even greater threat to the republic than the pandemic itself: Mandates, requirements, violations of civil liberties, curtailment of movement and educational opportunities.
America is malfunctioning badly — but not because of the pandemic alone.
I know, as do many defenders of the American republic, that a “divided house shall fall”.
Let me be clear in my prediction. If the non-immune amongst us do not get vaccinated to PREVENT infection — and if the infected do not get optimally and carefully treated with anti-inflammatory, anti-thrombotic and respiratory therapies — America and her citizens and residents shall be harmed even more than we have been already.
But if Pro-Vaccine advocates continue to undermine American principles and the critical importance of anti-inflammatory therapies, and if Anti-Vaccine advocates continue to undermine the power and efficacy of American science and the COVID-19 vaccine— we shall fall!
America’s silver bullet is this: Vaccinate the un-immune — Treat the infected. Not one, nor the other, alone!
The hour is not too late yet. Neither the Faucian scientific vaccine monarchy — nor the rigid opposition touting treatment only — are friends to our republic. They are both imbalanced and arrogant.
America’s healing and recovery will only come if we unite to recover the balanced position in the center of America — where we are all united, by foundational principles in a constitution that is written to defend us ALL. Where we stand together as fellow citizens of an exceptional nation with expertise and a hold on science and the western ethical principles that govern our democratic constitutional republic.
America’s silver bullet in the pandemic is this: Vaccinate the un-immune — Treat the infected. Not one, nor the other, alone!
Our Troy need not fall to our own divisions and mindlessness — as did history’s Troy.
In defense of US public health and in the name of Dr. Amy Josephine Reed of Yardley, PA.
Hooman Noorchashm MD, PhD
noorchashm@gmail.com.
