Covid-19. Through My Eyes.

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Covid-19 Through my eyes…

I started hearing of a novel Corona virus outbreak in Wuhan China in late 2019/early 2020. Like many people I really didn’t pay a lot of attention at first. As I recall, I was in Billings, Montana at the United States Cattlemen’s Association Winter Thaw event when I started paying more attention. I was there serving as President of USCA for the convention and trade show at the Mate, a huge agricultural even complex. The weather was unseasonably mild for Montana in February. Chief on my mind at the time was working to achieve fair and profitable markets for US cattle producers where the natural laws of capitalism (supply and demand) would drive our markets. Unfortunately the live cattle industry is dominated by a monopoly of 4 multinational beef packing corporations that control over 85% of the fed fat cattle (slaughter) in the United States. This monopoly exists due to many mergers and acquisitions that have occurred over decades and have been allowed by our government and its agencies.

That trip to Billings was quite enjoyable and relaxing. I took some extra time from the convention to visit Greg Golden of Cole Creek Angus Ranch in Joliet as well as the Midland Bull test in Columbus. I also visited my medical school classmate and friend, Dr Greg McDowell and his wife Martha. Greg is an orthopedic spine surgeon in Billings where he and Martha also own High Plains Stables a magnificent arena and horse facility. Greg and Martha are so nice to host me in their home almost every time I visit MonTana. We took half a day to do some skiing at Red Lodge Mountain. I hadn’t skied in over 20 years so, while tremendously fun, it took me a while to get my legs under me. Needless to say I enjoyed myself! Little did I know that life was about to take a dramatic turn for the worse.

It wasn’t until March 2020 that COVID 19 became the “ news”. Like everyone else I started hearing of hundreds of deaths from this deadly virus in major cities along the coast. Like most people, I had no idea how this virus was transmitted, how contagious it was, who was most vulnerable or how it could be prevented and treated. The mainstream media coverage was 24/7 creating a fear among Americans that I’d never thought possible.

Early on during the pandemic much of my time was spent searching out information available through colleagues as well as on the web. I, like many, agreed at the time that a 2 week lock down was reasonable to “slow the spread” so as to not overwhelm our healthcare system. But, I also realized that this would not stop the spread of this disease.

Being a primary care physician in rural Virginia, I had very few patients in the spring of 2020 that were diagnosed with COVID 19. I often say that during those first few months we were all like Christopher Columbus when he set sail from Portugal in the 1400s to find a route to the Far East but discovered the Americas. We really didn’t know where we were headed and just learned as we gathered more data and experience. During this time I was hearing about vitamin D deficiency being a major risk factor for serious complications as well as chronic inflammatory conditions such as obesity, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Each day I watched “Medcram” You Tube videos on COVID risk factors, possible treatments and ways to boost the innate immune system. Simple things such as Vit D supplementation, a healthy diet free of processed foods (sugar, High Fructose Corn Syrup) exercise and sleep were shown to improve ones immune system, reduce inflammation and hopefully patient outcomes. Other supplements I was seeing positive reports on were Vit C, Quercetin , Zinc and the natural brain hormone, melatonin. Hydroxychloroquine was also being touted not only for prevention but also as a cure. Reports were coming in from clinicians and researchers from all over the world using this age old medicine. Around this time, President Trump mentioned it during a press conference and the media backlash was epic. At first I felt the attacks on Hydroxychloroquine were purely political by the mainstream media. But, when we started hearing from public health officials and medical authorities how dangerous this medicine was and that it should not be used outside clinical trials, a light went off in my brain. I’d been in clinical practice for 34 years, having used Hydroxychloroquine during that entire time and never had I been told not to use this medication because it was dangerous! It was at that moment that I realized something was not right with this pandemic. It was also at that time that I decided to not co-opt my medical knowledge, medical experience and common sense to “THE EXPERTS”. I was determined to gather as much medical knowledge on this topic through independent sources and studies from scientists and physicians worldwide who were reporting success in prevention and treatment of COVID-19 patients. I observed that our very own public health agencies were appearing to downplay possible cheap inexpensive treatments and I became skeptical to say the least. Why was our very own government and media sending out messages that increased fear over hope? Why were they locking down small businesses, churches, gymnasiums and schools, but not big box stores, and liquor stores? Why were they not promoting health and wellness as a way to improve one’s immune system to fight this disease? Just about every measure they took isolated people and resulted in direct harm to peoples natural immune system. It caused a fear so strong that depression, alcohol and drug abuse skyrocketed. Patients started avoiding hospitals and doctors offices. Out of hospital cardiac arrests increased dramatically and delays in diagnosis and treatment of cancers cost many many lives. Just imagine if half the effort was put into promoting a healthy diet, weight loss and exercise as there was with promoting social distancing and masks… How many lives could have been saved not only from COVID 19 but also from chronic disease for decades to come! This is one of the gravest errors (and there were many) that our public officials made during this pandemic. Why was there not an all out effort by the NIH to develop early treatment and prevention protocols? Why were healthcare providers that were on the frontlines telling patients to go home, isolate and not come back to the hospital unless they became hypoxia? Why were these patients not given basic medical instructions? Why did public health and many medical providers not try cheap inexpensive repurposed medications in the hundreds of thousands of people that were dying? And why were pharmacists declining to fill valid prescriptions for FDA approved medications that had a long safety track record? Why were dying patients denied treatment with repurposed safe medications under the auspices that these drugs were not FDA approved for the treatment of COVID-19 and could cause more harm than good? Doesn’t sound very logical does it? In the beginning I incorrectly thought they just hadn’t looked at all the reports and studies. I and many courageous medical leaders across the country futilely tried to convince our colleagues and government health officials of the importance of early treatment with available supplements and medications. It was so very futile. Looking back it’s all so clear now that this was orchestrated from the beginning. Big pharma and the billions of $$$ in profits corrupted a large part of medicine and it cost millions of lives. This is the single greatest disappointment in my medical career that I have ever personally experienced!

To be continued……