Dr. Gifford-Jones: People are dying needlessly of coronavirus - MPNnow.com
Dr. Gifford-Jones: People are dying needlessly of coronavirus - MPNnow.com |
- Dr. Gifford-Jones: People are dying needlessly of coronavirus - MPNnow.com
- Commentary: Can America control the coronavirus? - mySA
- As Virus Rages, Chinese Fear Health Care Costs in Communist State - Foreign Policy
| Dr. Gifford-Jones: People are dying needlessly of coronavirus - MPNnow.com Posted: 28 Jan 2020 07:56 PM PST Why "needless" deaths from this threatening virus? Because doctors, health authorities, hospital administrators and politicians have not read history. Not even the Chinese! This week several members of the Orthomolecular Medicine News Service (OMNS) were asked, "How would you treat the coronavirus?" Here are opinions of experts who study the potential of nutrients to fight disease. Dr. Andrew W. Saul, an international expert on vitamin therapy, says, "The coronavirus can be dramatically slowed or stopped completely with the immediate widespread use of high doses of vitamin C. Bowel tolerance levels of C taken in divided doses throughout the day, is a clinically proven antiviral, without equal." Saul adds, "Dr. Robert F. Cathcart, who had extensive experience treating viral diseases remarked, 'I have not seen any flu yet that was not cured or markedly ameliorated by massive doses of vitamin." Professor Victor Marcial-Vega of the Caribe School of Medicine responds, "Given the relatively high rate of success of intravenous vitamin C in viral diseases and my observation of clinical improvement within 2 to 3 hours of treatment, I strongly believe it would be my first recommendation in the management of the coronavirus." He adds, "I have also used intravenous vitamin C to treat patients with influenza, dengue fever, and chikungunya, for 24 years." Dr. Jeffery Allyn Ruterbusch, Associate Professor at Central Michigan University, says, "I believe all of us agree on the greatly increased benefits of vitamin C when people are placed under any stressful condition." Dr. Damien Downing, former editor of the Journal of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine, writes: "Swine flu, bird flu, and SARS, all developed in selenium-deficient China. When patients were given selenium, viral mutation rates dropped and immunity improved." Several other authorities agreed that high doses of vitamin C, along with 3,000 IU of vitamin D, and 20 milligrams of zinc, was a good combination to help fight viral diseases. And Drs. Carolyn Dean and Thomas Levy, both world authorities on magnesium, stressed that the mineral is involved in 1,000 metabolic reactions and that maintaining adequate levels improves immunity. Another over-riding opinion was that few people know that high doses of C increase immunity and destroy viral diseases. This information is not new. During the great polio epidemic of 1949-50 Dr. Frederick R. Klenner, a family physician in North Carolina, treated 60 polio patients with high doses of intravenous vitamin C. None developed paralysis. This discovery should have made headlines around the world but Dr. Klenner's news fell on deaf ears. Later, Klenner proved that high doses of C could also be effective as treatments for meningitis, pneumonia, measles, hepatitis and other viral and bacterial diseases. Even the bite of a rattlesnake. Again, only scorn from the medical profession. What does this mean to North Americans? Patients with a diagnosis of coronavirus should be given intravenous vitamin C, and it will save lives. The problem is that most doctors still refuse to believe IVC is effective. I'm not your doctor. But my family and friends know to visit a health food store and stock up on Medi C Plus, a powdered form of vitamin C that I developed which allows for high doses to be easily consumed and which contains needed lysine and magnesium. Vitamin C pills will do, but you must swallow many of them. Start taking 2000 mg twice a day to build up immunity. If flu symptoms develop, take 2,000 mg every hour up to bowel tolerance, and see a doctor. Large doses of C cause loose stools. But better to sit on a toilet than under a gravestone. Dr. Ken Walker (Gifford-Jones) is a graduate of the University of Toronto and The Harvard Medical School. He trained in general surgery at the Strong Memorial Hospital, University of Rochester, Montreal General Hospital, McGill University and in gynecology at Harvard. He has also been a general practitioner, ship's surgeon and hotel doctor. Sign up for medical tips at docgiff.com, and take a look at the new web site.  |
| Commentary: Can America control the coronavirus? - mySA Posted: 29 Jan 2020 11:30 AM PST 
Dr. Satish Pillai, a medical officer with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, speaks Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2020, during a news conference in Shoreline, Wash. Pillai and other officials spoke about the ongoing response after a man in Washington state traveled to China and contracted the 2019 coronavirus. There are multiple factors that may prevent America from controlling the virus unless they are addressed now. lessDr. Satish Pillai, a medical officer with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, speaks Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2020, during a news conference in Shoreline, Wash. Pillai and other officials spoke ... moreLaws play a major role in fighting epidemics and outbreaks, such as the coronavirus that is now spreading worldwide. Laws establish norms for healthy behavior, define the authority of public health agencies, and focus the debates that occur in legislatures, courts and administrative bodies. It is impossible to think clearly about fighting epidemics without framing issues in legal terms. Using laws to fight epidemics is not new. During the plagues in London in the early 16th century, an array of legal provisions addressed threats to public health. Those laws established mandatory rules relating to sanitation, identification and segregation of infected houses or individuals; investigation of illnesses; medical treatment; reporting of deaths; disposal of tainted goods; and burial procedures. The English laws probably were modeled after earlier legal provisions in France and Italy. Similar legal regimes have been replicated and improved in later centuries to deal with smallpox, tuberculosis and, more recently, HIV, AIDS, SARS and the Ebola virus. In the early 20th century, American patients infected with polio were legally quarantined in their homes or sent to special treatment facilities. During the deadly 1918 influenza pandemic, New York required people to obtain passes to travel. There will always be epidemics. Protecting public health necessitates the deployment of legal tools related to information gathering, vaccination, isolation, quarantine and treatment. Epidemics raise a host of civil liberties issues because those who have, or are suspected of having, the disease may suffer stigma and social hostility. The legal problems range from defamation and invasion of privacy to employment and housing discrimination. In the United States, various statutory provisions guarantee confidentiality for personal information relating to one's health. Tort-law principles impose liability on those who cause harm by intentionally or negligently transmitting a communicable disease. Laws can play an effective role in fighting epidemics only if legal provisions are grounded in sound scientific principles and accurate information about the spread of diseases. In earlier times, a lack of medical knowledge and slow communication hampered efforts to combat epidemics. Today, obstacles still exist. Three matters call into doubt the ability of America to respond effectively to the coronavirus. The first is what a recent cover story in National Geographic magazine called the "War on Science." The second is the pollution of public discourse by the spread of misinformation. The third is the increasing hostility in many quarters to the plight of disadvantaged people. In the United States, it has become common — and politically advantageous — for politicians to repudiate scientific principles that otherwise enjoy a strong consensus of professional support. Thus, leading figures cast doubt on the teachings of science related to climate change, childhood vaccination, hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and vaping. America is committed to public debate — robust, wide-open and uninhibited — and to the concept of a marketplace of ideas. However, these paradigms are under great stress in the age of the internet. It is far from clear how to minimize abuses in public discourse while adhering to the traditional principles that underlie the American constitutional guarantees of free speech and free press. Finally, the harsh response to the refugee crisis in the United States and abroad makes it fair to question whether the American legal system will adequately protect the civil rights of those who have, or may have, the coronavirus. The American legal system has an important role to play in fighting the coronavirus and future epidemics. It remains to be seen whether it will be up to the task. Vincent R. Johnson, J.D., is interim dean and Charles E. Cantú Distinguished Professor of Law at St. Mary's University.  |
| As Virus Rages, Chinese Fear Health Care Costs in Communist State - Foreign Policy Posted: 28 Jan 2020 01:26 PM PST As the Wuhan virus spreads, Chinese health care is under the microscope. On Jan. 22, the government declared that it would cover the costs of treatment for victims of the coronavirus. But that might not be enough by itself. In China, some 95 percent of the population has health care coverage, but the system looks more like a business than a platform to save lives. Unlike in democratic socialist or most communist states, where health care is free for all citizens, in China the health care system is mostly private and always pricey. That underlying reality is behind much of the failings of the system.  During Mao Zedong's communist era, health care, although defined only through basic services, was freely provided to everybody. That was the moment when "barefoot doctors" appeared. Even though they lacked medical studies, by undergoing apprenticeships and by practicing basic medicine, they aided farmers' health, increasing life expectancy, contributing to the eradication of diseases such as smallpox and polio by promoting vaccination, and reducing the incidence of schistosomiasis—a disease caused by a worm living in swamps and rivers. But once Deng Xiaoping came to power, China started its journey on the capitalist road, or, as China branded it, socialism with Chinese characteristics. This enabled an economic miracle in which hundreds of millions of people escaped poverty. Unfortunately, while profits boomed, access to health care suffered. Paradoxically, this didn't stop the average health of Chinese getting better—reflected, among other things, in ever increasing height. Getting richer will do that, especially in a country that lacked food security until the 1980s, as will improved sanitation. But getting sick in China is still a nightmarish experience. I first encountered the Chinese health care system during my first visit to China in 2016. Because of jet lag, I had problems sleeping, and I was looking for a doctor to give me a prescription for sleeping pills. Since my Chinese colleagues were aware of the impossible waiting times at Chinese doctors' doors, they recommended that I go to a private Japanese clinic. While it was more available, it was also too expensive to go to for a simple prescription—which would cost around $350. Modern China has a saying: kanbing nan, kanbing gui— difficult to see a doctor, expensive to see a doctor. Getting an appointment can take anywhere between minutes and months, depending on the doctor's skills, the illness, and the patient or their family's connections. The better the doctor, the longer the waiting period. That's why a new black market job appeared in China, that of the "yellow cows," the scalpers who make a business by reselling appointment tickets, sometimes even 10 times more expensive. The government has tried to fight that by ensuring that appointments can be made only through a mobile phone app. Bribes are also common, creating another out-of-pocket expense for Chinese patients. In 2015, the head of a Chinese hospital was investigated for receiving almost $18 million in bribes, including properties. Money is the name of the game, not only for individuals but also for institutions. Most hospitals in China are private or mostly self-funded. They work like businesses, not nonprofits. A friend of mine told me about the Russian roulette doctors played with her. After being hospitalized because she was feeling unwell, she ended each day being told of a new scary diagnosis like cancer or another terminal illness, thus each day bringing new screenings and tests. This friend ended up with a $15,000 bill (a huge amount for China) and without a clear diagnosis. Even in a capitalist country, this would be a shock. In a socialist country, it's beyond belief. We don't even have to compare China with the United States or Europe—all we need to do is take a look across the Taiwan Strait. For example, in a typical case in Taiwan, which introduced single-payer health care in 1995, one foreigner paid just $80 for a few days of hospitalization. In China, for suturing a wound and for a few blood tests, I paid $250 (half of the salary of a typical Chinese factory worker). There are three types of health insurance in China: Urban Employee Basic Medical Insurance, Urban Resident Basic Medical Insurance, and the government insurance offered in rural areas, the New Cooperative Medical Scheme. Many Chinese also have private insurance. But this very rarely covers everything. This is because, in China, almost one-third of health care expenses are paid out of pocket. Chinese patients pay almost 30 percent of health care expenses, the government funds only 30 percent, and insurance covers the remaining 40 percent. The out-of-pocket cost, incredibly, surpasses the sum in the United States: According to 2015 data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, it amounted to 32 percent of health care spending, almost three times as much as in the United States, where it represented only 11 percent. I learned this the hard way: going to the emergency room of a top Beijing hospital after an accident. The insurance company refunded me only the cost for the surgical procedure—which it said was the only emergency procedure, ignoring the adjacent medical investigations, which I had to pay for out of pocket. The poorer you are, the less chance there is you'll receive free medical care. Poor people from rural areas use health care insurance provided by the government, which has a limited coverage, so they must pay severely from their own pockets. 2015 data showed that 44 percent of poor families in China are impoverished by illness debts. So, if you are poor in China, you will become even poorer because of hospital bills. On top of that comes the hukou system of residence permits, which makes access to better services even more difficult, as James Palmer and Rui Zhong explain, because it's difficult to use your insurance away from the place you are registered in. Even if they had the money to pay for medical services, farmers wouldn't have access to good medical care because there is a scarcity of hospitals and doctors in rural areas. China has only an average of 4.2 hospital beds for 1,000 people, compared with Japan and South Korea, which have 13.1 and 12 beds per 1,000 people. The total number of general practitioners in China reached 300,000 in 2019, meaning that one general practitioner covers almost 4,700 people in China, while in developed nations the ratio is 1 to 1,500-2,000. And they are also getting older—due to the lack of personnel and a low average starting salary. Preventing a disease is always better than curing it, and this applies to government expenses, too. In China, the health care system is not focused on the patient but led by a capitalist Darwinism—those who have the money survive, while those who don't suffer or die. Rural patients regularly die or suffer serious problems due to a lack of money. But there is also some good news. The government has introduced an initiative called Healthy China 2030, whose goals include reducing out-of-pocket cost from almost 30 percent to 25 percent by 2030. Yet that marginal improvement isn't enough in a rapidly aging country. China needs an Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders—somebody willing to stand up for radical health care reform. As a communist country, free health care access should be a priority. At the moment, the U.K., Nordic countries such as Norway, Sweden, and Finland, and even many other Western states (including my country, Romania) do better at socialist health care than a supposedly communist state. Xi Jinping has made frequent ideological fodder of Marxist ideas. But the basic ideas of communism—fair and equal provision for all—seem sadly lacking, even as a self-proclaimed communist party still dominates politics. If the People's Republic actually wants to live up to its name, it needs to take better care of its people.  |
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