HCQ controversy: who’s lying?

By Modesto P. Sa-onoy

        The most scathing accusation I have read so far against the perpetrators of the ban on the use of hydroxychloroquine is Dr. Joel S. Hirschhorn’s article in The Catholic World Report (September 29). He accuses Dr. Anthony Fauci of “causing untold deaths due to suppression of HCQ” and spreading “his pandemic of lies about HCQ.” Hirschhorn knows whereof he speaks – check out his credentials.

Using a grand jury approach in presenting his case against Fauci, Hirschhorn quoted “revealing evidence” that shows Fauci had “deliberately ignored massive amounts of data showing that “hydroxychloroquine is a safe, cheap and effective remedy for COVID-19. By ignoring his ethical responsibility as a physician to first do no harm, his behavior continues to cause preventable pain, suffering and death. Evidence also vindicates what President Trump said and did early on to inform Americans about the benefits of hydroxychloroquine.”

        What is his case against Fauci?

Hirschhorn claims there are “mounting COVID-19 cases and deaths” resulting from “limitations on physicians using a safe, effective and low-cost treatment medicine. This, despite many studies and data from other countries showing that HCQ really works to lower death rates and keep affected people from needing hospitalizations and expensive care.”

He speaks from an American landscape but his assertion is also applicable in the Philippines where the disciples of Fauci, like Edsel Salvana and Francisco Duque rule the government medical response to the pandemic. In that sense, Fauci is just as culpable for the deaths and sufferings in the Philippines as in the US.

“Missing from discussions of hydroxychloroquine use,” Hirschhorn continues,itch “is explicit acknowledgment that Anthony Fauci has used his considerable power and influence to block use of the drug and prevent physicians from using their best judgment. The media have failed to connect two death-causing actions: 1. Some state governors forcing nursing homes to accept virus-infected elderly people; and 2. Government preventing wide and early use of HCQ.

“Nearly everyone seems afraid to openly condemn Fauci’s behavior and demand a reversal of his position on HCQ, which would also impact CDC and FDA.”

Doesn’t this sound like the fate of Filipino doctors who urged the lifting of restrictions on HCQ only to be threatened with an investigation to create an atmosphere of fear? Dr. Edsel Salvana in fact echoed the government in lambasting the doctors whose only fault was to allow them to save their patients.

Hirschhorn accused Fauci of making “himself the king of virus medicine through constant media appearances far beyond what is normal for a medical researcher. He is part of a research organization, not a public health or drug approval agency. As much a tyrant as a virus expert, Fauci has stubbornly refused to admit his mistake.”

Hirschhorn did not say it though he charged Fauci’s links with a research organization. I cited earlier Fauci’s association with Bill Gates Moderna that is engaged in research to find a vaccine against the virus. That is clear conflict of interest.

The same here in the Philippines with Secretary Francisco Duque and his subaltern, Dr. Salvana who is allied with the World Health Organization funded Global Fund. Both Duque and Salvana insist they are right even in the face of actual experiences and works of many others that prove them wrong.

Hirschhorn proposed that “we need public outrage against a leftist, media collusion that allows one man (Fauci) to block a lifesaving medicine.” Filipino doctors tried and got clobbered by the government. Sadly, the climate of fear has prevented Filipinos from rising in outrage against the chain that shackles them and their doctors.

Hirschhorn cited the case of an Australian government official who recently condemned the ban on using HCQ saying, “Health bureaucrats have violated the very first principle of the Hippocratic Oath which is to ‘do no harm.’ They must lift their bans. Otherwise, they are engaged in crimes against humanity, and they should be taken to the criminal court in The Hague.”

I was not alone in classifying the Salvana camp’s refusal to allow a treatment as large scale violation of human rights as a crime against humanity. That may be too much but hundreds of lives were lost.

Moreover, why are the leftist in the Philippines silent when human rights are involved?

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Let’s answer that tomorrow.