Sunday, July 26, 2020

From the Publisher's Perch

Thu, Jul 23, 2020


For the past several years, Dr. Zack Bechtol has been my go-to doc in Grove, Oklahoma. We get along because we're both woven along the lines of direct if not offensive communication techniques. He tells me to lose weight, cut down on my scotch and to get that blood pressure in order, but there is never a doubt he's telling a patient what they need to know….And sometimes they don't want to know. As for my part of the relationship, I advise him what's wrong in the area of practice management.

Dr. Bechtol has authored the following guest editorial/opinion piece regarding the raging mask controversy for your consideration.

See Ya' Around the Pond!! 

Masks, A Time and a Place

 

Recently I got caught up in the entrenchment of sides regarding mask usage and I was frankly caught off guard by the staunch illogical positions on both ends of this debate. Since soon after the early stages of this impact on Grove and Grand Lake and the visceral effect it had on one of our own Nursing homes and 16 of its residents who died, I have been going on the KGVE noon show with Larry Hestand and discussing the medical facts of what's been happening here in Delaware County and how we are responding to it locally. Amazingly, and without a lot of mask wearing, the disease quickly dissipated and our numbers were almost non-existent despite extensive looking and testing for the disease.

By Mid-May you couldn’t find a sick patient, (and I looked closely). I stopped wearing a mask and stopped requiring my patients to wear a mask to be seen, after thorough screening and vetting for illness and travel. I also made comments on the radio that our county was having very low prevalence of any detectible disease and no one was getting sick. Everyone was hurting financially and scared as hell to even come to the doctor. I felt compelled to get out and lead by example. So I went and got my hair cut, went to the diner and had breakfast couple times a week, had my teeth cleaned all without a mask; and encouraged people to keep up their antennas but relax a bit. This began to change in late June.

Please try to understand what I am saying and the context from which my position comes from. I have very vulnerable patients that I see every day, I must protect myself and my business from Covid or I am shut down or someone at risk gets sick. I also work a 24hr ER shift in OKC a few times a month and when I am there I stay with my 80 year old parents. I cannot take unnecessary risks at all. So what is this? Am I just being reckless or cavalier? Not at all. But I am in a position to know what's going on more so than the lay public. I walk into ICU and medical floors everyday so I immediately know when the illness is here, and how to respond. Much more so than you. But we are working to change that and keep the public more informed of local disease numbers through an alert system.

Let me point this out; masks are most beneficial when a detectible disease is present. We went nearly 2 months with below single digit positive test per week, not per day- per week. And not a single person sick or even calling in sick. I personally sent text to every Dr on staff and in the county including IHS, Jay, and Kansas and asked. It just wasn’t here. Yet fearful people cling to this mask issue like we were somehow linked to NY and their risks. This scenario was not unique to Delaware County. In fact large areas of the country especially rural areas with low population densities, no public transportation, or high rise buildings requiring elevators had only marginal if any real evidence of covid-19 unless you traveled to a hot zone. Don’t ask or mandate these areas to wear a mask. It's wasting resources.


Thursday, July 16, 2020

Hoax, Conspiracy or Stupidity?


 

by Rusty Fleming

Since I’m in my mid-seventies, no one is more fed-up with this pandemic than I am. I survived a 13 month tour of duty in a combat zone and a bout with Lymphoma Cancer at the tender age of 40. The short story is I’m going to follow the lead of experts like Dr. Fauci, as opposed to self-appointed doctors like Trump, to avoid being a fatality of this maddening pandemic. 

Dr. Fauci was appointed Director of National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases in 1984. He oversees an extensive research portfolio of basic and applied research to prevent, diagnose, and treat established infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases, tuberculosis and malaria as well as emerging diseases such as Ebola and Zika. NIAID also supports research on transplantation and immune-related illnesses, including autoimmune disorders, asthma and allergies. The NIAID budget for fiscal year 2020 is an estimated $5.9 billion. Dr. Fauci has advised six Presidents on HIV/AIDS and many other domestic and global health issues. 

He was one of the principal architects of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a program that has saved millions of lives throughout the developing world. Lots of conspiracy theories of one kind or another floating around on the most unreliable source of factual information on the planet…Facebook. 

If you want to endorse your buddy’s opinion or political affiliation, Facebook is definitely go-to platform. It is probably one of the most significant contributing factors to our country’s absolute disastrous effort at combating the virus.

Yep, I sheltered in home for five week operating from this very laptop for our publication, Grand Times on Grand Lake. Unlike President Trump, I added a disposable facemask to my wardrobe some 90 days ago…not a few days ago. Bill Clinton rode the cliché of “It’s the Economy, Stupid! to win two presidential terms. 

The hoax and conspiracy theorist need to realize “It’s a deadly virus Stupid!” Reviewing the CDC guidelines might be a wiser investment of time than posing and posting questions on Facebook about whether we know anyone who has tested positive or died from the disease or discrediting experts like Dr. Fauci and our own Bruce Dart, the executive director of the Tulsa City/County Health Department. 

But just when I was about to render Facebook useless except for checking name spellings, I ran across the most meaningful post I’ve had the privilege of reading in a while. It was posted by my Facebook friend, avid golfer and Monkey Island full time resident Leta Ann Wells Carson as follows:

“This virus is Not a hoax. I don’t care if you are a Republican, Democrat or Independent because this is Not a political issue. If you have a son, daughter, nephew or niece in the medical field then you know it’s for real. My nephew (a Republican) has patients with Covid-19, Debbie Carter Royse’s daughter, Meghan, is a nurse and works with these patients, my son, Rodney, a Neuro Radiologist Doctor, works out of a hospital and all of these relatives of mine will tell you the virus is Not a Hoax!

If we don’t all start wearing masks in public then we will Never get this virus under control. 

Disagree with me and we are still friends but don’t tell me it’s your right not to wear one. How about the rights of the rest of us to Not to be exposed to your possibility of spreading a virus that can kill us???
 
I don’t like to talk politics on social media but to me this is Not politics...it is doing our part in getting this Virus out of here so we can return to normal. 

It’s summer....I can’t go to our awesome pool or out dancing because this virus is spreading like crazy. I can’t go see my mother for fear of killing her if I have the virus and don’t know it...It’s depressing. If we would all work together to get control of this virus, we could save so many lives. I so hate this Virus. We were so blessed before it hit and didn’t even realize it.”

Amen my friend….

See Ya’ Around the Pond!

Nine Foot Tall & Bullet Proof No More

  On Saturday morning, February 10 th , it was a quiet winter’s morning on Grays Hollow. As I headed down to the dock, not one person was st...