| Time | Text |
|---|---|
|
Baffled By Politicization
00:05:53
|
|
| I'm totally baffled. | |
| At the end of the day, we're supposed to be scientists, and I've never had conversations like I'm having in my entire career. | |
| What's very upsetting is people don't realize that they've been politicized. | |
| So I've talked to some friends who are more on the left, and I get that they can't see their politics. | |
| But I've talked to a lot of people who I think aren't particularly political at all, but they've been so heavily influenced by the media that they'll say things to me like it's not safe. | |
| Show me the evidence that it's not safe. | |
| It's a straw man to say that it's not safe. | |
| It's not a real argument. | |
| So as soon as somebody says to me it's not safe, I know that our conversation is over. | |
| They don't understand. | |
| Well, if it's not safe, have they been baffled by your hospital's turnaround? | |
| Right. | |
| So, no. | |
| I think I find the amnesia very upsetting. | |
| The amnesia. | |
| What a great term. | |
| It's very upsetting. | |
| There's so many things about this situation that are so disturbing. | |
| I think it bothers me more because of my law background as well, because I see the threat is legal and the threat is not really medical at this point. | |
| That's not to minimize anyone's suffering, of course. | |
| But we need to look at the facts. | |
| We need to make decisions for society based on the facts. | |
| So have you seen people... | |
| Now, not outpatient, inpatient. | |
| The COVID-19 was serious enough for them to be hospitalized. | |
| In the last two weeks, are you familiar with any of those patients being given hydroxychloroquine? | |
| Yes. | |
| No, absolutely. | |
| I think it's really standard. | |
| And what have the results been? | |
| I wouldn't be in a position to say. | |
| I really think you have to wait for the data. | |
| But of the data that's available... | |
| Now, all of it is either beneficial or can't say. | |
| Would you recommend it as a prophylactic? | |
| That's a really tough question. | |
| I'm so glad you asked that. | |
| For people to understand how political this issue has become, I absolutely would recommend it. | |
| But I can see also holding off to wait to see if you've got any exposure. | |
| And I want to point out to your listeners that we don't recommend it prophylactically for healthcare workers. | |
| I think it's a good question. | |
| But the country of India does recommend it. | |
| It's a national policy that healthcare workers should take it. | |
| So I want your listeners to understand that there's a big debate out there. | |
| You're just not hearing about it in America. | |
| Well, they're hearing about it on this show. | |
| Exactly. | |
| I will tell you that. | |
| They're not hearing about it on CNN or the New York Times, which continues to write articles against hydroxychloroquine. | |
| This is truly corruption, moral corruption, because the science has taken a back seat to hatred of the president. | |
| Right, but I'm most disturbed about the people who don't understand that they've been politicized. | |
| So when people are talking about the heart problems with the hydroxychloroquine, I want your listeners to be the first people, you know, lay people to understand. | |
| They're going to start hearing about some cases, right? | |
| Only because tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people are now going to be prescribed this drug, maybe more than, maybe even a million. | |
| You know, our president ordered 29 million dosages. | |
| So, of course, a couple of people here and there will have some side effects just based on the numbers. | |
| And I believe that the media will spin that and say, this person died from this. | |
| But obviously, you have to look at the numerator and the denominator. | |
| Are you alone in your thinking in your hospital among your colleagues? | |
| Okay, so this is a good story. | |
| I'm not alone. | |
| I'm not alone. | |
| I would say I'm in the minority. | |
| I don't know what it would be like in a different part of the country. | |
| But I will tell you that two doctors have come to me to get the COVID test. | |
| Both of them said they would absolutely take it. | |
| They were upset the test was negative because they wanted to start the medicine. | |
| They both had the medicine, and they both wanted to start the medicine. | |
| So, you know, I think what people say publicly and maybe what they do privately might be different. | |
| Yeah. | |
| Will they know that you were on this show? | |
| So I'm not sure. | |
| Probably someone will say, but I'm not discussing. | |
| I think my hospital is actually a very good hospital. | |
| I think their response has been really, they've stood up. | |
| I don't think they're doing any different than other mainstream hospitals in terms of the hydroxychloroquine. | |
| I think they're in the middle of the pack. | |
| I really don't have anything against my hospital. | |
| They've been very good with the PPE, and they've been treated the nurses very well. | |
| So I've got no complaints. | |
| My concern is that people have become politicized. | |
| And that's okay, but I don't think patients understand this. | |
| You know, you read the headlines, and it's not at all being reported in a balanced way. | |
| That's right. | |
| You know, for example, they're speculating that Trump would make money with hydroxychloroquine. | |
| I know, I know. | |
| It's mind-blowing. | |
| Yes. | |
| I'm curious, if you were the advisor to Governor Newsom, what would you say he should do as of May 1st? | |
| I think the economy closing was a mistake. | |
| I think the economy absolutely should be opened. | |
| And I use as supporting data for that, that I think around, it seems to me about 50% of our businesses are open. | |
| When you look at the mail and UPS and supermarkets and pharmacies, you know, a lot of businesses are open. | |
|
Adapting to Reality
00:00:44
|
|
| We've also had a period of time in America where we've adapted our social behaviors a bit to understand this. | |
| So I don't know why you couldn't take that into a work environment. | |
| You know, I go to work every day. | |
| The nurses go to work every day. | |
| So we could adapt, and the harm is very real. | |
| As you've talked about, if people are out of work, it leads to all kinds of health and personal issues. | |
| Would you go to a restaurant if one were open? | |
| So I would. | |
| I don't know what he's going to do about restaurants. | |
| I'm very surprised this has become as big a political economic problem as it has, because this is a disease that really kills sick patients. | |