by Dr. <a href="https://twitter.com/DrJuliePonesse" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Julie Ponesse</a>, PhDIn March 1942, 33 year-old Anne Miller was near death at New Haven Hospital suffering from streptococcal septicemia (a serious blood infection). At one point, Anne’s temperature spiked to 106 degrees. Transfusions, sulfa drugs, surgery all failed. Her doctors desperately obtained and treated her with a tiny amount of what was then an unknown, experimental drug. Her temperature dropped sharply overnight and Miller made a full recovery. The drug was penicillin.One of the remarkable things about this story is that penicillin was able to save so many lives because the drug companies involved shared the method for making penicillin with one another to accelerate production. As George Merck (President of Merck Pharmaceuticals) said, “We try never to forget that medicine is for the people. It is not for the profits.”You might have expected a column on medical ethics to start with a more sensational example. The Tuskegee experiment, “Dolly” the sheep, abortion, or euthanasia. Real or imagined, these examples are important. But they are far removed from the moral challenges most of us face on a daily basis.The case of Anne Miller gets at one of the most fundamental questions in medical ethics: what is medicine for? In philosophy, we call this the teleological question (from the Greek, “telos,”&nbsp; for purpose or goal). What is the purpose of medicine? What is its goal? To help humans? To make a profit? Can it have more than one purpose or no purpose at all?If you are waiting for an answer, I am going to disappoint, partly because unpacking an answer will be the work of this column for the next year and partly because I want to give you the opportunity to think about it for yourself.Who am I? My resumé will tell you that I have a PhD in Ethics and Ancient Philosophy, and a Masters in Philosophy with Specialization in Bioethics. But my experience with resumés is that they often suggest too little, and sometimes too much, about the reality of a person.In some sense, it doesn’t matter who I am. If you have read this far, then something caused you to pause and devote your attention to the words I offer here. If what I write is compelling, if it gives you the moral language to think through some of the most pressing medical ethical issues of our day, then I will count that as no small victory.So with that said, I invite you to join me on a weekly journey exploring medical ethics.What you will find over the next 49 weeks is a story. A story not just of ethical problems and solutions, but of our humanity and how we have tried, sometimes more successfully than others, to control our bodies and the world around us.Medicine affects us all, and it has ethical dimensions because it is able to cause and prevent the greatest harms. For that reason, alone, it is not the distinct purview of specialists or “experts,” but the appropriate subject of deliberation and conversation for everyone in virtue of being human.So, as the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius said, “to begin is half the work.” He also said that the next step is to “Concentrate on what you have to do. Fix your eyes on it. Remind yourself that your task is to be a good human being; remind yourself what nature demands of people. Then do it, without hesitation, and speak the truth as you see it.”So I invite you, over the next year, to concentrate on what we have to do. Let’s fix our eyes on it. Hopefully, by the end of 2022, we will have a richer sense not only of the ethical dimensions of medicine, but of how we got here, who we are, and how we can do better in the future. For this is all anyone can ask of us.&nbsp;<figure class="image image-style-align-left image_resized" style="width:50%;"><img src="/uploads/Ponesse_818568c732.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.mychoicebook.ca/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Julie Ponesse</a> has a PhD in Philosophy (Western, 2008) with areas of specialization in ethics and ancient philosophy. She has a Masters from the Joint Centre for Bioethics at the University of Toronto and a Diploma in Ethics from the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University. She has published in the areas of ancient philosophy, ethical theory, and applied ethics, and has taught at universities in Canada and the US for 20 years.In the fall of 2021, Dr. Julie Ponesse saw her academic career of 20 years fall apart after she refused to comply with a Canadian university's COVID vaccine mandate. In response, Dr. Ponesse&nbsp;recorded a <a href="https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2F8uVHeZg9oz0&amp;data=04%7C01%7Csones%40aflds.org%7C48cbe2df191a4ded3b1d08d9dbb94ad5%7Cb86874a894e144f8891fcd4fa7ac80e6%7C1%7C0%7C637782411188500549%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&amp;sdata=F7D54q8SHenTyeoDnvU885pNFRasE8h%2BfZqlAQkCpqA%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">special video</a> directed to her first-year ethics students. That video went viral.&nbsp;Since the release of that video, Dr. Ponesse has joined <a href="https://www.thedemocracyfund.ca/julie_ponesse" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Democracy Fund</a> as Ethics Scholar focusing on educating the public on civil liberties. She is the author of <a href="https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mychoicebook.ca%2F&amp;data=04%7C01%7Csones%40aflds.org%7Cbefddd4ac6ef494c13f908d9dc0d1c89%7Cb86874a894e144f8891fcd4fa7ac80e6%7C1%7C0%7C637782771159206496%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&amp;sdata=LaVAIKcCU%2BaRPSyxsjroS4Y2vk1fuwZI%2BHgyY1pbdnk%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">My Choice: The Ethical Case Against COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates.</a>

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Join ethics scholar Dr Julie Ponesse weekly as she discusses ethical dimensions of medicine, how we got here, and how we can do better

Medical ethics column premier: 'To begin is half the work…'

Little firms protecting the little guyAn amendment to the New York State constitution that would have severely curtailed the rights of normal New Yorkers has been <a href="https://www.empirecenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/000778_2023_Marjorie_Byrnes_et_al_v_Marjorie_Byrnes_et_al_DECISION___ORDER_ON_81.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">taken off</a> the November 5, 2024 ballot, thanks to the concerted efforts of two attorneys from a small legal firm, Cox Lawyers PLCC.The amendment concerned is usually referred to as Proposition One or the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). As things stand, discrimination based on race, color, creed, and religion is already banned in New York State. The ERA would have added ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes and reproductive health care and autonomy (additions to the current constitution are in boldface in the extract below):<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/aflds/image/upload/v1715854344/ERA_4697ee5496.png"></figure>&nbsp;The only people without a protected category are “normals”While protecting people sounds like a noble intention, the ERA, if passed, would have in practice led to certain people in these categories being “protected” at the expense of others — &nbsp;who, in most cases, would be the majority of New Yorkers. For example:<ul><li>Protecting “gender identity and expression” would lead to an inability to bar men (that is, “transwomen”) from women's dormitories, sports, locker rooms and showers, public bathrooms, etc..</li><li>Banning “age-based discrimination” would potentially allow minors to take charge of their medical decisions and sideline their parents or guardians, barring them from intervening even in the event that they chose to undergo life-altering procedures.</li><li>Protecting “reproductive autonomy” would have the practical effect of enshrining in the constitution the right to have an abortion at any stage of pregnancy, right up to birth.</li></ul>This is why people such as Lee Zeldin, gubernatorial candidate for New York in 2022, have described Proposition 1 as an unprecedented threat to women's rights:<div class="raw-html-embed"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">In New York, there has been no greater threat to women's and girls’ rights in our lifetimes than Kathy Hochul and the Dems attempting to enshrine their far-left, woke agenda into the State Constitution through Proposition 1, which is on this November’s ballot. To defend your… <a href="https://t.co/NfUzFf7hBK">pic.twitter.com/NfUzFf7hBK</a>— Lee Zeldin (@leezeldin) <a href="https://twitter.com/leezeldin/status/1787622930593067394?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 6, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>&nbsp;Arrogance came before a fallGiven that New York is a solidly Democratic state, the ERA will almost certainly pass if it appears on the November ballot. Attorneys <a href="https://attorneycox.substack.com/p/victory-we-just-won-another-big-case?utm_source=substack&amp;amp%3Butm_medium=email" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bobbie Anne Cox</a> and Chris Browne attacked the proposed amendment on procedural grounds, as it was advanced in an unconstitutional manner.<ul class="todo-list"><li><label class="todo-list__label"><input type="checkbox" disabled="disabled">Senator George Borello excoriated politiicians for their arrogance in assuming that they could get away with cutting corners in pushing their agenda:</label></li></ul><blockquote>The Democrats that control state government think the rules don’t apply to them, which is why we repeatedly see them cut legal and ethical corners in order to achieve their political aims. While the Democrats will appeal, I urge the appellate judges who will make the next determination to be guided by the dictates of the state constitution and not politics. We all lose when the authority of our constitution is weakened, which is why I am optimistic this ruling will stand.</blockquote>&nbsp;Those who oppose woke ideology labeled ‘extremist’According to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-new-york-amendment-election-2024-4d3815708ef78c11599e1ebbb35ef896?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">media</a> accounts, Democrats had been “counting on the measure to help generate voter turnout." The Democrats have a $20 million <a href="https://www.cityandstateny.com/politics/2024/03/building-strategy-pass-equal-rights-amendment-new-york/395147/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">budget</a> to promote the ERA, and Attorney-General Letitia James has <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/new-yorks-abortion-rights-amendment-knocked-off-november-109994832" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">insisted</a> that her party will appeal the ruling;&nbsp;<blockquote>The Equal Rights Amendment was advanced to protect New Yorkers’ fundamental rights, including reproductive freedom and access to abortion care. This is a disappointing court decision, but we will appeal because New Yorkers deserve to be protected by their Constitution, especially as our basic freedoms and rights are under attack.</blockquote>Governor Kathy Hochul expressed similar sentiments, and also went as far as <a href="https://www.wxxinews.org/new-york-public-news-network/2024-05-07/ny-dems-confident-equal-rights-amendment-will-be-back-on-nov-ballot-after-ruling-strikes-it-down" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">calling</a> the judge who ruled in the case, Justice Daniel Doyle, an “extremist judge”:<blockquote>Our decades-long fight to protect equality and reproductive freedom will not be thrown off track by one extremist judge and I look forward to casting my ballot for the Equal Rights Amendment in November.</blockquote>

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Constitutional amendment curtailing freedoms for majority in favor of minorities off the ballot, for now

Small law firm takes on New York State and wins

By Alex NewmanThe dominoes are falling faster on Marxist “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” programs in higher education, with Massachusetts Institute of Technology recently becoming the first “elite” U.S. university to eliminate DEI considerations in its hiring. Analysts are referring to the decision as a turning point in the battle against “wokeness” in academia.In true Soviet style, MIT applicants were required to provide a statement bending the knee to DEI ideology. As part of that, they were forced to outline their supposed understanding of “challenges related to diversity, equity, and inclusion.” Polling cited by Fox News revealed that a “large majority” of students and faculty were scared to express their real views.As part of the hiring process, MIT also forced applicants to outline their “track record of working with diverse groups of people.” Finally, all faculty applicants at MIT were coerced into developing a plan for advancing DEI ideology in their role at the university. In short, publicly embrace the “woke” diversity ideology — or find another job.Critics have compared the coerced DEI statements as a tool for screening out independent thinkers, conservatives, Christians, and others from academia. It represents a forced humiliation ritual, too, with all faculty and sometimes even students being coerced to pledge allegiance to a dangerous ideology that they may secretly loathe.The decision to nix the requirements, embraced by MIT’s senior leadership, comes as more and more universities, donors, lawmakers, investors, and other influential figures find the courage to speak out against the draconian ideology. Multiple states including Florida have forced the issue, ordering state colleges and universities to dismantle the DEI apparatus.&nbsp;MIT President Dr. Sally Kornbluth offered a statement on why the decision was made. “My goals are to tap into the full scope of human talent, to bring the very best to MIT, and to make sure they thrive once here,” she said. “We can build an inclusive environment in many ways, but compelled statements impinge on freedom of expression, and they don’t work.”According to media reports, the decision to end forced DEI statements was made by Kornbluth in collaboration with all six academic deans, the MIT chancellor, and the MIT provost. It was not immediately clear whether the university would eliminate positions within the sprawling DEI ideological-enforcement bureaucracy.One major group opposing the use of DEI statements, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), explained the danger of DEI policies “compelling faculty to affirm contested views on matters of public debate or to embed specific ideological perspectives in their academic activities.”“This violates faculty members’ individual rights and thwarts values like intellectual freedom, epistemic humility, and open-mindedness that underlie a university’s mission to produce and disseminate knowledge,” the group said in a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thefire.org/research-learn/fire-statement-use-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-criteria-faculty-hiring-and">statement</a>. As such, it cautioned universities to be careful about running afoul of the law.“DEI statement policies can too easily function as ideological litmus tests that threaten employment or advancement opportunities for faculty who dissent from prevailing thought on DEI,” the group added, warning administrators that efforts to stifle free speech, compel speech, or undermine academic freedom may violate the First Amendment.Also urging colleges and universities to stop using DEI statements was the Academic Freedom Alliance in Princeton. “The rapid and widespread dissemination of such statements has proceeded with far too little attentiveness to obvious threats to academic freedom,” the organization warned in 2022, calling on institutions to “desist” in the scheme. &nbsp;“The demand for diversity statements enlists academics into a political movement, erasing the distinction between academic expertise and ideological conformity,”&nbsp;<a href="https://academicfreedom.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/AFA-DEI-Statement-081822.pdf">the statement</a>&nbsp;continued, warning that even leftists could be ensnared in the DEI regime. “It encourages cynicism and dishonesty.”More and more voices in higher education are finding the courage to dissent against DEI orthodoxy, too. “I am a scholar on the left committed to struggles for social justice,” Harvard Law Professor Randall Kennedy wrote in the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thecrimson.com/column/council-on-academic-freedom-at-harvard/article/2024/4/2/kennedy-abandon-dei-statements/">Harvard Crimson</a>. “The realities surrounding mandatory DEI statements, however, make me wince. The practice of demanding them ought to be abandoned, both at Harvard and beyond.”As The Newman Report&nbsp;<a href="https://www.freedomproject.com/2024/03/06/tnr20240306/">documented</a>&nbsp;in March, the University of Florida —&nbsp;<a href="https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/top-public">widely considered</a>&nbsp;one of America’s top public university — decided to eliminate its entire DEI bureaucracy under pressure from the state. All DEI apparatchiks had their positions ended including the “Chief Diversity Officer.”“DEI really is a cover for discrimination, exclusion and indoctrination,” explained Florida Board of Education Chairman Ben Gibson, echoing sentiments expressed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and other political leaders. “That has no place in our state colleges at all, and our state colleges need to be focused on learning.”<img class="image_resized" style="width:289px;" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.freedomproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/3364780_1225x377_2500.jpg?resize=696%2C214&amp;ssl=1" alt="">It is a good sign that more and more universities including Ivy League schools are rejecting the DEI madness. But the battle is far from over. And as the escalating lunacy infecting college students shows, DEI is more a symptom of the deadly disease than the root cause. Taxpayers, parents, donors, and lawmakers must all do more to restore sanity.<a href="https://libertysentinel.org/author/admin/">Alex Newman</a> is an award-winning international journalist, educator, author, and consultant who co-wrote the book “Crimes of the Educators: How Utopians Are Using Government Schools to Destroy America’s Children.” He writes for diverse publications in the United States and abroad.Published at <a href="https://www.freedomproject.com/2024/05/15/tnr20240515/">FreedomProject Media</a>.

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The dominoes are falling fast on Marxist “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” programs 

MIT Drops Forced DEI Statements: “They Don’t Work”

<h2>Will Tamiflu be the new Remdesivir?</h2><h3>&nbsp;</h3><h3>Failed drug repurposed as Covid-19 therapy</h3>Readers might remember that the FDA gave remdesivir emergency use authorization as a therapy for COVID-19. It was prioritized as the remedy of choice, even though the NIH <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/columns/opinion/horowitz-the-science-of-remdesivir-vs-ivermectin-a-tale-of-two-drugs">acknowledged</a> liver and renal (kidney) failure as adverse events and the NIH <a href="https://frontline.news/post/why-is-emergency-use-authorization-being-used-to-increase-big-pharmas-coffers-without-any-regard-for-patient-safety">failed</a> to determine its benefit for Ebola patients during trials since it killed more patients than Ebola.Despite the drug increasing the the risk of death by 3% and the chance of renal (kidney) failure by 20%, Dr. Paul Marik <a href="https://frontline.news/post/undue-and-unaccountable-influence-of-fact-checkers-on-medical-science-and-freedom-of-speech#fn:19">testified</a> before Senator Ron Johnson’s panel that hospitals were incentivized to prescribe it giving “a 20% bonus on the entire hospital bill for Medicare patients who were prescribed remdesivir.”<h3>Adverse events mistaken as disease symptoms&nbsp;</h3>Worse yet is that adverse events associated with remdesivir had been mistaken for features of COIVID-19, as Dr. Bryan Ardis <a href="https://frontline.news/post/why-is-emergency-use-authorization-being-used-to-increase-big-pharmas-coffers-without-any-regard-for-patient-safety">told</a> Attorney Reiner Fuellmich, who had been investigating human rights violations related to the Covid-19 pandemic:&nbsp;<blockquote>"Gilead’s “cohort study” conducted for “compassionate use” on patients with COVID-19 was only 28 days long. It reported that of 61 patients treated with the drug, eight were excluded for missing information, 32 (60%) of 53 remaining patients reported adverse events including increased liver enzymes, diarrhea, rash, and kidney function impairment. Twelve patients (23%) had “serious” adverse events including multiple-organ-dysfunction syndrome, septic shock, acute kidney injury, and hypotension (low blood pressure).…Each of these symptoms – multi-organ failure, septic shock, acute kidney injury and hypotension – are described in medical literature as features of COVID-19 itself. (Emphasis added.)</blockquote><h2>Next pandemic in the works</h2>The FDA has started warning about a potential bird flu pandemic, despite listing it as a low probability, as Frontline News has <a href="https://frontline.news/post/not-to-worry-we-know-how-to-prevent-and-treat-bird-flu-dr-zelenko-s-brother" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reported</a>:<blockquote>FDA is sounding an alarm about the potential for such a pandemic, for which it is “drawing up plans to roll out tests, antiviral drugs and vaccines in the event the [bird flu] virus jumps to humans,” as reported by The Gateway Pundit. Even though FDA head Robert Califf says that the probability of this happening is low, they are taking these measures with the rationale that it's best to be prepared for a scenario where the virus jumps to humans.&nbsp;</blockquote>Dr. Peter McCullough, on the Chief Medical Board of The Wellness Company, said the board voted to add Tamiflu to its “Contagion Kit” in the event that bird flu pandemic materializes, as WLT Report <a href="https://wltreport.com/2024/04/19/chief-medical-board-wellness-company-adds-tamiflu-contagion/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reported</a>:<blockquote>“Out of an abundance of caution, we are adding Tamiflu to the Contagion Kit. Tamiflu is a safe medication approved treat Influenza type A, viruses like avian flu. We will continue to closely monitor this situation and make further recommendations as warranted.”</blockquote>The Wellness Company also sells Dr. Zelenko's Z-Stack, which Dr. Zelenko <a href="https://frontline.news/post/not-to-worry-we-know-how-to-prevent-and-treat-bird-flu-dr-zelenko-s-brother" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">recommended</a> for multiple viruses and will help inhibit bird flu.Dr. Jane Ruby criticized Dr. McCullough for recommending Tamiflu, a pharmaceutical drug with a black box warning for neuropsychiatric side effects, for a non-existent disease.<div class="raw-html-embed"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Wow! Peter McCullough is hyping a disease that does not exist, to drive you to buy a pharmaceutical product, TAMIFLU antiviral, that has an FDA black box warning for serious neuropsychiatric side effects. "You will know them by their fruits" <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeTalkShow?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JoeTalkShow</a> <a href="https://t.co/NmMUkBmCxW">pic.twitter.com/NmMUkBmCxW</a>— DR JANE RUBY (@RealDrJaneRuby) <a href="https://twitter.com/RealDrJaneRuby/status/1788185679714759133?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 8, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><h3>&nbsp;</h3><h2>Is Tamiflu a good choice? &nbsp;</h2>The government generally <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2022/12/21/hhs-increases-access-to-tamiflu-through-the-strategic-national-stockpile.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">stockpiles</a> Tamiflu for release in the event of a flu epidemic as it did in 2022. Many people may also try to get as much of it as they can get their hands on, in anticipation of the currently improbable event. Yet, Tamiflu does not have such a good track record. &nbsp;<h3>No real benefits, serious rates of adverse events</h3><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/apr/10/tamiflu-saga-drug-trials-big-pharma" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">According</a> to an April 2014 article about Tamiflu, published by The Guardian, the drug’s manufacturer, Roche, had withheld critical trial information. The independent Cochrane Collaboration's initial positive reports on the drug were, therefore, found to be based on incomplete data. After the mistake was recognized in 2008, it took Dr. Thomas Jefferson, the lead reviewer, six years to get the full information and perform a new review with complete data.After “ceaseless questions from Cochrane and the British Medical Journal, after half a decade, Roche finally gave Cochrane the information it needed,” which author Dr. Ben Goldacre summed up in his article. The Cochrane report showed that not only was there little, if any, benefit from Tamiflu, but the “mild” adverse effects are actually quite significant, all of which he detailed:&nbsp;<ul style="list-style-type:disc;"><li>It does not reduce the number of hospitalizations</li><li>There isn’t enough data to know if it reduces death</li><li>It reduces self-reported undiagnosed pneumonia, but there is no significant benefit according to detailed diagnostic forms for pneumonia.</li><li>It might help prevent flu symptoms, but not asymptomatic spread&nbsp;</li><li>It may take a few hours off the duration of flu symptoms</li></ul>Dr. Goldacre put numbers to the adverse events percentages demonstrating what would happen if a million people took Tamiflu in a pandemic:<ul style="list-style-type:disc;"><li>45,000 will experience vomiting,&nbsp;</li><li>31,000 will experience headache and&nbsp;</li><li>11,000 will have psychiatric side-effects.&nbsp;</li></ul>These numbers, he warns, are only for 1 million people.&nbsp;<blockquote>Remember, though, that those figures all assume we are only giving Tamiflu to a million people: if things kick off, we have stockpiled enough for 80% of the population. That's quite a lot of vomit.</blockquote><h3>Tamiflu saga reverberations</h3>Pandemic fear and scientific misconduct&nbsp;In 2015, the Indian Journal of Pharmacology reviewed the Tamiflu saga to learn how to avoid a similar situation in the future. Problems they found included pandemic panic, propaganda, and scientific misconduct.<blockquote>A cocktail of pandemic panic, publicity propaganda, and scientific misconduct turned a new medicine with only modest efficacy into a blockbuster. It appears that the multiple regulatory checks and balances gave way as science lost its primacy and pharmaceutical enterprise lost no time in making the most of it. This reminds one of Prof R. P. Feynman's statements after Challenger space shuttle disaster. (Emphasis added.)</blockquote><blockquote>“Reality must take precedence over public relations as nature can’t be fooled”</blockquote>Tamiflu saga should have prevented remdesivir catastropheBMJ <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/371/bmj.m4701" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">published</a> an editorial, in 2022, criticizing the use of remdesivir and lamenting “the lost lessons of Tamiflu.” Editor-in-chief Fiona Godlee pointed out that Tamiflu's and Remdesivir's stories share many common features, including both having failed in previous settings and being hyped on poor research:<blockquote>. . . How one such treatment reached its costly prominence, despite the already available evidence of its inadequacies, stands as a cautionary tale. It also shows how little or how slowly we learn. The remdesivir story shares many common features with the saga of Tamiflu (oseltamivir), the drug that cost the world billions of dollars during the 2009 swine flu pandemic. Both drugs had failed in earlier settings. At the start of the pandemics both were hyped on limited, poor quality research, mainly funded by drug companies. Both were bought in large amounts by governments without data to back up their purchase. Both have harms that have been inadequately researched and reported. (Emphasis added.)</blockquote>Problems with remdesivir were also covered in <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/very-very-bad-look-remdesivir-first-fda-approved-covid-19-drug" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The ‘very, very bad look' of remdesivir, the first FDA-approved COVID-19 drug</a>: The Food and Drug Administration held no advisory meeting on antiviral, and the European Union signed contract without knowing of failed trial.It may seem incredible, yet despite the Tamiflu saga and remdesivir catastrophe, Tamiflu is still being considered a safe and effective antiviral to combat the bird flu, not just by Dr McCullough, but by the FDA as well, as Frontline News <a href="https://frontline.news/post/not-to-worry-we-know-how-to-prevent-and-treat-bird-flu-dr-zelenko-s-brother" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reported</a>.<h2>Can it happen again?</h2><h3>Tamiflu pandemic? Tamiflu adverse effects mimic bird flu symptoms</h3>Is it possible to create a bird flu pandemic by mistaking Tamiflu adverse events for bird flu, as occurred when Remdesivir adverse effects were written up as features of COVID-19? Like Tamiflu's adverse events, bird flu symptoms include nausea and vomiting.[fn]<a href="https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/22401-bird-flu">Symptoms</a> of bird flu per the Cleveland Clinic - fever, fatigue, cough, muscle aches. sore throat. nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stuffy or runny nose. shortness of breath (dyspnea), and pink eye (conjunctivitis).[/fn]&nbsp;The US population <a href="https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/us-population/">today</a> is 341,586,555. During the COVID-19 “pandemic” 80% of the population got at least one mRNA shot. 80% of the population today is 273,269,244. While many more people might question a new bird flu vaccine, Tamiflu is a drug most people have heard of and still believe to be safe — like Dr. McCullough, apparently.&nbsp;<h3>Bye-bye freedom</h3>Tamiflu isn't as dangerous as Remdesivir, which is perhaps why even normally cautious physicians are willing to promote it, “to be on the safe side.” However, the real danger lies not in the mass administration of Tamiflu, but in the potential consequences. In the event of hundreds of thousands of people being stricken with debilitating, if non-life-threatening, adverse events that are mistaken for bird flu, mass hysteria could erupt, providing certain vested interests with the perfect opportunity to rush through emergency use authorization for an all-new, untested “wonder drug” to cure "bird flu," not to mention lockdown restrictions so restrictive we may long for the COVID era. &nbsp;Related articles:<ul><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/not-to-worry-we-know-how-to-prevent-and-treat-bird-flu-dr-zelenko-s-brother" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Not to worry! We know how to prevent and treat bird flu - Dr. Zelenko's brother</a></li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/cheap-drugs-cheap-nutrients-treat-disease-say-fauci-baric-fda#fnref:8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Cheap drugs, cheap nutrients treat disease say Fauci, Baric, FDA</a></li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/why-is-emergency-use-authorization-being-used-to-increase-big-pharmas-coffers-without-any-regard-for-patient-safety" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Why is Emergency Use Authorization being used to increase big pharma coffers with no regard for patient safety?</a></li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/zelenko-on-next-pandemic-zinc-ionophores-and-zinc-inhibit-all-covid-influenza-rsv-ebola-marburg-hantavirus-strains">Zelenko on next pandemic: Zinc ionophores and zinc inhibit all COVID, influenza, RSV, Ebola, Marburg, hantavirus strains</a></li><li><a href="https://frontline.news/post/flashback-60-minutes-mike-wallace-exposes-1976-swine-flu-pandemic-vaccine-injuries">Flashback: 60 Minutes - Mike Wallace exposes 1976 Swine Flu Pandemic vaccine injuries</a>&nbsp;</li></ul>

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Possible COVID-19 remake? Remdesivir adverse events were identified as COVID-19 features

Will our next pandemic be a Tamiflu pandemic? Tamiflu's adverse events mimic bird flu

A bill that has been described as “the worst children's health bill ever” has been <a href="https://teachersforchoice.substack.com/p/success-minor-consent-bill-in-albany" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">stricken</a> in Albany, after the Senator who sponsored it, Rachel May, moved to withdraw it from the Senate docket.The bill would have granted children the right to make medical decisions for themselves, without parental involvement, as long as they appeared to comprehend what was involved.&nbsp;Intentionally misleading?The one-line description of Senate Bill S8352 that appears on the <a href="https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2023/S8352" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">NY Senate website</a> states that it:<blockquote>Allows certain minors to consent to certain medical, dental, health, and hospital services.</blockquote>However, there is no evidence in the text of the bill itself that ability to give consent will be confined only to “certain” minors, although many lawmakers poised to vote on the law had allegedly gained the impression that it would only apply to “homeless” children.&nbsp;In an undefined state of emergency, anything goesClicking on the link on the Senate's website to access the entire bill currently leads nowhere, now that the bill has been stricken, but the full text still exists in the internet <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20240426230259/https://legislation.nysenate.gov/pdf/bills/2023/S8352" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">archive</a>.The bill includes a provision that, in a state of “emergency,” parents may be totally sidelined when it comes to treating their children:<blockquote>Medical, dental, health, and hospital services may be rendered to persons of any age without the consent of a parent, legal guardian or person possessing a lawful order of custody when, in the practitioner's judgment, an emergency exists and the person is in immediate need of medical attention and an attempt to secure consent would result in delay of treatment which would increase the risk to the person's life or health.</blockquote>Nowhere in the bill is an emergency defined. Nor does the bill specify how much of an increased risk will be needed to justify “emergency” treatment.&nbsp;Can minors truly give informed consent?The bill would also seek to place a child in control of his or her health treatment, regardless of any state of emergency:<blockquote>Any person, including a minor, who comprehends the need for, the nature of, and the reasonably foreseeable risks and benefits involved in any contemplated medical, dental, health, and/or hospital services, and any alternatives thereto, may give effective consent to such services for themself, and the consent of no other person shall be necessary.</blockquote>The bill does not describe any mechanism for determining the level of comprehension of the child concerned.&nbsp;Brought to you by the Letter P(fizer)It appears that a large and well-organized public campaign was effective in exerting pressure on New York lawmakers, and many are now celebrating the decision of Senator May to withdraw the bill. However, it seems likely that the bill will resurface next January with different wording.Meanwhile, children continue to be bombarded by messaging that promotes medical interventions such as COVID shots, in the media, in schools, and elsewhere.<div class="raw-html-embed"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">It's okay to have questions about COVID-19 vaccines for children! Elmo's dad Louie talked to their pediatrician, and learned that Elmo getting vaccinated is the best way to keep him and his whole neighborhood safe and healthy! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CaringForEachOther?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CaringForEachOther</a> <a href="https://t.co/aWkCfysJPE">pic.twitter.com/aWkCfysJPE</a>— Sesame Street (@sesamestreet) <a href="https://twitter.com/sesamestreet/status/1541775926014492672?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 28, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>&nbsp;Teachers tempted to abuse their positionsSo far, efforts to pass legislation to require students in NY schools to receive COVID shots have failed. Many shots are mandated, but not all those that the CDC recommends.At times, pressure on children comes from teachers, especially if they fear that their students will infect them with a dangerous virus. The motives of a New York teacher (with no medical credentials) who administered a COVID shot to a student herself are unclear, but the case illustrated the potential for teachers to abuse their position in the area of health; Laura Parker Russo <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/laura-parker-russo-plea-deal-unauthorized-covid-vaccine-injection-long-island/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">pled guilty</a> to a misdemeanor in a plea bargain and ended up avoiding prison time, despite giving her 17-year-old student a J&amp;J shot without his parents' consent.&nbsp;They want to bring up your childrenIn her State of the State <a href="https://www.amityvillerecord.com/articles/special-report-schools-speak-out-against-states-potential-covid-vaccine-mandate/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Address </a>in January this year, Governor Hochul insisted that,<blockquote>The Legislature makes the determination in consultation with health experts … We're not talking about mandating the COVID vaccine in schools at this time.</blockquote>However, in his speech at a freedom rally in Albany on May 7, 2024, Dr. James Lyons-Weiler of the Institute for Pure and Applied Knowledge insisted that,<blockquote>Their goal is that parents do not have a say over the biological realities of their children.</blockquote>

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