Thank You Health Care Providers!

On June 16, 1998, my family received devasting medical news. That was the day my father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. When we asked about treatment options, my father’s physician said in a cold tone (and I paraphrase), “There are no treatment options. This is fatal. He has about 3 months to live. Go home and make him as comfortable as possible.”

Needless to say, that was not the news we wanted to hear.

Immediately, my sister began researching pancreatic cancer looking for any information that we could use to keep our father alive. We scheduled an appointment with an oncologist to discuss chemotherapy. We found information about a man who had survived pancreatic cancer for several years by using an alternative treatment (mostly vitamins and laetrile, which still has not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration) that he received in Tijuana, Mexico. Within 3 weeks, my sister and I were on a plane with my parents headed to Tijuana.

We read stories about how the pharmaceutical industry had blocked studies on laetrile and thwarted Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval because “cancer is big business.” We were scared, and it was easy to buy into that narrative. My father was dying, and I wanted to believe that someone was responsible, while at the same time praying there was a cure. During that time, I was also consulting with my friends in the medical profession. They were sympathetic, but they cautioned me to critically appraise the science and evidence.

My father died on November 4 of that year, 4 months after his diagnosis. I don’t know if anything we did during those 4 months gave him an extra month, hastened his death, or eased his pain. What I do know is that my father received good, compassionate medical care in Tijuana at a fraction of the cost of chemotherapy in the U.S. Twenty plus years later, I believe that there is a combination of truth in all the information we received in those dark days in 1998.

While to this day, I think my father’s physician had an abysmal “bed side” manner, not once during that time did I ever think or consider that he, the FDA, or the medical profession was wanting my father to die or withholding treatment from him so that they could make more money.

This week, another conspiracy theory video surfaced. This latest video, entitled Plandemic, features Judy Mikovits. In the spirit of full disclosure, I haven’t seen the video; I don’t watch television much anymore, and I limit my intake of Facebook and Twitter. By the time I heard about the video, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube had removed it from their sites because of concerns that “it spreads harmful and misleading health information." Honestly, I’m not sure t how I feel about that because as someone who possesses an undergraduate degree in journalism, I’m still very protective of our First Amendment rights of “freedom of speech.” To be honest, I wish the video could be used to teach students how to critically review evidence; something I believe is missing in our current educational system.

I hadn’t heard of Mikovits before this week, so I before I formed an opinion, I spent some time searching credible news sites to find out more about her. What I learned is that in 2009 she was research director at the Whittemore Peterson Institute (WPI), a private research center in Reno, Nevada. That year, she co-authored a scientific paper that suggested a viral cause of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Other scientists questioned her findings; eventually none of her findings could be substantiated in replicated studies. (Note: I will not go into detail about how to judge the validity of scientific studies; I’ll leave that to the real experts. However, after 30+ years working with epidemiologists, I now know just enough about randomized controlled trials and scientific rigor to be able to differentiate between valid and non-valid science). In 2011, the Whittemore Peterson Institute filed a lawsuit against Mikovits for removing laboratory notebooks and proprietary information belonging to the Institute. She has not published anything in the scientific literature since 2012. In 2013, she conceded that there was no evidence to suggest the virus she had identified caused chronic fatigue syndrome.

Last week, my friend Linda, who lives in Michigan, sent me a link to an opinion piece written by Len Niehoff, a Professor from Practice at the University of Michigan Law School, entitled “Virus Reveals Why We Need a Class in Evidence.” The article appeared in the Detroit Free Press on May 6. Niehoff believes that numerous leaders and individuals have made terrible decisions about how to assess and respond to the threat posed by COVID-19, and that those errors reveal a fundamental flaw in our K-12 and collegiate education systems. He said we have failed to teach individuals how to critically assess credible evidence, and it has “imperiled our health, our economy, and our republic.”

In 2001, I was a member of the National Training Initiative, which was tasked with developing core competencies for injury and violence prevention professionals. I recall that my academic colleagues wanted to include a learning objective for the competency on evaluation that included the “ability to critically evaluate whether a study met the criteria for rigorous evaluation.” “That would be too hard for most practitioners,” I argued. My power of persuasion may have been too good, because that learning objective was not included. Now, I’m embarrassed that I ever uttered those words.

Niehoff said, “Without such training, we will continue to make decisions based not on what is true but on what we wish were true.” I fear this is the case.

The current situation around COVID-19 has revealed our societal failure to understand what evidence is and to respect how it works, Niehoff said. He pointed out that national and local political leaders have made decisions that ignored the evidence, and members of the general public have been slow to accept the evidence. Additionally, recommendations by public health experts to help “flatten the curve” have been met with protests, even though there is evidence that they are working.

Daily, I hear about protesters armed with guns defying stay at home guidelines to rally against what they perceive as “government overreach” and an attack on their freedom. I understand the fear and frustration. I really do. I don’t like this situation either, but I am fearful of this virus and what we don’t know about it. However, I may be more fearful for my safety from the people who are protesting. And, with good reason.

On May 4, a security guard at a Family Dollar store in Flint, Michigan was fatally injured when he was shot in the head after he told a customer to wear a face mask mandated by the state. Anyone who can justify those actions has lost my respect and any grace-filled conversation I could muster.

“We have become a nation of magical thinkers, making decisions based on what we hope is the case and whom we want to believe, said Niehoff. “When confronted with opposing evidence, we do not engage with it. We dismiss it and stick a label on it: “fake,” “phony,” “biased,” etc.” He said we make the mistake of labeling our opinions for evidence.

As I look back on previous blogs I’ve written, I have spoken endlessly about trying to engage in conversations with people with different viewpoints. I have focused on my own growth to be better at having a non-judgmental, learning mindset. It feels like I’m to the point of almost begging individuals to engage in a rational conversation, yet I continue to endure text messages and social media posts that do just the opposite. Several people on a text chain that I’m on have spouted the conspiracy theories I’ve heard reported from the Plandemic video. I truly want to believe that these good Christians don’t want more people to die from COVID-19 or that they want to do harm. However, their comments make me cringe. They are hurtful, offensive, and dangerous.

Tuesday, May 6 was National Nurses Day in the U.S. Like most people on the planet, I have interacted with a few health care providers with questionable motives. However, the vast majority of the ones that I know are honest, caring, and competent professionals.

To all of the nurses and health care professionals who are on the front lines putting your health and well-being on the line to care for patients every day, you have my endless gratitude.

“Don’t let the bastards get you down.”

Stay strong.