“Maybe the most important questions of all about the COVID-19 pandemic are: How lethal is the virus SARS-COV-2 [and COVID-19]? Whom does it kill? Are the death counts accurate – and, if not, are they overstated or understated?”1
One of the biggest obstacles in the concept of “evidence based medicine”, one of the biggest fads in modern medicine, is that sometimes the evidence is wrong. Consider that “scientific” papers were published in both Lancet and The New England Journal of Medicine that reported “data” that revealed an increased death rate in patients taking hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19. Shortly after publication, these prestigious journals each printed an “expression of concern” over the validity of the data reported in these papers. Both journals subsequently retracted the papers.2 These are 2 of the most sought after journals one would want to publish their medical research. Top of the line, in the world. Impeccable quality, peer review, guaranteed-to-get-you-noticed journals. So if they can be duped, what does that speak to the thousands of other journals publishing evidence out there?
Or that it means the experts don’t know what they are saying. Dr Marc Siegel, a Foxnews medical contributor made this statement,
“‘Now, I’m not sure yet that this is the case, but as viruses mutate over time, they want to get more used to the human host. They want to be able to spread more easily,’ Siegel said. ‘And if they kill the host, they can’t spread. So they tend to mutate in the direction of becoming milder. It looks like this may be happening here.'”3
Unfortunately, this leaves the reader thinking that there is an entity out there, coronavirus, making rational decisions, weighing odds, making plans and instituting plans based on best-case-outcome predictions. Sorry Dr. Siegel, it doesn’t work that way. Since there is no evidence for COVID-19, lets briefly look at influenza as an example.
It has been shown that 3.2-20 influenza RNA particles, approximately 1 micrometer in diameter (about 0.000039 inch), are exhaled per minute in an infected individual during normal breathing. Many more during coughing or heavy breathing. If an individual is infectious for 5-7 days, that’s a lot of minutes to be spewing influenza (10,080 minutes).4 Now multiply that by a bunch, the CDC estimates that between 9.3 and 45 million people were infected by influenza in the USA in the 2017-2018 season.5
The Law of Unintended Consequences was probably first voiced in 1936.6
But, if one considers it just a rewording of Murphy’s Law, which is possibly “as old as humanity” or as young as 1866.7
“A quarter of Americans are facing food insecurity amid the coronavirus pandemic.”8
“Coronavirus leaves behind a 42% plunge (decrease) in emergency department visits:”9
Some estimate that as many as 325,000 cancer patients have missed scheduled chemotherapy, 40% of stroke patients didn’t seek medical help for their symptoms and half of the children needing scheduled vaccines didn’t get them.10
From your grumpy Uncle Dave.
- Alex Berenson. Foxnews.com. (June 5, 2020) Retrieved June 5, 2020 from https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/unreported-truths-covid-19-lockdowns-alex-berenson
- Brian Flood. Foxnews.com. (June 5, 2020) Retrieved June 5, 2020 from https://www.foxnews.com/media/network-newscasts-skip-hydroxychloroquine-report-retractions
- Victor Garcia. Foxnews.com. (June 6, 2020) Retrieved June 6, 2020 from https://www.foxnews.com/media/dr-marc-siegel-on-faulty-hydroxychloroquine-data-this-is-a-political-hit-job
- Influenza Virus in Human Exhaled Breath: An Observational Study. Patricia Fabian et al. PlosOne.org, (July 16, 2008) Retrieved June 6, 2020 from https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0002691
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. ( April 17, 2020) Disease Burden of Influenza. Retrieved June 6, 2020 from https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/index.html
- Wisegeek contributors. (April 28, 2020) What is the law of unintended consequences? WiseGEEK.htm. Retrieved June 5, 2020 from https://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-law-of-unintended-consequences.htm
- Wikipedia contributors. (2020, June 5). Murphy’s law. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 18:53, June 5, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Murphy%27s_law&oldid=960876277
- Michael Bartiromo. Foxnews.com ( June 5, 2020) Retrieved June 5, 2020 from https://www.foxnews.com/food-drink/quarter-americans-food-insecurity-amid-coronavirus-pandemic-survey-suggests
- Kayla Rivas. Foxnews.com. (June 4, 2020) https://www.foxnews.com/health/coronavirus-pandemic-alters-use-of-emergency-departments-visits-fell-by-42-percent-report
- Victor Garcia. Foxnews.com. (May 24, 2020) Retrieved June 6, 2020 from https://www.foxnews.com/media/dr-atlas-on-coronavirus-lockdowns-the-policy-is-killing-people