Thursday, March 28th, 2024 Church Directory

Letters To The Editor

TO THE EDITOR:

Whites need not even request covid therapeutics in several states.  These limitations come from local, state, and federal government.  Food and Drug Administration guidance (December 2021 ) limits authorization of sotrovimab (monoclonal antibody effective against omicron) to “high risk” patients.  The FDA added “race and ethnicity” to the priorities (elderly, obesity, pregnancy, diabetes, chronic heart or lung disease, etc.) in allocating covid treatments. In New York City, treatments are to advance racial equity and social justice.  New York state’s department of health lists racial ethnicity as a risk factor for treating covid.  That governor declared racism a public health crisis.  In Utah, patients add 2 points for skin color to their risk analysis.  In Minnesota, race and ethnicity ALONE may determine who gains access to life-saving treatments.  A Staten Island doctor had to identify the race of his patients when he called a prescription to the pharmacy.  Triage should not be determined by the melatonin in the skin.  Risks also come from social and lifestyle choices.  These political practices in health care are criminal and unconstitutional, but the current federal administration is implementing these divisive policies to detract from their shortcomings.  Do we follow the Hippocratic Oath or political hypocrites?   

Dr. Phyllis E. VanBuren

Clearwater, MN