HJNO Nov/Dec 2024

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS I  NOV / DEC 2024 9 This September, the Louisiana State Capitol was reverberating with the intoxicated bravado, usually reserved for LSU armchair quarterbacks who never played a down, as the House Select Committee on Homeland Security took aim at the state and national public health response to COVID-19. Public health was attacked, its policies questioned and undermined by lawmakers who admittedly had little or no background in health, medicine, or science. There was seemingly little remembrance or understanding of what the industry, country, and state were experiencing, as policymakers were trying to keep the novel disease from spreading — hoping against hope their efforts would keep hospitals from being overwhelmed by dying patients, until a proven remedy could be found. Nowhere, in the two days of testimony of proclaimed COVID cures and trampled civil rights, was the mention that red states with low vaccine rates, who threw off the shackles of mask mandates and social distancing early, had citizens dying at a higher rate than those that did not, Louisiana being among the highest. What you heard instead were claims of cures, including those coming from Louisiana’s first surgeon general — claims this empirical evidence was systematically ignored, suppressed, and still not implemented to this day — unmentioned were some meds are in use for COVID, but most were proven to be ineffective by the FDA and/or CDC. You also heard calls for freedom, states’ rights, and common sense, because citizen’s rights were trampled by tyrannical and ineffective public health systems like Louisiana Department of Health (LDH). Jacques Thibodeaux, director of the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, started the first day of proceedings, saying FEMA is looking into possible fraud in the federally funded makeshift 1,300-bed hospital the agency set up at the Morial Convention Center to handle hospital overflow in New Orleans. The $100 million center was staffed at 500, and only a hundred of the beds were put to use, Thibodeaux said, while reminding the lawmakers he was not at the department at the time. This makeshift facility and money attached shows the mindset of both federal and state COVID responders at the time as New Orleans was hit hard and early by the pandemic following Mardi Gras. Was it needed? Thank goodness it wasn’t, at capacity. Were they preparing the city for a worst-case COVID scenario? Unarguably. The rest of day one at the capitol was dominated by anti-vax advocates, proponents for alternative cures, and unfortunate victims of vaccine injury. Listening to the first day, one wonders, if there was a real “silver bullet” to cure COVID as was claimed, and why some small, obscure startup pharmaceutical company hasn’t monopolized on it — saved the day and made a ton of money. One hears the same thing about cancer — it is curable, but there is just too much money in it not to cure it, as if the inventor of the cure wouldn’t come forward and be the most celebrated human in our lifetime. But that is a topic for a different disinformation piece. Day two introduced most Louisianians to the state’s new surgeon general, a position formerly held by the state health officer, but now elevated to co-leader of LDH. He, too, reminded lawmakers that he was not at the department at the time, but if he had been, he would have done “just about everything differently.” The surgeon general, as well as claiming he lost no COVID patients at his clinic because he drew upon his first and second year of medical school knowledge to treat the virus, ended the Q&A portion with the revelation that he will not be recommending COVID vaccines to his patients this fall, counter to CDC recommendations. We felt it important for the actual words of the surgeon general and his deputy to be transcribed for the Louisiana healthcare industry, as you and your patients will feel the resulting shockwaves of mistrust in public health institutions, and trust in LDH’s decisions dismantled from the state’s now, top doctors. 1 1 This transcript has been edited for readability while maintaining the integrity of the original speech. Roll calls, introductions, administrative comments, and most comments, not in a direct the form of a question or answer have been omitted for space. Some sentences have been streamlined where speakers re- peated or hesitated, as is common in the spoken word. The content and meaning of the original statements remain unchanged. The entire second day session can be viewed at: https://house.louisiana.gov/H_Video/VideoArchivePlayer?v=house/ 2024/sep/0926_24_HSCHLS, Day 1 can be viewed at: https://house. louisiana.gov/H_Video/VideoArchivePlayer?v=house/2024/sep/0925_24_HSCHLS