The Covid Drug Wars that Pitted Doctor Against Doctor
- from The New York Times Magazine - August 8, 2020
- You can also listen to it (like a podcast) if you prefer to multi task.
- There's a Wisconsin tie-in with a doctor at UW-Madison, who later went to Aurora-Milwaukee
Every once in a while, I stumble across a podcast, article, or discussion that sticks with me, and haunts me enough to share it with you here on the WHSLA Blog in the hopes that it might generate some additional discussion. This is such an article.
I found out about this fascinating article by way of Daniel Griffin, MD, PhD, a NYC physician and instructor at The Columbia University Medical Center. He works in the trenches of The Covid Pandemic and gives a regular Covid-19 clinical update on the This Week in Virology (TWiV) Podcast. He talked about this article back on August 23, 2020.
Click arrow to play
- from August 23, 2020
- Listen to the first 40 min. (or so) for Griffin's talk. [Skip the first 5:30 min. of introductions.]
- They also have a Microbe tv version where you can watch the Zoom mtg, if you prefer.
I think it's helpful to hear Griffin's talk about it because he was seeing some of the same things in real life. As a Medical Librarian during Covid-19, I was distressed about the lack of best evidence and how people were making treatment decisions. It just goes to show that physicians are people, too. Human Beings. When confronted with so much human suffering, the emotional drive to do something/anything can override what might be best for the patient -- esp. when you don't really know what treatments work or not.
It's a fascinating look at what happened, and what went wrong.
I'd love to know what you think ...
