Sen. Ron Johnson Chairs Forum on COVID Treatments and Failures in US Pandemic Response
GOP Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin on Monday chaired a panel discussion with multiple doctors and medical experts to review the United States’ coronavirus policies and treatments.
One common theme that arose during the discussion on Capitol Hill was the failure to promote early, effective treatment protocols.
Among the panelists were Dr. Peter McCullough, a cardiologist from the Dallas area, and Dr. Robert Malone, who helped invent the mRNA technology used in both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
Johnson opened Monday’s meeting, entitled “COVID-19: A Second Opinion,” by noting that the U.S. ranks 22nd in the world in terms of COVID-19 mortality at 2,575 deaths per million cases. Statista shows the U.S. ranked 18th in the world.
“Until COVID, a fundamental principle of medicine was early detection allowed for early treatment, which produced better results,” Johnson said.
“Two years into the pandemic, the compassionless guideline from the [National Institutes of Health] if you test positive is to essentially do nothing. Go home. Isolate yourself in fear, and pray you don’t require hospitalization,” he added.
The senator observed that a sound practice when faced with a serious medical challenge is to seek out a second or even third opinion, which was the purpose of Monday’s forum.
Johnson’s opening statement begins at around the 40-minute mark in the video below.
McCullough opened the panel discussion, saying, “I think everyone in this room could understand there are only two bad outcomes with COVID-19: hospitalization and death.”
The physician is of the opinion that the vast majority of the 860,000 COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. could have been prevented with early treatment. He put the number at 85 percent when he appeared on Joe Rogan’s podcast in December.
“Early multi-drug therapy as an outpatient works substantially, and we’ve had a giant loss of life, a giant number, millions and millions of unnecessary hospitalizations,” he said at the time.
Dr. Ryan Cole, a pathologist from Idaho, recounted during Monday’s forum that his brother was one of the patients he treated. The middle-aged man was in a high-risk group due to having diabetes and being obese. His oxygen level had fallen to 86 percent, and he was planning to go to the emergency room.
“He said, ‘I have excruciating pain in my lungs.’ So I said, ‘You’re going to the pharmacy. Don’t go to the ER,’” Cole recalled telling him.
The doctor prescribed medications for him, and by the next day, the pain in his lungs had decreased significantly and his oxygen level was up to 98 percent.
Doctors talking about their success with early treatment for Covid.
Here’s Dr. Cole’s story regarding his brother. pic.twitter.com/H1sX2aui5i— Senator Ron Johnson (@SenRonJohnson) January 24, 2022
Dr. Richard Urso, an ophthalmologist practicing in the Houston area with a background in virus research, explained that he found himself drawn into treating COVID-19 patients simply because the need was there.
Urso pointed out that the COVID-19 infection is marked by three conditions, all of which are treatable: respiratory distress, blood clotting and inflammation.
He initially prescribed hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin, vitamin D, aspirin and steroids. “These are just strategies that don’t take a lot of thinking as a physician,” Urso said.
“I’ve treated over 1,600 patients because patients were languishing at home with no treatment for inflammation, with no treatment for respiratory distress, with no treatment for blood clotting. It was absolutely absurd, and I wasn’t going to let it happen,” he added.
Dr. Mary Bowden, an ear, nose and throat specialist also practicing in Houston, told the panel that she has successfully treated over 2,000 patients following the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance protocols.
These involve the use of ivermectin, povidone-iodine nasal spray, hydroxychloroquine, vitamins C and D, zinc, melatonin, curcumin (turmeric), the antibiotic azithromycin, fluvoxamine, the anti-viral Remdesivir, corticosteroids and monoclonal antibodies, among other treatments, depending on the severity and stage of the illness.
A historic day where leading experts in Covid gathered to express their concerns about the government’s mishandling of this health crisis. Honored to be included in the discussion. pic.twitter.com/oHZDuRWxVZ
— Mary Talley Bowden MD (@MdBreathe) January 24, 2022
Malone lamented that coronavirus policy has become politicized.
He argued that mandating vaccines no longer makes sense in light of the predominance of the omicron variant, which the vaccines were not designed to counter.
“They don’t prevent infection, viral replication or spread to others,” Malone said. In light of this fact, “if every man, woman and child were vaccinated with these products, they cannot achieve herd immunity,” he added.
“Furthermore, [the vaccines] are not completely safe, and the full nature of the risks remain uncharacterized. It usually takes us many years to fully understand the risks of vaccines and certainly new vaccine technologies. If there is risk, there must be choice.”
A version of this article originally appeared on Patriot Project.
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