Former frontline physician in BC, Canada. Threats and intimidation forced me to leave. Social justice and advocacy arenโt just my pastimes. I Primum Non Nocere
There is a need for an independent investigation into
@VanIslandHealth
practices. They have zero authority in disciplining MDs -- that's the role of the
@cpsbc_ca
. They are making a healthcare crisis worse, esp. rurally. Many have left and more will leave
@adriandix
@bcpoli
Public health failure, combined with an incredible level of social idiocy and lack of common sense landed us in this absolute mess and dystopian society. 4/
A voucher as a thank you was a nice touch
@AirCanada
but my biggest hope right now is that you donโt make me get covid on one of your flightsโฆ. AGAIN 5/5
During the flight with
@AirCanada
of course we get the announcement is there a doctor on board.
High fever, sore throat, pulse scaring lโy high, BP ok, very lethargic. No past medical history and no other symptoms than flu-like symptoms x48h. 1/
And yet we are the โweirdo familyโ with our masks onโ.
Nervous laughs. But no oneโs masking and no one thinks about slapping a mask on that very sick patient until I suggested it. 3/
Yet, still boarded a plane, and, most importantly, maskless.
I said: โthe fact that the only physician on board (and his family) is masked on this flight, with a patient here moderately ill with most likely covid, should all tell you somethingโ 2/
CO2 monitor consistenly 1800+ during flight.
Moral of the story, in case you need it spelled out, donโt be an idiot too, and
#MaskUp
, especially on a plane and especially if not feeling well!!!
๐ค
I was talking to a coroner today and she was telling me about the many sudden death cases in younger people with zero risk factors who drop dead out of the blueโฆ On a โhunchโ she started running covid tests on the bodies. Lo and behold, often +ve. No oneโs tracking the data!
Well, itโs my turn folks. After 3.5 years of careful precautions I had no choice but to travel to arrange and attend my brotherโs funeral. As the world as moved on it was inevitable that this would happen.
#positive
#CovidIsNotOver
#NotMyPHO
A realization that our award-winning PHOโs messaging and policies have been inadequate and downright dangerous. A discussion on the duty of a LTC director in doing everything possible to avoid an outbreak.
Message was received loud and clear. 3/3
Visiting a patient in a LTC facility. I am wearing an N95. I am asked to switch to a baggy blue mask.
โWhy?โ
โItโs the policyโ
โWhose policy?โ
โOur directorโ
โAh I see. Is your director around?โ
I met the director, who was wearing a near-useless baggy blue surgical mask. 1/3
Iโm just a regular guy. I take the
#firstdonoharm
Oath seriously. Iโve tried to speak up last year and I was severely punished by the MoH and my HA. I went undercover on Twitter to continue to advocating for patients and HCWs. Our situation is going from bad to worse. 1/3
Something has shifted. Iโm seeing patients made palliative prematurely and left to die before proper investigations and adequate care.
Thatโs what an overwhelmed healthcare system looks like. The dying have no voice, their loved ones too grief-stricken to speak up. ๐
I wonโt share the details of our exchange, but let me assure you that he had a much better understanding of how surgical masks do not suffice against
#airborne
pathogens, and how inappropriate it is to ask a visitor to switch their higher-grade mask to a lesser one. 2/3
Double-vaxxed patient. COVID +ve (tested based on vague muscle aches and pains). No idea where he would have caught it, although no longer masking indoors. A physician colleague was surprised.
Not me.
Get your two shots and donโt let the masks down folks!
Today is my last day working in a BC hospital. One less frontline physician. I may consider coming back if our gvt commits to adequately protect HCWs.
@adriandix
@jjhorgan
this is on you.
@bcpoli
More need to speak up. If you can afford to do it without the cover of anonymity, please do. Share your stories. Share your dissatisfaction re: our leadership. Be on the right side of history. 3/3
Itโs easy to remain silent. Accept the status quo. Believe the pandemic is over or nearly over because we wish it to be. That itโs a hoax. That the fatality rate is low. I simply canโt stay silent. I know and understand too much. See too much. Care too much. 2/3
Anti-vax patient admitted to hospital today. Wishes to be full codes as he values his health and wants to live.
Also no respirator for me to don before going in the room, other than the one I brought from home.
Iโm so tired of this sh1t.
4 shifts to go.
In BC, physicians pointing out the actual science behind covid are getting threatened. We are told to be โin lineโ with our PHO or suffer the consequences. Many will opt to stay silent to save their jobs/reputations.
@bcpoli
Would
@adriandix
be interested in following me at work for a few hours caring for unmasked patients and covid suspected / positive patients while wearing ONLY a simple surgical mask on?
Come and see how things are looking like in the trenches.
#openinvitation
COVID-19 โ A vascular disease
Our award-winning BC PHO persists in saying this is a respiratory illness. WRONG. It is an airborne pathogen with vasculitic consequences. She should spend less time on PR training and more time reading this:
Working in a BC hospital today, Iโve lost count of how many people I come across without a mask on and within the *magical* 2m distancing. Thank you Bonnie for waffling about masks for way too long, and not clearly stating that it is
#airborne
.
Wrapping up a 2 day conference. In attendance, ~100 healthcare professionals, mainly MDs, some NPs, all crammed in one big room without any ventilation or open windows. Some coughing. Some 'allergies'.
I was the only one masked.
Discuss.
These arenโt patients dying of covid. This is everyone else needing healthcare.
Is that the โbalanceโ DBH has been speaking of?
Iโm heartbroken. And ashamed for our province. My dog gets better medical treatment than any hospitalized patient in BC right now.
Feeling deeply betrayed by our quack of a PHO and
@adriandix
gatekeeping and
#misinformation
tactics is my worst symptom so far.
Masks DO work as I was wearing one (N95 or equivalent) consistently indoors since March 2020 and exposed countless times.
#CovidIsNotOver
#MaskUp
DBH erroneously believes we can build herd immunity by getting the younger infected. Hence opening large venues at 100% capacity. What is this โscienceโ based on? Nowhere else in the world has any attempt at herd immunity been successful with C19.
Unbelievable but I really thought that, even if no longer mandated, the majority of people would think for themselves and keep wanting to avoid community transmission and future mutations of covidโฆ
Silly me!
#WeNeedMandatesAgain
#Thiswillnevergoaway
Call-out for all and any physicians in BC who would be willing to form a coalition to advocate for healthcare workers and BCers. Together our voice will be stronger in educating people on how to best protect ourselves against this pandemic, and exposing our gvtโs lies for all
Glad to hear that many physician colleagues will be upholding mask mandates at their clinics.
That's what happens when you follow the science, and care about others.
It is true: I was told I wasn't allowed to wear an N95 while working in a hospital and caring for coughing / sick patients.
I no longer work in hospitals.
Keep going
@PennyDaflos
.
As a physician working in hospitals Iโve tried speaking out against the manipulation of the information we HCWs and BCers have been subjected to. I have been silenced for speaking out, and it forced me reconsider my career.
We need the truth exposed!
โTrying to hide behind redacted docs and all these other elements and not getting the info out there as quickly as possible can erode trust in public institutions,โ
@bcfipa
said
FH heavily redacted outbreak reports while VCH claims they have none
More:
Went for my 3rd shot. Asked if I had a fever and traveled. Sat beside folks without proper masks (porous fabric, large gaps) in an enclosed space for >45min. But one plexiglass to save the day?
@VanIslandHealth
you havenโt learned a thing.
#fail
#dropletdogma
#COVIDisAirborne
Patients in hospitals, once admitted up to the wards, are told to take their masks off. Patient rooms are often shared (most commonly 4 pts in a room). We know it is airborne. We know a great number wonโt develop symptoms, or only minimal symptoms, or very unusual symptoms 1/2
@EnemyInAState
@MeetJess
I wish celebrities like Affleck continue to speak up about how covid can affect someone, especially after multiple infections. Lasting immunity to covid is as elusive as lasting immunity to the common cold (same virus family after all).
@casabar_s
She started doing that but she said thereโs nothing coming from the regulatory bodies.
This is in QC, not BC, but we suspect the case is everywhere.
The case must be made that the issue is NOT the vaccines, itโs sars-cov-2
I have to see sick patients today. I have no choice. Itโs my job. I wear my own respirator โ my HA wouldnโt provide me with adequate PPE for the past 2 years. I do a RAT daily โ also self pay.
Unless youโre also doing an essential job,
#StayHomeSaveLives
I wish I could!
Heading to the USA today for my fourth booster which 7 months overdue. I do this for my patients, my family and because the
@bcndp
and
@adriandix
truly donโt give a ๐ rear end about physicians and front-line HCWs in BC. Still clueless as to why our system is in shambles.
I hate how the MSM is presenting the decreased number of cases as an improvement. Hospitalizations and ICU admissions are still climbing, while testing is at an all time low.
Our PHO
@DrBonnieHenry
has failed in her duties as physician and irrevocably failed in her duty to protect the public and to
#firstdonoharm
.
I will be complaining to the CPSBC. I urge to do the same!
I was overdue for my booster if you recall but unable to book it anywhere thanks to our multi-award winning PHO and
@adriandix
gatekeeping tactics. I had it finally booked for tomorrow and will now have to cancel.
#NotMyPHO
Unfortunately itโs becoming clear we need a lockdown IMMEDIATELYโnot a week from now. Early data is extremely concerning. Better to be safe than sorry!
@jjhorgan
@adriandix
: be a hero! Letโs avert this mega-disaster! Lives over the economy please!
#lockdown
#omicron
#bcpoli
A hard lockdown around the globe, say for 1-2 weeks, could stop this pandemic in its tracks. As difficult and devastating it would be, itโs better than the alternative, which is giving this virus the ability to constantly mutate, evade vaccines and stay around forever
I heard from an acquaintance today letting me know that almost everyone she knows has covid. She was clueless as to our current numbers, and that the pandemic isn't over like our gvt said. She ended by being grateful and saying her and her husband would start masking again.
The current state of the pandemic is now 100% due to repeated failures of public policies. How many more suffering and death do people of BC need to witness before demanding that things change?
ENOUGH.
Eleven doctors issue warning in signed letter from Salt Spring Island hospital
@DoctorsOfBC
and
@JoshGreggain
: please support these MDs, now at risk of backlash by
@VanIslandHealth
.
Whistleblowers ought to be protected, not punished by their HA.
@DFisman
COVID should have been the wake-up call that more pandemics with airborne pathogens of zoonotic origin are likely going to be more frequent, and able to rapidly spread, than ever before. Our leaders missed out on making the air we share safer.
#FAIL
@DFisman
Yes. The only N95 I can access anywhere in the three hospitals where Iโve worked since the beginning of the pandemic are the ones I had to purchase on my own. Theyโre all under lock and key (literally).
5 shifts to goโฆ
I really like when
#COVIDIOTS
quote a 99% survival rate for covid.
Even if they were right, that would mean over 50,000 deaths in BC alone. No big deal right?
Besides, mortality is not the only end point. Thereโs also significant morbidity, such as
#LongCovid
.
If our gvts had been transparent more people would get vaccinated willingly, not because of a mandate. But since covid has been so minimized so many donโt want to get their shot, or wear a N95 mask. I blame the gvt for being the biggest source of
#misinformation
DBH, you canโt manage a pandemic effectively and expect everyone will be happy. There will always be conspiracies, anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers. You still have to follow science. Itโs not a popularity contest. Itโs a pandemic with an airborne pathogen.
#DoYourJob
Fun fact: masks were mandated in BC hospitals in November 2020, a full 8 months into a pandemic with an aerosolized pathogen.
Thatโs what happens with an anti-mask PHO.
#fireBonnie
Fire
@adriandix
The nice lady at the vaccination centre kindly advised me that I donโt need to rebook my booster as I am now building lasting immunity by being infected. I was only able to cancel, not reschedule.
#Misinformation
#NotMyPHO
#HybridImmunityIsNotReal
Twice now people who arenโt masking indoors in public tell me itโs because they arenโt afraid. Thus implying I
#MaskUp
out of fear.
This isnโt fear. I am doing everything I can to reduce community transmission so one day this will end.
So many people grocery shopping without masksโฆ
WHY? Iโm wearing my mask, which I donโt particularly enjoy, to protect YOU. Iโm in contact with COVID+ve pts and could pass it along, and I want to keep others safe.
What are others doing to keep ME and my family safe?!?
#soselfish
such as abdominal pain, or a stroke. Why isnโt the gvt doing more to protect HCWs and patients in BC hospitals? Itโs an absolute disgrace. We are not idiots, anyone knows by now
#COVIDisAirborne
. The lack of safety measures is why I left.
@adriandix
you need to do better. 2/2
Buckle up folks, the
#NuVariant
is here and our PHO,
@adriandix
and
@bcndp
have learned absolutely nothing in the past 2 years. Our pandemic with an
#airborne
pathogen is just about to take a deadly turn.
The only thing they are good at protecting is their own egos.
@bcpoli
So our premier
@jjhorgan
is away on vacay in NS, our PHO is also on vacay and attending large crowds w/o a mask on. Out of control cases.
Iโm beside myself. WHO will keep our children safe? WHO will END this pandemic? What will it take to stand against these incompetent cretins?
If a few experts (physicians/epidemiologists/virologists/public health) got together to speak with the media, and put out the recommendations that are needed to avoid a fourth deadly wave, would people listen? Could the people take matters in their own hands?
Tell me why BC isnโt turning into a dictatorship. Scientists and experts arenโt allowed to point out the science and ordered to be โin lineโ with the PHO. MSM is enabling their policies and individual reporters who say otherwise shut down.
@PennyDaflos
@realreporter
@bcpoli
This is how you create safer communities. I'm Lyne, I live in BC, ๐จ๐ฆ. I will continue to protect myself, my family and community. I refuse to be "an accomplice in the death and injury of my fellow human beings."
#LongCovid
#CovidIsNotOver
#MaskUp
#BreakTheChain
@Protect_BC
A friend is in hospital, the other patient is COVID+ve and only a curtain separates them.
@VanIslandHealth
follows the DROPLET DOGMA spewed by our award-winning PHO.
I am being told that since I received my bivalent booster > 6 months ago I am no longer eligible to any boosters 'until further notice'. Please make it make sense.
@adriandix
@Pam_Alexis_
@Fraserhealth
I am a frontline physician, and care for covid+ patients directly on most days. My last booster was in the Fall 2021, over 7 months ago. I donโt qualify for another booster. I donโt feel safe, and I live in fear of passing on the virus to my family, to my patients.
I think
@RobShaw_BC
and
@keithbaldrey
are dubious re:
@Protect_BC
because itโs reminding them they havenโt been doing their jobs for the past 20 months:
uncovering our PHO & the
@bcndp
โs lies and question their management of this pandemic.
#DoYourJob
I predict once we out of this 4th wave (itโll be a long and deadly one tho due to our PHO policies) they will announce that the pandemic is over and lift masks etc. Thereโs a poor understanding in our PHOโs office how pandemic actually work, 1/2
Just when I think our award-winning QUACK of a PHO can't do any worse, she hits a new low. It's been over 3 years of lower and lower expectations that get surpassed at every presser. It makes me sick to live in this province. Figuratively and literally. What a shame.
Not only has everyone moved on and living it up as if it were 2019, I can sense that me with my mask on is more like a hinderance, an unwelcome reminder. I've officially become the weirdo.
@NEWS1130
Tell me of a jurisdiction anywhere in the world, any time in history, that has been able to control a pandemic with vaccine passports. Even vaxxed you can catch/transmit. Itโs only a false sense of security and the appearance that our gvt knows what theyโre doing
@lucindasan15671
She doing the autopsy. Thatโs her job. She just started adding covid tests to autopsies for sudden, unexplained deaths. NO direction from any regulatory body or gvt. Just something she started doing when cause of death wasnโt obvious. And cause of death is generally obvious.
@tmprowell
@kirkmurphy
As an MD I stopped attending maskless gatherings with colleagues, esp. if over a meal, over 2 years ago. I never understood their cavalier attitude โ they know it is
#airborne
, that
#LongCovid
is concerning, and yet they donโt seem to want to change their behavior. Why?
Covid could definitely mutate into something much worse, for ex. with a fatality rate of MERS (~35% of infected will die), or Ebola (~50 to 90% will die).
This pandemic is not only far from over, Iโm afraid the worst is still ahead. We need a global
#COVIDzero
approach asap
Booked my third booster for next week. Itโs truly a blessing, and I am forever grateful, but I canโt help but think of the majority of humans on this planet who havenโt even had their first shot.
โPanโ in pandemic means โeveryoneโ
When they announce the number of deaths, they donโt tell us the age, do they? Itโs BS that you want to preserve privacy. Just saying x children vs adults, how is that identifying anybody? Itโsonly because the
@bcndp
knows that a childโs untimely death would bother people more.
Schools, by their very nature, have always been hot beds for communicable diseases.
Apparently just our multi-award winning PHO doesnโt know that.
Will anyone give this QUACK yet another award?
Today, Dr. Bonnie Henry said schools "aren't the focus of where we're seeing transmission of SARS-CoV-2."
Why is she lying?
She co-authored a peer reviewed study last year that demonstrated the opposite: This virus transmits easier in our schools than in any other setting.
Experts have been saying for almost 2 years to: not rely solely on vaccines and passports as effective means of controlling / stopping this pandemic; that air treatment indoors needs to be optimized in schools and hospitals; that the general population should wear 1/2
Iโm angry that someone else decided it was OK to be living with COVID, without even following science or learning from other countries that decided to let her rip.
#fireBonnie
@AdamPOlsen
@bcndp
Hold on: we canโt adequately compensate GPs to the point that primary care in BC is collapsing, but our gvt is investing in a museum?
Words fail me.
I know weโre focused on
#Omicron
right now, and the worst of this wave is yet to come, but there are growing concerns that it is so widespread that it will once again mutate into a truly concerning variant.
Folks, stay home if you can. Reduce social contacts as much as possible.
Today more communication from my health authority that covid transmits via droplets.
Almost 2 years in, it constitutes gross negligence.
#COVIDisAirborne
@adriandix
, follow the Science, not the Fluevogs
@bcpoli
@realreporter
Yes. True numbers. Not curated.
Itโs not normal, nor acceptable, that Iโm finding out from A PATIENT that all elective surgeries at my hospital have been canceled.
The lack of communication and info sharing to BCers and HCWs is outrageous
Mandating masks without explaining why they are effective, and why it mattered, has been a big mistake of our gvts. Mandates come and go, knowledge stays.
#CovidIsntOver
#MasksInHealthcare
35 years old female, extremely healthy and fit, marathon runner. Got a mild case of covid last year. Now extremely short of breath, canโt speak in full sentences.
For each idiot who tells me their mild case and full recovery I will tell the story of someone who didnโt do well.
I donโt get it. You must be fully vaccinated before starting med school, and it was never a point of contention.
If youโre anti-vaxx or canโt be vaxxed, healthcare is not for you