The Heartland Institute's Jim Lakely, AnneMarie Schieber, and Samantha Fillmore are joined by Isaac Orr on episode 284 of the In The Tank Podcast.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has decided to open up his state 100% and throw the mask mandate on the ash heap of history. The left, the media, and mask worshippers are losing their minds. Meanwhile, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is in trouble after multiple allegations of sexually harassing younger female staffers -- which might have made it easier for the legislature to remove the dictatorial "emergency" powers he has wielded like an incompetent emperor for a year. The ITT crew also wonders why six Dr. Seuss books have to be canceled and destroyed, rather than just amended for more-sensitive modern audiences.

Show notes:

Texas gov. lifts mask mandate, opens businesses:

Are Mask Mandates Crumbling?:

Death rates from coronavirus (COVID-19) in the United States:

Heart Disease Mortality by State:

6 Dr. Seuss books won't be published for racist images:

In Defense of Dr. Seuss:

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Dr. Vladimir Zelenko, a family physician, was one of the first physicians to confront the COVID-19 pandemic in a big way. His orthodox Jewish community just outside New York City was one of the first areas to be hit hard by the virus. The community has a density of 35,000 people per square mile. Soon, Zelenko’s practice went from treating 50 patients a day to 250.  Zelenko had to act fast because medical facilities were shutting down. All focus was put on respirators and his goal was to keep patients OUT of the hospital.

Dr. Zelenko knew there were safe, existing drugs that could stop the virus from replicating. After some investigation and contact with treatment approaches in France, he designed a cocktail of drugs and vitamins for his most vulnerable patients. He used hydroxychloroquine until federal health agencies blocked access to such drugs.

Dr. Zelenko treated 1,000 high risk patients with COVID-19.  The mortality rate for older patients is 7.5 percent, equating to 75 patients per 1,000.  Dr. Zelenko was able to save all but three of them.

Other points of discussion:

- Pushback from the medical profession

- Pushback from the media

- Censorship from social media platforms

- President Trump, Scott Atlas

- Why Zelenko doesn’t wear a mask even though he is on chemotherapy and has one lung

- Thoughts on the vaccine… “not technically a vaccine.”

Find more at Dr. Zelenko’s website: https://www.vladimirzelenkomd.com

As of February 24, 2021, it appears Congress will pass the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act that, among many things, will boost subsidies on the Obamacare exchanges. Brian Blase, president and founder of Blase Policy Strategies, did an analysis of the bill and finds the subsidies will help wealthier households over lower income ones, may discriminate against older women, and may discourage smaller businesses from providing insurance to their workers, especially now that many are switching to health reimbursement arrangements that give workers more insurance flexibility.

Blase’s analysis also shows how the premium boost will make consumers less sensitive to health care price jumps which will likely happen in markets with limited competition. The paper can be downloaded here:

Expanded ACA Subsidies Exacerbating Health Inflation and Income Inequality

Joel Hirschhorn, author of Pandemic Blunder: Fauci and Public Health Blocked Early Home Treatment, discusses his new book with AnneMarie Schieber. Hirschhorn explains he wrote the book to get the word out to the public on the documented evidence on how vitamins and existing drugs are slowing down and even preventing the SARS CoV2 virus from attacking the body.

Hirschhorn says this book describes the pandemic blunder, particularly in terms of Dr. Anthony Fauci’s influence.  It can help Americans protect their lives by not being victimized by disinformation and propaganda from leftist media.  Pandemic management has failed because of corrupt forces aiming to make billions of dollars from expensive medicines and vaccines.  There has been widespread dereliction of duty on the part of many local, state and federal government officials.

In the podcast, Hirschhorn states:

“If there is a conspiracy, it has been a conspiracy by the mainstream media in blocking this information from getting to the public”

“Fauci is a globalist and a narcissist who is well-connected to big drug companies and the World Health Organization.  NIH makes a lot of money from drug companies, they pay his group royalties, it is all about money in one sense.”

“It is an amazing story. It’s really criminal, negligent homicide.”

Hirschhorn says he wrote the book to save lives and reinstitute the freedom to allow doctors to treat patients as they see fit.  He states while he is not against vaccines (at age 81, he received a COVID-19 vaccine) early treatment using existing drugs is likely less risky than a vaccine because there is very little long-term history with the vaccine and it is authorized under an emergency use only.

Her family asked the ICU physicians to give her the drug Ivermectin, which they did. Within 48 hours, she was well enough to be removed from the ICU but the hospital did not want to continue the Ivermectin treatment. Smentkiewicz deteriorated and had to be moved to a cardiac unit. Ralph Lorigo sought and won an order from a judge to compel the hospital to continue treatment.  Lorigo discusses why the hospital dug in its heels and how he’s getting calls from families around the country.  Smentkiewicz was released from the hospital and is making progress every day, one month after she tested positive.

Christina Herrin, government relations manager of health policy, interviews Dr. Mary Ruwart, biomedical researcher and ethicist. Dr. Ruwart holds a BS in biochemistry (1970), and a Ph.D. in biophysics (1974) from Michigan State University. After two and a half years on the faculty of the Department of Surgery at Saint Louis University School of Medicine, Ruwart spent nineteen years as a pharmaceutical research scientist for the Upjohn Company. She currently chairs an IRB (Institutional Review Board), consults with nutraceutical companies, and has been an expert witness against the FDA.

One of Ruwart's latest publications: Death by Regulation: http://www.ruwart.com/product/death-regulation)

Her website: http://www.ruwart.com/

Can President Biden order all Americans to mask up? What impact will this have on constitutional rights? Will it compel private organizations to follow suit?  Will mask mania last beyond 100 days?        

Patrick Wood discusses his organizations advocacy efforts on the issue and the overwhelming response to his group’s website, nomasksforkids.com.  Wood discusses how masks are harming the physical health of individuals and how Americans can respond to public shaming for exercising their right not to wear a mask.

The U.S. has been trying to manage the SARS CoV2 virus by limiting public behavior and pouring billions into vaccine development and hospital treatments, but little has been done to explore better ways to treat people before they get seriously sick. McCullough believes we have ignored one of the four pillars of managing the virus, specifically the early stages when people get sick. Countries all over the world are keeping people out of the hospital and alive because doctors have been repurposing existing drugs like hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin to keep the virus from replicating. 

- Physicians don’t want to treat COVID-19 on outpatient basis, why?

- Why hospitals and pharma want to maintain the status quo

- Why President Biden needs to address outpatient therapy specifically and appoint physicians who are on the front lines of treating COVID-19 on his task force 

- Japan and other countries are now using favipiravir to treat COVID-19 early, similar to Tamaflu for flu.  Why has the FDA blocked the use of this drug in the U.S.?

- Outpatient clinics need better access to antibody infusions

McCullough discusses the outcome from the two Senate hearings on early COVID-19 treatment, one on November 19 and another on December 8.  He also discusses his updated early COVID-19 treatment protocol.

Christina Herrin, government relations manager of health policy at The Heartland Institute, discusses the benefits of telehealth with Dr. Colin Banas. COVID-19 has dramatically changed the way we live our daily lives and has given more reason to make telehealth a permanent solution to accessing affordable and quality health care.

Colin Banas is an Internal Medicine Hospitalist and the former Chief Medical Information Officer for VCU Health System in Richmond, VA prior to stepping down after 15 fulfilling years to pursue consulting. He is proud to have testified before the U.S. Senate and the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) on the topic of Health IT and the Meaningful Use Program. Banas is also a former Health IT Fellow for the ONC. His interests center on the role of big-data and analytics on patient outcomes as well as novel forms of Clinical Decision Support, those that are outside of the realm of traditional rules and alerts, and include real-time dashboarding and intuitive usability designs. He also helped spearhead the VCU effort to participate in the Open Notes initiative, where patients have access to their clinical documentation in real time. In 2017 Dr. Banas was humbled to receive the HIMSS-AMDIS award for Physician Executive of the Year from his peers.