Thread by @jhaskinscabrera

I reviewed Medical Examiner (ME) reports of 39 deaths in Alachua County, FL.

#RationalGround

The first thing I noticed is that the deaths in the ME list don't match the deaths in the FL case line list.

(1/12)

alachuachronicle.com/local-death-ce…

For example, 13 of the deaths in the case line list don't match anything in the ME report, and 12 deaths in the ME report don't appear in the case line list, although more recent deaths may still be added to the case line list.

(2/12)

All but 5 of the reports list “COVID-19 pneumonia” or “COVID-19 infection” as the first entry under the probable cause of death. The other five say “complications of injuries sustained in fall,” “Ischemic heart disease,” “valvular heart disease,” and (2) “natural causes.”

(3/12)

Two of the cases were listed as accidents rather than natural causes, although one of those still lists COVID-19 as the primary cause of death.

(4/12)

In addition to COVID-19, the 39 reports list an average of 4.5 other “contributory factors” (co-morbidities). Nearly 80% (31 of 39) had 4 or more co-morbidities.

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The most common contributory factors were hypertension (31), heart or circulatory diseases (30), diabetes (24), kidney disease (15), and dementia (14).

The average age of all the deaths was 76 (the median was 78), and nearly 90% (35 of 39) were 65 or older.

(6/12)

The “Description of Incident” for the 79-year-old woman with “valvular heart disease” as the primary cause of death does not list any COVID symptoms, only that she tested positive for COVID-19.

(7/12)

An 84-year-old woman with COVID-19 as the primary cause of death had been in the hospital since early June for an L1 compression fracture and acute kidney injury (on top of chronic kidney disease). She was asymptomatic but tested positive for COVID-19 5 days before dying.

(8/12)

An 85-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital for “debridement of worsening necrotic heel and sacral wounds,” tested positive for COVID-19 the next day, and died two days later. She had 6 contributory factors listed.

(9/12)

Another case was a 50-year-old insulin-dependent diabetic man with no COVID-like symptoms who called 911 for chest pain. He went into cardiac arrest en route to the hospital and was resuscitated with multiple rounds of epinephrine and atropine.

(10/12)

He had “acute renal failure and a CT of the head revealed severe cerebral edema.” He tested positive for COVID-19 in the emergency room and died two days later.

(11/12)

While COVID obviously contributes to the deaths of people who are already frail, pneumonia and lower respiratory tract infections were already the leading cause of death in nursing home residents.

nursinghomeabusecenter.com/nursing-home-n…

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