The clinic in Laredo sprang up in 2019 to care for immigrants who came out of border detention facilities run by CBP and who were left stranded without money, food, or shelter. Local advocates worked to get these immigrants brought to their new clinic and shelter.
2/6
Volunteers provided resources and doctors rotated through to provide medical care. What we saw was jaw dropping.
Immigrants including children who had had their prescriptions confiscated and never returned.
New prescriptions for Spanish-only speakers labeled in English.
3/6
Pregnant women mistakenly given improper medication.
A complete lack of explanation of diagnoses and treatment options.
Just to name a few.
4/6
ICE and CBP are separate agencies.
But activist doctors such as @Doc4CampClosure have seen a similar lack of regard across government agencies responsible for the health and well-being of detainees, and have worked to get these issues addressed.
5/6
These allegations against ICE are neither surprising nor isolated. Our government has consistently shown a complete lack of regard for the people they detain.
We are a few weeks away from embarking on a massive medical experiment on our most vulnerable citizens: our children; knowingly sending them into harm’s way when school starts, & sitting by watching & waiting to see which survive. A modern Hunger Games, played out in real time.
I shouldn’t be surprised after children were gunned down at Sandy Hook & we couldn’t find the will to make changes to prevent future tragedies. Even my fellow Dems argue about enacting gun laws. In my Congressional race, half of the Dem candidates opposed assault weapons bans.
It would be tempting to lay all the blame at the feet of Republican leaders. They absolutely do bear the vast majority of the responsibility.
I’ve long been a fan and follower of @RevDrBarber. I campaigned on many of his policies when I ran for Congress. I do not take what I am about to say lightly.
I’m pleading with you to postpone your event in Williamson and Travis counties next week.
1/9
I cannot think of another contemporary leader I would like better to meet than @RevDrBarber, and to know that he will be in my county next week, when I could meet and hear from him directly is thrilling.
But.
2/9
I am a local Family Practice physician in Williamson county and my office sits on the border with Travis county. These are the two counties in which @RevDrBarber’s events will take place.
I had an interesting meeting with my supervisor at work. He told me two things:
1. I have one of the highest quality measures scores in our area. This is based on things like # of patients getting preventive care, # of patients with their chronic diseases controlled, etc
2. That my schedule will be changed in two weeks, to a schedule that *reduces* the time I am allotted to spend with each patient, because I’m not seeing a high enough volume (ie not generating enough money).
This is illustrative of how things work in healthcare these days.
Quality is subsumed to quantity.
If you ever wonder why your doctor isn’t spending enough time with you, or why you’re having to wait for long periods of time to see your doctor, this is part of why. We have a profit driven system that values income generation, not time spent.
This line from the story: “The media campaign to hold Mr. Trump solely responsible for the harm from Covid-19 is rank political opportunism. Voters should ignore the campaign and judge the whole record.” begs for a response. THREAD wsj.com/articles/woodw…
First of all, you need to hire someone, anyone, with some sort of public health, science, or medical background to stop you when you think about talking about a public health, science, or medical issue. Maybe they could keep you from making fools of yourselves. 2/
Next: nearly 200,000 Americans are dead because of the rank incompetence and maliciousness of this administration. I’m old enough to remember when publications like yours called for heads to roll when 4 Americans were killed in Benghazi. 3/
1. Write your name, date of birth, and your emergency contact phone number on your arms in sharpie. If you are incoherent or incapacitated, medical personnel will need this info. Make sure your emergency contact knows you are going.
2. Take a one day supply of your medication with you in case you are arrested. 3. If you have a serious medical problem and cannot be without your medication for a day, don’t go.
4. Identify first aid stations when you get there before the protest starts. They will have bandaids, antibiotic ointment, ice packs, and other first aid supplies.