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Within minutes of the interview at his disinfected surgery in Adare, Co Limerick, Dr. Pat Morrissey collapses.
Last Monday, he was ousted by the board of Shannondoc, the Midwest’s after-hours GP service, after he harshly criticized the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) restrictions at a Covid- 19 in Dublin held last weekend.
The 46-year-old doctor told The Irish Times that he worries that talking could cause him more problems. “I’m a little scared, yes, but I still think I’m doing the right thing.”
During Saturday’s rally, he said he had prescribed hydroxychloroquine, an antimalarial drug, to “high-risk patients who became ill from Covid” in defiance of Health Services Executive (HSE) regulations.
The HSE later said: “Hydroxychloroquine is not used as a treatment for Covid-19. It has been removed from clinical recommendations due to evidence indicating a lack of benefit in hospitalized patients with Covid-19. “
However, Dr. Morrissey says that HSE is being “bogus,” stating that there is “strong evidence” from trials in France, South Korea and China that it helps, if used early and in conjunction with other medications.
It has no positive effect on seriously ill Covid patients in intensive care, he acknowledges.
“I discussed it with my patients. If I had a patient with important risk factors, such as old age, heart disease, diabetes, overweight, and if they were sick with Covid, I would tell them that this treatment is there, it is not authorized for Covid and has been used in other countries, and yes he’s happy to take it, I’m happy to prescribe it for him. “
“Everyone was very grateful, and since then I’ve had patients come back to thank me,” he says, turning excited again.
Answer
He has treated more than 50 Covid-19 patients, prescribing six with hydroxychloroquine, and said he was “impressed by the speed” of response from the patients. A patient in his 80s died, but this person was not given the drug because he had too many underlying conditions.
Critic of Nphet, he argues that he is fueling fear.
“The metric should be ICU admissions and deaths. They say the cases are going to increase, they have been saying it since July. Yes, we are going to see a slight increase in the number of cases and deaths, but that happens every winter.
“80 people die every day in Ireland and on average around one or two die a day from Covid. The average age of the dying [WITH COVID]it is 84 and the average life expectancy in Ireland is 82 “.
Morrissey says it can be hard to listen to, but “it matters who is dying,” adding, “I’m not a grandmother killer and I don’t want to be portrayed as such. My own mother is 88 years old and she is not afraid of Covid. “
Every day, he says, he is seeing patients whose mental health has been severely damaged by the pandemic. Some have had suicidal thoughts, such is their level of despondency.
“Fear is doing more damage to people’s health than Covid itself. The risk of mortality is being exaggerated. “
Suicidal thoughts
Patients come to the clinic with suicidal thoughts, because they are panicky because “they want to scream every time they see another person wearing a mask because they feel trapped by prolonged restrictions and the mask is a physical reminder of the virus, that it is silent. “
Meanwhile, local businesses in Adare struggle.
“The economy is also an indicator of health. In a town like this, dependent on the hotel industry, or on the main street of any small town in Ireland, they are suffering. It can’t be quantified, but it’s real. “
In his surgery, he wears a mask, but more, he says, so patients feel comfortable. He insists there is no evidence to suggest they make much of a difference. Qualifies as anti-masking only in “low risk situations” such as streets and shopping malls.
“I am not indifferent, this bothers me, I know people who have died. I am a person with a global vision and it is not good to use our individual experiences to determine how society should be run, ”he says.
“I acknowledge that there have been tragedies, family tragedies in relation to Covid, and that has been very sad, and that is part of the reason why we have reacted that way to Covid, and I think we are exaggerating.
“I just want to argue. Can’t we discuss how we are dealing with this social problem? Other countries are doing things in different ways. “
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