Paul's Heart

Life As A Dad, And A Survivor

Archive for the category “Politics”

15 May 2020

Pushing The Button Of A Health Advocate


Ironically, I was actually writing a different post about advocacy when this happened today.

Yesterday was a day that many of us were watching, a hearing involving a whistle blower complaint, pertaining to issues related to the handling of the Covid19 crisis.  Now, because my post is seriously not going to have anything to do with the hearing or politics itself, I still need to make at least some reference to it.  But as you will see, what I am discussing is not a limited type of behavior.

So during the hearing, one US Representative, Mullin, pictured on the left, resembling a cross  between Triple H of the World Wresting Entertainment (WWE) and another jacked-up angry US Senator Jim Jordan, questioned the complainant, pictured on the right, Dr. Richard Bright.  But instead of asking questions pertaining to the complaint or at the least going for a conspiracy approach of being a bitter employee or anti-president, like representatives on both sides of the aisle were doing, this Hulkablowhard went for straight character assassination.  This is the problem that I have.  And it fired up the advocate in me, because what happened was just plain wrong.  And it has nothing to do with politics.  Mullin was nothing less than a monstrous asshole for the way that he displayed himself.

In going after Dr. Bright, he began questioning his current work status, then his payroll status, then his health status.  What did this have to do with Dr. Bright’s whistle blower complaint?  Absolutely nothing.  It was a straight up attempt to assassinate the character of someone.

What position was the doctor currently in?  What is his current attendance status?  Questioning the transition of sick time to vacation time?  The doctor’s payroll status?  Health issues of the doctor?  And then the biggest insult, and one that should forever label Mullin as the ultimate scum, implying the doctor’s health was too ill to get to work, but not to testify before Congress.  Not one question about the actual complaint or anything about the current crisis and any role the doctor may have had.

It is clear what Mullin was trying to do.  I have seen it many times over my years as an advocate.  Pain in the ass does something wrong, gets punished, but does not cower like a beaten dog in remorse, resulting in an even stiffer penalty.  Employee defends himself, perfectly as the employee has done nothing wrong other than to draw the ire of a superior who wants things done differently.  Then the attacks become more about the individual, and not the work history, or even the incident itself.  We have all likely been there.  And we cannot help but want to stand up and cheer on the victim of this bullying.

Years ago, I was a union shop steward for a major company.  For those unfamiliar, the shop steward is representative for the union member, somewhat like a lawyer, there to defend the employee with a bargaining unit contract, regardless of the infraction.  How hard are supervisors driven to “get” employees?  It all depends on how much you have irritated that supervisor.  A friend and former co-worker used to describe me as “an asshole.”  But followed it up with this comment, “but you know what?  You are a stand-up guy.  You stand by what you say, and you support everyone equally whether you get along with them or not.  You do your job as a steward and no one can ever question that.”

One incident involved a co-worker who was out sick.  Having only one car, and needing to go to the doctor later in the day, she dropped off her husband at work, then dropped her children off at school.  But, instead of going straight home, get this, you might want to sit down for this, she pulled into a Dunkin Donuts to get a cup of coffee.  She was spotted by one of our supervisors.  I felt we should have notified Graterford Prison to alert them of a new inmate coming for the crime that had just been committed.  Management did not appreciate my cavalier attitude any more than I appreciated wasting my time having to defend someone who claimed to be sick, and being sick, should have not been drinking coffee.

Another incident involved another co-worker, that I had represented through the various grievance steps, only to be removed, um… deterred by supervision and made unavailable to attend the final grievance meeting, leaving someone else to attend in my place.  I had been successful up to that point in protecting the employee, and clearly, management was really intent on making an example, and not at their expense.  I made the decision that I would use personal time, that I could not be denied, and then attend that meeting after all.  At the door, I was denied entry, stating that I was not on company time, therefore ineligible to attend.  After a lengthy protest, company and union officials went back inside to discuss the situation that I had presented in my insistence.  Ironically, or strategically, this went on for over an hour.  The attempt was to get me to spend and waste the personal time that I had taken, now expiring.  Obviously underestimating my morals, I requested additional personal time, clearly willing to spend it all if I had to, to defend this employee, which now clearly, I knew, a fight I was winning.

Personally speaking, following my open heart surgery back in 2008, after spending a week in the hospital, I was sent home under strict recovery orders.  One of which, was to make sure that I took some walks, not faced paced, but just for the point of keeping my body moving, not to mention that getting outside, would help keep my spirits up.  During that first week, I probably did not walk more than a hundred yards, but it was a long a busy street, a street that many of my co-workers traveled to get to work.  Yep, you guessed it.  My phone began to ring from both ally co-workers, and one supervisor who looked out for me.  I was being warned that I “look great” after being spotted walking and that “there was no reason he should not be back at work.”

Now, forget the fact that less than ten days prior, I had my breast bone cracked open and a major heart surgery performed on the heart.  Anyone who has ever suffered a broken bone, know, bones do not heal overnight, usually requiring a cast, which clearly they cannot put on a person who has had heart surgery.  But evidently, all of these passersby had enough medical knowledge, and about me, to determine my work status.  Of course, that set off a whole other set of challenges, as my doctor had ordered me out of work for six months to allow the bone to heal, compromised by the very thing that caused the need for the surgery in the first place, radiation damage would hinder control.  I now had my employer insisting on their own surveillance of my recovery which they insisted on my doctors seeing me weekly, though my doctors stated they had only intended to follow me up in three month periods.  Definitely a waste of my cardiologist’s time that he could have been seeing other patients, my status never changed, and I would still remain out for the recovery plan as prescribed by my doctor.

So of course, when I saw this jackass from Oklahoma attack, and that was what it was, attack Dr. Bright, my advocate bat signal went full blast.  But of course he has a team of people looking out for him.  Clearly Mullin violated Dr. Bright’s HIPPA rights, not necessarily as the doctor, but in continuing to express Dr. Bright’s personal health publicly.  And he should face repercussions for that.  It should also be noted, Mullin is not a doctor, but a plumber.  Yet Mullin felt qualified to interpret and explain the impact of hypertension, even if spontaneous and the dangers posed when not managed.

We are dealing with a very serious crisis right now.  And dealing with anything other than science and facts is only adding to the complications and wasting time bringing an end to this pandemic.  What Mullin did was a travesty and embarrassment to himself, our government, and the people of Oklahoma.

Posted in Bullying, Cancer, Education, Inspired By..., Politics, Side Effects, The Heart | Leave a comment
02 May 2020

It Is What It Is


The numbers of Covid19 cases and deaths are shocking.  We having some falsely compare Covid19 to the flu, to now national tragedies such as 9/11 and the Vietnam War.  Eventually, more events will get combined into those descriptions such as the Oklahoma City bombing and the Korean War.  Numbers of deceased from all of our 20th century historical events combined to be compared to this virus is not only tragic, but an embarrassment.

Nobody gets any pleasure dealing with negative statistics.  But it does absolutely no good, to “bury your head in the sand,” pretending that something is not happening, in spite of the overwhelming numbers that we are facing.

What does not help, is the relentless attack that is perceived by some on certain political leaders.  While not to blame for the virus itself, decisions made, or not made, do get tied directly to the politician who decides them, good or bad.  And there will be plenty of time for arm-chair quarterbacking who should have done what and when once, ONCE this is actually under control.  And there will have to be answers.

The biggest distraction or shiny object however, seems to be wanting to “lessen the blow” of the actual virus and death counts, so that it does not seem so bad.  What has not helped thus far, besides the many trolls putting out false information, is the lack of information in the beginning when action needed to be taken, but now, and mistakes in actual documentation of the virus.  Of course mistakes happen.  But now those mistakes are seen as an opportunity to present, approve, and convince misinformation.  How else better can you get than to make the numbers lower to prove something not as bad is it may be.

In the state of Pennsyvlania, it was reported a 200 person count difference in recordings of Covid19 deaths.  No detailed explanation was given, and it most certainly did not take away the fact that hundreds at the time did in fact die from the virus.  But the problem of whatever that error caused, has understandably given right to question the accuracy.

But in Florida, a different situation has occurred.  As local governments have taken action to restore activities in their communities, it has been discovered things are not as they seem to be.  According to CDC guidelines, and phased opening recommendations by the President Of The United States, certain criteria needs to be met in order to restore business eventually to “as usual.”  What happens if you do not meet that criteria, but are facing all kinds of pressure to “re open” anyway at any cost?

It seems that the Tampa Bay Times have discovered at least one answer to that. question.

Early in April, the TBT had tried to obtain information on cases of Covid19 in regard to staff and residents living in long-term care facilities, of course one of the higher risks concerns.  The information is normally submitted by the agency themselves, to the Agency of Health of Florida.  At the critical object of this information, the ability of loved ones to be able to tell if their family member was in a facility facing a Covid19 outrbreak.  The state refused to produce the names of any facility citing privacy concerns.  No names of residents are staff were being exposed, so what was the privacy concern?  That information could have been used by families to remove their loved one before exposure.

In any case, the state was sued on the grounds of violating the 1st Amendment in regard to freedom of the press and free speech, and the names of the facilities and the numbers were released.  That should have been the end of this kind of behavior.  The state got caught suppressing information.  And then something else happened.

During a press conference later on, April 13th, Florida Surgeon General Scott Rivkees was abruptly removed from Governor Ron DeSantis’ cabinet meeting after making the comment that social distancing, one of the main pillars of the CDC guidelines to prevent the spread of Covid19, would be necessary until a vaccine was created.  Hardly what a tourist-driven state wants to hear.  Clearly an effort of silencing, and minimizing what was happening in Florida was underway so as to help make it possible to appear ready to return back to normal.  An impossible task if it still looks like Covid19 is still on the rise.

The reality is, Covid19 is still on the rise in Florida.  The problem is now, we cannot prove it.  It can be proven that the information cannot be obtained.  The Tampa Bay Times has just reported on this issue.

Florida has stopped releasing statistics from the medical coroners which include Covid19 death information.  Numbers have not been released in over a week.  Sure, we have all seen the numbers rise in Florida.  It is documented.  But it does not include the numbers released by the coroner’s offices.  This means that the death toll in Florida has the potential of being 10% higher than is being reported by the Florida Department of Health.  The information states where the deceased is from, diagnosis of death and some other information, but not the name.  So, for officials to claim it is a privacy issue after decades of the coroner’s offices operating this way, suddenly no longer doing so because of the Covid19 crisis, is bullshit.

At issue it is believed, a distinction between residency.  In other words, well known for an inflated “snow bird” population, seniors who spend long periods of time over the winter months in the sunshine state, should not be included in the death toll if they die from the virus, because, technically, they are not Florida residents.  Therefore, their death should not count for Florida.

Think about that for a moment.  The whole purpose of a count like a death count, or virus caseload, is to be able to tell how severe an area is dealing with an outbreak.  But Florida wants to only publish the deaths of residents only which of course from a public relations standpoint, makes Florida much healthier and safer than it really is.

But is an estimated death count 10% higher than stated, a couple of hundred deaths that big of a deal?  Absolutely.  If deaths are still climbing at a rate higher than recommended by the CDC, then the state should not proceed with restoring activities and businesses, something the governments of Florida are anxious to do.

As the saying goes, “if a tree falls in the woods, does it make a sound?”

I relate two stories to help understand how stupid, foolish, flawed, and dangerous the thinking of Florida is.

The first, a hypothetical.  A hotel on the Island of Gibip, property of another country, has 70 Americans staying in it, the rest of the occupancy, all locals.  A tragic fire engulfs the hotel, killing all of the Americans who did not get out of the building.  The headlines in the local paper state a miracle, no deaths at the hotel.  In spite of the truth that 70 people did die, but because they were not local, that fact was not stated so as not to hurt the tourist industry of that island.

Okay, that was an absurd example.  Though not really a stretch.  People died, their deaths not counted because they were not citizens.  Let me give you a real example, because it did happen.

I worked on an industrialized plant site.  My department had four buildings.  We all had our home building, but were eligible to work overtime in all buildings.  One particular evening, I was working in another building, and I was injured, pretty bad too.  An investigation would follow, as well as treatment for the injury.  OSHA would be involved since there would be lost time involved.

When I got the injury report, and was told, TOLD to sign it, I noticed a huge error.  The location of the accident was listed as my “home” building, not where the injury had occurred.  I stated the error needed to be corrected, as it was an official document, and was told “no”.  In rare unity, even my supervisor had agreed, that the injury took place in the other building, that is what needed to be recorded.  Of course, my supervisor did not want an injury ding on his record.  More importantly, legally, it should have stated where the injury took place.

Now the problem and the motive.  The building that I was working in, was steamrolling toward an impressive injury-free record, and was soon to be presented a nice reward for their effort.  Truth be told, there were likely other injuries that did not get reported.  But my injury definitely would have taken away this recognition.  They needed my injury reported in another building.  Regardless that the equipment involved did not even exist in my building.

Of course there was scorn by my fellow workers from the other building for daring to screw with their record and reward.  It was my fault for getting hurt, not theirs.  In the end, I lost.  The injury was falsely recorded in my “home” building where it did not occur.  And thirty employees got a recognition for their injury-free record.  That is what mattered.

That was a true story.  And it definitely emphasizes the importance of recording information and why it matters.  No one wants this pandemic over more than me.  But hiding and ignoring facts does not make the virus go away.  Only truth and actions.  And our country has been making a difference.  Okay, not fast enough for some, but it has been working.

Florida decided to restore some activities, and soon others will follow.  In spite of our numbers climbing, and numbers being hidden.  The truth will come out eventually, either by lawsuit, or by history.  But by then it may be too late.

Posted in Cancer, Education, Family and Friends, Inspired By..., Politics, Recreation, Side Effects, The Heart | Leave a comment
26 Apr 2020

Cutting Corners And Fast Tracks


When you think of the phrase “cut corners,” you will normally think of ways to either save time or save money.  And depending on what you are trying to to “cut corners”‘ on, it can be either a good thing, or a bad thing, especially if someone gets caught.  In meeting a household budget, one might decide to do one less night out, or perhaps buy one less treat on the trip to the grocery store.  Driving in rush hour traffic, or late for an appointment, it only makes sense to make a different turn than originally planned, or worse, against the recommendations of your GPS, to either save time or distance.

We are an society that loves instant gratification.  We hate to wait for things.  Disney was one of the first pioneers to come up with an organized method to speed things up, or at least make you think you have saved time, the “Fast Pass.”  Think back to elementary school, while waiting in line, and then having to go to the bathroom, we would ask the person either behind us or in front of us, to “hold my spot.”  That is the Disney “Fast Pass.”  You check in for a ride that traditionally has a long line, like hours long, and it gives you a time to come back later, bypassing the line, allowing you to enjoy other attractions at the park.  And as long as you do not mind just walking to all of the attractions you would like to ride, check-in, then return later in the day, this will work out for you.  When it is your turn, you get to go right to the front of the line, without having to wait in a line, like the rest of the other parkgoers.

There are times when cutting corners are a good thing, and when saving time is a benefit.   To expect these attitudes however to apply in all parts of life, is not only unreasonable, but dangerous.

I used to work in an industry  that is heavily regulated.  And for good reason.  It affected people’s lives.  On a daily basis, corners would be cut from allowing proper time to complete a task, training a co-worker properly, to diluting chemicals.  Now probably in many cases, it may not have been a big deal.  In others, contamination risks, more importantly, potency and accuracy may make a difference.

We, my co-workers, were expected to do whatever we needed to do, to complete our daily work assignments.  Often times that meant cutting corners in time and materials.  At times, management even forced these situations when it would come to “time points,” to avoid paying overtime, shifting time points into regular working hours.  Now for those who do not understand that importance, think about a dosage and how often you take a medicine.  How do you think, those intervals came about?  How would you feel if you found out, that occasionally the testing behind those products was not spot on, just for convenience?  You can now see how cutting corners can easily be a bad thing as well.

I was notorious for being a pain-in-the-ass, for refusing to cut corners.  Besides the fact that I did not think it was the right thing to do, my signature went on every document of every task that I completed, and I knew that if something went wrong, it would get thrown back at me.  And I could plead all that I wanted, “management made me do it.”  Who would inspectors take the word of more, a supervisor or a peon employee?  Deep inside, I knew I was doing the right thing, although my peers and management felt differently.  I often found myself not getting certain assignments because daily, it was all about quantity of work getting done, not quality.  But my acknowledgement would come at inspection times.

When inspectors would come onto plant site, that is when I got tasks that I knew were important to the company, and that they were needed to be done correctly and thoroughly.  And with the majority of my other co-workers routinely doing this via “short-cut”, they may not have remembered all the things that needed to be done, or correctly.  All you have to do is look at your local food inspection reports.  If you do not want bad attention, you put your best people on to make up, or cover up what you have been doing.

For me, when I worked, there were no corners to cut.  I was not interested in getting things done the fastest.  And I am thankful that for every nurse, doctor, and tech that has taken care of me, especially over the last three decades, hopefully were not corner-cutters as well.  I count on them to have all the skills necessary to treat the needs that I have.

Today, we are dealing with our worst health crisis, at least in my life-time, and I want to say that I hope that I never see another one.  Over the last fifteen or so years, viruses and outbreaks have become very common.  And we have always been able to respond quickly and with hopefully the least amount of casualties.  But this time is different, there is no cure, there is no vaccine.  We are simply relying on people to willingly do the right thing.  And it is not much that is being asked.  Wash our hands, and social distance, six feet apart.

But, just as co-workers can interfere with a process of prevention or development, we in the public sector are no different.  We have the right people in place for the most part, the scientists doing the research, giving the recommendations.  And the majority of the people are doing their part listening to, and following the recommendations.  Then there are those who feel that their individual freedoms are being challenged, in spite of it being for their safety, for our safety, they will not be told what to do.  Instead, they also challenge the powers to be, to cut corners, and to go around protocols to find treatments and vaccines faster, so that they do not have to be inconvenienced, or lose their freedom.

It is only a select amount of people who feel this freedom is being violated.  And the scientists cannot allow their concentrations to be distracted or diverted from their cause, finding a cure and a vaccine.

We have tons of medicines available to us.  And it is only natural to find multiple uses for them.  In fact, Big Pharm has found these new uses as a way to hang on to a patent to maintain their profit margin.  By the same token, accidental discoveries have also allowed doctors to make “off label” recommendations to help patients be able to afford medicines that might just help their malady.  One example that has led to other uses, sleep drugs being discovered also to benefit for use as a diet drug.

Or one that I personally became aware of years ago, the allergy drug, Claritin.  Only a few years ago did I learn that this drug had the ability to treat certain bone pain associated with neupogen shots for those going through cancer.  These particular shots would accelerate white cell growth, which of course occur in the bones, causing the familiar “growing pains” some of us may have experienced in our youth.  The thing is, this pain does not respond to normal pain meds, nor does it seem to respond to other antihistamines.  A regimen now is often recommended, off-label, of Claritin for this bone pain when going through chemotherapy.

So, why not just have the FDA approve Claritin for that purpose.  Because, we have a process.  It has not been scientifically and officially gone through the processes to be approved.  The cynic in me also tells me that there is not likely to be any kind of official designation, because there will not be any real profit for an over-the-counter medicine.  But, doctors who are aware of this option, will definitely recommend it, and unofficially, I can tell you, out of every cancer patient that has ever mentioned this to me, including my late father, Claritin has done just that.

The frustrating thing for everyone then, during this pandemic, is that we thought there might just have been a drug that is currently used for another purpose, that might help treat Covid19.  Just like Claritin, there was success with some patients that this drug had not just shown promise, but gave hope.  But unlike Claritin, the discovery of this particular drug, used for Lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, and the deadliness of the virus, caused an unprecedented hoarding of that drug, taking away availability to the patients that need that proven treatment for their quality of life.

Like I said, there is not a lot of time with this virus to find a cure or vaccine.  It was only natural to want to push this discovery, but it still needed to be done.  To determine if this drug could actually treat and cure Covid19, it would need to be studied just like every other medication.  But that will take time.

Sadly, because that time has not been taken, scientists have now discovered that the drug, taken in higher dosages, can be fatal, caused by cardiac issues.  These are issues that come up in studies.  There is a reason that we cannot just throw a pile of shit at a wall and see what sticks and say, “THAT’S IT!”.  There are no corners that can be cut.  There is not fast way to get there.

All we can do at this time, while we wait, is follow the advice that we have been given, because for the most part, those of us that have done our part, the statistics are nowhere near what they could have been.  But imagine if everyone had followed the advice instead of feeling their freedoms being threatened.  We could have been done with it by now.

Posted in Cancer, Education, Family and Friends, Inspired By..., Politics, Side Effects, The Heart and tagged , | Leave a comment

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