Florida Hospital Immunity Bill

Absolutely and under no circumstances should Governor DeSantis indemnify healthcare providers from lawsuits related to COVID-19. The entire COVID-19 debacle exists because big-Pharma is indemnified from vaccine harm. Big-pharma is in bed with our public health institutions including the NIH, NIAID, FDA, CDC, and the corrupt politicians on both sides of the aisle who protect and profit from the indemnification.

The staggering corruption is a public health menace. In fact, the only way out of the current public Covid health crisis is to DE-INDEMNIFY pharmaceutical companies so that they have to perform the same required safety studies and due diligence for vaccines, that is required for other pharmaceutical products. The politicians on both sides of the aisle that have facilitated and profited from this unholy alliance should be prosecuted for their crimes. Gov. DeSantis must just say NO!!

Linda Goudsmit

https://www.theepochtimes.com/florida-hospital-immunity-bill-on-desantis-desk-amid-growing-outcry-for-veto_4287024.html

Florida Hospital Immunity Bill on DeSantis’ Desk Amid Growing Outcry for Veto

by Nanette Holt I February 18, 2022

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has until next Thursday to decide whether to sign, veto, or ignore a bill that protects healthcare providers from lawsuits related to COVID-19.

Florida lawmakers delivered SB 7014 to his desk late on Feb.17, according a statement from his office. Under the Florida Constitution, DeSantis has seven days to act. If he does not address the bill by Thursday, it will become law, taking effect immediately. 

And that has put the Republican governor in a tight spot, forcing him to choose between aligning with his party or appeasing a growing number of constituents demanding his veto. 

Support behind a letter arguing why he should block the bill has swelled to include signatures from 35 leaders of organizations representing a combined total of hundreds of thousands of people in Florida and beyond, says the letter’s author, attorney R. Shawn McBride, of the American Freedom Information Institute. 

The letter was hand-delivered to DeSantis’ office on Feb. 14. The organization updates his office daily on the growing number of people calling for his veto. 

The Republican-led effort on the bill seeks to extend a law that grants near-immunity to healthcare providers for, among other things, their treatment of COVID-19, as long as they follow “government-issued health standards relating to” the disease. 

DeSantis has said that doctors should be allowed to prescribe what they think works best, and has said that Florida legislators should make a law offering protection. He has not commented on the bill on his desk which contradicts his position.

Other states currently are considering making the use of ivermectin allowable in the treatment of COVID-19.

Federal government guidelines for treatment have been issued throughout the pandemic by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). And that’s the main reason for the uproar from opponents. 

In their letter, opponents of the bill say they don’t object to legal protections for health-care providers. But they want doctors to be able to prescribe what they believe will work best for each patient, rather than being held to using government protocols. 

Tying immunity from lawsuits to government-recommended treatments means doctors are afraid to try other medications that may save lives, they say.

Doctors who’ve contacted The Epoch Times confirm they’re increasingly fearful of being stripped of their licenses to practice medicine if they prescribe ivermectin or other drugs they believe can cure people of COVID-19. Some say they’ve received letters from malpractice insurance providers, threatening to drop coverage if they prescribe treatments not recommended in the treatment of COVID-19 by the CDC or NIH.   

Studies about the safety and efficacy of using ivermectin in the treatment for COVID-19 have led to all or part of 22 countries approving its use. Ivermectin, already an FDA-approved drug for certain uses in humans and animals, currently is in clinical trials in the United States for use in the treatment of COVID-19.

In the treatment of other diseases and conditions, physicians routinely prescribe drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Association (FDA), but not approved for that specific use. Those prescriptions are known as “off-label” uses. 

Drugs, including ivermectin, prescribed as part of a popular COVID-19 treatment protocol widely used by independent doctors are FDA-approved and have been lauded by many recovered patients. 

Yet hospitals across the country have battled patient families in court to avoid using them. 

Payments to hospitals from the federal government under the CARES Act also are linked to adherence to government-recommended treatment guidelines. 

That may have spelled death for many, say opponents of the Florida bill, echoing concerns of doctors who’ve spoken at medical freedom rallies around the country.

“Centuries ago, hospitals were once places people avoided like the plague,” Jacksonville internist Dr. Ed Balbona, wrote in a letter, urging DeSantis to veto the bill. “They were the places that you went to die. Today, the Covid pandemic has brought back this dread of hospitals.”

Balbona testified as part of a lawsuit brought by the family of a Mayo Clinic patient on a ventilator which begged the hospital to try other drugs. He told the judge that the man still could be saved. Mayo Clinic attorneys argued vigorously against using the treatments Balbona recommended. The judge ruled against the family, and the man passed away.

“A deadly combination of greed, cowardice and ignorance has led to frankly unethical hospital care. Hospitals have been reduced to mindless obedience. Obedience to CDC guidelines they know are worthless. Obedience to the FDA that promotes corporate profits rather than the public good,” Balbona said.

“It’s time for medical professionals to wake up and protect their patients. It’s time to rescind liability protections and vote against” this bill, Balbona wrote.

In lobbying to persuade others to vote for the bill, Republican leaders in the Florida Legislature argued that protecting health-care facilities from COVID-related claims is good for Floridians because it will help those medical providers remain financially solvent and open for business in difficult times. 

Florida is one of 29 states across the country to enact laws shielding medical professionals from liability related to COVID-19. All 50 state governors were urged to put the protections in place by the federal government shortly after the pandemic began nearly two years ago, according to the American Medical Association.

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