Sweeping Ebola Under the Carpet?

 

In 11 days, the midterm elections will take place. They are not apt to go well for the Democrats, but the results would be much, much worse if we were to learn that in a variety of places within the country, thanks to the fecklessness of Barack Obama’s minions, people have come down with Ebola. We already know of such a case in New York. What if there were a slew of others?

It is with this in mind that one should perhaps read the report that a hospital in Kansas City, Missouri is busying suppressing information of this very sort. Kit Daniels of Info-Wars cites family physician James Lawrenzi who claims that “hospital workers are being told not to use the word ‘Ebola’ if they treat patients who may have the disease.”

A doctor at Truman Lakewood Medical Center told Dr. Lawrenzi that a patient arrived at his hospital a few weeks ago with a high fever and was bleeding out all of his orifices after returning from West Africa, but the next day the patient disappeared from Truman Lakewood.

The hospital told its workers the patient, who wouldn’t have been able to leave the hospital on his own given his condition, had a case of “malaria,” which wouldn’t explain the patient’s orifice bleeding.

Symptoms of malaria include fever and flu-like illness, including shaking chills, headache, muscle aches and tiredness,” the CDC states. “Nausea, vomiting and diarrhea may also occur.”

Similarly, another possible Ebola patient was admitted to Research Medical Center in Kansas City but also quickly disappeared, and management at that hospital claimed the patient had “typhoid.”

“These patients are disappearing, they’re doing something with the patients and God knows where they’re going,” Dr. Lawrenzi said.

Dr. Lawrenzi suspected that hospital managers, in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are trying to prevent panic by labeling suspected cases as other illnesses, even if the symptoms do not match the declared disease.

Something of the sort may be going on in New York City as well:

Emergency dispatchers in New York were likewise told to use codewords to refer to suspected Ebola cases over the radio and were not allowed to reveal information on any of the cases handled by first responders.

“At no point shall a dispatcher transmit over the radio any message containing the word ‘Ebola’ or related terminology,” a New York Fire Department bulletin stated.

Instead dispatchers were told to use the code letters “F/T,” for Fever/Travel, to indicate that a 911 caller had a fever and a history of travel to West Africa.

My first instinct is to suspect such claims. But, over the last few years, we have been misled time and again, and I could easily imagine the Obama Administration, in a panic, directing the CDC to hide as much as possible.

Like everything else about this administration, I suppose, the truth will eventually come out — after it is politically irrelevant.

Remember the glory days when the American press prided itself on its skill in “investigatory journalism?” Those days are gone — and they will certainly not return . . . not until we have a Republican in the Presidency.

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  1. TG Thatcher
    TG
    @TG

    Facepalm.

    If it were true that responsible “officials” were deliberately hiding instances of suspected Ebola in order to avoid panic (which would be an understandable motive), surely these same responsible “officials” would recognize that once they were demonstrated to have hidden the truth, that the ensuing public reaction would be *worse* than the panic they were attempting to prevent?

    I have to take this one with a huge chunk of salt, no one could be that stupid, right?

    Right?

    • #1
  2. user_836033 Member
    user_836033
    @WBob

    If it’s true that they are “disappearing” Ebola patients, at least they’re not infecting others, wherever they are.

    • #2
  3. Paul A. Rahe Member
    Paul A. Rahe
    @PaulARahe

    TG:Facepalm.

    If it were true that responsible “officials” were deliberately hiding instances of suspected Ebola in order to avoid panic (which would be an understandable motive), surely these same responsible “officials” would recognize that once they were demonstrated to have hidden the truth, that the ensuing public reaction would be *worse* than the panic they were attempting to prevent?

    I have to take this one with a huge chunk of salt, no one could be that stupid, right?

    Right?

    I would like to think so. But keep in mind that the first Tuesday in November may be the focus of their concern.

    Would responsible officials have blamed a terrorist attack in Libya on a Youtube video no one had seen?

    • #3
  4. TG Thatcher
    TG
    @TG

    Paul A. Rahe:

    TG:Facepalm.

    If it were true that responsible “officials” were deliberately hiding instances of suspected Ebola in order to avoid panic (which would be an understandable motive), surely these same responsible “officials” would recognize that once they were demonstrated to have hidden the truth, that the ensuing public reaction would be *worse* than the panic they were attempting to prevent?

    I have to take this one with a huge chunk of salt, no one could be that stupid, right?

    Right?

    I would like to think so. But keep in mind that the first Tuesday in November may be the focus of their concern.

    Would responsible officials have blamed a terrorist attack in Libya on a Youtube video no one had seen?

    Dr. Rahe, I *truly* want to cling to my semi-truck full of salt.  Because the alternative is too ugly to contemplate.

    Sigh.

    • #4
  5. Larry3435 Inactive
    Larry3435
    @Larry3435

    Don’t panic!  Everyone, listen!  DO NOT PANIC!  You can’t catch Ebola unless you are wearing a Haz-Mat Suit and following defective protocols that the CDC is now rethinking.  So there is no reason for panic.  People entering the country from the epidemic zone are being carefully screened, and none of them have Ebola, except the ones who do.  And we are not allowing any of them to travel unsupervised around the country, except the ones who are.

    Besides, the Obama Administration is on top of it!

    Oh, jeez…. Ok, go ahead and panic.

    • #5
  6. Fricosis Guy Listener
    Fricosis Guy
    @FricosisGuy

    If only we could get Ebola to apply for a 501(c)(4).

    • #6
  7. hawk@haakondahl.com Member
    hawk@haakondahl.com
    @BallDiamondBall

    If this is true, it will pop up somewhere better than that cess-pool run by arch-kook Alex Jones.

    If one-tenth of what Alex Jones said were true, the government would have whacked him long ago.  And yet he lives.

    • #7
  8. user_75648 Thatcher
    user_75648
    @JohnHendrix

    Paul A. Rahe: Would responsible officials have blamed a terrorist attack in Libya on a Youtube video no one had seen?

    That is an excellent point: this administration has already demonstrated that they are uninhibited in conducting drastic political damage control on the eve of an election.

    That said, I wish we had a source other than inforwars.

    That said, I note that Drudge has linked the infowars post.  My guess is that by now Dr. Lawrenzi has been phone interviewed a few times already and that some reporter is attempting to validate Dr. Lawrenzi’s claims.

    • #8
  9. Mike H Inactive
    Mike H
    @MikeH

    John Hendrix: That said, I note that Drudge has linked the infowars post.

    Drudge seems to have a soft spot for infowars. I’ve seen it pop up more often than it should, which is never.

    • #9
  10. Roberto Inactive
    Roberto
    @Roberto

    Ball Diamond Ball:If this is true, it will pop up somewhere better than that cess-pool run by arch-kook Alex Jones.

    If one-tenth of what Alex Jones said were true, the government would have whacked him long ago. And yet he lives.

    The portion regarding codewords over the radio in New York appears to have originated in the New York Post.

    A source said the directive is meant to minimize fear of a citywide outbreak, since the emergency radio channels are closely monitored by civilian hobbyists and members of the media.

    “Just like you can’t say bomb on an airplane, we can’t say ‘Ebola,’ ” said the source. “Back in the ’80s and ’90s, taking universal precautions meant someone has AIDS. And we weren’t allowed to say AIDS either.”

    • #10
  11. user_82762 Inactive
    user_82762
    @JamesGawron

    Paul,

    Here are 4 critical assumptions of the present situation.

    1.)  The protocols in place are adequate to protect health care workers from infection.

    2.)  The requirement of self policing for those at higher risk of infection requiring them to take action at the onset of symptoms will be sufficient to protect others from being exposed.

    2.)  The death rate for the confirmed infected will be much less in America than Africa.

    3.)  The virus won’t mutate.

    Update on the assumptions.

    1.)  Assumption #1 was blown out of the water by Dallas.  Gov. Cuomo’s speech made that crystal clear.  4,000 health care workers in NYC are receiving special new training.  Cuomo said himself that NYC “went to school on Dallas”.

    2.)  Assumption #2 was blown out of the water by the New York Physician just confirmed as infected.  One day before confirmation of infection he had no symptoms and may have had close contact with 100s of people.  This is unacceptable.

    3.)  I have heard nothing about assumption #3 yet.  The one guy in Dallas was under American care for 2 weeks and died.  Not statistically significant but not good.  We are very good at many very sophisticated things.  However, Gd made the Ebola Virus and we don’t have Gd’s blue print to look at.  Viruses are all different and unpredictable.  For this assumption we must stay tuned and watch.

    4.)  Assumption #4 is the wild card.  It can happen.  It could change the conclusions on the first 3 assumptions.  Just in case we get too cocky.

    Let me say I do not think we have been too political on this. Both Health Care workers and citizens are undergoing unnecessary risks.  We jumped on the Health Care worker issue and Gov. Cuomo’s speech showed the good result of that.  Now we must deal with faulty assumption #2 the risk to citizens. I think Senator Paul would be a good person to answer that question.  He actually has a fairly cool head but is not afraid to challenge Governmental Power Overreach.  Dr. Rahe, if the kind of things you are talking about in your post start to happen in a big way, Rand Paul would be the one to give the government hell about it.  Like the NSA

    He could make it a major issue before the election.

    Regards,

    Jim

    • #11
  12. user_75648 Thatcher
    user_75648
    @JohnHendrix

    Mike H:

    John Hendrix: That said, I note that Drudge has linked the infowars post.

    Drudge seems to have a soft spot for infowars. I’ve seen it pop up more often than it should, which is never.

    I’m like you: “never” seems correct.

    • #12
  13. AIG Inactive
    AIG
    @AIG

    Paul A. Rahe: Kit Daniels of Info-Wars cites

    Aaannd…that’s when you know you’ve hit rock bottom.

    When you start citing Info Wars.

    Congrats Ricochet. Congrats to all of us.

    PS: Now, I’m not the kind of person who says I told you so…but I told you so. I told you from the beginning that this ridiculous hysteria had only one place it could end up: Alex Jones universe. It had all the markings of it: a bunch of people with no idea what they’re talking about, conspiracy theories being cooked up, political cheap points to be scored, an appeal to ignorance, fear and the lowest common denominator.

    And now, we’ve arrived, exactly where I predicted we would arrive.

    Thanks Dr. Rahe for proving my point so well.

    • #13
  14. Marythefifth Inactive
    Marythefifth
    @Marythefifth

    Although it doesn’t explain the NYC ban on emergency dispatchers, there may be a different reason for a given hospital to try to hide an Ebola diagnosis, one that is more immediate than potential political gain. Texas Health Presby lost many millions of dollars in the 1st half of this month due to patients choosing to go anywhere but there for treatment. I expect it will be a long time before it regains its reputation, especially if Ebola remains in the news nationwide.

    • #14
  15. civil westman Inactive
    civil westman
    @user_646399

    “Investigative journalism” along with media skepticism, as Dr. Rahe points out, is reserved for Republicans, libertarians and conservatives. It is truly maddening. One would think after all the administration’s scandals and opaqueness, the word “stonewall” would have appeared frequently. A quick Google search of the news reveals its glaring absence. That, too, is reserved by the MSM for Republican administrations, not this, the “most transparent.” Had any of the Obama administration scandals and coverups taken place with a Republican administration, media would have drummed it out of office.

    Immersed as we are in propaganda of all sorts with the MSM as its willing mouthpiece and accomplice, I would not put anything past this administration in attempting retain power by hiding ebola cases. Notwithstanding trumpeting all its “caring,” power is what it is all about; the only thing.

    • #15
  16. Paul A. Rahe Member
    Paul A. Rahe
    @PaulARahe

    AIG:

    Paul A. Rahe: Kit Daniels of Info-Wars cites

    Aaannd…that’s when you know you’ve hit rock bottom.

    When you start citing Info Wars.

    Congrats Ricochet. Congrats to all of us.

    PS: Now, I’m not the kind of person who says I told you so…but I told you so. I told you from the beginning that this ridiculous hysteria had only one place it could end up: Alex Jones universe. It had all the markings of it: a bunch of people with no idea what they’re talking about, conspiracy theories being cooked up, political cheap points to be scored, an appeal to ignorance, fear and the lowest common denominator.

    And now, we’ve arrived, exactly where I predicted we would arrive.

    Thanks Dr. Rahe for proving my point so well.

    There is only one reason why one might wonder whether Info-wars got this right — and that is the fact that we have been lied to time and again. Remember Benghazi… but I forgot. You believe, as a matter of principle, that we should trust the experts appointed by this administration . . . such as Susan Rice. Right?

    • #16
  17. Mike H Inactive
    Mike H
    @MikeH

    Paul A. Rahe: There is only one reason why one might wonder whether Info-wars got this right — and that is the fact that we have been lied to time and again.

    Really? P(Info-wars = true) -> 1 as (n lies by administration) -> ∞ ?

    Remember Benghazi… but I forgot. You believe, as a matter of principle, that we should trust the experts appointed by this administration . . . such as Susan Rice. Right?

    Do you think this is fair? You think it’s a matter of principle to AIG? It couldn’t just be that his assessment happens to coincide with what the administration’s lackies are saying in this instance?

    Dr. Rahe, I love ya, but this is troubling.

    • #17
  18. user_75648 Thatcher
    user_75648
    @JohnHendrix

    Mike H: Do you think this is fair? You think it’s a matter of principle to AIG? It couldn’t just be that his assessment happens to coincide with what the administration’s lackies are saying in this instance? Dr. Rahe, I love ya, but this is troubling.

    Well, in defense of Dr. Rahe, I think the tone of his ripost to AIG was in response to what I discern was AIG’s sarcasm.  That said, you have a point.  I think AIG has a point too: we do not want Ricochet’s reputation to be stained by trafficking in fringe theories.  Dr. Rahe has a point in that this is the same administration that scapegoated a video-maker for Benghazi just before the last election.  It’s not like the Obama is above this sort of thing.

    All of that said, I want to state that I have significant mental reservations about any material where infowars is the source.

    That said, something doesn’t become false just because it was sourced by infowars.

    infowars’ post has now been linked by Drudge.  I expect that reporters are investigating the claims and will smoke-out whether infowars’ claims are just so much nonsense.

    Exit question: Why did Dr. Lawrenzi descend down to infowars if his claims could withstand scrutiny? Why didn’t he take his tips to Breitbart or Michelle Malkin?  Had he shopped these claims around but found no takers from organizations higher in the food chain?

    • #18
  19. Paul A. Rahe Member
    Paul A. Rahe
    @PaulARahe

    Mike H:

    Paul A. Rahe: There is only one reason why one might wonder whether Info-wars got this right — and that is the fact that we have been lied to time and again.

    Really? P(Info-wars = true) -> 1 as (n lies by administration) -> ∞ ?

    Do you think this is fair? You think it’s a matter of principle to AIG? It couldn’t just be that his assessment happens to coincide with what the administration’s lackies are saying in this instance?

    Dr. Rahe, I love ya, but this is troubling.

    You should read what AIG wrote on my last post. He is a very trusting fellow.

    • #19
  20. user_82762 Inactive
    user_82762
    @JamesGawron

    Dr. Rahe and All,

    Quick Question: If it’s OK for Christy & Cuomo to have their own Ebola Screening Standards for NY & NJ then why isn’t it OK for Texas & Arizona to have their own Border Screening for Illegals?

    Inquiring minds want to know.

    Regards,

    Jim

    • #20
  21. George Savage Member
    George Savage
    @GeorgeSavage

    Infowars is simply not a credible news source.

    I have firsthand experience.  Several times over the past four years the site has “reported” on the medical technology my company is developing.  Each post was apparently constructed solely by reference to a press release or public disclosure.  Material erroneous assumptions?  Of course.  Unsupported conspiracy-minded conclusions?  You bet your life.  Contact with anyone associated with my company, or anyone at all, as far I as can ascertain?  Zero, zilch, nada–which just about sums up Infowars’ reliability.

    • #21
  22. user_75648 Thatcher
    user_75648
    @JohnHendrix

    James Gawron:Dr. Rahe and All,

    Quick Question: If it’s OK for Christy & Cuomo to have their own Ebola Screening Standards for NY & NJ then why isn’t it OK for Texas & Arizona to have their own Border Screening for Illegals?

    Inquiring minds want to know.

    Regards,

    Jim

    In the most recent episode of Law Talk John Yoo expressed the opinion that the States have  substantial power to quarantine. Richard Epstein concurred with John.

    Jump to 9:00 to hear the beginning of the discussion.  Around 11:30 John Yoo begins describes the legal authority to quarantine.

    This Law Talk podcast can be heard here.

    • #22
  23. hawk@haakondahl.com Member
    hawk@haakondahl.com
    @BallDiamondBall

    Paul A. Rahe: family physician James Lawrenzi who claims that “hospital workers are being told not to use the word ‘Ebola’ if they treat patients who may have the disease.”

    I have no problem believing this.  We see this all the time in other aspects of the cowardly government’s image shaping and reality warping.

    I just won’t take those idiots’ word for it.

    Sorry, AIG, this isn’t the Ripocalypse.

    • #23
  24. MJBubba Member
    MJBubba
    @

    Not trusting Team Obama on Ebola seems prudent.   The new Ebola czar is obviously a political operative and not a medical or administrative manager for a reason.   He is not the czar for the purpose of managing any kind of response to Ebola.   He is the czar for the purpose of managing the politics of the Ebola story in order to minimize the damage to Democratic Party candidates in the run-up to elections.

    The obvious fact of Team Obama treating Ebola as a political issue to be managed, and not as a potential health care crisis to be addressed is telling.   This is the sort of thing that stirs up overreactions in the other direction.

    Just be careful to place the blame where it belongs.   If anyone is getting carried away by Ebola fears, it is because Team Obama is leading healthcare organizations in hiding the truth from America.

    • #24
  25. Xennady Member
    Xennady
    @

    If that patient at Lawrenzi’s hospital actually had ebola and actually was disappeared a few weeks ago then he is actually reporting good news.

    Otherwise by now we’d likely have seen quite a few cases of ebola from that patient, considering that he was “bleeding out all of his orifices” and thus likely contaminated everything he touched.

    But apparently he failed to create his own personal epidemic. So either he did not in fact have ebola- my guess- or ebola isn’t as dangerous as we think.

    Or Lawrenzi is simply making stuff up out of nothing, because he is a liar or crazy.

    • #25
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