Last week, a lawyer reportedly serving as a special counsel to Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer published a leaked letter that falsely indicated a shortage of ventilators and intensive-care beds at the Henry Ford Health System had forced staff to leave some Wuhan virus patients to die. While the hospital has since made clear that it has ventilators and beds at all of its Michigan locations, the incident suggests the governor’s office is either over its head in handling the pandemic, purposefully playing politics during the crisis, or both.
The rumor-mongering began sometime Thursday when Nicholas Bagley, a University of Michigan Law School professor, tweeted an excerpt of an internal document drafted by Henry Ford Health Systems.
“Patients who have ventilator or ICU care withdrawn will receive pain control and comfort measures,” Bagley wrote, above a picture of the letter. Soon after, Kasie Hunt, NBC News’ Capitol Hill correspondent, retweeted Bagley’s tweet to her 490,000 followers, telling them, “It is happening here, in America. Doctors here are having to decide. ‘Patients who have the best chance of getting better are our first priority.’”
https://thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/cleveland3.29.a-186x300.jpg 186w, https://thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/cleveland3.29.a-167x270.jpg 167w, https://thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/cleveland3.29.a-124x200.jpg 124w, https://thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/cleveland3.29.a-133x214.jpg 133w" alt="" width="400" height="646" data-portal-copyright="The Federalist" data-lazy-loaded="true" />
Andy Slavitt, the former Obama administration acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or “Ex-Obama health care head,” as he describes himself on Twitter, pushed the story to his 370,000 followers, with some added flourish: “A major hospital in the Midwest has reached its limit on ventilators minutes ago. They are handing out forms saying that only those ‘with the best chance of survival’ will get care. Others will be getting pain medication.”
read more:
Replies