Posted on 08/21/2023 1:27:07 PM PDT by lightman
Documents recently obtained from the National Institutes of Health suggest public health officials used inaccurate information and misrepresented medical research to advance their policy objective that masks prevent severe COVID-19 and virus transmission—despite opposing scientific evidence received from experts.
In a recently obtained letter (pdf) sent in November 2021 to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), top epidemiologist Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, and seven colleagues informed the agency it was promoting flawed data and excluding data that did not reinforce their narrative.
The letter warned the agency that misrepresenting data on trusted websites such as the CDC and the COVID-19 Real-Time Learning Network—jointly created by the CDC and Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA)—would “damage the credibility of science,” endanger public trust by “misrepresenting the evidence,” and give the public “false expectations” masking would protect them from the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19.
“We believe the information and recommendations as provided may actually put an individual at increased risk of becoming infected with SARS-CoV-2 and for them to experience a serious or even life-threatening infection,” Mr. Osterhom wrote.
The authors urged the IDSA to remove the suggestion that masking prevents severe disease from its website and asked the CDC to reconsider its statements about the “efficacy of masks and face coverings for preventing transmission of SARS-CoV-2.”
Osterholm also noted a pattern of selectively choosing data that supported the desired narrative that masks prevent severe COVID-19 disease and transmission—claims he said are unsupported by the scientific evidence provided by the CDC and IDSA on their websites.
The IDSA “Masks and Face Coverings for the Public” webpage appears to “focus on the strengths of studies that support its conclusions while ignoring their shortcomings of study design,” Mr. Osterholm wrote. “Studies that do not support its perspective are similarly downplayed.”
The COVID-19 Real-Time Learning Network was created in 2020 to share “accurate, timely information about COVID-19.” According to its website, the IDSA’s editorial team of infectious disease and public health experts synthesize clinical guidance, identify emerging scientific consensus and areas of ongoing uncertainty, and tackle “misconceptions and disinformation.”
Although partly funded by the CDC, the IDSA collaborates with numerous medical professional organizations that publish medical journals and make recommendations based on agency guidance, including the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American College of Physicians, the Society of Critical Care Medicine, the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, and the Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists.
The letter was sent to CDC officials, the associate medical and associate digital editors of the COVID-19 Real-Time Learning Network, and IDSA board members, which included Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the former director of the CDC during the COVID-19 pandemic. Experts Ask CDC and IDSA to Address ‘Serious Errors’ on Website
In his letter to the CDC, Mr. Osterholm asked the CDC and IDSA to address the “serious errors” published on its website regarding the efficacy of masks as soon as possible and strongly urged the IDSA to remove the suggestion that masking prevents severe COVID-19 from its website and a podcast where such “irresponsible claims were made.”
Furthermore, Mr. Osterholm recommended the IDSA reconsider statements about the efficacy of masks and coverings for preventing SARS-CoV-2 transmission, noting the IDSA’s website falsely suggests evidence of mask efficacy has strengthened throughout the pandemic.
“We do not agree that the evidence for their efficacy has strengthened throughout the pandemic, as the website suggests,” Mr. Osterholm said. “In fact, contrary to the conclusion on this website, the November 2020 Cochrane Review cited states this: ‘Compared with wearing no mask, wearing a mask may make little to no difference in how many people caught a flu-like illness (9 studies; 3,507 people); and probably makes no difference in how many people have flu confirmed by a laboratory test (6 studies; 3,005 people).'”
Osterholm said he and his colleagues are not “anti-mask” but wanted to see a more careful scientific review of the data showing the role masks may play in preventing SARS-CoV-2 transmission. They offered to help the IDSA update its review of the science. Instead, the IDSA and CDC modified their website to promote masking, stating: “Masking is a critical public health tool for preventing the spread of COVID-19, and it is important to remember that any mask is better than no mask.”
The letter was part of documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by The Functional Government Initiative (FGI), an organization dedicated to “improving the American public’s awareness about the officials, decisions, and priorities of their government.”
“The story of official masking guidance should trouble the American public. Recall that Dr. Fauci at first said there was no need for masks. The cloth masks were all that stood between you and COVID. But as evidence against cloth masks appeared, the premiere scientific health organizations dug in their heels and refused to follow the science or listen to their trusted outside advisors,” FGI said in a statement (pdf).
“That Dr. Osterholm and his colleagues felt compelled to raise concerns about cherry-picked data and the danger it presented to the credibility of public health officials and the health of the public says that something was deeply dysfunctional in these agencies,” FGI stated.
The Epoch Times contacted the CDC for comment but did not receive a response.
Dr Anthony Fauci Says Masks Don’t Work
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FK-ZyUjgFBI
If masks worked, we would not be talking about COVID today
Well, color me shocked!
(If you passed High School biology you already knew this)
It was about control, not about health.
Hey lets see if these idiots will wear masks
THE CDC can’t be trusted for anything at all. They have completely and utterly destroyed their credibility. If I were in charge I’d completely defund and disband the organization. They no longer serve any useful purpose whatsoever since they’ve proven to be nothing but a political organization designed to enrich big pharma.
“If masks worked, we would not be talking about COVID today”
If masks worked, it would not have been necessary to release thousands of people from prison to prevent contagion. Just give them all a mask.
The actual reason for releasing them was to save on the budget. It was the same reason New York put people with Covid into old folks’ homes, which killed a lot of people. It was to save on the budget...by killing people. Our governments at all levels are evil.
I read a joke the other day. In the olden days fairy tales began with, “Once upon a time.” Today they begin with, “In a study released by the CDC.”
Not hard to see, really.
Start by seeing that the CDC (and gov’t Friends) is utterly unconstitutional and, thus illegal.
So now the game is, how to do the wrong thing - giving an illegal entity power - the right way. Ain’t no such animal.
The criminals just execute more crime. (Only these are “government” criminals - they can’t be that bad. Actually Hitler, Mao, Stalin, etc. have proven WAY beyond any reasonable doubt that government criminals are by far the worst types of criminals.)
CDC Lied. End of Story!!
This isn’t a shocker.
Papers have been published on this for decades.
Paging a couple of health systems in Upstate NY...
Just why did you re-institute the muzzle mandate, hmmmm...
https://www.axios.com/local/twin-cities/2022/03/08/eleven-tower-condo-sale-michael-osterholm
Michael Osterholm, the suddenly famous infectious disease expert at the University of Minnesota, paid $3.4 million for a unit about three-fourths of the way up the tower.
They’re preparing to do it all again .
Every fourth year, sure as the Olympics.
https://functionalgovernment.org/
It took government watchdog Functional Government Initiative (FGI) eight months and a lawsuit for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to confirm that there was no scientific or academic basis supporting Secretary Xavier Becerra’s prescription for COVID-19 vaccine booster shots every two months. HHS ignored FGI’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for months until taken to court, and now says there are no documents or communications explaining the origin of the Secretary’s public health pronouncement.
On November 28, 2022, Vice President Kamala Harris tweeted, “One shot, once a year—that’s all most people will need to stay protected from COVID year-long. Make a plan to get your shot at http://vaccines.gov.” The next day, HHS Secretary Becerra tweeted, “An updated COVID vaccine can help protect you from the worst outcomes of COVID. If it’s been over 2 months since your last dose, make a plan to get one now.” Becerra repeated his two-month recommendation the following day in another tweet.
What If There Had Been No Covid Coup?
DEBBIE LERMAN AUGUST 15, 2023
Once the biowarfare cartel took over the pandemic response, there was only one objective:
Scare everyone as much as possible to gain compliance with lockdowns and make everyone desperate for vaccines.
Public health experts, including the leaders of the NIH, CDC, and NIAID, were no longer authorized to make their own pandemic policy decisions or public announcements.
Everyone had to stick to the lockdown narrative.
https://brownstone.org/articles/what-if-there-had-been-no-covid-coup/
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