Formerly DT: COVID-19 - Featuring Lots of Politics, now CR because political talk not going away

[Incredulity 11675]

8 minutes ago, MNLonghornFUKM said:

Since there wasn’t mass death and case spikes with the mUh RiGhTs protests in early May, it’d have to be a different approach

you guys are leaving out;

SOMEBODY THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!!!  KAWASAKI TYPISH SYNDROME, UNKNOWN ORIGIN BUT DEFINITELY MAYBE CORONA! 

[Guest Lobo]

I don't know about where you live, but precisely 10-15 days after the big reopening of Texas, my county (Travis) saw 4 of its worst days since the big mid-April peak.  

[Coelenterate Fuccboi 13116]

24 minutes ago, EuroHorn said:

The first hurricane is supposed to be completely filled with the virus.  

We should drop chlorine into the storm.

[Incredulity 11675]

5 minutes ago, Lobo said:

I don't know about where you live, but precisely 10-15 days after the big reopening of Texas, my county (Travis) saw 4 of its worst days since the big mid-April peak.  

Update 6/1/20

May 1, 2020 - Beginning on May 1, 2020 (Friday), retail stores, restaurants, places of worship, movie theaters and malls will be allowed to operate at 25% capacity. The Travis County Fire Marshal's Office has provided a business reopening guidance.

Travis County Wuhan Flu Deaths - Cumulative total

3/27: 1 death

5/28: 92 deaths

5/29: 92 deaths

5/30: 93 deaths

5/31: 93 deaths

6/1:   93 deaths

Last Five Days: +1 

Travis County Health Care Stats: Current numbers

5/28: Hp - 88, ICU - 38, Vent - 22

5/29: Hp - 88, ICU - 38, Vent - 22

5/30: Hp - 79, ICU - 39, Vent - 19

5/31: Hp - 79, ICU - 34, Vent - 19

6/1:  Hp: - 97, ICU - 41, Vent - 21

Last Five Days: Hp: +9, ICU: +3, Vent: -1

[bolverk 29685]

14 minutes ago, MNLonghornFUKM said:

Since there wasn’t mass death and case spikes with the mUh RiGhTs protests in early May, it’d have to be a different approach

Hate to break it to you, but case counts have risen dramatically over the last week or so here in Texas. Yesterday, we recorded our highest one-day count of new infections throughout this entire ordeal. The data also seem to show early indications that deaths might be picking back up too. So take that for what it's worth.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/texas-coronavirus-cases.html

[stone oak 639]

5 minutes ago, Lobo said:

I don't know about where you live, but precisely 10-15 days after the big reopening of Texas, my county (Travis) saw 4 of its worst days since the big mid-April peak.  

Increased testing capability?

Plus, I don't want to hear another goddamn word about "reopening" from anyone after all the images of people in huge crowds for the past 8 days. Sheesh.

[stone oak 639]

1 minute ago, bolverk said:

Hate to break it to you, but case counts have risen dramatically over the last week or so here in Texas. Yesterday, we recorded our highest one-day count of new infections throughout this entire ordeal. The data also seem to show early indications that deaths might be picking back up too. So take that for what it's worth.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/texas-coronavirus-cases.html

Like clockwork. 

[bolverk 29685]

Just now, stone oak said:

Like clockwork. 

Click the link, look at the two charts, and tell me that I'm wrong. And, yes, "like clockwork" the data is showing exactly what one would expect, given our recent changes in behavior.

[bschoolprof 6263]

 

The professor whose grim warning that 500,000 Brits may die from Covid-19 without action triggered lockdown has admitted Sweden may have suppressed its outbreak as well as Britain - without imposing the draconian measures. 

Professor Neil Ferguson, of Imperial College London, revealed he had the 'greatest respect' for the Scandinavian nation, which has managed to suffer fewer deaths per capita than the UK. 

He made the comments at a House of Lords Science and Technology Committee today during his first public appearance since flouting stay at home rules to have secret trysts with his married mistress last month.     

The epidemiologist - dubbed Professor Lockdown - has come under fire for his modelling which predicted half a million Britons could die from Covid-19 and heavily influenced the UK's decision to rush into a nationwide quarantine.  

Professor Ferguson appeared to praise Sweden for keeping infections low without the economically crippling curbs and said 'they have gone quite a long way to [achieving] the same effect'.

But when he was grilled by peers about whether the measures were really necessary in the UK, he pointed out that Sweden's infection rate had not fallen as rapidly as the Britain's.

The UK has a death rate of 575 people per million, while Sweden's is significantly lower at 436 per million. As well as fewer deaths, Sweden's GDP actually grew in the first quarter of 2020, suggesting it might avoid the worst of the economic fallout from the crisis. 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8379769/Professor-Lockdown-Neil-Ferguson-admits-greatest-respect-Sweden.html

 

[stone oak 639]

2 minutes ago, bolverk said:

Click the link, look at the two charts, and tell me that I'm wrong. And, yes, "like clockwork" the data is showing exactly what one would expect, given our recent changes in behavior.

Corrleation != causation. That's all I'm going to say on this.

[bschoolprof 6263]

1 minute ago, bolverk said:

Click the link, look at the two charts, and tell me that I'm wrong. And, yes, "like clockwork" the data is showing exactly what one would expect, given our recent changes in behavior.

Here's better data from the covid tracking project.  New cases in Texas are a close a proxy for the number of tests being conducted - compare the first 2 pictures. Hospitalizations are basically flat and deaths have fallen.  Not perfect, but manageable.  

[Incredulity 11675]

2 minutes ago, bschoolprof said:

 

The professor whose grim warning that 500,000 Brits may die from Covid-19 without action triggered lockdown has admitted Sweden may have suppressed its outbreak as well as Britain - without imposing the draconian measures. 

Professor Neil Ferguson, of Imperial College London, revealed he had the 'greatest respect' for the Scandinavian nation, which has managed to suffer fewer deaths per capita than the UK. 

He made the comments at a House of Lords Science and Technology Committee today during his first public appearance since flouting stay at home rules to have secret trysts with his married mistress last month.     

The epidemiologist - dubbed Professor Lockdown - has come under fire for his modelling which predicted half a million Britons could die from Covid-19 and heavily influenced the UK's decision to rush into a nationwide quarantine.  

Professor Ferguson appeared to praise Sweden for keeping infections low without the economically crippling curbs and said 'they have gone quite a long way to [achieving] the same effect'.

But when he was grilled by peers about whether the measures were really necessary in the UK, he pointed out that Sweden's infection rate had not fallen as rapidly as the Britain's.

The UK has a death rate of 575 people per million, while Sweden's is significantly lower at 436 per million. As well as fewer deaths, Sweden's GDP actually grew in the first quarter of 2020, suggesting it might avoid the worst of the economic fallout from the crisis. 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8379769/Professor-Lockdown-Neil-Ferguson-admits-greatest-respect-Sweden.html

 

Met with a collective 

 

[Telegraph_it 3357]

11 minutes ago, bolverk said:

Hate to break it to you, but case counts have risen dramatically over the last week or so here in Texas. Yesterday, we recorded our highest one-day count of new infections throughout this entire ordeal. The data also seem to show early indications that deaths might be picking back up too. So take that for what it's worth.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/texas-coronavirus-cases.html

You can't just look at daily positives. You need to also look at the number of tests being done as well. Also for some reason Texas mixes PCR and antibody tests results together which confuses the picture of how many new cases Texas really has. It seems NYT's might be taking the antibody number out of their results as they show 1,578 new cases vs 3,281 on the tableau site for 5/31.

https://public.tableau.com/profile/peter.james.walker#!/vizhome/COVID-19SeeYourState/YourStateKeys

 

edit: @bschoolprof beat me to it. 

Edited June 3, 2020 by Telegraph_it

[bullzak 422]

4 minutes ago, bschoolprof said:

Professor Neil Ferguson, of Imperial College London, revealed he had the 'greatest respect' for the Scandinavian nation, which has managed to suffer fewer deaths per capita than the UK.

Ferguson is a clown. Google any of the myriad doom and gloom predictions he has made that never came close. Fuck that idiot. 

I should imagine there are way more people moving through and about London than there ever could be in, say Stockholm over any given time. Extremely dense and mobile population with major international airport. 

Same reason NYC was always going to be screwed. 

Plus Sweden is coming under a lot of fire for its higher death rate relative to its neighbors so not sure they get a pass just yet. 

[Anastasis 23475]

10 minutes ago, bolverk said:

Hate to break it to you, but case counts have risen dramatically over the last week or so here in Texas. Yesterday, we recorded our highest one-day count of new infections throughout this entire ordeal. The data also seem to show early indications that deaths might be picking back up too. So take that for what it's worth.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/texas-coronavirus-cases.html

The locations of the hot spots are intriguing. Pecos (prisons), Walker (prisons), Grimes (prisons), Jones (prisons), Moore (meat packing), Titus (meat packing). 

 

 

[bolverk 29685]

3 minutes ago, bschoolprof said:

Here's better data from the covid tracking project.  New cases in Texas are a close a proxy for the number of tests being conducted - compare the first 2 pictures. Hospitalizations are basically flat and deaths have fallen.  Not perfect, but manageable.  

 

2 minutes ago, Telegraph_it said:

You can't just look at daily positives. You need to also look at the number of tests being done as well. Also for some reason Texas mixes PCR and antibody tests results together which confuses the picture of how many new cases Texas really has. It seems NYT's might be taking the antibody number out of their results as they show 1,578 new cases vs 3,281 on the tableau site for 5/31.

https://public.tableau.com/profile/peter.james.walker#!/vizhome/COVID-19SeeYourState/YourStateKeys

 

edit: @bschoolprof beat me to it. 

I hope to God both of y'all are right that it's just the testing showing more cases.

[Pokoloco 1281]

Oklahoma State linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga said Tuesday that he tested positive for COVID-19 after attending a protest in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Ogbongbemiga, a second-team All-Big 12 selection last year, made the announcement on Twitter.

After attending a protest in Tulsa AND being well protective of myself, I have tested positive for COVID-19. Please, if you are going to protest, take care of yourself and stay safe.

— Amen Ogbongbemiga (@closedprayer) June 3, 2020

Ogbongbemiga was one of 30 players to return to campus on Monday, the first phase of Oklahoma State athletes returning to campus in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. All of those players, as well as coaches and other staff members, were tested for the coronavirus, a source told ESPN.

[Anastasis 23475]

Also, comparing that cap from today, to the one two weeks from now should be interesting. 

[bolverk 29685]

1 minute ago, Anastasis said:

The locations of the hot spots are intriguing. Pecos (prisons), Walker (prisons), Grimes (prisons), Jones (prisons), Moore (meat packing), Titus (meat packing). 

 

 

Absolutely. But you should also note that Travis is back in the orange - hopefully due to testing.

[Guest Lobo]

14 minutes ago, stone oak said:

Increased testing capability?

Plus, I don't want to hear another goddamn word about "reopening" from anyone after all the images of people in huge crowds for the past 8 days. Sheesh.

Okay, how about this then.....can two sets of mutually exclusive facts roll around in our collective brains?  

Reopening brought about a predictable spike (that data are all over this page).  AND.  ALSO.  IN ADDITION TO.  The protests/riots will bring about a commensurate spike in a week or so.  

Two things this country has no shortage of:  Issues to protest and stupid people going into stores (via automatic door or brick).  

[Telegraph_it 3357]

1 minute ago, bolverk said:

 

I hope to God both of y'all are right that it's just the testing showing more cases.

I hope so too. Data in two weeks or so will be interesting...

[MNLonghornFUKM 8817]

Hate to break it to you, but case counts have risen dramatically over the last week or so here in Texas. Yesterday, we recorded our highest one-day count of new infections throughout this entire ordeal. The data also seem to show early indications that deaths might be picking back up too. So take that for what it's worth.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/texas-coronavirus-cases.html

Bloody Tuesday after a crazy week? There’s a slight chance of some back log on those numbers. Other open states are riding flat or slight upticks. Nothing substantial that I’ve seen

[Incredulity 11675]

3 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

The locations of the hot spots are intriguing. Pecos (prisons), Walker (prisons), Grimes (prisons), Jones (prisons), Moore (meat packing), Titus (meat packing). 

 

 

Prisons and Meat Packing plants(critical infrastructure still operating) facilitate mass testing of populations.  Most of the positives coming out of these "hot spots" are asymptomatic.

[Anastasis 23475]

2 minutes ago, bolverk said:

Absolutely. But you should also note that Travis is back in the orange - hopefully due to testing.

I'd wager that Travis, Harris, Dallas are all +1 on the scale in two more weeks.  And it won't have as much to do with reopening as it will with the large protests occurring in the major urban counties. 

[stone oak 639]

3 minutes ago, Lobo said:

Reopening brought about a predictable spike (that data are all over this page). 

No it did not dude. But I'm not going to sit here and argue with someone who always thinks they are right.

[Hpara759 1780]

I know that one of the St Davids system hospital's has more COVID patients in  their ICU currently than they have had since the start

[Iceman 2717]

Just now, stone oak said:

No it did not dude. But I'm not going to sit here and argue with someone who always thinks they are right.

where the fuck do you think you are?

[MNLonghornFUKM 8817]

Ferguson is a clown. Google any of the myriad doom and gloom predictions he has made that never came close. Fuck that idiot. 
I should imagine there are way more people moving through and about London than there ever could be in, say Stockholm over any given time. Extremely dense and mobile population with major international airport. 
Same reason NYC was always going to be screwed. 
Plus Sweden is coming under a lot of fire for its higher death rate relative to its neighbors so not sure they get a pass just yet. 

Doesn’t matter. had sex. With a married chick. Who has her own family at home. While he was covid positive. While suggesting the rest of us shelter in place

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

16 minutes ago, bolverk said:

Click the link, look at the two charts, and tell me that I'm wrong. And, yes, "like clockwork" the data is showing exactly what one would expect, given our recent changes in behavior.

Then they should be arresting all those folks/protestors breaking the social distancing, and curfew laws.. pro tip:  ain't gonna a happen....

[MNLonghornFUKM 8817]

Oklahoma State linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga said Tuesday that he tested positive for COVID-19 after attending a protest in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Ogbongbemiga, a second-team All-Big 12 selection last year, made the announcement on Twitter.

After attending a protest in Tulsa AND being well protective of myself, I have tested positive for COVID-19. Please, if you are going to protest, take care of yourself and stay safe.

— Amen Ogbongbemiga (@closedprayer) June 3, 2020

Ogbongbemiga was one of 30 players to return to campus on Monday, the first phase of Oklahoma State athletes returning to campus in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. All of those players, as well as coaches and other staff members, were tested for the coronavirus, a source told ESPN.

Oklahoma state moves up as the front runners to win the national championship

[Anastasis 23475]

4 minutes ago, Lobo said:

Okay, how about this then.....can two sets of mutually exclusive facts roll around in our collective brains?  

Reopening brought about a predictable spike (that data are all over this page).  AND.  ALSO.  IN ADDITION TO.  The protests/riots will bring about a commensurate spike in a week or so.  

Two things this country has no shortage of:  Issues to protest and stupid people going into stores (via automatic door or brick).  

At this point I don't think that there is clear evidence of spikes related to either in Texas.  That may change, but teasing it all out is going to be very challenging. I think that you probably just have the split the time series data for the state on Friday, or start trying to tease out the counties and do some analysis that accounts for the size and number of days of the protests. 

[bullzak 422]

When it comes to outbreaks in Texas, GA, and Florida, I will take my cue from national media. 

If the coronavirus porn folks who seem to root for this to get worse in those states aren't blaring it across the front pages, it probably didn't happen. 

Personally, I thought those states were light on lockdown and too early to open. Looks like I was wrong and I am damn happy about it. 

[Guest Lobo]

8 minutes ago, stone oak said:

No it did not dude. But I'm not going to sit here and argue with someone who always thinks they are right.

What the hell else is there to do on this message board, dude?   

 But seriously, I'm staring right at the Central Health stats for my county.  It did happen.  But yes, there are other mitigating factors to be sure.  

[clapclapclap 9000]

So that anit-Hydroxychloroquine study that the WHO (they did get fooled again)and the media heavily promoted turned out to be bogus and created by a scam organization, that fooled even the Lancet and the NE Journal of Medicine:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/03/covid-19-surgisphere-who-world-health-organization-hydroxychloroquine

Governments and WHO changed Covid-19 policy based on suspect data from tiny US company

Surgisphere, whose (11) employees appear to include a sci-fi writer and adult content model, provided database behind Lancet and New England Journal of Medicine hydroxychloroquine studies

Spoiler

The World Health Organization and a number of national governments have changed their Covid-19 policies and treatments on the basis of flawed data from a little-known US healthcare analytics company, also calling into question the integrity of key studies published in some of the world’s most prestigious medical journals.

A Guardian investigation can reveal the US-based company Surgisphere, whose handful of employees appear to include a science fiction writer and an adult-content model, has provided data for multiple studies on Covid-19 co-authored by its chief executive, but has so far failed to adequately explain its data or methodology.

Data it claims to have legitimately obtained from more than a thousand hospitals worldwide formed the basis of scientific articles that have led to changes in Covid-19 treatment policies in Latin American countries. It was also behind a decision by the WHO and research institutes around the world to halt trials of the controversial drug hydroxychloroquine.

Two of the world’s leading medical journals – the Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine – published studies based on Surgisphere data. The studies were co-authored by the firm’s chief executive, Sapan Desai.

Late on Tuesday, after being approached by the Guardian, the Lancet released an “expression of concern” about its published study. The New England Journal of Medicine has also issued a similar notice.

An independent audit of the provenance and validity of the data has now been commissioned by the authors not affiliated with Surgisphere because of “concerns that have been raised about the reliability of the database”.

The Guardian’s investigation has found:

• A search of publicly available material suggests several of Surgisphere’s employees have little or no data or scientific background. An employee listed as a science editor appears to be a science fiction author and fantasy artist. Another employee listed as a marketing executive is an adult model and events hostess.

• The company’s LinkedIn page has fewer than 100 followers and last week listed just six employees. This was changed to three employees as of Wednesday.

• While Surgisphere claims to run one of the largest and fastest hospital databases in the world, it has almost no online presence. Its Twitter handle has fewer than 170 followers, with no posts between October 2017 and March 2020.

• Until Monday, the “get in touch” link on Surgisphere’s homepage redirected to a WordPress template for a cryptocurrency website, raising questions about how hospitals could easily contact the company to join its database.

• Desai has been named in three medical malpractice suits, unrelated to the Surgisphere database. In an interview with the Scientist, Desai previously described the allegations as “unfounded”.

• In 2008, Desai launched a crowdfunding campaign on the website indiegogo promoting a wearable “next generation human augmentation device that can help you achieve what you never thought was possible”. The device never came to fruition.

• Desai’s Wikipedia page has been deleted following questions about Surgisphere and his history.

Doubts over Lancet study

 

Questions surrounding Surgisphere have been growing in the medical community for the past few weeks.

On 22 May the Lancet published a blockbuster peer-reviewed study which found the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine, which has been promoted by Donald Trump, was associated with a higher mortality rate in Covid-19 patients and increased heart problems.

Trump, much to the dismay of the scientific community, had publicly touted hydroxychloroquine as a “wonder drug” despite no evidence of its efficacy for treating Covid-19.

The Lancet study, which listed Desai as one of the co-authors, claimed to have analysed Surgisphere data collected from nearly 15,000 patients with Covid-19, admitted to 1,200 hospitals around the world, who received hydroxychloroquine alone or in combination with antibiotics.

The negative findings made global news and prompted the WHO to halt the hydroxychloroquine arm of its global trials.

But only days later Guardian Australia revealed glaring errors in the Australian data included in the study. The study said researchers gained access to data through Surgisphere from five hospitals, recording 600 Australian Covid-19 patients and 73 Australian deaths as of 21 April.

But data from Johns Hopkins University shows only 67 deaths from Covid-19 had been recorded in Australia by 21 April. The number did not rise to 73 until 23 April. Desai said one Asian hospital had accidentally been included in the Australian data, leading to an overestimate of cases there. The Lancet published a small retraction related to the Australian findings after the Guardian’s story, its only amendment to the study so far.

The Guardian has since contacted five hospitals in Melbourne and two in Sydney, whose cooperation would have been essential for the Australian patient numbers in the database to be reached. All denied any role in such a database, and said they had never heard of Surgisphere. Desai did not respond to requests to comment on their statements.

Another study using the Surgisphere database, again co-authored by Desai, found the anti-parasite drug ivermectin reduced death rates in severely ill Covid-19 patients. It was published online in the Social Science Research Network e-library, before peer-review or publication in a medical journal, and prompted the Peruvian government to add ivermectin to its national Covid-19 therapeutic guidelines.

 

The New England Journal of Medicine also published a peer-reviewed Desai study based on Surgisphere data, which included data from Covid-19 patients from 169 hospitals in 11 countries in Asia, Europe and North America. It found common heart medications known as angiotensin-converting–enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin-receptor blockers were not associated with a higher risk of harm in Covid-19 patients.

On Wednesday, the NEJM and the Lancet published an expression of concern about the hydroxychloroquine study, which listed respected vascular surgeon Mandeep Mehra as the lead author and Desai as co-author.

Lancet editor Richard Horton told the Guardian: “Given the questions raised about the reliability of the data gathered by Surgisphere, we have today issued an Expression of Concern, pending further investigation.

“An independent data audit is currently underway and we trust that this review, which should be completed within the next week, will tell us more about the status of the findings reported in the paper by Mandeep Mehra and colleagues.”

Surgisphere ‘came out of nowhere’

One of the questions that has most baffled the scientific community is how Surgisphere, established by Desai in 2008 as a medical education company that published textbooks, became the owner of a powerful international database. That database, despite only being announced by Surgisphere recently, boasts access to data from 96,000 patients in 1,200 hospitals around the world.

When contacted by the Guardian, Desai said his company employed just 11 people. The employees listed on LinkedIn were recorded on the site as having joined Surgisphere only two months ago. Several did not appear to have a scientific or statistical background, but mention expertise in strategy, copywriting, leadership and acquisition.

Dr James Todaro, who runs MedicineUncensored, a website that publishes the results of hydroxychloroquine studies, said: “Surgisphere came out of nowhere to conduct perhaps the most influential global study in this pandemic in the matter of a few weeks.

“It doesn’t make sense,” he said. “It would require many more researchers than it claims to have for this expedient and of multinational study to be possible.”

Desai told the Guardian: “Surgisphere has been in business since 2008. Our healthcare data analytics services started about the same time and have continued to grow since that time. We use a great deal of artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate this process as much as possible, which is the only way a task like this is even possible.”

It is not clear from the methodology in the studies that used Surgisphere data, or from the Surgisphere website itself, how the company was able to put in place data-sharing agreements from so many hospitals worldwide, including those with limited technology, and to reconcile different languages and coding systems, all while staying within the regulatory, data-protection and ethical rules of each country.

Desai said Surgisphere and its QuartzClinical content management system was part of a research collaboration initiated “several years ago”, though he did not specify when.

“Surgisphere serves as a data aggregator and performs data analysis on this data,” he said. “We are not responsible for the source data, thus the labor intensive task required for exporting the data from an Electronic Health Records, converting it into the format required by our data dictionary, and fully deidentifying the data is done by the healthcare partner.”

This appears to contradict the claim on the QuartzClinical website that it does all the work, and “successfully integrates your electronic health record, financial system, supply chain, and quality programs into one platform”. Desai did not explain this apparent contradiction when the Guardian put it to him.

Desai said the way Surgisphere obtained data was “always done in compliance with local laws and regulations. We never receive any protected health information or individually identifiable information.”

Peter Ellis, the chief data scientist of Nous Group, an international management consultancy that does data integration projects for government departments, expressed concern that Surgisphere database was “almost certainly a scam”.

“It is not something that any hospital could realistically do,” he said. “De-identifying is not just a matter of knocking off the patients’ names, it is a big and difficult process. I doubt hospitals even have capability to do it appropriately. It is the sort of thing national statistics agencies have whole teams working on, for years.”

“There’s no evidence online of [Surgisphere] having any analytical software earlier than a year ago. It takes months to get people to even look into joining these databases, it involves network review boards, security people, and management. It just doesn’t happen with a sign-up form and a conversation.”

None of the information from Desai’s database has yet been made public, including the names of any of the hospitals, despite the Lancet being among the many signatories to a statement on data-sharing for Covid-19 studies. The Lancet study is now disputed by 120 doctors.

When the Guardian put a detailed list of concerns to Desai about the database, the study findings and his background, he responded: “There continues to be a fundamental misunderstanding about what our system is and how it works”.

“There are also a number of inaccuracies and unrelated connections that you are trying to make with a clear bias toward attempting to discredit who we are and what we do,” he said. “We do not agree with your premise or the nature of what you have put together, and I am sad to see that what should have been a scientific discussion has been denigrated into this sort of discussion.”

‘The peak of human evolution’

An examination of Desai’s background found that the vascular surgeon has been named in three medical malpractice suits in the US, two of them filed in November 2019. In one case, a lawsuit filed by a patient, Joseph Vitagliano, accused Desai and Northwest Community Hospital in Illinois, where he worked until recently, of being “careless and negligent”, leading to permanent damage following surgery. 

Northwest Community Hospital confirmed that Desai had been employed there since June 2016 but had voluntarily resigned on 10 February 2020 “for personal reasons”.

“Dr Desai’s clinical privileges with NCH were not suspended, revoked or otherwise limited by NCH,” a spokeswoman said. The hospital declined to comment on the malpractice suits. Desai said in the interview with the Scientist that he deemed any lawsuit against him to be “unfounded”

Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the institution affiliated with the hydroxychloroquine study and its lead author, Mandeep Mehra, said in a statement: “Independent of Surgisphere, the remaining co-authors of the recent studies published in The Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine have initiated independent reviews of the data used in both papers after learning of the concerns that have been raised about the reliability of the database”. 

Mehra said he had routinely underscored the importance and value of randomised, clinical trials and that such trials were necessary before any conclusions could be reached. “I eagerly await word from the independent audits, the results of which will inform any further action,” he said.

Desai’s now-deleted Wikipedia page said he held a doctorate in law and a PhD in anatomy and cell biology, as well as his medical qualifications. A biography of Desai on a brochure for an international medical conference says he has held multiple physician leadership roles in clinical practice, and that he is “a certified lean six sigma master black belt”.

It is not the first time Desai has launched projects with ambitious claims. In 2008, he launched a crowdfunding campaign on the website indiegogo promoting a “next generation human augmentation device” called Neurodynamics Flow, which he said “can help you achieve what you never thought was possible”.

“With its sophisticated programming, optimal neural induction points, and tried and true results, Neurodynamics Flow allows you to rise to the peak of human evolution,” the description said. The device raised a few hundred dollars, and never eventuated.

Ellis, the chief data scientist of Nous Group, said it was unclear why Desai made such bold claims about his products given how likely it was that the global research community would scrutinise them.

“My first reaction is it was to draw attention to his firm, Ellis said. “But it seems really obvious that this would backfire.”

Today Prof Peter Horby, Professor of Emerging Infectious Diseases and Global Health in the Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, said: “I welcome the statement from the Lancet, which follows a similar statement by the NEJM regarding a study by the same group on cardiovascular drugs and COVID-19. 

“The very serious concerns being raised about the validity of the papers by Mehra et al need to be recognised and actioned urgently, and ought to bring about serious reflection on whether the quality of editorial and peer review during the pandemic has been adequate. Scientific publication must above all be rigorous and honest. In an emergency, these values are needed more than ever.”

 

Edited June 3, 2020 by clapclapclap

[Anastasis 23475]

2 minutes ago, clapclapclap said:

Surgisphere, whose employees appear to include a sci-fi writer and adult content model, provided database behind Lancet and New England Journal of Medicine hydroxychloroquine studies

Simulation continues to develop novel content. 

[bschoolprof 6263]

2 minutes ago, clapclapclap said:

 

Surgisphere, whose employees appear to include a sci-fi writer and adult content model, provided database behind Lancet and New England Journal of Medicine hydroxychloroquine studies

  Reveal hidden contents

The World Health Organization and a number of national governments have changed their Covid-19 policies and treatments on the basis of flawed data from a little-known US healthcare analytics company, also calling into question the integrity of key studies published in some of the world’s most prestigious medical journals.

A Guardian investigation can reveal the US-based company Surgisphere, whose handful of employees appear to include a science fiction writer and an adult-content model, has provided data for multiple studies on Covid-19 co-authored by its chief executive, but has so far failed to adequately explain its data or methodology.

Data it claims to have legitimately obtained from more than a thousand hospitals worldwide formed the basis of scientific articles that have led to changes in Covid-19 treatment policies in Latin American countries. It was also behind a decision by the WHO and research institutes around the world to halt trials of the controversial drug hydroxychloroquine.

Two of the world’s leading medical journals – the Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine – published studies based on Surgisphere data. The studies were co-authored by the firm’s chief executive, Sapan Desai.

Late on Tuesday, after being approached by the Guardian, the Lancet released an “expression of concern” about its published study. The New England Journal of Medicine has also issued a similar notice.

An independent audit of the provenance and validity of the data has now been commissioned by the authors not affiliated with Surgisphere because of “concerns that have been raised about the reliability of the database”.

The Guardian’s investigation has found:

• A search of publicly available material suggests several of Surgisphere’s employees have little or no data or scientific background. An employee listed as a science editor appears to be a science fiction author and fantasy artist. Another employee listed as a marketing executive is an adult model and events hostess.

• The company’s LinkedIn page has fewer than 100 followers and last week listed just six employees. This was changed to three employees as of Wednesday.

• While Surgisphere claims to run one of the largest and fastest hospital databases in the world, it has almost no online presence. Its Twitter handle has fewer than 170 followers, with no posts between October 2017 and March 2020.

• Until Monday, the “get in touch” link on Surgisphere’s homepage redirected to a WordPress template for a cryptocurrency website, raising questions about how hospitals could easily contact the company to join its database.

• Desai has been named in three medical malpractice suits, unrelated to the Surgisphere database. In an interview with the Scientist, Desai previously described the allegations as “unfounded”.

• In 2008, Desai launched a crowdfunding campaign on the website indiegogo promoting a wearable “next generation human augmentation device that can help you achieve what you never thought was possible”. The device never came to fruition.

• Desai’s Wikipedia page has been deleted following questions about Surgisphere and his history.

Doubts over Lancet study

 

Questions surrounding Surgisphere have been growing in the medical community for the past few weeks.

On 22 May the Lancet published a blockbuster peer-reviewed study which found the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine, which has been promoted by Donald Trump, was associated with a higher mortality rate in Covid-19 patients and increased heart problems.

Trump, much to the dismay of the scientific community, had publicly touted hydroxychloroquine as a “wonder drug” despite no evidence of its efficacy for treating Covid-19.

The Lancet study, which listed Desai as one of the co-authors, claimed to have analysed Surgisphere data collected from nearly 15,000 patients with Covid-19, admitted to 1,200 hospitals around the world, who received hydroxychloroquine alone or in combination with antibiotics.

The negative findings made global news and prompted the WHO to halt the hydroxychloroquine arm of its global trials.

But only days later Guardian Australia revealed glaring errors in the Australian data included in the study. The study said researchers gained access to data through Surgisphere from five hospitals, recording 600 Australian Covid-19 patients and 73 Australian deaths as of 21 April.

But data from Johns Hopkins University shows only 67 deaths from Covid-19 had been recorded in Australia by 21 April. The number did not rise to 73 until 23 April. Desai said one Asian hospital had accidentally been included in the Australian data, leading to an overestimate of cases there. The Lancet published a small retraction related to the Australian findings after the Guardian’s story, its only amendment to the study so far.

The Guardian has since contacted five hospitals in Melbourne and two in Sydney, whose cooperation would have been essential for the Australian patient numbers in the database to be reached. All denied any role in such a database, and said they had never heard of Surgisphere. Desai did not respond to requests to comment on their statements.

Another study using the Surgisphere database, again co-authored by Desai, found the anti-parasite drug ivermectin reduced death rates in severely ill Covid-19 patients. It was published online in the Social Science Research Network e-library, before peer-review or publication in a medical journal, and prompted the Peruvian government to add ivermectin to its national Covid-19 therapeutic guidelines.

 

The New England Journal of Medicine also published a peer-reviewed Desai study based on Surgisphere data, which included data from Covid-19 patients from 169 hospitals in 11 countries in Asia, Europe and North America. It found common heart medications known as angiotensin-converting–enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin-receptor blockers were not associated with a higher risk of harm in Covid-19 patients.

On Wednesday, the NEJM and the Lancet published an expression of concern about the hydroxychloroquine study, which listed respected vascular surgeon Mandeep Mehra as the lead author and Desai as co-author.

Lancet editor Richard Horton told the Guardian: “Given the questions raised about the reliability of the data gathered by Surgisphere, we have today issued an Expression of Concern, pending further investigation.

“An independent data audit is currently underway and we trust that this review, which should be completed within the next week, will tell us more about the status of the findings reported in the paper by Mandeep Mehra and colleagues.”

Surgisphere ‘came out of nowhere’

One of the questions that has most baffled the scientific community is how Surgisphere, established by Desai in 2008 as a medical education company that published textbooks, became the owner of a powerful international database. That database, despite only being announced by Surgisphere recently, boasts access to data from 96,000 patients in 1,200 hospitals around the world.

When contacted by the Guardian, Desai said his company employed just 11 people. The employees listed on LinkedIn were recorded on the site as having joined Surgisphere only two months ago. Several did not appear to have a scientific or statistical background, but mention expertise in strategy, copywriting, leadership and acquisition.

Dr James Todaro, who runs MedicineUncensored, a website that publishes the results of hydroxychloroquine studies, said: “Surgisphere came out of nowhere to conduct perhaps the most influential global study in this pandemic in the matter of a few weeks.

“It doesn’t make sense,” he said. “It would require many more researchers than it claims to have for this expedient and of multinational study to be possible.”

Desai told the Guardian: “Surgisphere has been in business since 2008. Our healthcare data analytics services started about the same time and have continued to grow since that time. We use a great deal of artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate this process as much as possible, which is the only way a task like this is even possible.”

It is not clear from the methodology in the studies that used Surgisphere data, or from the Surgisphere website itself, how the company was able to put in place data-sharing agreements from so many hospitals worldwide, including those with limited technology, and to reconcile different languages and coding systems, all while staying within the regulatory, data-protection and ethical rules of each country.

Desai said Surgisphere and its QuartzClinical content management system was part of a research collaboration initiated “several years ago”, though he did not specify when.

“Surgisphere serves as a data aggregator and performs data analysis on this data,” he said. “We are not responsible for the source data, thus the labor intensive task required for exporting the data from an Electronic Health Records, converting it into the format required by our data dictionary, and fully deidentifying the data is done by the healthcare partner.”

This appears to contradict the claim on the QuartzClinical website that it does all the work, and “successfully integrates your electronic health record, financial system, supply chain, and quality programs into one platform”. Desai did not explain this apparent contradiction when the Guardian put it to him.

Desai said the way Surgisphere obtained data was “always done in compliance with local laws and regulations. We never receive any protected health information or individually identifiable information.”

Peter Ellis, the chief data scientist of Nous Group, an international management consultancy that does data integration projects for government departments, expressed concern that Surgisphere database was “almost certainly a scam”.

“It is not something that any hospital could realistically do,” he said. “De-identifying is not just a matter of knocking off the patients’ names, it is a big and difficult process. I doubt hospitals even have capability to do it appropriately. It is the sort of thing national statistics agencies have whole teams working on, for years.”

“There’s no evidence online of [Surgisphere] having any analytical software earlier than a year ago. It takes months to get people to even look into joining these databases, it involves network review boards, security people, and management. It just doesn’t happen with a sign-up form and a conversation.”

None of the information from Desai’s database has yet been made public, including the names of any of the hospitals, despite the Lancet being among the many signatories to a statement on data-sharing for Covid-19 studies. The Lancet study is now disputed by 120 doctors.

When the Guardian put a detailed list of concerns to Desai about the database, the study findings and his background, he responded: “There continues to be a fundamental misunderstanding about what our system is and how it works”.

“There are also a number of inaccuracies and unrelated connections that you are trying to make with a clear bias toward attempting to discredit who we are and what we do,” he said. “We do not agree with your premise or the nature of what you have put together, and I am sad to see that what should have been a scientific discussion has been denigrated into this sort of discussion.”

‘The peak of human evolution’

An examination of Desai’s background found that the vascular surgeon has been named in three medical malpractice suits in the US, two of them filed in November 2019. In one case, a lawsuit filed by a patient, Joseph Vitagliano, accused Desai and Northwest Community Hospital in Illinois, where he worked until recently, of being “careless and negligent”, leading to permanent damage following surgery. 

Northwest Community Hospital confirmed that Desai had been employed there since June 2016 but had voluntarily resigned on 10 February 2020 “for personal reasons”.

“Dr Desai’s clinical privileges with NCH were not suspended, revoked or otherwise limited by NCH,” a spokeswoman said. The hospital declined to comment on the malpractice suits. Desai said in the interview with the Scientist that he deemed any lawsuit against him to be “unfounded”

Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the institution affiliated with the hydroxychloroquine study and its lead author, Mandeep Mehra, said in a statement: “Independent of Surgisphere, the remaining co-authors of the recent studies published in The Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine have initiated independent reviews of the data used in both papers after learning of the concerns that have been raised about the reliability of the database”. 

Mehra said he had routinely underscored the importance and value of randomised, clinical trials and that such trials were necessary before any conclusions could be reached. “I eagerly await word from the independent audits, the results of which will inform any further action,” he said.

Desai’s now-deleted Wikipedia page said he held a doctorate in law and a PhD in anatomy and cell biology, as well as his medical qualifications. A biography of Desai on a brochure for an international medical conference says he has held multiple physician leadership roles in clinical practice, and that he is “a certified lean six sigma master black belt”.

It is not the first time Desai has launched projects with ambitious claims. In 2008, he launched a crowdfunding campaign on the website indiegogo promoting a “next generation human augmentation device” called Neurodynamics Flow, which he said “can help you achieve what you never thought was possible”.

“With its sophisticated programming, optimal neural induction points, and tried and true results, Neurodynamics Flow allows you to rise to the peak of human evolution,” the description said. The device raised a few hundred dollars, and never eventuated.

Ellis, the chief data scientist of Nous Group, said it was unclear why Desai made such bold claims about his products given how likely it was that the global research community would scrutinise them.

“My first reaction is it was to draw attention to his firm, Ellis said. “But it seems really obvious that this would backfire.”

Today Prof Peter Horby, Professor of Emerging Infectious Diseases and Global Health in the Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, said: “I welcome the statement from the Lancet, which follows a similar statement by the NEJM regarding a study by the same group on cardiovascular drugs and COVID-19. 

“The very serious concerns being raised about the validity of the papers by Mehra et al need to be recognised and actioned urgently, and ought to bring about serious reflection on whether the quality of editorial and peer review during the pandemic has been adequate. Scientific publication must above all be rigorous and honest. In an emergency, these values are needed more than ever.”

 

I'd like to keep an adult content model on my staff at all times.  

[Brisketexan 105155]

6 minutes ago, clapclapclap said:

Surgisphere, whose (11) employees appear to include a sci-fi writer and adult content model

No CR, but it's too funny a joke not to make:

Surgisphere?  I think you mean "the executive branch."

[Guest Lobo]

Surgisphere?  Really?  That's the name they came up with?  Were GloboMed and WellnessWorld already taken?  

 

[bullzak 422]

Lancet has shown their ass a couple of times. The fake autism vax link in particular has done a lot of damage. 

[Incredulity 11675]

10 minutes ago, clapclapclap said:

So that anit-Hydroxychloroquine study that the WHO (they did get fooled again)and the media heavily promoted turned out to be bogus and created by a scam organization, that fooled even the Lancet and the NE Journal of Medicine:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/03/covid-19-surgisphere-who-world-health-organization-hydroxychloroquine

Governments and WHO changed Covid-19 policy based on suspect data from tiny US company

Surgisphere, whose (11) employees appear to include a sci-fi writer and adult content model, provided database behind Lancet and New England Journal of Medicine hydroxychloroquine studies

  Reveal hidden contents

The World Health Organization and a number of national governments have changed their Covid-19 policies and treatments on the basis of flawed data from a little-known US healthcare analytics company, also calling into question the integrity of key studies published in some of the world’s most prestigious medical journals.

A Guardian investigation can reveal the US-based company Surgisphere, whose handful of employees appear to include a science fiction writer and an adult-content model, has provided data for multiple studies on Covid-19 co-authored by its chief executive, but has so far failed to adequately explain its data or methodology.

Data it claims to have legitimately obtained from more than a thousand hospitals worldwide formed the basis of scientific articles that have led to changes in Covid-19 treatment policies in Latin American countries. It was also behind a decision by the WHO and research institutes around the world to halt trials of the controversial drug hydroxychloroquine.

Two of the world’s leading medical journals – the Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine – published studies based on Surgisphere data. The studies were co-authored by the firm’s chief executive, Sapan Desai.

Late on Tuesday, after being approached by the Guardian, the Lancet released an “expression of concern” about its published study. The New England Journal of Medicine has also issued a similar notice.

An independent audit of the provenance and validity of the data has now been commissioned by the authors not affiliated with Surgisphere because of “concerns that have been raised about the reliability of the database”.

The Guardian’s investigation has found:

• A search of publicly available material suggests several of Surgisphere’s employees have little or no data or scientific background. An employee listed as a science editor appears to be a science fiction author and fantasy artist. Another employee listed as a marketing executive is an adult model and events hostess.

• The company’s LinkedIn page has fewer than 100 followers and last week listed just six employees. This was changed to three employees as of Wednesday.

• While Surgisphere claims to run one of the largest and fastest hospital databases in the world, it has almost no online presence. Its Twitter handle has fewer than 170 followers, with no posts between October 2017 and March 2020.

• Until Monday, the “get in touch” link on Surgisphere’s homepage redirected to a WordPress template for a cryptocurrency website, raising questions about how hospitals could easily contact the company to join its database.

• Desai has been named in three medical malpractice suits, unrelated to the Surgisphere database. In an interview with the Scientist, Desai previously described the allegations as “unfounded”.

• In 2008, Desai launched a crowdfunding campaign on the website indiegogo promoting a wearable “next generation human augmentation device that can help you achieve what you never thought was possible”. The device never came to fruition.

• Desai’s Wikipedia page has been deleted following questions about Surgisphere and his history.

Doubts over Lancet study

 

Questions surrounding Surgisphere have been growing in the medical community for the past few weeks.

On 22 May the Lancet published a blockbuster peer-reviewed study which found the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine, which has been promoted by Donald Trump, was associated with a higher mortality rate in Covid-19 patients and increased heart problems.

Trump, much to the dismay of the scientific community, had publicly touted hydroxychloroquine as a “wonder drug” despite no evidence of its efficacy for treating Covid-19.

The Lancet study, which listed Desai as one of the co-authors, claimed to have analysed Surgisphere data collected from nearly 15,000 patients with Covid-19, admitted to 1,200 hospitals around the world, who received hydroxychloroquine alone or in combination with antibiotics.

The negative findings made global news and prompted the WHO to halt the hydroxychloroquine arm of its global trials.

But only days later Guardian Australia revealed glaring errors in the Australian data included in the study. The study said researchers gained access to data through Surgisphere from five hospitals, recording 600 Australian Covid-19 patients and 73 Australian deaths as of 21 April.

But data from Johns Hopkins University shows only 67 deaths from Covid-19 had been recorded in Australia by 21 April. The number did not rise to 73 until 23 April. Desai said one Asian hospital had accidentally been included in the Australian data, leading to an overestimate of cases there. The Lancet published a small retraction related to the Australian findings after the Guardian’s story, its only amendment to the study so far.

The Guardian has since contacted five hospitals in Melbourne and two in Sydney, whose cooperation would have been essential for the Australian patient numbers in the database to be reached. All denied any role in such a database, and said they had never heard of Surgisphere. Desai did not respond to requests to comment on their statements.

Another study using the Surgisphere database, again co-authored by Desai, found the anti-parasite drug ivermectin reduced death rates in severely ill Covid-19 patients. It was published online in the Social Science Research Network e-library, before peer-review or publication in a medical journal, and prompted the Peruvian government to add ivermectin to its national Covid-19 therapeutic guidelines.

 

The New England Journal of Medicine also published a peer-reviewed Desai study based on Surgisphere data, which included data from Covid-19 patients from 169 hospitals in 11 countries in Asia, Europe and North America. It found common heart medications known as angiotensin-converting–enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin-receptor blockers were not associated with a higher risk of harm in Covid-19 patients.

On Wednesday, the NEJM and the Lancet published an expression of concern about the hydroxychloroquine study, which listed respected vascular surgeon Mandeep Mehra as the lead author and Desai as co-author.

Lancet editor Richard Horton told the Guardian: “Given the questions raised about the reliability of the data gathered by Surgisphere, we have today issued an Expression of Concern, pending further investigation.

“An independent data audit is currently underway and we trust that this review, which should be completed within the next week, will tell us more about the status of the findings reported in the paper by Mandeep Mehra and colleagues.”

Surgisphere ‘came out of nowhere’

One of the questions that has most baffled the scientific community is how Surgisphere, established by Desai in 2008 as a medical education company that published textbooks, became the owner of a powerful international database. That database, despite only being announced by Surgisphere recently, boasts access to data from 96,000 patients in 1,200 hospitals around the world.

When contacted by the Guardian, Desai said his company employed just 11 people. The employees listed on LinkedIn were recorded on the site as having joined Surgisphere only two months ago. Several did not appear to have a scientific or statistical background, but mention expertise in strategy, copywriting, leadership and acquisition.

Dr James Todaro, who runs MedicineUncensored, a website that publishes the results of hydroxychloroquine studies, said: “Surgisphere came out of nowhere to conduct perhaps the most influential global study in this pandemic in the matter of a few weeks.

“It doesn’t make sense,” he said. “It would require many more researchers than it claims to have for this expedient and of multinational study to be possible.”

Desai told the Guardian: “Surgisphere has been in business since 2008. Our healthcare data analytics services started about the same time and have continued to grow since that time. We use a great deal of artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate this process as much as possible, which is the only way a task like this is even possible.”

It is not clear from the methodology in the studies that used Surgisphere data, or from the Surgisphere website itself, how the company was able to put in place data-sharing agreements from so many hospitals worldwide, including those with limited technology, and to reconcile different languages and coding systems, all while staying within the regulatory, data-protection and ethical rules of each country.

Desai said Surgisphere and its QuartzClinical content management system was part of a research collaboration initiated “several years ago”, though he did not specify when.

“Surgisphere serves as a data aggregator and performs data analysis on this data,” he said. “We are not responsible for the source data, thus the labor intensive task required for exporting the data from an Electronic Health Records, converting it into the format required by our data dictionary, and fully deidentifying the data is done by the healthcare partner.”

This appears to contradict the claim on the QuartzClinical website that it does all the work, and “successfully integrates your electronic health record, financial system, supply chain, and quality programs into one platform”. Desai did not explain this apparent contradiction when the Guardian put it to him.

Desai said the way Surgisphere obtained data was “always done in compliance with local laws and regulations. We never receive any protected health information or individually identifiable information.”

Peter Ellis, the chief data scientist of Nous Group, an international management consultancy that does data integration projects for government departments, expressed concern that Surgisphere database was “almost certainly a scam”.

“It is not something that any hospital could realistically do,” he said. “De-identifying is not just a matter of knocking off the patients’ names, it is a big and difficult process. I doubt hospitals even have capability to do it appropriately. It is the sort of thing national statistics agencies have whole teams working on, for years.”

“There’s no evidence online of [Surgisphere] having any analytical software earlier than a year ago. It takes months to get people to even look into joining these databases, it involves network review boards, security people, and management. It just doesn’t happen with a sign-up form and a conversation.”

None of the information from Desai’s database has yet been made public, including the names of any of the hospitals, despite the Lancet being among the many signatories to a statement on data-sharing for Covid-19 studies. The Lancet study is now disputed by 120 doctors.

When the Guardian put a detailed list of concerns to Desai about the database, the study findings and his background, he responded: “There continues to be a fundamental misunderstanding about what our system is and how it works”.

“There are also a number of inaccuracies and unrelated connections that you are trying to make with a clear bias toward attempting to discredit who we are and what we do,” he said. “We do not agree with your premise or the nature of what you have put together, and I am sad to see that what should have been a scientific discussion has been denigrated into this sort of discussion.”

‘The peak of human evolution’

An examination of Desai’s background found that the vascular surgeon has been named in three medical malpractice suits in the US, two of them filed in November 2019. In one case, a lawsuit filed by a patient, Joseph Vitagliano, accused Desai and Northwest Community Hospital in Illinois, where he worked until recently, of being “careless and negligent”, leading to permanent damage following surgery. 

Northwest Community Hospital confirmed that Desai had been employed there since June 2016 but had voluntarily resigned on 10 February 2020 “for personal reasons”.

“Dr Desai’s clinical privileges with NCH were not suspended, revoked or otherwise limited by NCH,” a spokeswoman said. The hospital declined to comment on the malpractice suits. Desai said in the interview with the Scientist that he deemed any lawsuit against him to be “unfounded”

Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the institution affiliated with the hydroxychloroquine study and its lead author, Mandeep Mehra, said in a statement: “Independent of Surgisphere, the remaining co-authors of the recent studies published in The Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine have initiated independent reviews of the data used in both papers after learning of the concerns that have been raised about the reliability of the database”. 

Mehra said he had routinely underscored the importance and value of randomised, clinical trials and that such trials were necessary before any conclusions could be reached. “I eagerly await word from the independent audits, the results of which will inform any further action,” he said.

Desai’s now-deleted Wikipedia page said he held a doctorate in law and a PhD in anatomy and cell biology, as well as his medical qualifications. A biography of Desai on a brochure for an international medical conference says he has held multiple physician leadership roles in clinical practice, and that he is “a certified lean six sigma master black belt”.

It is not the first time Desai has launched projects with ambitious claims. In 2008, he launched a crowdfunding campaign on the website indiegogo promoting a “next generation human augmentation device” called Neurodynamics Flow, which he said “can help you achieve what you never thought was possible”.

“With its sophisticated programming, optimal neural induction points, and tried and true results, Neurodynamics Flow allows you to rise to the peak of human evolution,” the description said. The device raised a few hundred dollars, and never eventuated.

Ellis, the chief data scientist of Nous Group, said it was unclear why Desai made such bold claims about his products given how likely it was that the global research community would scrutinise them.

“My first reaction is it was to draw attention to his firm, Ellis said. “But it seems really obvious that this would backfire.”

Today Prof Peter Horby, Professor of Emerging Infectious Diseases and Global Health in the Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, said: “I welcome the statement from the Lancet, which follows a similar statement by the NEJM regarding a study by the same group on cardiovascular drugs and COVID-19. 

“The very serious concerns being raised about the validity of the papers by Mehra et al need to be recognised and actioned urgently, and ought to bring about serious reflection on whether the quality of editorial and peer review during the pandemic has been adequate. Scientific publication must above all be rigorous and honest. In an emergency, these values are needed more than ever.”

 

a story you definitely WON'T see on the nightly news.  another oops, sorry about that, lets move on.

 

 

[BNB 100]

15 hours ago, dcar00 said:

obligatory...you know.

Are you saying posting a new article about investigations into and talk about criticizing the WORLD Health Organization is political? 

Edited June 3, 2020 by BNB

[Cheeseweasel 26438]

5 minutes ago, Lobo said:

Surgisphere?  Really?  That's the name they came up with?  Were GloboMed and WellnessWorld already taken?  

 

"InTheseTryingTimesCorp"

[Incredulity 11675]

8 minutes ago, Cheeseweasel said:

"InTheseTryingTimesCorp"

Hastag  #Aloneinthistryingtogethertimesinthisarewe

[clapclapclap 9000]

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/swedish-covid-response-architect-says-policies-were-too-lax-resulted-in-too-many-deaths/

Swedish COVID Response Architect Says Policies Were Too Lax, Resulted in Too Many Deaths

Sweden’s response to the coronavirus resulted in too many deaths and could have been improved, the country’s chief epidemiologist Anders Tegnell told Swedish radio on Wednesday.

Tegnell designed a unique strategy by which the country allowed non-essential businesses to remain open, urging citizens to comply with social distancing regulations and to avoid unnecessary travel. Sweden’s death rate from coronavirus as of Wednesday sits at 443 per million of the country’s population, far higher than its Nordic neighbors Finland (58 per million) and Norway (44 per million), both of which imposed more far-reaching lockdowns of nonessential businesses.

When asked whether Sweden had seen too many deaths, Tegnell answered, “Yes, absolutely.”

“If we were to encounter the same disease again knowing exactly what we know about it today, I think we would settle on doing something in between what Sweden did and what the rest of the world has done,” Tegnell said, in comments translated by the Guardian. Tegnell added that medical officials would need to learn “what else, besides what we did, you could do without imposing a total shutdown....” (snip)

 

[Brisketexan 105155]

39 minutes ago, clapclapclap said:

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/swedish-covid-response-architect-says-policies-were-too-lax-resulted-in-too-many-deaths/

Swedish COVID Response Architect Says Policies Were Too Lax, Resulted in Too Many Deaths

Sweden’s response to the coronavirus resulted in too many deaths and could have been improved, the country’s chief epidemiologist Anders Tegnell told Swedish radio on Wednesday.

Tegnell designed a unique strategy by which the country allowed non-essential businesses to remain open, urging citizens to comply with social distancing regulations and to avoid unnecessary travel. Sweden’s death rate from coronavirus as of Wednesday sits at 443 per million of the country’s population, far higher than its Nordic neighbors Finland (58 per million) and Norway (44 per million), both of which imposed more far-reaching lockdowns of nonessential businesses.

When asked whether Sweden had seen too many deaths, Tegnell answered, “Yes, absolutely.”

“If we were to encounter the same disease again knowing exactly what we know about it today, I think we would settle on doing something in between what Sweden did and what the rest of the world has done,” Tegnell said, in comments translated by the Guardian. Tegnell added that medical officials would need to learn “what else, besides what we did, you could do without imposing a total shutdown....” (snip)

 

Which tells us what anyone with any sense knew:

This being a novel disease, where we didn't have great data on transmission OR deadliness.....every single decision was a "best guess."  Attacking any of the reasonable spectrum of decisions for being wrong in hindsight really isn't valid or appropriate.  And I include Sweden in that -- they chose a path on one side of that spectrum of reasonable options.  It didn't work out.  But that doesn't mean that some other places weren't OVERLY conservative -- they were reasonable, too, just on the other end.

[Pato del Muerto 52524]

Anything been published on the relative safety of commercial air travel over the past couple of months?  I haven’t read anything about a plane being a vector. 

[John Lawrence 244]

I would wait until the end of the year to say Sweden did not work out.

It is possible they reach herd immunity and are not smoked by a second wave.  Too early to tell.

One thing is clear to me, we need to figure out how to protect nursing homes better.  Because it seems like half the deaths, no matter the state or country, are in nursing homes.

[Brisketexan 105155]

1 minute ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Anything been published on the relative safety of commercial air travel over the past couple of months?  I haven’t read anything about a plane being a vector. 

Airplanes?  Vectors?

[John Lawrence 244]

 

 

[bschoolprof 6263]

I would wait until the end of the year to say Sweden did not work out.
It is possible they reach herd immunity and are not smoked by a second wave.  Too early to tell.
One thing is clear to me, we need to figure out how to protect nursing homes better.  Because it seems like half the deaths, no matter the state or country, are in nursing homes.

In retrospect, I think we now know that locking down nursing homes, isolating ill nursing home patients, and mandatory testing for nursing home staff and home health care workers would likely have saved thousands of lives.