FLW: "I think I made a mistake..."

[Guest]

Did you guys see this story on TV or read about it?

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/07/11/texas-patient-30-dies-after-attending-covid-party-doctor-says/5422175002/

 

"A Texas doctor says a 30-year-old patient died after attending a "COVID party," believing the coronavirus pandemic was a hoax.

 

The patient, who was treated at a San Antonio hospital, is just one of thousands to test positive in the state in recent days. On Saturday, Texas state officials reported a record 10,351 daily new cases.

 

"We cared for a 30-year-old patient at Methodist Hospital who told their nurse that they had attended a 'COVID party.' ... Just before the patient died, they looked at their nurse and said 'I think I made a mistake. I thought this was a hoax, but it's not,'" said Dr. Jane Appleby in a video statement obtained by USA TODAY. Appleby is the chief medical officer for Methodist Healthcare in San Antonio."

 

Sounds too crazy to be true, but would the chief medical officer for the hospital lie about something like that? Strange grammar in that sentence, though. "Just before the patient died, they looked at their nurse"? Who's they? Or maybe she was just trying to avoid divulging the gender of the patient? To what end?

[RM]

Did you guys see this story on TV or read about it?

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/07/11/texas-patient-30-dies-after-attending-covid-party-doctor-says/5422175002/

 

"A Texas doctor says a 30-year-old patient died after attending a "COVID party," believing the coronavirus pandemic was a hoax.

 

The patient, who was treated at a San Antonio hospital, is just one of thousands to test positive in the state in recent days. On Saturday, Texas state officials reported a record 10,351 daily new cases.

 

"We cared for a 30-year-old patient at Methodist Hospital who told their nurse that they had attended a 'COVID party.' ... Just before the patient died, they looked at their nurse and said 'I think I made a mistake. I thought this was a hoax, but it's not,'" said Dr. Jane Appleby in a video statement obtained by USA TODAY. Appleby is the chief medical officer for Methodist Healthcare in San Antonio."

 

Sounds too crazy to be true, but would the chief medical officer for the hospital lie about something like that? Strange grammar in that sentence, though. "Just before the patient died, they looked at their nurse"? Who's they? Or maybe she was just trying to avoid divulging the gender of the patient? To what end?

It was on the TV news yesterday. Yuck.

[+ honcho]

Sounds too crazy to be true, but would the chief medical officer for the hospital lie about something like that? Strange grammar in that sentence, though. "Just before the patient died, they looked at their nurse"? Who's they? Or maybe she was just trying to avoid divulging the gender of the patient? To what end?

 

I'm unclear what you think is too crazy to be true -

a.) That there would be such parties?

b.) That the patient said that literal phrase?

 

It was reported on national news that there were such parties, and we did have reported instances of HIV bug chasers, but the motivation there was different. (In the former, I chalk it up to extreme thrill seekers, even more than folks who go skydiving; in the latter it was sort of joining a tribe). It's not something I would do, for damn sure ....

[Guest]

This doesn’t surprise me. I’d suggest the Doctor’s word choice was directed by a conditioning not to brush up against HIPAA issues. To reveal age and gender would be a two dimensional vector to easy identification. Of course, if they didn’t have many 30 yr old patients, she might have revealed too much anyway under strictest confidentiality expectations.

 

Of course, no one actually knows where this guy actually contracted it. It may have been at the party or somewhere else. It’s journalistically expedient to assume and blame it on the reckless party idea.

[+ poolboy48220]

I don't mean to divert the topic, but in the case of the grammar, maybe the doctor was just using the new convention of using plural pronouns rather than gender-specific ones, since English doesn't have a gender-neutral singular pronoun.

[orville]

If there are such science denial groups among the US population it's probably just better letting mother nature do its natural selection job for the greater good, and let it give them their well deserved Darwin awards.

[MikeBiDude]

If there are such science denial groups among the US population it's probably just better letting mother nature do its natural selection job for the greater good, and let it give them their well deserved Darwin awards.

Re: Darwin that was my thinking when I posted this same news story yesterday ??

https://m4m-forum.org/threads/should-trump-hold-rallies-in-states-were-cases-are-on-the-rise.158086/post-1942992

[Rudynate]

If there are such science denial groups among the US population it's probably just better letting mother nature do its natural selection job for the greater good, and let it give them their well deserved Darwin awards.

 

 

As Jonas Salk said . . ."Survival of the Wisest."

[Rudynate]

It was on the TV news yesterday. Yuck.

 

 

The Mayor of San Antonio confirmed it on TV.

[+ WilliamM]

I'm unclear what you think is too crazy to be true -

a.) That there would be such parties?

b.) That the patient said that literal phrase?

 

It was reported on national news that there were such parties, and we did have reported instances of HIV bug chasers, but the motivation there was different. (In the former, I chalk it up to extreme thrill seekers, even more than folks who go skydiving; in the latter it was sort of joining a tribe). It's not something I would do, for damn sure ....

 

I agree. National news has widely reported the parties in newspapers, television and radio.

[Rudynate]

I agree. National news has widely reported the parties in newspapers, television and radio.

 

There was another story about a young woman in Florida. Her mother was a nurse and her father was a PA but they were also pro-trump conspiracy theorists. She had some sort of permanent immune deficiency. They sent her to a COVID party, she came down with it and they tried to treat her at home. They gave her hydroxychloroquine and administered oxygen from her father 's CPAP machine. They finally took her to the hospital where she died. I think they could be on the hook for involuntary manslaughter, possibly second-degree murder because of their reckless disregard for her safety and well-being.

[Epigonos]

In Europe between 1347 and 1351 40% to 50% of the population succumbed to the “Black Death”. Boccaccio in his work “The Decameron” wrote that many people who remained in Florence during this period decided to “drink and party away their final days in nihilistic revelries”.

 

That situation and this current one are certainly not exactly the same but the longer this current crisis continues, I am convinced that, people’s reactions are going to mirror those of the people in Florence. People are going to get fed up with being sequestered and we are going to see more and more of this morbid party behavior. The article didn’t state if the young man had any underlying conditions or not. Most people under 40 seem to think that they most likely will not contract the virus but if they do it will be a mild case. The young have always thought of themselves as indestructible.

 

I must say I wonder how much of this current upsurge in the virus is due to opening up too soon or to all the protests and rioting that took place about three or four weeks ago. During those protests and riots photographs showed that many of the participants were not wearing masks and they definitely were not social distancing.

Edited July 14, 2020 by Epigonos

[orville]

Completely agree with everything, except that you generalize by saying "people’s reactions are going to mirror those of the people in Florence". Not in every country we are seeing the wild increase of cases and deaths as in the US. It's a shame that a country so big and rich in resources has been invaded by the cultural cancer of science denial.

Edited July 14, 2020 by orville

[Guest]

I'm unclear what you think is too crazy to be true -

a.) That there would be such parties?

b.) That the patient said that literal phrase?

...

Definitely not the (a). I'm a little suspicious of a 30 year-old dying so quickly, but having the time to make this "confession." It could be true, but it crossed my mind that the physician may have made the story up as a warning to try to save lives.

[maninsoma]

Definitely not the (a). I'm a little suspicious of a 30 year-old dying so quickly, but having the time to make this "confession." It could be true, but it crossed my mind that the physician may have made the story up as a warning to try to save lives.

 

Doesn't seem suspicious to me based on what's been reported by people who've died due to this virus. They don't die immediately like one would in an accident but the death comes on very rapidly. It still gives them enough time to know what's happening to them and, if they have regrets about whatever actions they may have taken that brought them to this point, express regret about those actions. Would you expect someone who went to a "corona party" who subsequently became gravely ill to still be saying, "This is no big deal. It's a conspiracy to control us/destroy Trump/etc."?

[+ sniper]

People who die of COVID in the hospital are to the best of my knowledge generally not in any condition to talk right before they pass. I think the story was "enhanced" at best.

[Rudynate]

In Europe between 1347 and 1351 40% to 50% of the population succumbed to the “Black Death”. Boccaccio in his work “The Decameron” wrote that many people who remained in Florence during this period decided to “drink and party away their final days in nihilistic revelries”.

 

 

 

It sounds like we're watching the same series. The lecturer didn't say that was the only, or even the typical reaction. Other reactions she described were intense religiosity and stoic determination. The only reaction with some logic to it is stoic determination.

[Rudynate]

People who die of COVID in the hospital are to the best of my knowledge generally not in any condition to talk right before they pass. I think the story was "enhanced" at best.

 

 

Actually, that was one of the things about the disease that had healthcare workers puzzled. A person could have been laying in bed talking away on a cell phone with an oxygen saturation of 50%, when they should have been gasping for breath and unable to speak.

[Rudynate]

Completely agree with everything, except that you generalize by saying "people’s reactions are going to mirror those of the people in Florence". Not in every country we are seeing the wild increase of cases and deaths as in the US. It's a shame that a country so big and rich in resources has been invaded by the cultural cancer of science denial.

 

It isn't just science denial. It shows that a lot of Americans don't have the strength of character that is supposed to be one of our defining characteristics. The countries that have successfully stopped the spread of the virus have been successful because the population hunkered down and did what they were asked to do. Here in SF, in spite of the mask order, you see people all over out in public without masks. SF is a pretty group-minded city. If compliance is that poor here, I can imagine what it must be like elsewhere.

[+ poolboy48220]

My Dad started out saying "We're Americans, we'll get through this" back in March / early April. Now he's calling Michigan's governor "that bitch in Lansing".

[EastbayMike]

My Dad started out saying "We're Americans, we'll get through this" back in March / early April. Now he's calling Michigan's governor "that bitch in Lansing".

In other words we're all Americans except that "bitch." Sadly, my dad was the same way. He was a white, straight, conservative male. Completely unaware of his prejudice or privilege. Hated all liberals, including I suspect his gay son married to a Mexican-born naturalized citizen.