ICWA Weekly News 3-20-24

Lawyer Jaffe appears on Informed Life Radio last Friday; WA DOH adopts CDC covid isolation guidelines - same as flu; Water Fluoridation battle heats up again; Tubman health spa

Gerald Braude

and

Informed Choice Washington

Mar 20, 2024

In this issue:

Washington DOH to Follow CDC’s Revised COVID-19 Isolation Guidelines – Same as Flu
BOH Declines Formal Hearing on Fluoride in Drinking Water - Again
ICWA Spots Measles Fearmongering
Tubman Center for Health and Freedom: Ancestral Medicines Work and Are Preferred
Upcoming Events

March 15, 2024 Episodes of Informed Life Radio - links

Health Hour - Concentrated Chiropractic Care to Regenerate Tissue

Guest: Dr. Sarah Kotlerman, DC

Liberty Hour - Free Speech Lawsuit Filed Against WMC and AG Ferguson by John Stockton et al

Guest: Rick Jaffe, Esq.

Washington DOH to Follow CDC’s Revised COVID-19 Isolation Guidelines – Same as Flu

The March 13 Board of Health (BOH) meeting in Anacortes had so many public comments that the time for each oral public comment had to be lowered from the normal allotment of three minutes down to one-and-a-half minutes. Even with that reduction, the public comment period went fifteen minutes over the scheduled timeframe of twenty minutes.

Four ICWA volunteers were able to comment on the failures of government COVID-19 policies, including your humble author.

At first, I commended the Washington Department of Health (DOH) for removing from its website the two claims that COVID-19 shots prevent transmission of the disease. But I had to criticize the BOH for the damage it had done under the false premise that the shots prevent spread of the disease, which aided the governor’s unjust firing of 1,900 Washington state workers, the city of Kirkland’s firing of twelve of its firefighters, and PeaceHealth Hospital in Bellingham firing eighty of its workers.

Natalie Chavez next told the BOH about a January 30, 2024 death of a Whatcom County father who had three blood clots in his heart and one in his leg following the COVID-19 shot. She also suggested that the BOH should check out the REACT19 website with other equally grave outcomes from public health recommendations.

Sue Coffman recited the beginning of Senator Ron Johnson’s speech to commence his February 26 roundtable discussion with world experts:

The COVID pandemic has opened my eyes to the failure and corruption of the global elite and their institutions, including government. Unfortunately, many eyes remain closed, and the global elite will use all of their power to keep them closed.
In this case, they overhyped fear over a virus they helped create, in order to push a profitable gene therapy platform and gain greater control over our lives. Along the way, they sabotaged early treatment, denied natural immunity and vaccine injuries, caused trillions of dollars of economic devastation and destroyed an untold number of people’s lives.

Melissa Leady told the BOH about the damage done to Washington students from the school closures and specifically to economically disadvantaged groups. She also criticized the DOH for following the “collateral damage” COVID-19 policies put forth by National Institute of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins, who said the following about the public health mindset at the July 2023 Braver Angels conference - after he had left office:

You attach infinite value to stopping the disease and saving a life. You attach a zero value to whether this actually totally disrupts people's lives, ruins the economy, and has many kids kept out of school in a way that they never might quite recover from.

Former NIH Director Admits Ignoring Damage From COVID-19 Policies Was Problematic (reason.com)

ICWA volunteers at the meeting were again surprised to hear praise for pandemic restrictions. Three commenters commended the governor and BOH for their COVID-19 policies. They were happy to endure the lockdowns, masks and vaccine mandates, so much that they were now concerned that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is no longer recommending that Americans stay home from work or school for five days after testing positive for COVID-19. Those infected are now allowed to resume normal activities if their symptoms have been improving and they are fever-free for twenty-four hours without any medication. The commenters asked the BOH to keep the five-day isolation policy and encourage the use of n95 masking.

During the announcements and board business period following the public comment period, BOH member Kate Dean asked fellow board member and DOH Chief Science officer Tao Kwan-Gett about this change in guidelines. “We are looking at the changes,” Kwan-Gett answered. “We hope to have an update in the course of the next week or two. In the past, we’ve believed in staying in line with the CDC.”

As it turned out, it took just five days after the Board of Health meeting for the DOH to make a decision. This past Monday, March 18, they sent a press release reflecting Dr. Kwan-Gett’s conviction of “staying in line with the CDC.”

The new recommendations streamline guidance across multiple illnesses
OLYMPIA – The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) announced updated guidance for what to do when someone is sick with COVID-19, flu, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and other respiratory viruses. While much of DOH’s new guidance is similar to recent updates announced by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), DOH’s new guidance offers additional recommendations on how to prevent spreading respiratory illnesses after someone becomes infected, as well as how to protect people with weakened immune systems and others at higher risk of severe illness.

The CDC’s change in guidance was big news on a recent episode of The Highwire, which was de-platformed from Facebook and YouTube for saying that COVID-19 was similar to a flu and showed the infection fatality rates to prove it. (CDC MOVES THE GOALPOST ON COVID - The HighWire)

Jefferey Jaxon read part of the coverage from The Hill:

The new guidance aligns COVID recommendations with other respiratory viral illnesses such as flu and RSV.

Commenting on that excerpt:

Well if you read between the lines there, COVID is now the same as the flu. I did not see another headline that the genetics of COVID have changed, it’s a completely different virus, it’s not as infectious, or anything like that. It’s still the same virus. But saying its in line with the flu used to be a conspiracy theory that was worthy of getting people banned.

But The Hill also reported that CDC Director Mandy Hill says that the recommendation change is not about the virus.

“Today’s announcement reflects the progress we have made in protecting against severe illness from COVID-19,” Cohen said in a statement.

The Hill article showed that Washington residents are not the only ones who are displeased with this change:

“The CDC is again prioritizing short term business interests over our health by caving to employer pressure on COVID guidelines. This is a pattern we’ve seen throughout the pandemic,” said Lara Jirmanus, a clinical instructor at Harvard Medical School and a member of the People’s CDC, a coalition of public health practitioners, healthcare workers and advocates focusing on reducing the harmful impacts of COVID-19. They “provide guidance and policy recommendations to governments and the public on COVID-19, disseminating evidence-based updates that are grounded in equity, public health principles, and the latest scientific literature.”

Jirmanus and the People’s CDC also disagree with Jaxen’s claim that COVID-19 is the same as the flu, as The Hill writes,

Jirmanus and others at People’s CDC said it’s inappropriate to treat COVID-19 like the flu. COVID is infectious before symptoms begin, which is not typical of the flu. COVID-19 is also not seasonal, and cases surge multiple times a year, they said.

We really recommend visiting the People’s CDC website to open your eyes to another movement: Long Covid Awareness. Among the sites gems, they want you to Take Action in a plea for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, and to “continue to wear and require the wearing of high-quality respirators such as N95s and KN95s at protests and within organizing spaces.” We are sad that we missed the March 15^th Long COVID Awareness event in DC. Unlike the rallies our readers attend, the mainstream news was kind enough to cover this different kind of rally in DC, with dozens of brave rallygoers, 100% to 200% masked, and some were sitting right next to each other.

Had we been alerted to this rally, we know of at least one ICWA member who would have attended and passed out Step 3 nicotine patches to help these poor folks heal with the Bryan Ardis regimen. Or at least FLCCC protocol handouts, both being harmless and worth a try.

BOH Declines Formal Hearing on Fluoride in Drinking Water - Again

The Washington Board of Health heard from six public commentors at its March 13 meeting in Anacortes about fluoride being used to treat Washington’s public drinking water systems.

The first comment was in complete favor of the usage. She said the CDC and the American Dental Association endorse this usage because it’s “safe, effective, and essential.” She added that those opposing this use of fluoride at previous board meetings have been relying on inaccurate and misleading information.

The remaining five public commenters thought otherwise. As the most vocal critic at previous BOH meetings opposed to fluoridation, Washington state dentist Bill Osmunson led off the line of critics by stating that the FDA has never approved fluoride for drinking water. As in the past, Osmunson also contributed to the written comments on page 101 in the meeting packet.

Further, on page 219 in the packet, Osmunson also made a formal request for the BOH to hold a public hearing on this issue. This is his latest request to ask for discussion on the matter. His comments point out there have been at least 19 petitions for a similar hearing on water fluoridation. All were denied.

Of the other four critics, one said that the fluoride in the state’s drinking is an overexposure to a toxin, another said that a decade’s worth of her research has shown that fluoride in drinking water diminishes IQ and leads to toxic harm of the heart and brain, another said that she was poisoned by fluoride while pregnant, and a civil engineer said that the fluoride used in drinking water can be classified as a hazardous waste.

After the public comments, the board considered Osmunson’s request for a public forum. Discussion went round in circles, and it appeared that the board decided to take up this matter in a public forum. Michelle Davis then mentioned that for a public forum, public experts should be brought in, as done for the fluoride in the drinking water matter addressed in 2015. Department of Health (DOH) Chief Science Officer Tao Kwan-Gett then said that he saw no value in judging this issue as a public forum but that it should be done only by studying the scientific literature. Stephen Kutz then pointed to WAC 246.290.490 and said that this should be taken up only as a local issue.

With this understood by all the members, Board Chair Patty Hayes looked around the table and asked whether anyone thought that it was a good idea for the board to take up this issue. Nobody said that it was.

Fluoride in the drinking water has been getting national attention at this time with an ongoing landmark trial that could determine the future of water fluoridation in the United States. Hearings concluded February 20 with attorneys for the environmental groups and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency responding to questions from federal Judge Edward Chen. Activists are awaiting a decision after many years of asking for non-fluoridated drinking water.

ICWA Spots Measles Fearmongering

On yet another topic covered during public comment during the March 13 Washington BOH meeting in Anacortes, ICWA Director Lisa Templeton raised the issue of government fearmongering over measles. She said the following in her public comment:

A committee member of the Washington Vaccine Association (WVA) last week cited a CDC report as of February 22 that there have been thirty-five cases of measles in the United States, stating that 89 percent of the cases were in the “unvaccinated or unknown” category and 11 percent were vaccinated. Why didn’t they separate the unknown cases? They also quoted the artificially low 77.6 percent rate of Washington school children who received two doses of MMR or evidence of immunity based on IIS data. We’re seeing another attempt to stir up public fear and scapegoating parents who choose not to vaccinate.
Doctor Zorn, one of the committee members, mentioned that IIS rates are artificially low due to denominator inflation, which is children who have moved out of state. There are many other ways that this 77.6 percent rate is not accurate. The MMR exemption rate was only 3.1 percent before the passage of House Bill 1638 that removed the philosophical exemption from MMR in 2019. Using the IIS is not an accurate measure. Public health instead should use the annual reports that the schools are required to submit to the DOH.

Informed Choice Washington continues to see this misused statistic in various forums, and will continue to expose its fallacy.

Tubman Center for Health and Freedom: Ancestral Medicines Work and Are Preferred

The first two Washington Board of Health (BOH) meetings this year have not had a State Department of Health (DOH) update. Instead, for the second meeting, held on March 13 in Anacortes, the board hosted a State Health Report Community Panel.

Leading off the four-member panel was Amanda Shi from the Tubman Center for Health and Freedom.

The slides shown during her presentation are on pages 368 through 376 in the board meeting packet.

Shi said that the center was founded by six blocks of indigenous community members who were tired or losing loved ones to a medical system of substandard care. They are community owned and operated and start with “community directed” research. The center then grew after fulfilling people’s visions.

A visit begins with a hot cup of tea in a relaxing atmosphere where the patient has a chance to meet with all providers at once. From there, the center provides holistic care mixed with Western medicine and alternative medicines on an equal footing in a spa-like atmosphere. Shi then showed a slide and talked about “Ancestral medicines (CAM) work and are preferred.”

Shi said it’s important to see the family as a multi-generational unit and not to treat just one person “when we are a whole.”

Informed Choice Washington’s mission is aligned with the statement that “we are experts in our own bodies.” This is why ICWA advocates for informed consent to, and declination of, medical risk-taking. An “expert” in a white coat, while a potential source of information, does not have authority over our bodies or health-care choices. We encourage the leaders of the Tubman Center and the DOH to recognize this fact and integrate it into its policies.

Shi’s said that the center’s multi-use gardens reflect the communal approach of the center. The gardens are used for grounding, medicine, and food. The center also has sacred spaces for prayer and the honoring of ancestors as well as places to be held by loved ones and others.

The final slide focused on health justice:

Shi said the following about the slide:

New approaches to new arrangements can drive to new outcomes. So, the Tubman Center is not more of the same. We are fundamentally shifting the process again to start with community. Health justice is about seeing our whole person toward mental and spiritual health and its importance to relational medicine. When we talk about health justice, we need to talk about what care we can access and about who is providing care. We also need to talk about taking care of our healers. I’m talking about doctors, nurses, mental health providers, and specialists. For the whole person we know in our community’s wants and needs, we need to fully understand the communities from which they work.

And while it was interesting to hear about the Tubman center’s approach to whole-person health and it’s appealing spa-like facilities, we were disappointed to see that they heavily promoted the COVID-19 vaccines with their Blaxinate campaign, using Orwellian double-speak as they claimed to support “patients’ medical autonomy and authority over their bodies. We aim to provide our patients with the most accurate science and Public Health information available to aid in their decision-making processes.” We can be certain which public health information was shared.

Upcoming Events

Announcing the Second Meeting of the INW Association for the Pursuit of Knowledge

Update on Transgender Medicine: What You Should Know

Alfonso Oliva, MD FACS

Tuesday, March 26, 2024, 7:00 PM - 8:45 PM

The Multi-Purpose Room, Hutton Elementary School, 908 E 24^th Ave. Spokane

The CHD Vax-unVax Event Locations: “The People’s Study” RV travels through Washington.

Book an Interview

April 16 - The People’s Study RV in Olympia – 12-2 PM Lunch with Legislators.
April 17 - The People’s Study RV in Seattle, Westlake Park, 9 AM - 4 PM. The Refusers band at noon. Speakers Brian Hooker, PhD, and Dr. Paul Thomas at 1 PM.
April 19 - The People’s Study RV in Spokane. 8 AM - 5 PM. Get your tickets for the speaking event at 4 PM. Dr. Scott Jensen, Dr. Paul Thomas, Dr. Kelly Victory, Dr. Jason Kinley. MC Shawn Needham, host of Health Solutions Podcast.

Also in Spokane on April 18-20:

April 18-20 WSRP State Convention, Spokane Convention Center, find us at the ICWA table.
Medical Freedom Northwest April 20 retreat in Spokane; continuing ed credits for providers: Kelly Victory, Scott Jensen, Mary Talley Bowden, Kim Overton and others.

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(Inslee baby pic?)

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