Former politician and Calgary talk radio host Danielle Smith has launched a fundraiser in hopes of building a legal case for doctors to have the latitude to prescribe early treatment options for COVID-19 that are currently not allowed by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta (CPSA)..“There’s a wide range of potential early treatments for COVID, but the CPSA has really clamped down and one really has to question if they have overreached their authority on this,” said Smith in an interview with the Western Standard..According to the GoFundMe page that Smith started, she has two goals. The first is to “ask the court to force the government to make the Janssen AD25.COV2.S vaccine available to Canadians” and to “make early outpatient treatment available for those who develop COVID-19 symptoms.”.The current one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, Janssen, was approved in Canada but has not yet been made widely available to Canadians. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney announced last week the province has requested 20,000 doses from the federal government, but they have none yet to provide..In late April, Canada received 300,000 doses of the Janssen vaccine, but these were rejected by Health Canada after an investigation raised concerns the third-party manufacturer, a Maryland-based company called Emergent, had a mix-up of ingredients in the company’s Baltimore plant, ruining 15-million doses..“I get why in the initial days of the vaccine rollout there was such a sense of urgency, why they (federal health authorities) would want to have the maximum number of people vaccinated,” said Smith..“But now we have such a high level of vaccination and so many who are vaccinated are still getting sick, needing hospitalization and are dying,” Smith said, referencing reports out of Israel of “breakthrough” cases in that country’s heavily-vaccinated population. .“You would think at this point there would be a great interest in finding ways to do whatever we can.”.Ivermectin, an anti-parasite medication used in animals and humans, is one of the drugs touted by some to be a successful early treatment for COVID, however health authorities in Canada and the United States caution against its use until further trials are concluded..“At this time, Ivermectin should not be prescribed or taken to prevent or treat COVID-19.outside of a clinical trial, as we need to establish whether it is truly useful,” the statement reads on the Alberta Health Services website..Merck, the company that makes the brand-name version says there is “no meaningful evidence” of efficacy for COVID-19 treatment. The Centre for Disease Control (CDC) recommends against the use of Ivermectin to treat COVID citing reports of “severe illness associate with use of products containing Ivermectin.” As well, the US Federal Drug Administration (FDA) has not authorized or approved of the drug in the treatment of the virus. .However, according to the National Library of Medicine: “Six of seven meta-analyses of IVM treatment RCTs reporting in 2021 found notable reductions in COVID-19 fatalities, with a mean 31% relative risk of mortality vs. controls. During mass IVM treatments in Peru, excess deaths fell by a mean of 74% over 30 days in its 10 states with the most extensive treatments.”.Smith said enough evidence exists around Ivermectin that doctors should be allowed to prescribe it to patients..“We don’t have to focus on just one (treatment) but nothing has been recommended and the fact doctors’ professional opinions are being blocked when it comes to the treatments and recommendations for their patients needs some examination,” Smith said..“We need something for early treatment and doctors need the latitude to practice as they have historically always done.”.Smith said she has been following studies on early treatment options for COVID for a year and a half and says she finds it “highly unusual” that doctors are facing significant interference from the CPSA..“These doctors are left with no direction. There is [a] ‘no’ instead.”.Smith says she has retained representation from WKA Lawyers & Notaries in Airdrie to help put together the legal action. .In an update on the fundraising page, Smith said in consulting with three lawyers, she’s been advised legal action would have a higher chance of success if focused on pushing to allow for early-treatment therapeutics..Smith is asking people whose requests for COVID-19 treatment medication have been denied by their doctors to come forward. She is also seeking to hear from doctors who have been told they will lose their licence to practice if they are prescribed a therapeutic or other treatment for COVID-19..Melanie Risdon is a reporter with the Western Standard.,.mrisdon@westernstandardonline.com
