A memo was sent around within Cone Health during the last couple of days. It directed that certain offices and facilities within the organization had to start requiring the use of masks among staff and visitors during flu season.
This, of course, is an abomination on several levels.
First, the masks don’t work. The requirement ignores “the science”.
Second, the requirement reinforces a lie or a falsehood. It buys into a widely held delusion.
Third, it is a massive inconvenience and nuisance for employees and visitors intended to create a perception of safety for those who are wrongheaded.
Cone Health has become a pathetic, politically charged organization instead of an institution buoyed by medical science. This is the legacy of Covid-19. It’s very sad.
Are Cone officials in an isolation bubble? Like they never heard of the Cochrane Review ? Stoopid !!
The most charitable explanation, Fred, is that they are stupid. It is probably more accurate that they are pandering because they perceive it will maximize their profits by catering to a market segment. And this is at the expense of staff.
If one does a search in OpenEvidence (AI for physicians) asking how effective masks are, it overwhelmingly tells you that they are effective in reducing SARS-CoV-2 in healthcare settings. It also says mask mandates are effective at the population level. A large number of physicians in hospital systems are using OpenEvidence now, which is sponsored by groups such as Google, AMA, NEJM, Mayo Clinic, Microsoft, American Diabetes Association, American College of Cardiology, and others.
It’s no wonder that all are on board with this.
Outcast, I was unfamiliar with OpenEvidence– but it appears that it doesn’t use valid methods of evaluating the scientific and medical literature. That ought to be a major red flag for patients accessing care in the hospital systems. (Unfortunately, in many situations, there is no choice but to do so.)
medical freedom still in the hands of the tyrants!!
Yes, they are tyrants, Bronni. I feel badly for those affected by this. It is a major imposition.
Re: AI medical opinions
AI is just a search engine which finds info on the internet and spits out a conclusion.
That conclusion will be as flawed as the data used to form it.
The phrase “garbage in = garbage out” is as valid today as ever.
You are right, JayCee. Given the sophistication of AI systems, I bet it can be trained to evaluate medical research studies for quality. But it clearly did not happen with the AI instrument Outcast cited as being used by Cone.