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University of Washington
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2022-04-29
For Those Most at Risk, COVID-19 Is Not Over
This is a news story from Inside Higher ED by Josh Moody. As schools begin to resume to pre-COVID standards, not all are happy with this change. Those with disabilities worry about the loosening guidelines and how it would affect their health. COVID rates vary across the country, but many colleges are starting to drop protocols. Some disability advocates claim that this is a wrong decision from the colleges doing this, as it is putting people at high risk in more danger. COVID Safe Campus, a group of high-risk academics and activists with disabilities, recently launched a report card grading college coronavirus policies. The effort, they say, grew out of concerns that high-risk individuals are being left behind as colleges return to pre-pandemic normalcy. Colleges are graded on masking, COVID-19 testing and vaccination policies, and access to remote learning. Of the 90 institutions graded from this organization, majority have received a D or an F, and none earned an A. -
2020-07-21
If we know Hydroxychloroquine doesn't work, why are scientists still experimenting with it?
My husband was exposed to COVID-19 by a co-worker from a different branch. She took the COVID-19 test, but instead of quarantining like you’re supposed to, she continued running errands. One of those errands was going to the bank, where my husband works and making a withdrawal. That same day she got her test results and called to let him know. OK, I feel a lot of things about that, annoyed. I’m really annoyed and frustrated that she believed she had COVID, went to the lengths to get tested, but didn’t self-quarantine. My husband is more empathetic. He thinks she had urgent things to do and no one to help her. OK, that’s the first part of this story. The second part, is that suddenly on FB I saw an advertisement for a research trial on COVID. I filled it out for my husband, and a few days later he got an email offering him the chance to participate in a study. I read the fine print, it seemed sketch. First, the trial is for 4,000 people to take Hydroxychloroquine, a malaria drug that we know doesn’t work. Second, the compensation is only $300 total. That seems like a really, really low sum to be a guinea pig. Third, the way that the researchers phrased his options bothered me. On the consent form it lists his choices: “Your other options: There are currently no approved treatments to prevent infection or COVIF-19 symptoms for people who have had contact with an infected person. You do not have to participate in this study. Your other choices may include: • Taking part in another study • Getting no PEP after contact with a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19.” This seems far from neutral, and actually to me- sounds like a combination of pressure/fear to get people to participate. This is my first time seeing an informed consent form, and I wonder if they’re all this loaded in terms of trying to manipulate someone into donating their health and body to an experimental process. The study was run by the NYU Grossman School of Medicine and the University of Washington.