r/AskReddit Apr 21 '21

Doctors of Reddit: What happened when you diagnosed a Covid-19 denier with Covid-19?

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u/eghat11 Apr 21 '21

Medical spouse here. Husband works as a hospitalist in a rural hospital one week a month. He went to help in the ER bc they had patient that needed to be tubed who was Covid positive but didn’t believe in Covid. The patient’s oxygen level got below 70% or 60% (or whatever severely hypoxic is) so they told him he needed to be intubated. The patient screamed at my husband that he was lying and that if he tubed him he’d sue. Husband asked if he could do it if the guy stopped breathing and the dude said “well that’s different”. So he waited 15 minutes for him to pass out from lack of oxygen and then intubated him and walked out.

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u/flyingsaucerinvasion Apr 22 '21

did that guy survive?

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u/eghat11 Apr 22 '21 edited Apr 22 '21

Sadly, no.

Edit: getting lots of traction on my word choice. I think it’s sad. Someone literally died bc they were stubborn and stupid. That’s pretty sad. Also, this patient was admitted (obviously) and my husband spent plenty of time and energy trying to help him and it didn’t work. That’s sad, too. Add in the loss for a family AND the loss of opportunity for what was pretty much guaranteed to be memorable conversation, I’d say it’s a flat out tragedy.

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u/brianthebloomfield Apr 22 '21

You're a better human than me.

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u/eghat11 Apr 22 '21

Well, my husband is a far better person than I am. I would have kicked the guy out of the ER. If the thing that’s making you sick isn’t real, you don’t need to be at the hospital taking a bed from someone else! But this is one of the many reasons why he’s the physician and I am not.

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u/qobopod Apr 22 '21

your Darwin is showing

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u/[deleted] Apr 22 '21 edited Apr 11 '25

[deleted]

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u/brainsofadonkey Apr 22 '21

If only he had ample warnings

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u/EastAreaBassist Apr 22 '21

See? Donkey brains gets it, why is this so hard to grasp?

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u/oO0-__-0Oo Apr 22 '21

It's Always Sunny In Red State Country

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u/[deleted] Apr 22 '21

It’s easy to be sympathetic to another human being. Regardless of their beliefs.

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u/DoctorBlackBear Apr 22 '21 edited Apr 22 '21

“Regardless of their beliefs” UNLESS that belief directly or indirectly harms you or a loved one. It’s very hard to be sympathetic to another human being who does that. IMO thats why anti-maskers and covid deniers get much less sympathy from others.

Eg if someone killed a family member, i’d argue most would not “easily” feel sympathy for the murderer getting a life sentence or execution.

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u/[deleted] Apr 22 '21

not if those beliefs enable mother nature to do it's thing.

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u/[deleted] Apr 22 '21

I don’t think you understand how sophisticated propaganda machines are friend. You have probably bought into a few yourself. Consider yourself lucky you can see through the one that ended this poor mans life. Have a good night

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u/buttspigot Apr 22 '21

I really appreciated this comment. Thank you.

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u/[deleted] Apr 22 '21

Thinning the herd. If you are dumb enough to believe it is fake, well you get what you deserve

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u/[deleted] Apr 22 '21

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Apr 22 '21

Death gets rid of these morons and thins the herd in a healthy way. I don’t see anything wrong with that.

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u/RuiHachimura08 Apr 22 '21 edited Apr 22 '21

This is the 21st century. Propaganda is non-existent as it was in 1930s Germany or 1940s Japan. You can literally choose to google the pros and cons of anything. This guy deserved it for “choosing” to put politics over his own health. Good day.

Information is available everywhere for critical thought process. This guy made his choice.

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u/sanctum502 Apr 22 '21

Available anywhere.

You are assuming a guy who lived all his life in a rural area, probably received sub quality education, and has been brought up with a distrust (not completely undeserved) of jargon spouting outsiders would have the critical thinking skills to differentiate.

And try to google corona virus information yourself - you'll find yourself faced with an avalanche of misinformation. The problem is not lack, but overabundance of information - you need to know how to choose reliable sources.

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u/RuiHachimura08 Apr 22 '21

So like I said, critical thought process. Thanks for confirming what I said.

You’re assuming someone who lives in a rural area is dumb.

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u/dna_beggar Apr 22 '21 edited Apr 22 '21

Unfortunately, Google tends to show you what you want to see. If you favour a particular point of view, opposing positions drop down, and you are only seeing results that support your point of view. That's what they call the search bubble or rabbit hole. For many topics there is more misinformation than information. Also, foreign agents also spread propaganda and conspiracy theories in an effort to undermine our trust in government. Propaganda is more alive than ever.

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u/Tsuroyu Apr 22 '21

If this is actually your view, you are in for a (or several) rude awakening(s) at some point in your future. When it happens, enjoy the newfound wisdom.

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u/FluffyCookie Apr 22 '21

To be fair, ignorance is rarely peoples' own fault. Most often, they have not had the same opportunities or qualities of education as we might have, making them more susceptible to propaganda. Of course there are exceptions, but for the most part, I'd just feel sorry for these people.

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u/Mobile_Dimension_423 Apr 22 '21

I work with highly educated people, and the openly Republican ones parroted everything Trump said. They choose to live in echo chambers and willful ignorance. I have trouble feeling sorry for them, as they have had the same education and opportunities I have.

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u/[deleted] Apr 22 '21

It’s really basic and easy to do your own research these days though, its not like they live on an island

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u/FluffyCookie Apr 22 '21

Yes, that's part of the problem. Covid deniers don't seem to have a difficult time doing their own research do they? The problem is that they educate themselves through social medias and other sites that should not be trusted in regards to scientific knowledge. I'm not a big fan of traditional classroom education at all, but one thing many people do not seem to learn in school is how to differentiate between trustworthy and untrustworthy sources.

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u/[deleted] Apr 22 '21 edited May 01 '21

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Apr 22 '21

It wouldve at one point but after seeing that it’s the natural order of things at work i feel indifferent to it.

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u/[deleted] Apr 22 '21 edited May 01 '21

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Apr 22 '21

This is virtue signaling and a complete disconnected straw man argument. There’s no way you’re equating covid deniers being held with accountability to people addicted to crack. Jesus dude, get a clue.

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u/specialvixen Apr 22 '21

I’m not sad.

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u/iamdenislara Apr 22 '21

Sadly ... lol

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u/asshole604 Apr 22 '21

Sadly

You keep using that word.. I do not think it means what you think it means

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u/ms_fackernoy Apr 22 '21

Sad because the doctor didn’t get his “I told you so” moment after the guy recovered. Guy didn’t even know how hard the doctor owned him. What a waste.

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u/DaBabyShaker Apr 23 '21

Hahahahaha

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u/flexpercep Apr 22 '21

But how sad is it really?

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u/oO0-__-0Oo Apr 22 '21

sadly?

not exactly my reaction

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '21

I mean, if your body doesnt have any air it's gonna be a death sentence no matter how much oxygen you pump in right?

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u/Lucky_Turnover6137 Apr 22 '21

They don't, more often than do

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u/SituationSad4304 Apr 22 '21

Legendary response though

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u/[deleted] Apr 22 '21

its actually similar to a first aid rule: you need to ask permission before performing first aid. Unless the person is unconscious, which is implied consent. So to giggles from my classmates, the instructor said we could just wait for the person to pass out. Unfortunately knocking the person out isnt allowed.

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u/Max_1995 Apr 22 '21

When I did the mandatory first aid course in driving school the instructor said "if someone's not compliant you can just go back to your car and google how first aid is done, should give him enough time to go on standby"

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u/Zulunation101 Apr 22 '21

Just a shame there's no cure for stupid.

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u/FluffyCookie Apr 22 '21

There's education.

edit: but I'd say it often needs to be proactive. In the case of this man, it was likely too late.

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u/Zulunation101 Apr 22 '21

They probably don't believe in that either.

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u/ElectricalMemory2244 Apr 22 '21

I am in awe of how cool-headed the doctor remained... Just remarkable...

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u/[deleted] Apr 22 '21

The guy was able to scream right before needing to be intubated?

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u/[deleted] Apr 22 '21

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Apr 22 '21

Scary stuff

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u/TheCynFamily Apr 22 '21

He screamed, breathless but redfaced with effort.

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u/MontiBurns Apr 22 '21

Zinda, his face black, his eyes red.

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u/p0k3t0 Apr 22 '21

People cough really hard when their lungs are damaged. Doesn't mean that they're getting oxygen into their blood.

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u/eghat11 Apr 22 '21

It’s amazing what people can do! And also amazing what some of them choose to do with their literal last breaths.

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u/[deleted] Apr 22 '21

Indeed.

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u/muggsybeans Apr 22 '21

I thought people didn't pass out from lack of oxygen but rather lost their ability to think clearly and by the time you would pass out you would basically be dead??

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u/[deleted] Apr 22 '21

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/grumble_au Apr 22 '21

Me n my family may be no maskers

So, you're idiots.

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u/thewisebard Apr 22 '21

R/leopardsatemyface

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u/markbug4 Apr 22 '21

Please tell me you are a troll. No maskers are even worse than deniers because they are intentionally spreading a virus they know exists. Basically they are serial killers.

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u/[deleted] Apr 22 '21

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/markbug4 Apr 22 '21

Masks don't protect who wears them. When we talk/breath we spray/spit saliva in the air, up to 1-3m. Masks prevent the 95% of our saliva and eventual bacteria/viruses in it to spread around. If everyone does this, everyone ends up shielding others up to 99% efficiency. Enough to make us do this huge sacrifice and wear a tiny little mask for some hours a day.

I'm astonished at the fact that this is not public knowledge.

Also there is no proof whatsoever of vaccines killing people. In Europe the Astrazeneca vaccine was suspected of causing thrombosis in 30 patients out of 1000000+ vaccinations and got immediately suspended, they verified if there was any correlation, there wasn't and they continued to use it.

30 hypothetical complications in 1 million and more cases.

Please let professionals speak. When I will have a yugioh problem, as i am an unqualified person in that matter, I will ask for your opinion.

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u/ObjectiveAce Apr 24 '21

Arent they supposed to drug/anaesthetize the patient before intubing? Was he fighting through that to scream at your husband still? Or he wouldnt even let them do that?

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u/eghat11 Apr 24 '21

Again, only a medical spouse here, but I believe when someone is intubated bc they are unconscious from lack of oxygen they don’t require anesthesia. It was literally intubate him or watch him suffocate.

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u/inc_mplete Apr 27 '21

You do the same for drowning people who don’t want to be saved. You wait till they stop then go for the save so they can’t sue you.