"We're Protecting our Seniors to Death!"

What "focused protection" can involve in practice: Examples from June 2020 and February 2023

I came across a compelling comment on a June 2020 article that reminded me about the awful things that were (are?) done in the name of “protecting” people from respiratory illness.

The article itself is about the impact of COVID-19 in nursing homes and (as we’d expect) is very “pro government narrative”. It presumes a novel virus was spreading and blames outbreak conditions, not enough tests & PPE, and lack of government resources on the reported nursing home “COVID” death toll in the U.S at that time. Abandoned in the title isn’t referring to residents being abandoned or neglected by staff but to government “abandoning” nursing homes, i.e., not making sure they had what they needed to battle the virus.

The sole comment is from a nurse, Melinda Huffman, speaking up about her mother’s experience in an assisted living facility. Written several months prior to the Great Barrington Declaration, which called for “focused protection” of the elderly, Huffman’s plea is a heartbreaking example of how “protecting” populations considered vulnerable to an illness often plays out in reality.

June 13, 2020

We're Protecting our Seniors to Death!

Melinda Huffman, BSN,MSN,CCNS | Daughter of Assisted Living Resident

I know this is a very difficult and somewhat unknown clinical environment to navigate to say the least. However, the liability that assisted living centers are concerned about have resulted in the most draconian lockdowns imaginable, to the point of protecting these seniors to death.

My mother was a high energy, intelligent 92-yr old who managed her own medications and her own finances. March 11, 2020 is when the facility she resides in went into strict lockdown, no visitors. At that time, this was understandable.

Now 4 months later, even if a resident goes out of the facility for medical care, regardless of what it is, they are forced into lockdown in their rooms for at least 5 days even after testing negative upon their return. Residents are to keep doors closed, no fresh air or sunshine, no regular exercise. Food is brought to the rooms.

She began having panic attacks 4 weeks ago and attributes her now-persistent atrial fibrillation to these continued lockdowns. She is receiving periodic cardioversions, follow-ups and holter monitoring, and as you may have guessed it, continued lockdowns upon returning from outpatient visits needed for these various txs.

She's become very depressed and talks of wanting to die.. My mother never had any mental health issues prior and was always strong and determined. Her will has been broken. Now when she comes home with me, I see that she's exceptionally quiet, withdrawn, and lacks interest in doing the things we have typically done during her visits at my home. She doesn't want to come and live with me because she now has difficulty remembering and prefers her own familiar "unit" space.

Sure, we can add an antidepressant to her treatment regimen that now includes an anti-anxiety agent, but we know that's not without potentially severe drug-drug interactions with her cardiac meds.

Federal and state prisoners receive better treatment. We are literally protecting our seniors to death.

Hearing hundreds of stories like this one since 2020 has made me realize that “outbreak” protocols in congregate settings often create conditions & lead to outcomes that are worse for care home residents than the illness itself. Such protocols became even more draconian with the pandemic declaration. Because I don’t have a loved one in a nursing home right now, I can’t speak to whether they’ve stopped. My sense is they have not, especially during flu/flu shot season.

As late as February 2023, my friend’s mother tested positive for “COVID” at a rehab facility in suburban Chicago and was punished with a “protection” protocol. Her mom survived, but the fiasco is another illustration of inhumane practices that should be forbidden.

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Post Publication

Melinda Huffman captured what “protection” is really about when she said:

However, the liability that assisted living centers are concerned about have resulted in the most draconian lockdowns imaginable, to the point of protecting these seniors to death.

It’s a cruel irony that absolves facilities of harms or death via “lock up” while defending against them against harms or death via positive PCR test.