All together or the lost praise (the lost box?) of the goalkeeper(s)

One of the slogans of the campaign against the COVID-19 epidemic was « All together against the coronavirus ». In short, the whole slogan is there to promote team spirit. The example of a team is the soccer team. The simplest question to ask would be « Who is the most important player in a soccer team? If this player is absent, it becomes a game lost in advance »…

Some people will tell you that in a soccer team, the most important thing is the captain, the striker, etc. In our humble opinion, the answer is … the goalkeeper: because if the players score 10 goals and the goalkeeper concedes 20, the team loses the game.

Now, back to medicine: who is the goalkeeper(s) in an effective, efficient, and patient- and population-health conscious health care system? Who plays the « do I or do I not hospitalize? » question all the time. Again, in our humble opinion, the gatekeeper in such a health care system is… the general practitioner.

Since March 2020, there has been something wrong with the management of the COVID-19 outbreak: general practitioners have simply been sidelined. Why have you benched — off the soccer field — the goalkeeper (the GP) throughout the management of the epidemic since March 2020 and still now? To promote « all in hospital »? In short, the team spirit leaves something to be desired. Would we see a coach asking the goalie to be off the field? Sports journalists might ask themselves this question and start to have doubts about the coach’s strategy? Are we dealing with a psychopathic trainer in medicine?

Do you think of leaving the goalie without his goalie(s) during a soccer game? Do you think it’s a good idea to leave the population without their family doctor during an epidemic? And yet, this is what has been happening since March 2020… According to the opinions of our dear experts (without conflicts of interest or illegal taking of interest?), treatment in general practice boils down to the four D’s: dodo, home, Dafalgan and death.

According to the advice of our dear experts, we had to wait for the solution that will come in a year. Do we dare say to a parent whose child has strep throat: « Good news, your child has strep throat, but we are waiting for the treatment that will arrive in a year »? A normal parent would say, « Doctor, either you’re crazy or you find a cure for my sick child quickly.

Here, it is the crazy option that has been chosen by our trainers … without most general practitioners flinching and looking for a treatment … It is true that the Scientific Society of General Medicine (SSMG) and the Federal Center for Expertise in Health Care (KCE) do not advocate antibiotics systematically to elderly patients or patients in respiratory distress with COVID-19 … While preventive and curative treatment exists …

Do we have the idea of letting the players run around the field without a ball?

Do we want to leave doctors without therapeutic tools? Why have effective treatments moved from the soccer field to the sidelines or been put off to the past? Galileo would have said: « And yet, it turns ». It seems that the experts would have said: « And yet, there is no effective treatment ».

All the hope to counter this epidemic has been focused on vaccination. In the meantime, there is no need for general practitioners to treat cystitis, asthma attacks, heart attacks, etc. or to treat patients with COVID-19… This is certainly becoming non-assistance to persons in danger…

Once and for all, we need a procedure to remove the spell from doctors so that they can rediscover their desire to heal and overcome their fear of dying… But also for journalists to return to the spirit of the Munich Charter: to verify the information and not to be the sounding board of politics or uncritical technoscience

By definition, general medicine does not look for the best solution in an infinite amount of time, but looks for a « drinkable » solution in a « reasonable » amount of time (often in the time allotted for the consultation). The valid solution to prevent the epidemic exists: vitamin C, D, zinc and mugwort (Artemisia Annua), etc.

The acceptable solution to treat the epidemic exists: azithromycin with doxycycline, and many others. By treating patients with COVID-19, the transmission of an infectious disease is cut off. It’s common sense. The coach understands this (he never thought of putting his goalkeeper off the field), our experts do not integrate it into the strategy of the epidemic management (they think that general practitioners are not useful in the management of the epidemic?) Why is common sense not the most common commodity in medicine?

Let’s stop saying « everything in the hospital » once and for all. Or let’s stop saying « All together against the coronavirus »…