The Missouri State Medical Association today asked Missouri Governor Mike Parson to order a statewide "shelter-in-place" mandate.
In contrast, the AAPS position calls for rational consideration of the risks and benefits of responses to this pandemic.
Because of lockdowns, hundreds of thousands have already lost their jobs in California alone. Deaths from impoverishment and chaos could exceed those that might—or might not—be prevented by an indiscriminate quarantine. There are smarter, more targeted policies like protecting the most at risk patients while allowing the healthy to continue working, that should be considered instead.
Also of concern are efforts by states to interfere with physicians' ability to prescribe existing, approved drugs, like chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, that are showing promise in patients with SARS-CoV-2. The State of Missouri Board of Registration for the Healing Arts and the State Board of Pharmacy are signaling that they are considering such limits.
Please consider contacting Governor Parson. Ask him to refrain from issuing heavy-handed "shelter-in-place" orders that risk doing more harm than good. Also tell him that physicians need to maintain the ability to prescribe for the best interest of their patients without second-guessing by non-physician bureaucrats. The State should be working to ensure there is adequate supply of medications instead of getting in between doctors and patients.
