A Plea For Common Sense: Medical Malpractice Advocate Asks SC Senate to Reconsider Public Health Nomination

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After her 8 year old daughter was misdiagnosed and paralyzed unnecessarily at the age of 8, Leila Dudley has been a lifelong advocate for those who are or have been subjected  to medical malpractice. This is her letter to the SC Senate Medical Affairs Committee regarding Gov. McMaster’s recent nomination of Dr. Edward Simmer as the Director of the new Public Health Department:

Dear Chairman Verdin and Committee Members:

I appreciate so much the efforts you provide within the Medical Affairs Committee on behalf of the health of South Carolinians.

I am writing to let you know that I strongly oppose the nomination of Dr. Simmer to head the newly created Department of Public Health for the State of South Carolina.

 Under Dr. Simmer’s  leadership, starting in 2021, DHEC staff adopted and encouraged certain Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations, without extensive scientific review, which were:

1. not supported by the body of scientific evidence.

2. not adapted as emerging scientific evidence and new information became available.

3. not scientifically justified to be implemented in all age groups and population.

4. detrimental due to known and unintended negative consequences in certain populations resulting in other very serious public health problems.  *** See attached letter names DHEC concerns documenting the above

During Dr. Simmer’s tenure as Director of DHEC, informed consent (mandated by the Nuremberg Code which by law and ethics is required for medical intervention in the United States was ignored. See: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199711133372006

Informed consent should have included, at minimum, the following fully known facts at the time of the deployment of the MRNA vaccine/injections:

·      Product (Covid 19 MRNA) studied for sixty days (usual timeline is 8-12 years) and Pfizer trial study was ended within a few months of the vaccine launch.

·      Transmission of virus was not evaluated in clinical trials

·      No testing was done on animals which is always required for new drugs

·      No data is available on how this injection will affect you in the long term

·      No data on how this injection will affect your unborn child

·      No data on how this injection will affect the development of your children

·      No ability to sue the manufacturer, physician or hospital if injured

·      Discussion of individual patient’s risk to Covid should be discussed versus the benefit of taking an experimental therapy. 

It was well known in January of 2021 that there was a subset of groups that were particularly vulnerable to having serious complications and/or dying from Covid 19 (i.e., people with 2+ comorbidities, elderly, etc.).   In spite of this widely available data,  children (who have virtually no risk of having serious complications from the  Covid virus) were strongly encouraged by DHEC  to get a vaccine and told it was safe and effective through a program implemented by DHEC in partnership with the SC Department of Education launched as a jingle competition https://ed.sc.gov/newsroom/news-releases/state-agencies-partner-on-covid-19-jingle-campaign/   The decision to vaccinate a child is the responsibility of the parent and should not be clouded by the enormous fear campaign instituted by DHEC. Bullying and intimidation resulted from these misleading marketing efforts.

 In addition, Dr Simmer:

·      allowed vaccine mandates to be implemented by South Carolina corporations, group homes, health systems, etc.   

·      promoted masking when there was a widely respected Cochrane data review published in 2020 and later updated showing the effectiveness of masking was inconclusive.  See https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD006207.pub5/full

·      failed as a psychiatrist to consider the detrimental effects that masking and fear could have on the cognitive, physical and emotional development of children.

·      promoted experimental Covid 19 injections, through a variety of platforms, to all residents of South Carolina as being safe and effective without disclosing potential harms

·      fostered an environment that pressured and in some cases, coerced the private and public sector to adopt unproven and untested strategies that could and did cause significant harm. 

·      created an environment where differing opinions were stifled among our community.   

·      Required masks in for kids in school against the SC legislature’s efforts to block unconstitutional mask mandates

We need a proven leader (NOT follower) to guide our public health policy. Trust in governmental agenices (including SCDHEC), physicians and hospitals is at an all time low due to the handling of the Covid-19  pandemic.  Promoting Dr. Simmer will result in even further erosion of trust.  

 We have an opportunity to build back the trust we have lost and restore confidence.  I would suggest a nationwide search for a person with the following traits to lead this newly created department:

1.        Courageous 

2.        Innovative and Creative 

3.        Preferably, a physician who has private sector experience, treated patients during the pandemic, and holds himself/herself vigorously to the Hippocratic Oath, the Nuremberg Code and informed consent

4.        Has the gift of discernment

5.        Believes in Medical Freedom and Bodily Autonomy

Thanking you in advance for your consideration,

Leila