Judging from changes I was able to observe in consecutive online postings and copies of the text forwarded to me by readers, the following variant paragraph may represent one such apocryphal addition:
If any of my patients become ill, or suspect infection, call the office, do not come without calling and DO NOT go to the ER. If one member in a family is identified all would be given the Tamiflu or Relenza (that is normal course of action) if there is enough distributed to fill prescriptions. Public health stated that one family member identified or suspected to have contracted the flu it will require the whole family to be ‘quarantined’ in their own home until enough time has passed for the remaining household to have contracted it or be considered infection free ( 7 to 10 days per person). As another suggestion, if any member of the family is on routine medication- fill those prescriptions now. Have plenty fluids, Motrin, soups, etc available and make contingency plans in case your family is affected.
Unauthorized modifications aside, Gitterle definitely feels the message he wrote was blown out of proportion and misunderstood by bloggers and the media. "Had I been writing for a wider audience, I would have provided a lot more perspective, to prevent misunderstandings, such as the incorrect notion that I felt anyone (officially or in the media) was intentionally obfuscating things," he wrote in a subsequent blog posting. "I didn't and I don't."
In any case, the administration of Christus Santa Rosa Hospital and officials of Comal County where it is located took pains to disavow any connection with the message. "Christus Santa Rosa hospital just called me to assure me that this doctor was not speaking for the hospital," local judge Danny Scheel was quoted as saying by KSAT-TV News in San Antonio. "The hospital agrees fully with the recommendations made by the CDC and by our local health authorities." Scheel characterized Gitterle's claim of an impending shortage of the flu-fighting drug Tamiflu "exaggerated."
A report in the Austin American-Statesman said Gitterle regrets calling the H1N1 virus "deadlier" than more familiar flu viruses and "doesn't believe it's any worse than seasonal flu, which causes an estimated 36,000 U.S. deaths annually." However, he stands by his belief that the actual case count is "many times higher" than what government officials are reporting.
As of three days after Dr. Gitterle (or someone) wrote that the spread of Influena A(H1N1) had already "crossed the threshold for the definition of a WHO Phase 6 global pandemic," the level of alert listed by the World Health Organization remains at Phase 5.
Read what Dr. Gitterle has to say about the email and the controversy it created
Email This Article
Sources and further reading:
Doctor's Email Causes Stir, Rebuked
Herald-Zeitung (New Braunfels), 1 May 2009
School Closings Raise Questions
Austin American-Statesman, 30 April 2009
Doctor Taken to Task for H1N1 Email
KSAT-TV News, 30 April 2009
Fraudulent, Edited Email Going Around
Health-Sense blog, 1 May 2009
Last updated: 05/01/09
