Editor:
This federal government is aggressively destroying our medical infrastructure: Funds for Medicaid are being shrunk, grants for medical research have been canceled and the federal organizations that physicians rely on are being decimated by firings, funding cuts and inappropriate personnel substitutions. What this means for you, our patients, is that your physicians and medical providers no longer have access to reliable, expert advice. The federal organizations that used to provide us with critical guidance and up-to-date information on medical issues, public health concerns, vaccines and infectious diseases are being taken over by those who lack expertise and do not support evidence-based medicine.
It’s not easy being a physician in a rural area like Humboldt County, and this administration is making it a whole lot harder. Personally, I am so discouraged by these actions that at times I feel like quitting. We have a severe shortage of medical providers in rural areas. It seems cruelly destructive to make physicians feel unappreciated, devalued and in some states, terrified of being arrested. It is discouraging for us, and it is bad for you, our patients.
Finally, I don’t want to care for children with diseases that should be prevented like measles, whooping cough or HIB meningitis. I did that 30 years ago, and I’m not willing to go backwards. It is just too sad.
Emily Dalton, Eureka
This article appears in The Man Who Unsolved a Murder.