Our next guest is Steve. It’s just Steve, no last name given because that’s the era we live in. It’s very dangerous to hold an unapproved opinion in these times, and it can be nearly as dangerous for one’s family members. Hold the wrong opinions and you can lose your friends, your job, your house, your life. So yes, we can hardly blame Steve for wanting his last name kept anonymous.

Anyway, Steve works in health care administration, and his wife is a doctor. In the past week, Steven has received three emails, from the American Board of Family Medicine, the American Board of Internal Medicine, and the American Board of Pediatrics. Each of these emails states, unequivocally, that doctors should not be prescribing the drugs ivermectin or hydroxychloroquine for corona-virus patients. Now, a lot of doctors believe pretty sincerely that these drugs can be helpful for corona-virus patients. At a minimum, they’re both extensively tested drugs that are very unlikely to cause any harm if prescribed in safe amounts.

It doesn’t matter. Doctors in Steve’s hospital are being prohibited from prescribing either drug, he says, and if they defy that order, they could be putting their medical licenses at risk, and by extension their very livelihoods.

Steve’s message shows just how remarkably dangerous it is these days for a medical professional to voice an alternative perspective, but Steve is a brave person and he believes the well-being of the public outweighs his own personal safety. I’m very glad to have him on this program.