Plague in Russia? After COVID, Americans Don't Know Whom to Believe, and That Should Alarm Everyone Independent physicians warn that public distrust of health authorities is now a public-health threat in its own right, and that it will not heal without real accountability. FULL STATEMENT: WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Independent Medical Alliance (IMA), a national coalition of independent physicians, researchers, and clinicians, said today that the public's reaction to reports of a suspected pneumonic plague outbreak in Siberia is a strong warning to Washington, D.C. that health institutions have yet to earn back the credibility and public trust they spent during COVID. That credibility will only come through real accountability for the COVID-era abuses. "When an alarm goes off and half the country assumes it's a con, the alarm system is broken," said IMA President and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Joseph Varon (@joevaron). "That’s a direct result of years of spin, the censorship of practicing frontline physicians, and the coercive mandates imposed on American families by a health bureaucracy far too close to the pharmaceutical industry. And, as we all know, time has vindicated the doctors of the Independent Medical Alliance and others who were silenced and threatened.” “So, now when Americans hear 'plague' and 'mRNA vaccine' in the same breath, their response is: ‘fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me,’" concluded Dr. Varon. Russian authorities have placed nearly 200 people under medical observation after the death of a laboratory worker at a regional anti-plague research institute in the Irkutsk region. Russian health authorities have not confirmed that she contracted plague, and the @WhiteHouse and State Department (@StateDept) say they are monitoring the situation. Online, Americans are split between panic and contempt, neither reaction being helpful. At the same time, social media exploded with recirculated headlines about an Israeli-developed mRNA vaccine for pneumonic plague. That vaccine was tested in mice and announced more than a year ago. To many Americans, the pattern looked all too familiar. "Pneumonic plague deserves a serious response," Dr. Varon continued. "Here is what the public should know: plague is a bacterial infection, and when it is caught early, it is treatable with inexpensive, widely available antibiotics. Americans deserve that kind of straight talk, and they did not get it during COVID, when early treatment was dismissed, and the doctors who pursued it were punished.” “If this threat, or the next one, turns out to be real, we need health authorities people actually believe,” said Dr. Varon. “That will not happen until Congress and the Department of Justice (@dojphofficial) conduct genuine investigations and hold accountable those responsible for the COVID-era abuses. But simply issuing more promises and press releases won't restore that trust."

Independent Medicine Has No Borders While in Indonesia at the recent 30th Annual Asia Pacific Symposium on Critical Care and Emergency Medicine, IMA President and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Joseph Varon (@joevaron) and IMA Head of Medical & Scientific Affairs Dr. Ryan Cole (@DoctorCole) reflected on the importance of bringing independent voices together from around the world to share ideas, advance medicine, and build a more patient-centered future. Don’t miss next week’s IMA show, where Drs. Varon and Cole will share interviews with Dr. Anurag Saxena (Australia), Dr. Tri Maharani (Indonesia), Dr. Alzamani Idrose (Malaysia), and Dr. Alan Glombicki (Texas), and discuss the importance of partnering with like-minded clinicians across the globe. Wednesday, August 26th at 7pm ET. Register now - link below. 🔽

Replacing the AMA: How Independent Doctors are Taking Back Medicine IMA (formerly FLCCC Alliance) formed in the early days of COVID out of a simple belief: doctors must be free to practice medicine, patients deserve informed consent, and both need trustworthy, evidence-based resources. Today, that mission extends far beyond COVID—from cancer care, metabolic health, nutrition, and childhood health to free treatment guides, physician education and CMEs, the Trusted Referral Network, and independent research through the 𝘑𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘐𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘔𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘦 (@JIndepMed) IMA Executive Director Kelly Bumann joined Daniel Horowitz (@RMConservative) to discuss how we can rebuild trust in medicine by putting patients—and independent physicians—first. Learn more and watch full interview - link below.