This has been on my mind a lot, so I& #39;m going to start a thread about how covid-19 and the load on hospitals is impacting care & treatment for other illnesses and disabilities. 1/

Unsubstantiated hype about hydroxychloroquine has left patients with lupus & rheumatoid arthritis facing a scarcity of a medication they rely on

(It& #39;s also important to note that lupus disproportionately affects women & African Americans) 2/ https://www.propublica.org/article/lupus-patients-cant-get-crucial-medication-after-president-trump-pushes-unproven-coronavirus-treatment">https://www.propublica.org/article/l...

CW: suicide

This is so dark: "One New York City paramedic described responding to a suicide attempt of a woman after her cancer treatments had been delayed, in part because hospitals were clearing their beds for coronavirus patients." 3/ https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/28/nyregion/nyc-coronavirus-ems.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/2...

The term "elective surgery" is incredibly misleading. It means any surgery that is scheduled in advance, and includes cancer surgery, organ transplants, brain surgery, etc. These surgeries are being cancelled. 4/ https://www.propublica.org/article/cancer-surgeries-and-open-transplants-are-being-put-off-for-coronavirus-can-they-wait">https://www.propublica.org/article/c...

An earlier article about this from mid-March, that included a cancelled brain surgery for daily seizures: 5/ https://twitter.com/math_rachel/status/1240309231095603201?s=20">https://twitter.com/math_rach...