The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) has misrepresented the amount of people COVID-19 has killed, according to State Senator Jim Abeler.
He alleges that the MDH is “inflating the #COVID-19 body count,” by “coaching” physicians to list the disease on a patient’s death certificate, even when coronavirus isn’t the sole cause of death. He leveraged this accusation via Twitter, Monday, based on analysis from fellow State Senator and medical doctor Scott Jensen.
Inflating the #COVIDー19 body count. Looks like @mnhealth wants to include every possible death in the Covid tally even if incidental. @scottjensen says he has never seen such a heavy hand in coaching physicians in terms of the diagnosis that should go on a death certificate.
— Jim Abeler (@jimabeler) April 6, 2020
Abeler also cited a set of guidelines for doctors published by the Centers For Disease Control (CDC) that instructs doctors to “report Coronavirus Disease 2019 or COVID-19 on death certificates for all decedents where the disease caused, is assumed to have caused, or contributed, to death.” However, the senator also acknowledged that the same document also told physicians to be as specific as possible when detailing the exact cause of death and possible role of underlying conditions.
https://t.co/wW1BXs9e1T
“Report Coronavirus Disease 2019 or COVID-19 on death certificates for all decedents where the disease caused, is assumed to have caused, or contributed, to death.”— Jim Abeler (@jimabeler) April 6, 2020
The senator’s speculation that COVID-19 lethality may be overrepresented comes alongside a national recognition of this same possibility. The head of the CDC, Robert Ray Redfield, announced Monday that initial projections for the virus’ lethality may have been grossly overestimated.
“I think you’re going to see the numbers are, in fact, going to be much less than what would have been predicted by the models,” he said, according to ABC News.
Minnesota has reported 986 cases and suffered 30 coronavirus related deaths as of Monday, according to the New York Times. The US as a whole has reported over 365,000 cases and nearly 11,000 fatalities as of Monday, according to World Info Meters.