User:Atomicstar/sandbox/America's Frontline Doctors

America's Frontline Doctors (known as AFLDS for short) is a political organization known for spreading misinformation and conspiracies about the COVID-19 pandemic.

Why It Sucks

 * 1) Their name implies that it is an organization consisting of doctors and physicians working in the frontline of the pandemic. However, it is unclear if any of its members actually treat patients with COVID-19.
 * 2) They advocate for the use of treatments and drugs proven ineffective and/or harmful for treating COVID-19, most notably hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin.
 * 3) *Their recommendation is not backed by any peer reviewed studies. In addition, the FDA, Merck (the manufacturer of ivermectin), and many other reputable health organizations have warned against the use of ivermectin for treating COVID-19 due to its ineffectiveness and potential side effects.
 * 4) Their telemedicine website SpeakwithanMD was introduced mainly to help people get access to hydroxychloroquine or ivermectin. They charge $90 for consultation. Many customers did not receive a reply or were faced with extremely expensive costs for medication. Some people even paid several hundred dollars for medication but received nothing. In other words, many customers were ripped off or scammed. It is estimated they earned $6.7 million from consultation and follow up fees.
 * 5) They frequently make false claims and conspiracies with no legitimate scientific evidence or proof, many of which have been well debunked. Examples include:
 * 6) Masks are useless and mandates are unnecessary.
 * 7) COVID-19 has zero risk for children.
 * 8) The vaccine is ineffective.
 * 9) COVID-19 vaccine programs are similar to communist brainwashing.
 * 10) The vaccine is unsafe and even killed 45,000 people in the first 3 days.
 * 11) In early 2021 when vaccine rollout began, they moved to anti-vaccine misinformation. They repeatedly claim that vaccines are ineffective and unsafe for preventing COVID-19, despite being well-tested for efficacy and safety; they also claim that the government is attempting to cover up vaccine-related deaths, but again, they provide no valid evidence of this.
 * 12) *They often cite the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) as evidence of vaccine deaths, and sometimes even claim that only a small portion of such events are actually published (again, with no valid evidence). The VAERS is not an accurate source of data on vaccine related deaths, as doctors are required to report all deaths of vaccinated individuals, even deaths with little to no correlation to vaccination, such as car accidents.
 * 13) In late 2020, they spread a conspiracy claiming that medical organizations are using black Americans as trial test subjects, and advocates for the black community to refuse the vaccine. This shows that they are hypocritically racist.

Trivia

 * In July 27, 2020, they held a press conference to promote hydroxychloroquine and discredit masks and lockdowns. The recording of the event was shared in antivax communities, however, it was eventually removed from Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube for violating guidelines regarding misinformation.