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Parents in one Texas district ripped off a teacher's face mask and demanded another educator remove hers, according to the school system's superintendent.

"The last few days leading to the start of school have been a whirlwind of information and action from governors, attorneys general, judges, mayors, superintendents and even principals," Eanes Independent School District Superintendent Tom Leonard wrote in a statement Tuesday.

Gov. Greg Abbott's executive order banning mask mandates has faced resistance from municipalities and some school districts in the state. Leonard's statement came on the same day Abbott's spokesman announced the governor had tested positive for coronavirus.

"While many may not agree on the particulars (i.e., masks or no masks), we all want students to be safe and we all should treat each other respectfully," Leonard wrote.

But in the days leading up to the first day of school, which is Wednesday in the Austin district, some parents have been attacking teachers, he said.

"A parent physically assaulted a teacher by ripping a mask off her face, others yelling at a teacher to take off her mask because they could not understand what the teacher was saying while her face was covered," Leonard wrote. "Our staff are on the front lines of this pandemic; let’s give them some space and grace. Please, I am asking everyone to be kind ... do not fight mask wars in our schools."

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In Alabama, where the nation’s lowest vaccination rate has helped push the state closer to a record number of hospitalizations, a physician has sent a clear message to his patients: Don’t come in for medical treatment if you are unvaccinated.

Jason Valentine, a physician at Diagnostic and Medical Clinic Infirmary Health in Mobile, Ala., posted a photo on Facebook this week of him pointing to a sign taped to a door informing patients of his new policy coming Oct. 1.

“Dr. Valentine will no longer see patients that are not vaccinated against covid-19,” the sign reads.

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Treatment in the Absence of Emergency

Obligation to treat patients in nonemergent situations is not clear-cut. Principle VI of the American Medical Association’s (AMA) “Principles of Medical Ethics,” states that a “physician shall, in the provision of appropriate patient care, except in emergencies, be free to choose whom to serve, with whom to associate, and the environment in which to provide medical care” [1]. Hence, no common law duty or ethical imperative exists outside of EMTALA or a patient-physician relationship that requires a physician to treat every patient. While the AMA Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs has deemed it unethical to refuse to treat patients based on certain disease states such as HIV, that ruling is not instructive of whether physicians are wrong in refusing patients without specified conditions or disabilities [2].

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Valentine had a blunt answer for those who asked him about his decision.

“If they asked why, I told them COVID is a miserable way to die and I can’t watch them die like that,” he wrote.

Valentine said he is currently in the process of mailing a letter to patients about his decision. He posted a copy of the letter online.

“We do not yet have any great treatments for severe disease, but we do have great prevention with vaccines. Unfortunately, many have declined to take the vaccine, and some end up severely ill or dead. I cannot and will not force anyone to take the vaccine, but I also cannot continue to watch my patients suffer and die from an eminently preventable disease,” the letter said. “Therefore, as of October 1st, 2021, I will no longer see patients that have not been vaccinated against COVID-19. If you wish to keep me as your physician, documentation of your vaccination will suffice. If you wish to choose another physician, we will be happy to transfer your records.”

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Originally posted by wtg:
Local reporting on Dr Valentine.

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Valentine had a blunt answer for those who asked him about his decision.

“If they asked why, I told them COVID is a miserable way to die and I can’t watch them die like that,” he wrote.

Valentine said he is currently in the process of mailing a letter to patients about his decision. He posted a copy of the letter online.

“We do not yet have any great treatments for severe disease, but we do have great prevention with vaccines. Unfortunately, many have declined to take the vaccine, and some end up severely ill or dead. I cannot and will not force anyone to take the vaccine, but I also cannot continue to watch my patients suffer and die from an eminently preventable disease,” the letter said. “Therefore, as of October 1st, 2021, I will no longer see patients that have not been vaccinated against COVID-19. If you wish to keep me as your physician, documentation of your vaccination will suffice. If you wish to choose another physician, we will be happy to transfer your records.”

https://www.al.com/news/2021/0...able-way-to-die.html

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“Therefore, as of October 1st, 2021, I will no longer see patients that have not been vaccinated against COVID-19. If you wish to keep me as your physician, documentation of your vaccination will suffice. If you wish to choose another physician, we will be happy to transfer your records.”

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Alabama hospitals have run out of ICU beds as COVID-19 cases spike there, putting a renewed strain on the state's health care system.

There were negative 29 intensive care unit beds available on Wednesday night, according to the Alabama Hospital Association and the Alabama Department of Public Health. That means there were 29 more patients in need of ICU care than there were beds available.

"We've never been here before. We are truly now in uncharted territory in terms of our ICU bed capacity," AHA President Donald Williamson told WSFA 12 News on Tuesday.