Association of American Physicians and Surgeons: Mask mandates provide no clear benefits, cause harm and violate the right to informed consent
09/19/2023 / By Olivia Cook
As mask mandates are being reintroduced in schools and medical facilities, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) issued a statement on Sept. 12 opposing the return of these ineffective and unethical policies.
AAPS is a national organization representing physicians in all specialties since 1943.
The AAPS statement of patients’ freedoms provides that “patients have the right to be informed about the risks and benefits of any medical intervention – and the right to refuse medical treatment.”
The organization states that “all masking mandates currently in place must be rescinded and no future mandates should be imposed.”
Included in the statement are references to analysis demonstrating the lack of evidence that mask mandates are effective, along with peer-reviewed studies that reveal patient harm caused by mandates. (Related: The science is undeniable: Face masks do NOT stop COVID transmission.)
Concerning efficacy – in addition to the indisputable failure of mask mandates to prevent outbreaks of COVID – the Cochrane systemic review of available empirical evidence concluded that studies “did not show a clear reduction in respiratory viral infection with the use of medical/surgical masks and there were no clear differences between the use of medical/surgical masks compared with N95/P2 respirators in healthcare workers when used in routine care to reduce respiratory viral infection,’” writes AAPS.
Multiple studies and articles show downsides of wearing face masks
Concerning the potential for harm, an article published by Brownstone Institute listed more than 170 comparative studies and articles that “illuminate the downsides of masking and face coverings in different scenarios and among varied patient groups.”
Here are five examples of harm and ineffectiveness of face masks found in peer-reviewed literature:
According to a study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, extended mask-wearing by the general population could lead to relevant effects and consequences in many medical fields.
The pathophysiological changes and subjective complaints include:
- Decrease in blood oxygen saturation
- Decrease in cardiopulmonary capacity
- Decrease in empathy perception
- Difficulty breathing and shortness of breath
- Dizziness
- Drowsiness (qualitative neurological deficits)
- Feeling of dampness and heat
- Feeling of exhaustion
- Headache
- Impaired skin barrier function with acne, itching and skin lesions
- Increase in blood carbon dioxide
- Increase in breathing resistance
- Increase in heart rate
- Increase in respiratory rate
Another study published in The BMJ pointed out potential side effects that must be considered:
- The quality and volume of speech between people wearing masks is considerably compromised and they may unconsciously come closer.
- Wearing a mask makes the exhaled air go into the eyes – generating an impulse to touch the eyes.
- If your hands are contaminated, you are infecting yourself.
- Face masks make breathing more difficult. Moreover, a fraction of carbon dioxide previously exhaled is inhaled at each respiratory cycle. Those phenomena increase breathing frequency and deepness and they may worsen the burden of COVID-19 if infected people wearing masks spread more contaminated air. This may also worsen the clinical condition of infected people if the enhanced breathing pushes the viral load down into their lungs.
- The innate immunity’s efficacy is highly dependent on the viral load. If masks determine a humid habitat where SARS-CoV-2 can remain active because of the water vapor continuously provided by breathing and captured by the mask fabric, they determine an increase in viral load (by re-inhaling exhaled viruses) and therefore they can cause a defeat of the innate immunity and an increase in infections.
One study reported that the average wearing time of face masks in children was 270 minutes per day. Impairments caused by wearing the mask were reported by 68 percent of the parents. (Related: Study: Face masks do more harm than good, especially in children.)
These included irritability (60 percent), headaches (53 percent), difficulty concentrating (50 percent), less happiness (49 percent), reluctance to go to school/kindergarten (44 percent), malaise (42 percent) impaired learning (38 percent) and drowsiness or fatigue (37 percent).
According to a research article published by Children’s Health Defense, laboratory testing of used masks from 20 train commuters revealed that 11 of the 20 masks tested contained over 100,000 bacterial colonies.
Molds and yeasts were also found. Three of the masks contained more than one million bacterial colonies. The outside surfaces of surgical masks were found to have high levels of microbes; even in hospitals, more concentrated on the outside of masks than in the environment.
Staphylococcus species (57 percent) and Pseudomonas spp (38 percent) were predominant among bacteria and Penicillium spp (39 percent) and Aspergillus spp. (31 percent) were the predominant fungi.
Wearing a mask is even more unhealthy than you think, reported Transition-News.
Many face masks are made of polyester, which contain microplastics – exacerbating the waste problem. Many of them contain polyester with chlorine compounds. (Related: More studies show face masks are USELESS against the coronavirus.)
“If I have the mask in front of my face, then of course I breathe in the microplastic directly and these substances are much more toxic than if you swallow them, as they get directly into the nervous system,” said Dr. Michael Braungart, head of the Hamburg Environmental Institute.
The AAPS statement concluded: “Since masking mandates for viral illnesses provide no clear benefits, while creating potential for harm, individuals should be empowered to choose to not observe such mandates that are either currently in existence or that may be imposed in the future.”
Watch the following video about the return of mask mandates.
This video is from the PureTrauma357 channel on Brighteon.com.
More related stories:
It’s really happening: Mask mandated, contact tracing re-implanted at colleges, offices.
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