Iowa doctor goes national and stages hospital 'jailbreaks' for COVID-19 patients

An Iowa-licensed physician who has questioned the use of vaccines and face masks in fighting COVID-19 says that each day she treats up to 40 patients from around the country and is staging “jailbreaks” that involve pulling patients out of hospitals against the medical advice of other doctors.

Dr. Mollie James, who operates a clinic in Chariton, is a surgeon and critical care specialist who trained at Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines and the University of Minnesota. She has practiced in Des Moines, St. Louis and New York City. Her license is in good standing with the Iowa Board of Medicine.

Much of what James says about COVID-19 contradicts the federal government’s advice on mitigation and treatment, a fact she readily acknowledges. She recently appeared on “The Tamara Scott Show,” a call-in talk show aired by Lindell TV, a video channel created by Mike Lindell, the My Pillow founder who has been active in spreading discredited claims of voting fraud in the 2020 presidential election.

Scott is the Republican National Committeewoman for Iowa and has worked as a Statehouse lobbyist for Concerned Women for America and The Family Leader.

In her Jan. 18 appearance on Scott’s program, James said she and a team of other health care professionals have arranged what she calls “jailbreaks” to get COVID-19 patients out of the hospital even if they’re still using bottled oxygen to help them breathe.

“What we do is we make recommendations to the family and we get them ready to pull the patients out, against the medical advice of the hospital, when they hit 10 liters (of supplied oxygen),” she said. “We’re confident enough in our treatment protocol that we know those oxygen requirements will drop fairly quickly once we get them in the home environment.”

She said she recently coordinated with the family of one special-needs adult to get him out of the hospital and the man was at home and off oxygen the next day. Another man was removed from the hospital about a week ago, she said, and is now “almost off of oxygen and he is sitting up eating eggs and bacon and playing with his grandkids. He’s totally fine.”

During the program, James and Scott also discussed James’ use of ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine in treating COVID-19 for patients around the country. The FDA has not approved ivermectin for treating COVID-19 and says currently available data suggests it may pose a risk to some patients. As for hydroxychloroquine, the FDA says the drug has not been proven to be safe or effective in treating COVID-19 and might cause abnormal heart rhythms in some patients.

“We hear the U.S. Postal Service has told their agency to stop packages coming from India that might have ivermectin,” Scott said. “So, is there any way that Americans can still get that?”

“I don’t have any problem,” James replied. “My clinic has a network of pharmacies across the country that will fill (prescriptions). I can get it to anyone within three to five days. So, we definitely recommend our patients do a preventative consult and see us before they need it so that we can get the meds and they can have them in their cabinet.”

“Expect a call from me after the show,” Scott said.

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3,500 patients treated since September

James also described for Scott how she uses ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine on patients in the early stages of infection.

“At the onset of symptoms, we can treat with things like hydroxychloroquine, that direct suppresses viral replication, we treat with ivermectin, that blocks the virus’ ability to get into the cells and replicate,” she said.

A Minnesota woman called in and asked whether “we should be having ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine in our medicine cabinet before we get sick.”

“Yes, you should,” James responded.

“Can they contact JamesClinic.com and set up a pre-interview?” Scott asked.

“They can certainly call us,” James replied. “We have actually been so busy taking care of sick patients we are doing our prevention consults as a group consult. So, basically what it is, you sign up ahead of time, we do an hour-long Zoom, and we review everything you need to know to take care of yourself. And then a doctor will review your medical history and send your prescriptions in. ”

On James’ website, prospective patients can sign up for consultations by clicking on links that say, “I am sick with COVID-19 and can’t breathe: $790,” or, “I want to prevent COVID-19: $290.”

James told Scott that other doctors who take her approach to treating COVID-19 are being “targeted” by the medical establishment. She told James that after the pandemic hit, she ran into problems with the hospitals that employed her due to her own views on the matter.

“I left the hospitals,” she said. “One by one, my privileges were removed, or I was suspended or terminated, because I didn’t get the vaccine. I didn’t need it. I had natural immunity having been sick from one of the patients.”

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During the interview, Scott discussed the federal government’s efforts to have all health care professionals in Iowa’s Medicaid-funded facilities vaccinated “even though the governor said we wouldn’t do it.”

James said those Iowa professionals need to “unite and fight” the federal requirement.

“What they’re doing is eliminating all critical thinkers from the hospitals, from the police force and from the military,” she said. “And so what you are going to be left with is people who just follow the rules or follow policy.”

On Jan. 11, James was a guest on the podcast of conservative Iowa commentator Steve Deace, who said he’s a patient of James and that he has referred friends and family to her clinic.

James told Deace that since September when she resumed her practice in Iowa, she has treated about 3,500 patients, which suggests an average of 30 patients per workday. Not all of them were COVID-diagnosed, she said, but they had symptoms. She said one of those patients died, and 30 to 40 required subsequent hospitalization. Most of her patients are in their 50s, she said.

James also told Deace her telemedicine team includes two full-time physicians, one full-time nurse practitioner and one part-time nurse practitioner who see patients. In one day, she said, her team “saw 30 to 40 sick patients.”

James’ views on COVID-19 – as well her public statements on gun rights, critical race theory and immigration – have endeared her to conservative media outlets. With regard to ivermectin, the so-called horse de-wormer, she has said, “There’s no medicine that’s safer on the planet,” adding that she prescribes it for her patients while other doctors refuse for fear of losing their license.

Kent Nebel, executive director of the Iowa Board of Medicine, told the Iowa Capital Dispatch last month that the licensing board can’t comment on James specifically, but is currently looking at complaints involving Iowa doctors who are spreading questionable information about COVID-19.

The board respects the free-speech rights of physicians, he said, but it’s also aware that spreading misinformation impacts the public health and may intersect with a physician’s treatment of specific patients.

James has not responded to messages the Capital Dispatch left with her clinic staff.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has emphasized the safety of COVID-19 vaccines, saying reports of adverse events such as allergic reactions, myocarditis or pericarditis are rare and the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination outweigh the risks.

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One of James’ former websites – which bore the domain name IvermectinCan.com — stated that The James Clinic is a membership-based “concierge practice” for Iowans who are “ready to take their health back.”

Patients pay a membership fee and in return they are eligible for a multi-tiered array of services. The “Platinum+ Members” are entitled to a personal health concierge, a functional-medicine assessment, extended physician availability, “monthly advanced infusions” of something that’s not specified, and unlimited treatments in the clinic’s new hyperbaric chamber.

According to the clinic’s website, treatment fees for COVID-19 range from $290 for those who simply want to prevent the virus, to $990 for those with long-haul symptoms of the virus. Those who are currently sick with the virus pay $490, and those who are sick and having trouble breathing are charged $790.

One of James’ posts on Twitter reads, “We are winning! No mandates. No vax for kids … We’re literally killing our kids because the boomers are scared. Pathetic.” Another states, “Where is your red line? In order to work will you let someone swab your nose weekly? Wear a market (sic) that you’re ‘unclean’? Jab you? My rights come from God and require none of this nonsense.”

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Find this story at Iowa Capital Dispatch, which is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Iowa Capital Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Kathie Obradovich for questions: kobradovich@iowacapitaldispatch.com.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa doctor Mollie James talks 'jailbreaks' for COVID patients on show