Sweden currently has one of the highest COVID-19 mortality rates in the world, with 507 deaths per million. There have been 5,161 total deaths reported as of 6/23/20, with approximately half of these deaths attributed to nursing home residents. However, 90% of nursing home residents who died due to coronavirus in Sweden were never admitted to a hospital. In an interview with Dr. John Campbell, Dr. Jon Tallinger, also known as “Dr. Whistleblower,” describes this healthcare crisis in Sweden as a senicide, which is the active killing of the elderly or their abandonment to death.

Since April 10th, Dr. Tallinger has gone public by sharing his personal experience and interviewing healthcare workers to inform the public of the Swedish government denying elderly coronavirus patients of oxygen. Nurse Latifa Löfvenberg said she sought treatment for nursing home residents with COVID-19 north of Stockholm, yet was ordered by company physicians to administer morphine and a sedative. "Some can have a lot of years left to live with loved ones, but they don't have the chance... because they never make it to the hospital," she says. "They suffocate to death. And it's a lot of panic and it's very hard to just stand by and watch." None of the residents from these nursing homes aged 65 to 105 with coronavirus were referred to a hospital. 

Dr. Thomas Linden, the chief medical officer of Sweden’s National Board of Health and Welfare, developed national guidelines urging doctors to determine whether the risks of transporting patients outweigh the benefits by using the patient’s biological age as a determining factor. These discriminatory guidelines often result in older patients being denied treatment, even when hospitals are operating well below capacity.

Dr. Tallinger revealed that a local government directive was sent to physicians instructing them not to refer elderly COVID-19 patients to the hospital for intensive care or even oxygen, and instead administer morphine which effectively would make the patient “go to sleep forever”. Dr. Yngve Gustafson also expressed concern about the practice of doctors ordering a “palliative cocktail” for sick older people in care homes over the telephone (without in-person consultation). “Older people are routinely being given morphine and midazolam, which are respiratory-inhibiting,” he told the Svenska Dagbladet newspaper, “It’s active euthanasia, to say the least.” 

Although Sweden’s chief epidemiologist Anders Tegnell admitted the failure to protect the elderly, none of the inhumane policies that continue to kill this vulnerable population have been changed. We demand that oxygen be provided in nursing homes to the COVID-19 patients as a required primary, low-level intervention. If care home workers are authorized to administer deadly morphine injections without patient informed consent, they can surely be given the authority to provide life-saving oxygen and basic care, such as IV fluids and antibiotics.

If the health status of the patient has still declined after receiving oxygen and basic care, the patient should be considered for admission to a hospital for treatment. In addition to the families that have had to cope with their loved ones being taken away too soon, many healthcare workers are suffering emotional trauma as they are ordered to end the lives of patients they have developed trusting relationships with. This is not only a healthcare crisis, but also a major human rights violation that warrants immediate reform as innocent lives are being lost unnecessarily every day. 

 

Sources:

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1104709/coronavirus-deaths-worldwide-per-million-inhabitants/ 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/coronavirus-is-taking-a-high-toll-on-swedens-elderly-families-blame-the-government-11592479430?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=4 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-52704836 

https://www.bmj.com/content/369/bmj.m2376

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/deadly-covid-discrimination-against-the-elderly-in-sweden/ 

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2607814726147920&id=100007582530853 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Umbsa7MYlSs 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0F1HiBA7lQ 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk0TK_Syn9I 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4SQ-NOV-iU 

 

*Please also consider supporting the following petitions related to Sweden’s Coronavirus response*

Demand stricter testing, tracing, and isolation of the virus:

https://www.change.org/p/folkh%C3%A4lsomyndigheten-change-strategy-save-lives-more-and-stricter-testing-tracing-and-isolation-in-sweden

A general appeal to change Sweden’s strategy:

https://www.change.org/p/help-us-change-sweden-s-strategy-against-covid-19