What do the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the COVID-19 pandemic have in common? Their management is supposed to be based on the best available science. This isn’t always the case.
I previously wrote about the issue of COVID-19, the ESA, and the problem of using science selectively to set policy (WLJ June 15, 2020). Recent science has come to light that highlights this problem.
Research has shown that the drug hydroxychloroquine in combination with azithromycin and zinc sulfate is effective in treating early-stage COVID-19 outpatients, without serious side-effects. Importantly, this treatment is not effective in treating hospitalized in-patients with advanced COVID-19 symptoms.
This research is described in a paper by Dr. Harvey Risch of the Yale University School of Medicine (see the references). Opposing views have been published, claiming there is no convincing evidence that treatment with hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin is effective (see the references). The science on this topic is complicated and the original research should be consulted for details.
Is hydroxychloroquine effective in treating early stage COVID-19 outpatients? Dr. Risch presents data showing that it is, and others disagree. For example, on April 24, 2020 the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) advised that hydroxychloroquine+azithromycin should not be prescribed for COVID-19 treatment except for critically ill hospital inpatients or in clinical trials (see the references).
This advice does not reflect the findings of Dr. Risch on hydroxychloroquine+azithromycin. The guidance for use of hydroxychloroquine may change with new research findings, so it is important to know the current professional recommendations on this topic. The point is that there is often disagreement on science and its application, but all science should be considered in making policy decisions.
The treatment of COVID-19 obviously has serious life and death implications for patients. Policies to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, such as closing businesses and schools, also have serious implications for citizens’ health and economic wellbeing. As often described in the WLJ, this is also the case with ESA policies that restrict natural resource development and agriculture and negatively impact Americans.
An important question is: Are ESA policies using the best available science? As with COVID-19 and hydroxychloroquine, there is not consensus on science and the ESA. Government agencies (e.g., the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) make decisions on what is the best available science for the ESA, and the science is often contested in the courts. The ESA process is not pure science, and politics and legal manipulation are often involved.
Science issues with the ESA include some basic questions:
• What is a species? (Or what is a subspecies, as with the Mexican wolf?);
• What is the risk of extinction of a species (as with the greater sage-grouse?);
• What is a significant portion of a species’ range (as with grizzly bears?); and
• What is the foreseeable future for predicting extinction (as with polar bears?).
There are no definite answers to these questions. Science can provide insights on these topics, but the science is usually uncertain and in some cases is simply speculation. Several books and articles describe the lack of rigor in much of the science used with the ESA (see the references). Many WLJ readers have first-hand experience dealing with uncertain science and the ESA that affects their livestock operations.
This use of uncertain science is not often acknowledged by the government wildlife agencies that implement ESA policies. This may also be the case for the government health agencies, as indicated by the different views on hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for early-stage COVID-19 in the Yale research and in the FDA (see the references).
Treating early-stage COVID-19 patients with hydroxychloroquine may have some level of risk, but it might save lives. Allowing timber harvest, livestock grazing, mining, and oil drilling may have some risks to wildlife, but it produces resources and promotes citizens’ wellbeing. Science is often uncertain, whether it’s addressing COVID-19 or wildlife, agriculture, and natural resources. Acknowledging this uncertainty, and that policy is necessarily a compromise between risk and conflicting objectives, can improve medicine, agriculture, and natural resource management. — Dr. Matthew Cronin
(Matthew Cronin was a research professor at the University of Alaska and is now at Northwest Biology Company LLC (www.northwestbiology.com) in Bozeman, MT. He can be reached atcroninm@aol.com.)
Article by Dr. Harvey Risch, Yale University, School of Medicine, School of Public Health, Chronic Disease Epidemiology: Risch, H. 2020. Opinion: Early Outpatient Treatment of Symptomatic, High-Risk Covid-19 Patients that Should be Ramped-Up Immediately as Key to the Pandemic Crisis. American Journal of Epidemiology. https://academic.oup.com/aje/advance-article/doi/10.1093/aje/kwaa093/5847586
News Article about Dr. Risch’s research, https://medicine.yale.edu/news-article/26218/
COVID-19
Risch, H. 2020. Opinion: Early Outpatient Treatment of Symptomatic, High-Risk COVID-19 Patients that Should be Ramped-Up Immediately as Key to the Pandemic Crisis. American Journal of Epidemiology.
https://academic.oup.com/aje/advance-article/doi/10.1093/aje/kwaa093/5847586
News Article about Dr. Risch’s research: https://medicine.yale.edu/news-article/26218/
Opposing views have been published in the American Journal of Epidemiology in response to Dr. Risch’s article:
– Commentary on this article: https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwaa155
– Response by Risch: https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwaa156
– Letter to the Editor: https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwaa151
– Letter to the Editor: https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwaa154
– Response by Risch: https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwaa152
Yale School of Public Health statement on Dr. Risch’s hydroxychloroquine research: https://medicine.yale.edu/news-article/26290/
U.S. Food & Drug Administration. 2020. FDA Drug Safety Communication: FDA cautions
against use of hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine for COVID-19 outside of the hospital
setting or a clinical trial due to risk of heart rhythm problems. April 24, 2020.
https://www.fda.gov/media/137250/download
Science and the COVID-19 Pandemic. Western Livestock Journal, June 12, 2020
ESA
Science and the Endangered Species Act, Western Livestock Journal, January 31, 2019.
Grizzly bears, polar bears, and the ESA. Western Livestock Journal, April 2, 2019. https://www.wlj.net/opinion/guest_opinion/resource-science-grizzly-bears-polar-bears-and-the-esa/article_be98912a-5561-11e9-8c78-b72662406322.html
Bison and the Endangered Species Act. Western Livestock Journal, April 22, 2019. https://www.wlj.net/opinion/guest_opinion/resource-science-bison-and-the-endangered-species-act/article_a75869da-6525-11e9-95fa-47d29f1f9fb3.html
Spotted owls and the timber wars. Western Livestock Journal, Jun 6, 2019. https://www.wlj.net/publications/western_livestock_journal/page/page_96092c64-42b1-5566-858d-a4fafd876392.html
History of the Endangered Species Act. Western Livestock Journal, September 6, 2019. https://www.wlj.net/opinion/resource_science/resource-science-history-of-the-endangered-species-act/article_602bdaac-d0ef-11e9-aa2c-3b3b5cbbed76.html
Yellowstone bison denied ESA listing. Western Livestock Journal, October 7, 2019. https://www.wlj.net/opinion/resource_science/resource-science-yellowstone-bison-denied-esa-listing/article_87ad58fa-e93e-11e9-b019-03eb58f37bde.html
WOTUS replaced; now it’s the ESA’s turn. Western Livestock Journal, February 17, 2020.
Books on Science and the ESA
Andre, J. 2011. U.S.A. vs E.S.A. The Politically Incorrect Side of the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Published by John Andre, Hamilton, Montana. ISBN-13: 978-1466431393
Chase, A. 1995. In a Dark Wood: The Fight Over Forests and the Rising Tyranny of Ecology. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston and New York.
Coffman, M. 1994. Saviors of the Earth? The Politics and Religion of the Environmental Movement. Northfield Publishing, Chicago, Illinois.
Crockford, S.J. 2019. The Polar Bear Catastrophe that Never Happened. The Global Warming Policy Foundation, London, United Kingdom.
Cronin, M.A. 2019. Wildlife, War, and God: Insights on science and government. Published by Matthew A. Cronin, and produced and distributed by Liberty Hill Publishing, Maitland, Florida.
Fitzsimmons, A.K. 1999. Defending Illusions: Federal Protection of Ecosystems. Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, Maryland.
Lyon, T.B. and W.N. Graves. 2014. The Real Wolf. L. Grosskopf and N. Morrison editors. Published by T.B. Lyon, and distributed by Farcountry Press, Helena, Montana.
Pombo, R. and J. Farah. 1996. This Land is our Land: How to End the War on Private Property. St. Martin’s Press, New York.
Stirling, M.D. 2008. Green Gone Wild. Merril Press, Bellevue, Washington.
