Michael Kelly just recovered from monkeypox but says getting treatment was not easy. He blames the government rollout.”The government has absolutely known what they were in for and should have started preparing,” Kelly said. “We should have been declaring states of emergency. We should have been moving the resources so that I got consistent information as the next citizen.”Kelly filed a complaint with the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, saying how the state rolled out testing, treatment and pain management of monkeypox has been unequal. He’s not alone. Five other men are now saying their rights were violated. Last week we introduced you to Brian McKenna, who was denied testing and denied treatment even after having all the symptoms. For now, doctors only test when patients have visible lesions, but in many cases, symptoms are invisible and so many are turned away, saying their cases are too mild.”These people went home in tremendous pain, one of which is concerned about total disfigurement of his genitals because of scarring,” Kelly said. Another patient lost his job because his untreated lesions continued for over a month. Many are not given the treatment TPoxx, which reportedly can begin to heal lesions within the first dose. But getting that treatment from the government requires complicated paperwork. Kelly hopes filing his complaint with the attorney general will trigger state and federal government response to ramp up and streamline supply of vaccines and treatment.”We’ve got plenty of these materials,” Kelly said. “We’ve had plenty of time to ramp this up. This has been a pattern, a failure, that needs to be addressed, and it needs to be addressed right now.”The attorney general’s office said that they are reviewing this complaint and typically the State Department of Public Health does not comment on potential litigation.
Michael Kelly just recovered from monkeypox but says getting treatment was not easy. He blames the government rollout.
“The government has absolutely known what they were in for and should have started preparing,” Kelly said. “We should have been declaring states of emergency. We should have been moving the resources so that I got consistent information as the next citizen.”
Kelly filed a complaint with the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, saying how the state rolled out testing, treatment and pain management of monkeypox has been unequal.
He’s not alone. Five other men are now saying their rights were violated.
Last week we introduced you to Brian McKenna, who was denied testing and denied treatment even after having all the symptoms.
For now, doctors only test when patients have visible lesions, but in many cases, symptoms are invisible and so many are turned away, saying their cases are too mild.
“These people went home in tremendous pain, one of which is concerned about total disfigurement of his genitals because of scarring,” Kelly said.
Another patient lost his job because his untreated lesions continued for over a month.
Many are not given the treatment TPoxx, which reportedly can begin to heal lesions within the first dose. But getting that treatment from the government requires complicated paperwork.
Kelly hopes filing his complaint with the attorney general will trigger state and federal government response to ramp up and streamline supply of vaccines and treatment.
“We’ve got plenty of these materials,” Kelly said. “We’ve had plenty of time to ramp this up. This has been a pattern, a failure, that needs to be addressed, and it needs to be addressed right now.”
The attorney general’s office said that they are reviewing this complaint and typically the State Department of Public Health does not comment on potential litigation.
