THE SKINNY: President Trump’s repeated assertions the United States is “rounding the turn” on the novel coronavirus are proving to be untrue as new cases surge in Midwest states. “We’re in for a whole lot of hurt. It’s not a good situation,” Anthony S. Fauci, the country’s leading infectious-disease expert, said in a wide-ranging interview late Friday. Where are America’s healthcare companies?

Fauci, a leading member of the government’s coronavirus response, said the United States needed to make an “abrupt change” in public health practices and behaviors. He said the country could surpass 100,000 new coronavirus cases a day and predicted rising deaths in the coming weeks and yet the debate on wearing masks is still vibrant.

On Facebook, people talk about COVID-19 mild symptoms and the decreases in deaths from COVID. The misinformation is everywhere while healthcare companies remain silent. This is totally unacceptable.

Then there are political moves that aren’t supported by science. According to The Washington Post “, the White House decision to set aside the mandatory safety controls put in place by the Food and Drug Administration fueled one of the most disputed initiatives in the administration’s response to the pandemic: the distribution of millions of ineffective, potentially dangerous pills from a federally controlled cache of drugs called the Strategic National Stockpile.

Over a span of four days in early April, the White House ordered the distribution of 23 million hydroxychloroquine tablets from the stockpile to a dozen states, enough pills for 1.4 million covid-19 patients, according to public records obtained by The Post in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.

The long-range effects of this mismanagement are going to be felt across all healthcare. Misinformation leads to bad decisions which, in turn, lead to higher healthcare costs.

Pharma companies have made a LOT of money off our bloated and ineffective healthcare system, and they should be all be banding together to educate the public on the truth around COVID, like the importance of wearing masks.

I don’t know of one health insurer who has mailed their customers and told them that wearing masks is essential to help stop the spread of COVID and that even mild cases can lead to lasting health problems.

Over the past six months, pharmaceutical companies have made various predictions about their Covid-19 vaccine timelines that have turned out not to be true. In one recent example, Pfizer has said for weeks it would know by the end of October if its vaccine works or not — but Tuesday on an investor call, the company’s CEO essentially ruled that out adding to more confusion around COVID treatments.

Isn’t it time for profitable healthcare corporations to help communicate the facts around COVID? Why can’t they contribute money for a national educational program that includes TV and digital?

It’s time to show people that healthcare companies care about people rather than profits.