Wednesday
April 24, 2024 
The Durham Township official website lists in its Community Resources section two COVID-19 treatments put forth by two controversial physicians.
When questioned about who was responsible for the posts and about the propriety of the township providing such medical advice to its residents, Supervisor Chairman Kathleen Gentner said she had posted them. The conversation took place during the public comments section of the meeting.
Gentner said the postings were not meant as advice but merely to offer information for residents; however, neighboring townships do not offer similar resources, and the presence of these detailed medical posts on a municipal web site is puzzling.
One is listed as “Dr Zelenko MD;” the second is “Fleming Method on COVID-19.”
What the website does not reveal is that Dr. Vladimir Zelenko was a family doctor in a small village in New York, not an expert in infectious diseases, and, according to the New York Times, village officials pleaded with him to stop exaggerating the scope and effects of his treatment, their efforts eventually forcing him to leave town.
The Fleming Method was promoted by Dr. Richard M. Fleming, a convicted felon, tried in 2009 in Lincoln, Neb., where he pled guilty to both health care fraud and mail fraud. He, too, took his practice elsewhere. In 2018, the federal Food and Drug Administration debarred Fleming for 10 years from providing services to a person that has an approved or pending drug product application.
Gentner said the posts will remain in place. “I have a right to free speech,” she said.
Then Gentner spoke against the actions of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases.
Gentner claimed he is “not really a doctor,” although Fauci is a graduate of Weill Cornell Medical College and has served seven presidents.
She also turned her ire against the government guidelines for masks, restaurants and air travel, arguing against their necessity, downplayed the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic, criticized “the twisted media” for spreading misinformation about the pandemic, and ridiculed mask-wearers at the meeting, tossing a personal insult at a member of the press.
She later apologized privately for what she called “my emotional outburst,” and said, “I’m just so afraid all our freedoms will be taken away. That’s why I’m giving out Constitution booklets to everyone.” Before the meeting began she had passed out pocket-sized copies of the Constitution.
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