Doctor in Bonner County Dismisses 'Pandemic Preparedness' as a 'Con Game,' Recommends NAC, Vitamin C, Exposure and Nasal Lavage

Dr. Thomas Fletcher told a Bonner County audience that “the very notion of a pandemic preparedness is a con game,” and urged residents to focus on individual measures he said protect against severe illness.

Fletcher, introduced by Commissioner Corn, framed his talk in three parts—pharmacological, physical and mental preparedness—and described treatment strategies he said better address the harms of severe viral illness than some public‑health interventions. “You will not hear vaccine in this lecture,” he told the audience.

Fletcher said most deaths from viral infections occur from secondary effects—bacterial pneumonia, sepsis or inflammatory collapse—and recommended treatments to limit those harms. He named steroids for severe inflammation and cited broad‑spectrum antibiotics (he mentioned azithromycin, a "Z‑Pak") as medicines clinicians have used in secondary bacterial infections. For antioxidant therapy he recommended raising glutathione via the precursor N‑acetylcysteine (NAC) and described what he called a loading regimen: "a gram an hour for 8 hours... basically 10 grams," followed by maintenance dosing. He also recommended high‑dose vitamin C—"a gram an hour, up to 10 grams"—and characterized those doses as necessary to reach intracellular targets.

On physical preparedness, Fletcher urged what he called "boot camp" exposure to common animal reservoirs and environmental microbes (talking specifically about bird and pig exposure and composting) to broaden immune responses, saying this was the opposite of guidance to isolate. He also recommended nasal lavage (saline or a diluted povidone‑iodine solution), improved ventilation, high‑grade air filters and UV air treatment as ways to reduce inhaled inoculum.

Fletcher questioned laboratory and surveillance methods used in prior outbreaks. He asserted that "PCR is not a valid means" to establish causality and later said a German publication showed an "87 percent false positives" rate in early pandemic PCR results, a claim he used to argue that many early COVID diagnoses were incorrect.

In the mental‑health portion of his talk Fletcher emphasized minimizing fear and stress, arguing high cortisol weakens immunity. He advised strict sleep hygiene—no bright or blue light in the bedroom, white‑noise or air‑filter sound for tinnitus—and suggested experimenting with intermittent fasting to tune circadian rhythms.

Audience members asked about specific herbs, forms of vitamin C, and the risk that supplementation can down‑regulate endogenous production. Fletcher said curcumin/turmeric have anti‑inflammatory properties but that he was "not a herbologist," and used melatonin and chronic prednisone therapy as examples of agents that can suppress natural production when used long term.

The presentation included local references and anecdotes—Fletcher described running a local farmers‑market stall without masks during COVID and said an exposure there was part of his personal "boot camp." Commissioner Corn and organizers offered to follow up on questions about Panhandle Health and resources after the meeting.

No formal motions or policy actions were taken; the event was a community presentation.