A2 THE BULLETIN • SATURDAY, JANUARY 23, 2021
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COVID-19 data for Friday, Jan. 22:
Deschutes County cases: 5,131 (28 new cases)
Deschutes County deaths: 40 (1 new death)
Crook County cases: 645 (14 new cases)
Crook County deaths: 11 (zero new deaths)
Jefferson County cases: 1,727 (9 new cases)
Jefferson County deaths: 25 (zero new deaths)
Oregon cases: 136,839 (877 new cases)
Oregon deaths: 1,865 (22 new deaths)
SOURCES: OREGON HEALTH AUTHORITY,
DESCHUTES COUNTY HEALTH SERVICES
New COVID-19 cases per day
BULLETIN
GRAPHIC
129 new cases
130
(Dec. 4)
What is COVID-19? It’s an infection caused by a new
coronavirus. Symptoms include fever, coughing and
shortness of breath. This virus can be fatal.
7 ways to help limit its spread: 1. Wash hands often
with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. 2. Avoid
touching your face. 3. Avoid close contact with sick
people. 4. Stay home. 5. In public, stay 6 feet from others
and wear a mask. 6. Cough into your elbow. 7. Clean and
disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.
LOCAL
VACCINATIONS
8,942
Pfizer-BioNTech
vaccinations given
through St. Charles
108 new cases
120
(Jan. 1)
90 new cases
110
(Nov. 27)
100
90
7-day
average
80
70
60
GENERAL
INFORMATION
47 new cases
50
(Nov. 14)
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16 new cases
(July 16)
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31 new cases
28 new cases
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(May 20)
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MAXINE BERNSTEIN
The Oregonian
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Suite 200
Bend, OR 97702
Mailing ........... P.O. Box 6020
Bend, OR 97708
B
Doctor sues over license suspension
ADMINISTRATION
Publisher
Heidi Wright ..............................541-383-0341
Editor
Gerry O’Brien .............................541-633-2166
The Oregon doctor who had
his medical license suspended
last month for failure to re-
quire staff and patients to wear
masks in his office is now suing
the Oregon Medical Board.
On Dec. 3, the board sus-
pended Steven Arthur LaTu-
lippe’s medical license, finding
that his Dallas-based practice
presents a serious danger to
public health and safety. The
board found that he and his
staff refused to wear masks in
the clinic and urged people
who came to the clinic wearing
during a Dec. 2 visit to LaTu-
lippe’s clinic that neither pa-
tients nor health providers
were wearing masks. There
were no screening procedures
— such as the taking of pa-
tient temperatures — before or
upon entry to the clinic, and
no hand sanitizer was made
available in the waiting area.
Instead, an article was posted
in the public area of the clinic
with a passage highlighted
that claimed 94% of individ-
uals who will experience seri-
ous effects of COVID-19 have
co-morbidities, according to
the board’s suspension ruling.
masks to remove them.
LaTulippe on Thursday filed
a federal lawsuit against the
Oregon Medical Board, alleg-
ing the suspension violated his
due process and free speech
rights, contending he’s been
penalized due to a “mere dif-
ference in medical opinion.”
He contends the admoni-
tion to wear masks to slow the
spread of the coronavirus pan-
demic has been “largely dis-
puted by reputable studies and
medical experts,” and claims he
has harmed no one.
An investigator with the
state medical board found
The suit contends that LaTu-
lippe’s staff do not wear masks
because they experience short-
ness of breath, claustrophobia,
and panic attacks.
It alleges that the doctor’s
medical license suspension
will lead to “irreparable harm,”
since many of his patients rely
on him for pain treatment and
prescriptions.
The suit said LaTulippe is
the only doctor within a rea-
sonable driving distance of
Dallas who specializes in pain
and addiction.
LaTulippe ran a family prac-
tice clinic called South View
Medical Arts in Dallas. He
made anti-mask comments
during a “Stop the Steal” elec-
tion rally in Salem on Nov.
7. The video was posted on
YouTube by the Multnomah
County Republican Party
The suit contends the board
violated his free speech rights
by referencing his comments at
the political rally he attended.
The suit contends the doc-
tor never prevented any patient
from wearing a mask in the of-
fice, and that he never told any
individual patient to remove
their mask for any reason other
than medical necessity.
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REDMOND BUREAU
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Bend, OR 97708
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CORRECTIONS
Cat lost in Oregon makes it back to Arizona
BY CARISA CEGAVSKE
The News-Review
Lexi is an ordinary house cat
who, as far as her family knew,
didn’t even know how to hunt.
So when the McMillan fam-
ily of Gilbert, Arizona, lost her
at Thielsen Forest Campground
about 6 miles from Diamond
Lake in August, they feared she
wouldn’t make it.
But somehow, this little gray-
and-white, long-haired cat sur-
vived a grueling autumn in the
wild. In September, she came
within one mile of a raging wild-
fire that devastated the area. By
November, she was clinging to
life through a heavy snowstorm.
But this month, she was re-
turned to her family in Arizona
thanks to the actions of con-
cerned citizens who stepped in
to help a cat in need.
Lizzy McMillan said Lexi’s a
good traveler — she walks on a
leash, rides in a backpack and
happily stays in a camper — but
she escaped while the adults
were distracted. They were hop-
ping in and out of the truck
while attempting to execute a
45-point turn to pull their travel
Courtesy of Lizzy McMillan via The News Review
Maxine, left, and Violet McMillan enjoy a reunion with their cat Lexi.
trailer out of a campsite that was
just too small for it.
Lexi’s people noticed the cat
was missing a few miles down
the road and returned to look
for her, staying an extra day in
hopes of finding her.
But they had no luck.
But Lexi had one thing go-
ing for her. Her family had a
microchip implanted when she
had been spayed.
Exactly what Lexi did during
the rest of August and Septem-
ber is unknown. But by late Oc-
tober, Oregon Department of
Transportation workers based at
the Lemolo maintenance shop
off Highway 138 East about a
mile away were reporting hav-
ing seen a stray cat in the area.
Among his other duties, Ore-
gon Department of Transporta-
tion maintenance crew member
Chris Southwick is one of the
people who runs those snow-
plows that keep the highway
open in the winter.
Southwick said he and other
employees who work at the
Lemolo shop started bringing
food for the cat they knew was
out there somewhere, but it
never seemed to eat anything.
Then one day around
Thanksgiving, Southwick saw
tracks in the snow at the sta-
tion — fresh cat tracks.
The tracks wandered off to-
ward the corner of the yard
where several pieces of equip-
ment were parked. The tracks
ended at a truck.
“So we opened up the hood
of the truck that was there, and
there it was sitting on top of the
engine trying to get warm. So I
grabbed it,” he said.
Southwick brought her inside
and gave her some food.
Lexi — who Southwick was
calling “Snowy” — fit in well
with his family and its two cats,
two dogs, chickens and fish.
But Southwick thought about
how sad his kids would be if it
had been their cat who was lost.
And he wondered if she might
have a microchip that would
identify the cat’s owners. So he
took Lexi to Saving Grace Pet
Adoption Center to find out.
She did have a chip, and so
the next leg of Lexi’s journey was
about to begin.
Saving Grace Cattery Man-
ager Brooke Winterholer said
the animal shelter reached out
to the McMillans.
Saving Grace volunteer Jan-
ice Quist, as it turns out, winters
each year in Surprise, Arizona,
about an hour from Gilbert,
where the McMillans live.
Once they arrived in Sur-
prise, Lizzy McMillan’s husband,
Andy McMillan, drove down to
pick up Lexi. He put the cat into
a clear cat backpack and hauled
her out for the last leg.
In the months since they lost
Lexi, the family had moved to a
new home.
Waiting at home, unaware
that Lexi had been found, were
three children.
Maxine McMillan, 10,
had received Lexi as her fifth
birthday present. She and her
brother Everett, 7, and sister
Violet, 4, were not told the cat
had been found .
“They were so excited and
couldn’t believe that she had
been found,” Lizzy McMillan
said.
The Bulletin’s primary concern is that all
stories are accurate. If you know of an
error in a story, call us at 541-383-0367.
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ý
Lottery results can now be found on
the second page of Sports.
STATE BRIEFING
Salem Capitol protester
arrested on attempted
assault charge
SALEM — A man wanted
for his alleged role in an attack
on officers at the Oregon State
Capitol in December has been
arrested.
The Salem Police Depart-
ment said in a news release
that Richard Braatz of Eugene
was arrested Thursday in Sa-
lem while participating in a
rally to protest the presidential
election results.
Braatz was lodged at the
Marion County Correctional
Facility on charges of sec-
ond-degree attempted assault
and riot in connection with a
special legislative session on
Dec. 21.
Demonstrators, some
armed, attacked authorities
that day with bear spray, broke
glass doors and called for the
arrest of Gov. Kate Brown. It
wasn’t immediately known if
Braatz has a lawyer to com-
ment on his case.
— Bulletin wire report
LOCAL BRIEFING
St. Charles identifies
source of COVID outbreak
A COVID-19 positive pa-
tient who visited St. Charles
Redmond has been identified
as the source of the infection
that spread to more than 30
caregivers at the health care
facility.
The unnamed patient was
admitted to St. Charles Red-
mond on Dec. 31 and tested
twice for COVID-19 and both
tests were returned as neg-
ative, according to a release
from St. Charles Health Sys-
tem. The patient was tested
again on Jan. 6 and the results
were positive.
The patient was not wear-
ing a mask during the visit
due to underlying health con-
ditions that made mask wear-
ing difficult.
St. Charles staff had been
wearing specialized personal
protective equipment during
the visits, but the equipment
was “overwhelmed by pro-
longed exposure to the highly
symptomatic patient,” accord-
ing to the release.
“Negative COVID-19 test
results are not foolproof,” said
Dr. Jeff Absalon, St. Charles
chief physician executive. “In
spite of negative test results, if
a patient is highly symptom-
atic we need to treat them as
if they are COVID-19 positive
and aerosolizing, in which
case the higher level of PPE is
required.”
One patient and 33 St.
Charles caregivers at the Red-
mond hospital have tested
positive for the COVID-19
due to the outbreak. The
health system began its vacci-
nation campaign on Dec. 21,
so none of the 33 Redmond
caregivers was fully vacci-
nated.
The hospital is now focused
on contact tracing to ensure
that everyone who may have
been in contact with infected
employees is aware of the situ-
ation and taking precautions.
Testing is being offered to all
St. Charles Redmond care-
givers.
— Bulletin staff report
For almost 20 years Whispering Winds
Retirement community has stood strong.
Being local and family owned, we’ve
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best it can be.
We are all banded together in the love for our residents and team members.
We are dedicated to their safety and security, especially in these unsure times.
We believe that everyone deserves a safe place to call home.
Whispering Winds...we are all in this together.
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schedule a tour!
541-312-9690
2920 NE Conners Ave.
Bend, OR 97701
www.whisperingwinds.com