“Restoring Trust in Public Health”
From declaring that we had herd immunity 5 years ago to claims that immunity to COVID was “probably lifelong“, MAHA doctors made an overwhelming number of preposterous predictions. Yet, they never looked back at them. As variants repeatedly obliterated their farcical forecasts, they acted as if they simply never happened.
Instead of humbly reflecting on their own errors, MAHA doctors launched a deluge of vitriolic attacks on their predecessors, accusing them of being the biggest source of pandemic misinformation. Though these combined techniques of amnesia and accusations were manipulative and dishonest, they were effective in catapulting MAHA doctors to the pinnacle of the medical establishment.
However, MAHA doctors did not get there on their own. They had a robust support network of doctors, journalists, and prominent academics who normalized and elevated them every step of the way. MAHA doctors said don’t worry about COVID, and their supporters legitimized this dangerous message by praising MAHA doctors. MAHA doctors gained power with the help of these influential, trusted people who yawned at their anti-vaccine disinformation, pro-infection agenda, and overt right-wing political propaganda. This support network mocked and sanctimoniously scolded those of us who disagreed- only we had to watch our “tone”- while portraying MAHA doctors as benevolent souls whose competence and wisdom would restore trust in medicine and public health. While many of us desperately tried to sound the alarm bells about them, their supporters sought to numb people to their obvious risks. Some examples are:
Drs. John Mandrola and Adam Cifu- Sensible Medicine Endorses Vinay Prasad for Director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) at the US FDA:
Vinay Prasad is leaving Sensible Medicine to take a senior role at the US FDA. He has our enthusiastic support. Prasad is slated to be the incoming CBER director, where he will regulate vaccines as well as cellular and gene therapy. In our opinion, there is no better candidate… We can’t think of anyone more qualified to lead the biologics division. Prasad’s lifelong commitment to scientific rigor will help rebuild lost trust in regulatory bodies.
Dr. John Mandrola- Can We Give the New FDA Leadership a Chance:
The public town hall conversations are both a huge step in the right direction and a welcome change from the previous FDA leadership… I am excited and optimistic about the new leadership at FDA. They speak with clarity, humility and in a language the general public can understand. The transparency will begin to restore some of the lost trust. Good on them.
Professors Frances Lee and Stephen Macedo- Restoring Trust in Public Health:
Educated elites bemoaning the return to power of Donald Trump would do well to ask how they contributed to this outcome. Trust in institutions is down, perhaps especially for those institutions charged with helping the public discern the truth. Observers often blame the “information ecosystem”—in particular, the internet—but elites have also undermined public faith by allowing science and the wider pursuit of truth to be politicized. The incoming administration presents the opportunity for a reset. To that end, Trump should nominate Stanford University’s Dr. Jay Bhattacharya to lead the National Institutes of Health. Bhattacharya exemplifies qualities that were lacking in our nation’s scientific leadership during the pandemic. The ostracism and condemnation he faced for his dissenting views provides a vivid illustration of elite failures to live up to their own deepest values…
If the country had had more scientific leaders like Dr. Jay Bhattacharya—and more who were willing to listen to him—our policymaking could have been based more on evidence and less on hubris. During the pandemic democracy’s “truth-seeking” institutions were infected by politics, partisanship, and dogmatism. What we need now is a strong dose of fresh thinking and institutional reform from experts prepared to challenge the reigning consensus and renew our commitment to the basic values of science and liberalism.
Dr. Andrew Noymer- Jay Bhattacharya Will Bring Much-Needed Transparency to NIH:
Dr. Jay Bhattacharya – the Stanford professor who is President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for the directorship of the National Institutes of Health – will bring transparency to this government agency, which sorely needs it… I have seen Jay’s commitment to hearing diverse and disagreeing viewpoints. Jay is not one to try to muzzle a dissenting opinion… Transparency is a principal (and principled) solution to lack of public trust in institutions. I am confident that Jay’s pursuit of transparency can restore public trust in NIH.
Dr. Leana Wen- The NIH and FDA Nominees Are Surprisingly Strong:
Then and now, I think that Bhattacharya and Makary were unfairly labeled “covid deniers” and unjustly ostracized in medical circles. During their confirmation hearings, both spoke about open discourse, dissent and debate as cornerstones of their tenures at NIH and the FDA. That’s a good thing. Scientific progress hinges on challenging conventional thinking, and I appreciated hearing their ideas for how things can be done differently…
Members of the scientific and medical community, including those who once disparaged them as covid contrarians, should extend an olive branch. After all, Bhattacharya and Makary represent the country’s best chance to preserve its vaunted biomedical infrastructure.
After Dr. Prasad was fired, the first time, Dr. Cifu wrote an article titled Vinay Prasad Is My Former Student And Friend. His Departure from FDA Is a Loss for American Medicine. “He is divisive, opinionated — and usually right,” it began. It continued:
Vinay was also guaranteed to be labeled a hypocrite. Although his views on evidentiary requirements have always been nuanced, many critics labeled him as accepting only randomized controlled studies as adequate evidence. But that’s not right. To function in his position, he would need to be open to a spectrum of evidence, as all physicians must be — and he is. I applauded his appointment and his early work. His and Makary’s transparency was especially admirable.
In reality, Dr. Vinay Prasad was a juvenile vulgarian who repeatedly said “RCT or STFU” to spread doubt and anger about mitigation measures. According to his supporters, however, this meant he was nuanced and open to a spectrum of evidence. Dr. Marty Makary claimed we had herd immunity in May 2021, immediately before the Delta variant arrived. According to his supporters, however, he spoke with clarity and humility. Dr. Jay Bhattacharya pushed for unvaccinated people to face the risk of the disease in October 2020, just months before both vaccines and the pandemic’s deadliest month arrived. According to his supporters, however, he acted based on evidence, not hubris.
Just watch some of these doctors’ videos to see their COVID disinformation and pro-MAHA/MAGA agitprop. Though there’s an overwhelming amount of it, their supporters weren’t bothered by any of it. They praised and celebrated it.
“Trust in CDC, FDA, NIH shrinks”
These videos also clearly showed that doctors who excelled in breaking trust would struggle to rebuild it. Those are two entirely different skill sets, it turns out, and breaking is always easier than building.
Enough time has passed to evaluate their real-world performance thus far. Have they turned out to be surprisingly strong? Did Dr. Prasad’s lifelong commitment to scientific rigor help rebuild lost trust at the FDA? Were his public town hall conversations with Dr. Makary a huge step in the right direction? Was their transparency especially admirable? Has Dr. Bhattacharya renewed our commitment to the basic values of science and liberalism? Have MAHA doctors fostered a culture that values open discourse, dissent, and debate? Have they preserved our vaunted biomedical infrastructure? Has their pursuit of transparency rebuilt lost trust?
I sure don’t think so, though my own predictions as MAHA loomed weren’t flawless. I correctly identified the threat, which was no great achievement, however I greatly underestimated its magnitude. MAHA doctors sabotaged science and medicine well beyond what I predicted and in ways I never could have imagined. Their incompetence and malevolence surprised even me. However, at least I did my best to warn about them, and I am fully prepared to defend my writing. All of it.
It’s fair to ask those who rolled out the red carpet to MAHA to do the same. A failure to hold people accountable is how we got here in the first place. As such, I hope MAHA fluffers will either make the affirmative case they were right, that MAHA doctors thrived in office and restored trust, or admit they were wrong about all that.
“Welcome Back Vinay Prasad”
However, I doubt they will even have the integrity to even acknowledge their own words. If history is any guide, they will claim it’s rude and uncivil for anyone to merely remember them. Like past predictions of herd immunity, predictions that MAHA doctors would “restore lost trust” will likely vanish into the ether and be deliberately forgotten by the people who made them. Indeed today, Drs. Mandrola and Cifu are writing articles titled Welcome Back Vinay Prasad on their monetized Substack. It made no mention of his performance at the FDA and said:
Vinay is returning with knowledge of the inner workings of the federal government and US drug and biologic regulation, and will bring this perspective to his writing. He remains committed to the central question of our era: How do we ensure medical decisions are made by good and reliable evidence, at a time of widespread excitement and innovation?
At least everyone can see through that nonsense these days.
The COVID Amnesia Project has seamlessly morphed into the MAHA Amnesia Project, and it’s up to us not to forget the sheltered sycophants and enablers whose enthusiastic support of the pandemic’s worst disinformation superspreaders led to this sad moment. Other people paid the price for their need to feel special and “heterodox”, and I see no reason to trust their judgment on anything else ever again.