Who You Gonna Call After a COVID Diagnosis? Doctors Fauci vs Oz
Celebrity Doctor Mehmet Oz announced his candidacy to be U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania last week, and Republican media types were thrilled about the possibility.
Two other GOP candidates are maneuvering to replace retiring two-term Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey. The entire field’s electability is based on the notion that the candidates are wealthy enough to self-fund a campaign in a purple state against Democrats with actual governing experience.
Dr. Oz’ entry into the race as a Trump darling stoked my curiosity about his qualifications versus the GOP’s public enemy #1, Dr. Anthony Fauci, because they are symbolic of pandemic politics.
The daily average of new coronavirus infections over the past two weeks is up by 28%; deaths have also risen, by 13%. It would seem that, regardless of the Omicron variant, the nation is primed for another wave as people move inside for the winter season.
Vaccine hesitancy, which is at the center of a right wing effort to destabilize the country, is fading as vaccinations and booster shots have shown significant increases over the past week. The emergence of a new variant and deadlines for proof of vaccination are both responsible for steadily reducing the pool of people susceptible to misinformation on the topic. Oh, and the fact that Republican leaning areas of the country are losing voters at a disproportionate rate might have something to do with it.
Okay, on with the battle of the doctors, which is really about attitudes toward science and reality..
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Mehmet Oz is a cardiothoracic surgeon who became famous as a health expert on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Eight of Oz's books have been New York Times bestsellers, and host of his own syndicated TV series. He is the recipient of ten Emmy awards.
Oz’s discussions about and endorsements of non-mainstream medical practices and therapies have gained both praise and criticisms. Articles in the British Medical Journal, Popular Science, and The New Yorker, have been harshly critical of him for endorsing unproven products and non-scientific advice.
A study published in the British Medical Journal asserted that medical talk shows such as The Dr Oz Show and The Doctors often lack adequate information on the specific benefits or evidence of their claims. 40 episodes of each program were evaluated, determining that evidence supported 46 percent, contradicted 15 percent and was not found for 39 percent of the recommendations on The Dr Oz Show.
Dr. Oz’ candidacy prompted Business Insider to run an article highlighting what it said were eight baseless claims he’d made over the years:
Oz pushed hydroxychloroquine to fight the coronavirus, even though its effects were still unproven.
Oz repeatedly claimed that raspberry ketones are 'the No. 1 miracle in a bottle to burn your fat.'
Oz has said astrological signs "may reveal a great deal about our health."
Oz told viewers that green coffee extract "has scientists saying they've found the magic weight-loss cure."
Oz said most countries require genetically-modified foods to have special labels.
He's also said umckaloabo root extract "has been incredibly effective at relieving cold symptoms" even though it isn't.
Oz recommended using lavender soap to cure leg cramps.
A strawberry-and-baking-soda mixture can whiten teeth, Oz said.
Not included on this list was his one-time advocacy for corrective therapy to “cure” gayness.
While he once described himself as a moderate Republican ala Arnold Schwarzeneger, Dr. Oz's claim to political fame really took off thanks to his association with former president Donald Trump.
In September 2016, during his presidential campaign, Donald Trump appeared on The Dr. Oz Show. The appearance was promoted via a with a claim that Oz would assess and discuss medical records submitted to the show by Trump and reveal his assessment on the show.
The appearance was, as Vox described it, a melding the worst of Trump’s reality television showmanship with the worst of Dr. Oz’s made-for-TV medical schtick.:
What follows is even more surreal: Oz conducts a made-for-TV physical of Trump. No actual exams, no hands laid on the patient, no verification of the patient’s data. Just a series of questions and the two pieces of paper from Trump — authored by none other than Harold Bornstein. Bornstein is Trump's long-time doctor, who previously stated his patient would be "the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency," and boasted in another letter (out today) of Trump’s "excellent physical health."
All together, this was enough evidence for Oz. "If a patient of mine had these records," Oz said, "I’d be very happy, and I’d send them on their way."
If Trump and Bornstein are to be believed, the candidate is indeed in very good health for his age. He takes a statin to lower his cholesterol, which is under control, as is his blood pressure. He said he’s had no skin issues, no history of cancer. Oz could hardly contain his excitement when he read out Trump’s testosterone level: "441, which is actually — it's good," Oz said, with a smile.
Discussions about the coronavirus strain on the Dr. Oz shows were reportedly key to the Trump administration’s decision-making.
Oz’s endorsement of the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine triggered widespread criticism, as did his later claim on Fox News with Sean Hannity that reopening schools in the United States might be worth the increased number of deaths it could cause.
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While Dr. Anthony Fauci is not particularly partisan, having served as an advisor to every U.S. president since Ronald Reagan, his presence in the media spotlight as a spokesperson for public health measures has made him an attractive target for those seeking to sow distrust in the Biden administration’s policies.
As the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), his contributions in HIV/AIDS research and other immunodeficiency diseases have made Fauci one of the world's most frequently-cited scientists.
In the pandemic’s early days as a leading member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, Fauci’s public comments gave the Trump administration enough wiggle room to claim their policies had a scientific basis.
As more evidence about the COVID-19 virus emerged, Fauci’s changing attitudes about mask wearing and social distancing diminished his standing with the Trump administration and the Republican party.
Far right members of the party urged the administration to get rid of Fauci, and the hashtag #fireFauci became standard fare on right wing social media accounts.
Emails released in June, 2020 were the basis of stepped up attacks on the doctor. Using out-of-context comments and drawing on unsubstantiated conclusions, Fauci was painted by Trump defenders as a liar who misled both Trump and the American people.
In addition to calls for his resignation and prosecution, the NAID Director received protection via the US Marshals Service following threats to his personal and his family’s safety. Fauci is also at the center of a conspiracy theory saying he was tied to a Chinese lab accused of creating the COVID-19 virus.
Attacks on Fauci continue to serve as the lynchpin of Republican attempts to undermine the credibility of public health measures as a means of undermining confidence in government.
From editor Richard Galant at CNN:
Yet, as Frida Ghitis wrote, Fauci has been the target of increasingly overwrought attacks from the right for his role supporting vaccines and other proven measures to stem the pandemic. "It's hard to top the once-respected Lara Logan, the South African reporter who left '60 Minutes' in disgrace and joined Fox News shortly after," Ghitis noted. "During an appearance on Fox News Primetime on Monday, Logan equated Dr. Anthony Fauci -- the top infectious diseases doctor in the United States and one of the world's most respected scientists -- with none other than Dr. Josef Mengele, the Nazi doctor known as the 'Angel of Death' for performing brutally cruel experiments on concentration camp prisoners during World War II..."
"Logan's words resonated around the world, provoking a furious reaction. The Auschwitz Museum in Poland, on the site where Nazis murdered more than 1 million human beings, mostly Jews, rebuked Logan," calling her words "shameful" and "a sad symptom of moral and intellectual decline."
Ghitis observed, "as long as there's a massive propaganda effort aimed at keeping people from accepting the vaccine, the arrival of Omicron is one more warning shot, one more sign that the pandemic can exploit social weaknesses, divisions and cynicism to continue preventing us from getting back our full lives. Those who tell the lies are at least partly responsible for everyone's continuing plight."
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Tangentially related to the above story is the NPR analysis finding that
“...since May 2021, people living in counties that voted heavily for Donald Trump during the last presidential election have been nearly three times as likely to die from Covid-19 as those who live in areas that went for now-President Biden.”
“NPR looked at deaths per 100,000 people in roughly 3,000 counties across the U.S. from May 2021, the point at which vaccinations widely became available. People living in counties that went 60 percent or higher for Trump in November 2020 had 2.7 times the death rates of those that went for Biden. Counties with an even higher share of the vote for Trump saw higher Covid-19 mortality rates.”
The trend was robust, even when controlling for age, which is the primary demographic risk of COVID-19 mortality. The data also reveal a major contributing factor to the death rate difference: The higher the vote share for Trump, the lower the vaccination rate.
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Then there is the Washington Post account of the seven days following former President Trump’s initial positive coronavirus test:
From the day he tested positive until his hospitalization, Trump came in contact with more than 500 people, either those in proximity to him or at crowded events, not including rallygoers, according to a Washington Post analysis of the president’s interactions during that period.
That seven-day window reveals a president and chief of staff who took a reckless, and potentially dangerous, approach to handling the coronavirus, including Trump’s own positive test.
Trump and Meadows hid Trump’s positive test not just from the public, but also from his inner circle and from his top public health officials. He took part in a debate with Democratic rival Joe Biden three days later, never revealing the test result to Biden or event organizers.
And Trump took no extra precautions, such as mask-wearing or social distancing, to protect those he came in contact with in the days following the positive test.
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Finally, there’s this bit of stupidity:
https://twitter.com/mtgreenee/status/1467138576697724932?s=20
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