“Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.”
–Sir Anthony Weldon (17th century English courtier)
This is a difficult piece to write. For thirty-eight years, parents entrusted me with the care of their most precious possession–their children. To practice medicine and see the wonders of God’s healing power is a special privilege. And while it’s still a highly honorable profession, the greater medical community is now tarnished by those who lead it at the highest levels–our public health officials.
Last week, Dr. Rochelle Walensky made the startling announcement, “For seventy-five years, the CDC and public health have been preparing for Covid 19 and, in our big moment, our performance did not reliably meet expectations.” She went on to say that the Center’s administrators would examine its practices and changes would be made.
On the same day, when asked about the CDC statement, Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House Covid-19 Response Coordinator, opined (I’m paraphrasing), “Yeah, social distancing, isolation, and things like that were not the proper approach to the pandemic.”
And that’s it. Basically, “Yep, we blew it. Need a mulligan on that one.” Simply amazing. But, give Walensky and Jha credit for their public statements. If Dr. Anthony Fauci has voiced any mea culpa, I haven’t heard it. I doubt it’s because I missed it.
Listen, we all make mistakes–in our personal and professional lives. As a physician, I was far from perfect. But these are individuals leading the public health think tanks in which we put our trust. They practice their profession and influence lives on a much grander scale than individual practitioners do. When the health care of the entire nation is in their hands, we have every right to expect and yes, even demand, more of them.
Remember the internal emails between the NIH’s Dr. Fauci and now-retired Dr. Francis Collins, stating they needed to squash any opposition from other public health experts to their stance on the pandemic? They led the mantra to “just follow the science.” Any pushback was considered reckless and heretical.
Later, when we were all encouraged to get the Covid vaccine, Dr. Walensky came on television and flatly stated that “if you get the vaccine, you won’t get Covid.” Any physician worth his or her salt knew that was a specious statement and would reduce our credibility when we advocated for people to get vaccinated.
So, now the experts are admitting what never made sense to lots of people whose shadows never darkened the halls of a medical school. As the pandemic months went on, people realized that our nation’s approach to Covid just didn’t quite pass the sniff test. Yet lockdowns, mandates, rules, and regulations remained in force when they no longer made sense.
Did our approach save lives? The answer is likely “yes.” But at what cost? Job losses, educational deficits, financial ruin, emotional crises, and increases in obesity and substance use/abuse. How many lives were, and will be, lost to those consequences?
Public health policy is predicated on numbers and statistics, not on the tragic but uncommon story of a young person’s death from the evil we’re fighting. It’s guided by the rule, not the exception.
As I’ve said on these pages previously, we didn’t know what to expect of the virus in Spring 2020. As we learned more and more, however, it was over a year before any significant public health edicts were eased. By Summer 2020, we all knew Covid was most virulent when it found an elderly host and that, by and large, it wasn’t a disease of the very young.
Now, the Covid strains prevalent in our society have weakened through mutation. More easily transmitted–yes; but, more deadly–no. Covid rarely makes the news anymore, unless someone of name recognition contracts it. Yet, we’re still asked to wear masks in medical offices. An ineffective, cute, designer mask? No matter, just wear a mask.
I don’t fault our medical providers. They went through tremendous sacrifice and potential harm by continuing to work in the early months of the pandemic. Simply by the serendipitous timing of my retirement, I only practiced in that environment for five months, but I witnessed what my colleagues were going through.
The majority of physicians now work for hospital corporations or other medical business ventures, and they have to follow corporate policy. Not only is this Covid policy unnecessary, but it propagates the paranoia and uncertainty that there must still be something to fear. If not, why would my doctor, who I trust, ask me to wear a mask?
We all hope we’ll never face another pandemic on the scale of Covid. But what if we do? Will we be prepared? Will we trust our public health officials to tell us the truth? I suspect there’ll be even more skepticism from the public the next time the government, at the recommendation of public health officials, enacts stringent rules and regulations.
In his eponymous New Testament book, Dr. Luke stated, “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked” (Luke 12:48; NIV).
Our public health officials at the highest levels failed us. It’s not enough for them to just admit mistakes were made. They’ve lost the public’s trust. They can be forgiven, but they need to go. We need more capable and trustworthy individuals in charge.
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“Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.”
–Sir Anthony Weldon (17th century English courtier)
This is a difficult piece to write. For thirty-eight years, parents entrusted me with the care of their most precious possession–their children. To practice medicine and see the wonders of God’s healing power is a special privilege. And while it’s still a highly honorable profession, the greater medical community is now tarnished by those who lead it at the highest levels–our public health officials.
Last week, Dr. Rochelle Walensky made the startling announcement, “For seventy-five years, the CDC and public health have been preparing for Covid 19 and, in our big moment, our performance did not reliably meet expectations.” She went on to say that the Center’s administrators would examine its practices and changes would be made.
On the same day, when asked about the CDC statement, Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House Covid-19 Response Coordinator, opined (I’m paraphrasing), “Yeah, social distancing, isolation, and things like that were not the proper approach to the pandemic.”
And that’s it. Basically, “Yep, we blew it. Need a mulligan on that one.” Simply amazing. But, give Walensky and Jha credit for their public statements. If Dr. Anthony Fauci has voiced any mea culpa, I haven’t heard it. I doubt it’s because I missed it.
Listen, we all make mistakes–in our personal and professional lives. As a physician, I was far from perfect. But these are individuals leading the public health think tanks in which we put our trust. They practice their profession and influence lives on a much grander scale than individual practitioners do. When the health care of the entire nation is in their hands, we have every right to expect and yes, even demand, more of them.
Remember the internal emails between the NIH’s Dr. Fauci and now-retired Dr. Francis Collins, stating they needed to squash any opposition from other public health experts to their stance on the pandemic? They led the mantra to “just follow the science.” Any pushback was considered reckless and heretical.
Later, when we were all encouraged to get the Covid vaccine, Dr. Walensky came on television and flatly stated that “if you get the vaccine, you won’t get Covid.” Any physician worth his or her salt knew that was a specious statement and would reduce our credibility when we advocated for people to get vaccinated.
So, now the experts are admitting what never made sense to lots of people whose shadows never darkened the halls of a medical school. As the pandemic months went on, people realized that our nation’s approach to Covid just didn’t quite pass the sniff test. Yet lockdowns, mandates, rules, and regulations remained in force when they no longer made sense.
Did our approach save lives? The answer is likely “yes.” But at what cost? Job losses, educational deficits, financial ruin, emotional crises, and increases in obesity and substance use/abuse. How many lives were, and will be, lost to those consequences?
Public health policy is predicated on numbers and statistics, not on the tragic but uncommon story of a young person’s death from the evil we’re fighting. It’s guided by the rule, not the exception.
As I’ve said on these pages previously, we didn’t know what to expect of the virus in Spring 2020. As we learned more and more, however, it was over a year before any significant public health edicts were eased. By Summer 2020, we all knew Covid was most virulent when it found an elderly host and that, by and large, it wasn’t a disease of the very young.
Now, the Covid strains prevalent in our society have weakened through mutation. More easily transmitted–yes; but, more deadly–no. Covid rarely makes the news anymore, unless someone of name recognition contracts it. Yet, we’re still asked to wear masks in medical offices. An ineffective, cute, designer mask? No matter, just wear a mask.
I don’t fault our medical providers. They went through tremendous sacrifice and potential harm by continuing to work in the early months of the pandemic. Simply by the serendipitous timing of my retirement, I only practiced in that environment for five months, but I witnessed what my colleagues were going through.
The majority of physicians now work for hospital corporations or other medical business ventures, and they have to follow corporate policy. Not only is this Covid policy unnecessary, but it propagates the paranoia and uncertainty that there must still be something to fear. If not, why would my doctor, who I trust, ask me to wear a mask?
We all hope we’ll never face another pandemic on the scale of Covid. But what if we do? Will we be prepared? Will we trust our public health officials to tell us the truth? I suspect there’ll be even more skepticism from the public the next time the government, at the recommendation of public health officials, enacts stringent rules and regulations.
In his eponymous New Testament book, Dr. Luke stated, “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked” (Luke 12:48; NIV).
Our public health officials at the highest levels failed us. It’s not enough for them to just admit mistakes were made. They’ve lost the public’s trust. They can be forgiven, but they need to go. We need more capable and trustworthy individuals in charge.
6 Comments
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Good morning, Tim. In the last paragraph above, I embrace “They can be forgiven, but they need to go.” However, my feeling is that few, if any public health officials who stayed on the job during the Covid pandemic wish to remain either. Probably, they’ve joyfully been packing up their office gear for weeks…pictures off the walls…They have had it…stick a fork in their hides…they’re done!
One personal family story – My father was born in 1900 and lived through the Pandemic of 1917. As he re-told these days, he, his mother, and sister “went out of their heads” one Sunday night, and did not “know anything” until the following Thursday. They were tended to by my grandfather who even in these dire conditions, never contracted the flu. My father also shared that in this Danville, Virginia farming community, all members of a family died from the influenza, and the only remedy configured by folks living there, was to burn the house down and so they did to contain the virus. Yikes!
Another story: My mother born in 1906 grew up in eastern North Carolina, Washington County, and would share that malaria would spread through that community each year. Their only medication was quinine that would help relieve the symptoms. Another YIKES! As she completed high school, she caught the train for Raleigh, where she completed her nursing training and became a private duty nurse in the Raleigh community, never to return to live in eastern N. C. again. And then came along the building of the Panama Canal, and the medical community changed history!
All this to say, IMHO, the exact nature of pandemics cannot be predicted, but I personally admire those who roll up their sleeves, and go to work to mitigate these global medical events when they occur. Maybe a new Pandemic Playbook needs to be developed for the next one surely ahead. Any volunteers…?
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I agree govco over reacted, but also must state that hind sight is always 20/20. “Science” asks questions and those questions seemed to be lacking in the mass hysteria created by public media as well as social media. Let us hope those in charge during the next national crisis do a better job of working for the people rather than trying to control the people.
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And sometime it’s just the roll of the dice to determine the best plan, or even the best plans, for all the 330 million Americans living in the US in 2020.
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Thank you, Tim. I appreciate your comments and insights. Throughout the pandemic I was disheartened at the treatment of the medical community that voiced a different opinion and how careers were destroyed for asking questions of those in charge. Families, friends and churches were pitted against each other. The long term impact of lock downs, school missed, isolation etc will be studied for years. I pray we learn from this and should there be another pandemic we can find a more reasonable approach.
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I agree with your blog here that the top directors of public health really messed this one up with their directives concerning the handling of this epidemic/pandemic. Interesting how Fauci has been “under the radar”these past months and we haven’t heard a peep out of him, and now he announces his retirement..hmm…The public has been fed so much conflicting health information we don’t know who or what to believe. The havoc wreaked by Covid shutdowns also includes a huge rise in mental health breakdowns and depression, with a big increase in suicides (in addition to your mention of financial ruin, impact on education, etc). Public and social media also contributed to public panic over Covid. I am hopeful that we have all learned from the mishandling of the pandemic on so many levels and these mistakes will not be repeated in the future. And yes – the current health professionals in charge must be replaced and the next medical leaders will hopefully do a better job!!
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Thank you for putting into words what we’ve all been thinking. The thing that I fear most from our pandemic experience is the idea that opposing opinions are to be decimated. We lost respect for those we opposed and somehow lost our ability to think critically for ourselves at the same time. We have come to a place of taking sides… all or nothing! That scares me. But even worse, we have learned to be silent in fear of retribution. But not you! Thank you for your editorial today in the WSJ! Way to speak up for our children!
Good morning, Tim. In the last paragraph above, I embrace “They can be forgiven, but they need to go.” However, my feeling is that few, if any public health officials who stayed on the job during the Covid pandemic wish to remain either. Probably, they’ve joyfully been packing up their office gear for weeks…pictures off the walls…They have had it…stick a fork in their hides…they’re done!
One personal family story – My father was born in 1900 and lived through the Pandemic of 1917. As he re-told these days, he, his mother, and sister “went out of their heads” one Sunday night, and did not “know anything” until the following Thursday. They were tended to by my grandfather who even in these dire conditions, never contracted the flu. My father also shared that in this Danville, Virginia farming community, all members of a family died from the influenza, and the only remedy configured by folks living there, was to burn the house down and so they did to contain the virus. Yikes!
Another story: My mother born in 1906 grew up in eastern North Carolina, Washington County, and would share that malaria would spread through that community each year. Their only medication was quinine that would help relieve the symptoms. Another YIKES! As she completed high school, she caught the train for Raleigh, where she completed her nursing training and became a private duty nurse in the Raleigh community, never to return to live in eastern N. C. again. And then came along the building of the Panama Canal, and the medical community changed history!
All this to say, IMHO, the exact nature of pandemics cannot be predicted, but I personally admire those who roll up their sleeves, and go to work to mitigate these global medical events when they occur. Maybe a new Pandemic Playbook needs to be developed for the next one surely ahead. Any volunteers…?
I agree govco over reacted, but also must state that hind sight is always 20/20. “Science” asks questions and those questions seemed to be lacking in the mass hysteria created by public media as well as social media. Let us hope those in charge during the next national crisis do a better job of working for the people rather than trying to control the people.
And sometime it’s just the roll of the dice to determine the best plan, or even the best plans, for all the 330 million Americans living in the US in 2020.
Thank you, Tim. I appreciate your comments and insights. Throughout the pandemic I was disheartened at the treatment of the medical community that voiced a different opinion and how careers were destroyed for asking questions of those in charge. Families, friends and churches were pitted against each other. The long term impact of lock downs, school missed, isolation etc will be studied for years. I pray we learn from this and should there be another pandemic we can find a more reasonable approach.
I agree with your blog here that the top directors of public health really messed this one up with their directives concerning the handling of this epidemic/pandemic. Interesting how Fauci has been “under the radar”these past months and we haven’t heard a peep out of him, and now he announces his retirement..hmm…The public has been fed so much conflicting health information we don’t know who or what to believe. The havoc wreaked by Covid shutdowns also includes a huge rise in mental health breakdowns and depression, with a big increase in suicides (in addition to your mention of financial ruin, impact on education, etc). Public and social media also contributed to public panic over Covid. I am hopeful that we have all learned from the mishandling of the pandemic on so many levels and these mistakes will not be repeated in the future. And yes – the current health professionals in charge must be replaced and the next medical leaders will hopefully do a better job!!
Thank you for putting into words what we’ve all been thinking. The thing that I fear most from our pandemic experience is the idea that opposing opinions are to be decimated. We lost respect for those we opposed and somehow lost our ability to think critically for ourselves at the same time. We have come to a place of taking sides… all or nothing! That scares me. But even worse, we have learned to be silent in fear of retribution. But not you! Thank you for your editorial today in the WSJ! Way to speak up for our children!