The anti-vaxxer crowd welcomed this week’s news. Dr. Joe Cantor resigns As Chief Medical Officer of the State of Louisiana. In his role at the state health department, Canter led efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19 and encouraged the public to get vaccinated.
He did so out of a sense of duty and undaunted by his growing critics. asked a question The proven science behind the policies he implemented.
His resignation was a cause for celebration for science deniers, who have been emboldened again since Republican Gov. Jeff Landry was elected on a promise to firmly oppose public health measures they see as an invasion of freedom. . As attorney general, he took every opportunity to challenge and denounce the then-governor. Democrat John Bel Edwards issued an executive order to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
Louisiana officials’ continued emphasis on vaccinations has been called into question since Landry’s election and subsequent appointment of Dr. Ralph Abraham to head the state Department of Health. Mr. Canter announced Mr. Abraham’s resignation less than two months into his tenure.
Abraham, a former congressman and 2019 gubernatorial candidate, was a practicing physician before serving in the U.S. House of Representatives and a veterinarian before that.
Early in the pandemic, Abraham supported the off-label use of coronavirus treatments that had not been approved by federal regulators and was open to alternative drugs at a time when researchers had yet to develop a vaccine. Ta.
“Sometimes we need to try certain drugs that have worked anecdotally. Give patients options and let patients and doctors make informed decisions,” Abraham said. louisiana radio network In March 2020.
As for vaccines, there was an encouraging message from Abraham’s agency last week when it announced two confirmed cases of measles in the New Orleans area. The Louisiana Department of Health reported that no infected person had been vaccinated, and officials encouraged the public to get the MMR vaccine, saying it is “highly effective and safe.”
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It remains to be seen whether there will be a similar message regarding COVID-19 vaccines, as the virus continues to mutate into new strands and pose a public health threat. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Recommend boosters for the elderly.
If Rep. Raymond Cruz (R-Bodger City) has his way, Abraham and the health department will ignore the CDC’s recommendations.
Crew members said the same thing during Tuesday’s meeting. House Health and Welfare Committee Abraham attended Congress for the first time since taking his new job. State representatives criticized how the health department under the Edwards administration followed federal health agency recommendations.
“It seemed to me that the CDC told us what to do, and we followed it,” Cruz told Abraham.
Mr Crewe also shared his disappointment that health workers do not know much about the “experts” he identified during the pandemic, before the committee. they are:
- Dr. Pierre Colley is a doctor whose certification was revoked by the American Board of Internal Medicine for “spreading false or inaccurate medical information.” He advocated the off-label use of ivermectin to treat the coronavirus, despite multiple studies showing the risks of using the antiparasitic drug. Corrie also falsely claimed that the coronavirus vaccine could harm pregnancy and fertility.
- Cardiologist Dr. Peter McCullough supported the use of ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, a drug used to treat lupus and arthritis, to treat coronavirus. He claimed that people under 50 did not need the coronavirus vaccine and falsely blamed the excess deaths on the vaccine. McCullough also disputed the need for a vaccine to achieve herd immunity against the coronavirus, relying on people getting infected with the virus and surviving.
- Dr. Geert Vanden Bossche, a Belgian veterinarian, Undermining confidence in coronavirus vaccines, to promote his “universal vaccine”, saying it would lead to an “unparalleled global catastrophe”. Immunologists deny the credibility of Vanden Bossche’s supposed treatment.
- Dr. Robert Malone is a doctor who is popular in far-right circles and who has propagated conspiracy theories about the origins of the coronavirus. He also spread misinformation about vaccines.
“When I say those names, they act like they’ve never heard of them,” Cruz said.
That may be because the doctors he confronts are reputable and favor data-based, peer-reviewed science over dangerous quackery. Or maybe those doctors simply had the same reaction Abraham had after Cruz’s comments: polite smiles and silence.
In the interest of public health, let’s hope our new health secretary doesn’t become an echo chamber for such medical misinformation, even if it supports his boss’s political agenda.
