We are all familiar with the term “quack,” which originated in the 17th Century from the Dutch word “quacksalver,” or “kwakzalver.” A “quacksalver” was a peddler of potions and cures of a dubious nature, akin to the snake oil salesmen of the Old West. In the 1600’s Netherlands, quacks were often uneducated and unregulated practitioners who never attended a medical college or had any kind of medical training.
So why do educated and licensed medical doctors in the US and across the globe continue to push COVID-19 “quackery?” I can understand an uneducated, untrained and unlicensed individual pushing unproven cures and conspiracy theories about vaccines and horse de-wormer, but individuals who have a medical degree with years of education and training? They should know better!
Medical professionals and MDs have gone on social media and Fox News, questioning the efficacy of vaccines, touting unproven treatments (i.e. hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin) poo-pooing masks, and social distancing, and even claiming that natural immunity is better than vaccines. What boggles my mind is that few state medical boards have taken steps to rebuke these individuals for spreading misinformation and outright lies.
Simone Gold, an emergency room doctor from Beverly Hills and founder of America’s Frontline Doctors, has filed lawsuits to block the authorization of COVID vaccines for children and overturn vaccine mandates. In a Florida speech posted online last January, Gold claimed that the “so-called” vaccine “actually changes nothing,” adding: “The people who die from COVID-19 are people who are kinda destined to die in this period anyway.”
Wow.
This is from a licensed medical doctor sworn to the Hippocratic oath. Gold has a license to practice medicine in California, and to date, has no disciplinary actions on her record.
Gregg Schmedes MD, an ear, nose, and throat doctor, and a state senator in New Mexico is also a medical professional who pushes COVID-19 misinformation. For example, he recently retweeted a tweet from Monica Gandi, MD, MPH who stated that Omicron is 80% less likely to cause hospitalizations for COVID-19. What is not mentioned is that the article cites a study from South Africa which looked at previously vaccinated and/or previously infected South Africans. Also, many early cases in South Africa have been linked to a university outbreak that occurred in young people, who are less susceptible to severe disease.
Although South Africa has reported fewer hospitalizations from omicron compared to Delta and previous waves, the UK is in the middle of an exponential rise in hospitalizations due to the Omicron variant, increasing 30% each week. The number of people hospitalized with coronavirus continues to rise in London, the latest sign that this variant is in fact putting people in the hospital. Although we are in the early stages of omicron, data is emerging that even though it is “milder” than Delta, it is much more infectious. If you are into math or statistics, odds are that due to the extremely virulent nature of this variant, it will eventually put more people in the hospital.
Senator Schmedes has also tweeted about the negative effects of lockdowns. In a recent tweet with the caption, “Once again, lockdowns kill,” the senator presents a graph by Johns Hopkins of daily confirmed COVID-19 deaths per million people in the UK, Sweden, Denmark, and Germany. The tweet implies that lockdowns contribute to COVID-19 deaths, and not the virus itself.
Other examples of Doctor Schmede’s “quackery” include tweets and retweets stating that COVID-19 does not adversely affect children and that sinister doctors are tweaking COVID-19 related death statistics in children. Then there are of course the countless tweets about the futility of mask-wearing, and that natural immunity is better than vaccines.
Well Dr. Schmedes, remember smallpox? That virus that killed more than 300 million people worldwide since 1900? The virus that all but decimated much of the Native American population before the 1700s? The reason we don’t see smallpox anymore is due to a global immunization campaign.
You tell all those that perished from smallpox that natural immunity is better than vaccines.
As nearly 2,000 unvaccinated individuals die of COVID-19 each day in the US. I have not seen one case of a US doctor being disciplined for spreading vaccine disinformation. Not one.
It is within the scope of state medical boards to suspend or revoke the licenses of doctors who endanger public health. This includes spreading misinformation and “quackery.” The Federation of State Medical Boards said in July that “physicians who generate and spread COVID-19 vaccine misinformation or disinformation are risking disciplinary action.”
I’m waiting.