It’s a good idea to choose medical advice as carefully as you would buy a car.
This is ought to go without saying. But don’t underestimate the power of human nature; people listen to what they want to hear, and shut out what they don’t want to hear.
Dan Stock, M.D. (photo, left), spoke against Covid-19 safety measures at a Mount Vernon, Indiana, school board meeting on Friday, August 6, 2021.
Some of the audience applauded. The video (watch it below) has gone viral.
According to Raw Story (here), Dr. Stock’s diatribe was “riddled … with false and misleading claims about the pandemic and the efficacy of safety measures against it. Stock’s most explosive false claim is that the COVID-19 vaccines are causing more infections.” In fact, the current surge in infections is due to the Delta variant’s higher transmissibility, i.e., it’s more contagious.
Dr. Stock previously pitched his arguments to another school board. He also appeared on Sebastian Gorka’s radio program to pitch his views. (Is he running for public office?) If you don’t know, Gorka is a controversial proselytizer of rightwing ideology and causes (read more here).
The views Dr. Stock espoused at the school board meetings are disputed by most public health experts and the mainstream medical profession; but Indiana has left decisions about masks and other Covid-19 safety measures up to local school districts, and the Indianapolis Star noted that school boards “are typically elected officials without a medical background, which can make it difficult” for them to evaluate medical claims.
In terms of credentials, Dr. Stock has a medical degree from the University of Indiana and a state license to practice medicine. He’s a real doctor, therefore speaks with a certain amount of authority by reason of who he is. But he’s not a leading specialist at a renowned research institute, or other recognized expert. He has a local family practice, and Raw Story says, “An archived version of his website shows a pre-occupation with vitamins and other alternative treatments for everything from cancer to autism. While he has an Indiana medical license, he doesn’t appear to be board-certified … in family medicine, internal medicine or any other specialty.”
Dr. Stock is “one of a number of doctors who have earned fame in right-wing communities,” Raw Story continues, adding, “One such doctor in Houston, Stella Immanuel of the right-wing group America’s Frontline Doctors, … believes that modern medicine uses ‘alien DNA,’ that the government is run by lizard people, and that Americans are getting sickened by having sex with literal demons from Hell.” (Read about Dr. Immanuel here. Note, Raw Story didn’t attribute similar views to Dr. Stock.)
According to Johns Hopkins’ tracking (here), Covid-19 has killed more than 618,000 Americans and over 4.3 million people worldwide. The tragedy of Covid-19 is that disinformation and ignorance have added to the casualty toll. Many people distrust authoritative advice because recommendations from the CDC and other experts have shifted over time. But that’s because they’ve learned as they’ve gone along, and the virus itself changes as new variants emerge.
By all indications, the Delta variant now accounting for 90% of U.S. cases is far more virulent than the original strain, and the U.S. is now facing a “fourth wave” of infections. That, by itself, calls for erring on the side of caution. We don’t need doctors and others, no matter how sincere or well-meaning, telling the public it’s okay to let down their guard. The spiking infections and hospitalizations (see story here) argue otherwise.
https://youtu.be/G7tjqgV7e44