The Terrifying Muzzling of Public Health Experts
BLOG, Union of Concerned Scientists
https://blog.ucsusa.org/michael-halpern/coronavirus-and-the-terrifying-muzzling-of-public-health-experts?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=fb
The Trump administration is scrambling to reconcile the president’s contradictions of statements made by federal health scientists about the emerging coronavirus crisis. Their solution: muzzle scientists, require that all statements be politically vetted through Vice President Pence, and punish federal employees who draw attention to gross negligence. This is a highly dangerous power grab that undermines both emergency response and public faith in the reliability of information coming out of the government. And it speaks to the incompetence and incoherence of the response to this crisis so far.
It’s hard to keep track of the number of Trump appointees who should know basic facts about the coronavirus but don’t. Then yesterday, we learned that the actual public health experts in government would no longer be allowed to speak publicly about the outbreak without the vice president’s blessing. Via The New York Times:
“Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, one of the country’s leading experts on viruses and the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told associates that the White House had instructed him not to say anything else without clearance.”
CDC already has a 65-page manual for communicating complex scientific information to the public in times of crisis. “Clearance” by the White House will not improve this function.
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