Why Is Anyone Still Asking Dr. Phil for His Opinion?

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

If you’re seeking an unbiased opinion on an urgent national matter, probably the last place you want to go is Fox News — and if you’re looking for a qualified medical professional to speak on said matter, the last person you should turn to is Dr. Phil. Luckily for the public, a Thursday night episode of Laura Ingraham’s show offered the best of both worlds.

Professional charlatan Dr. Phil is garnering intense criticism for arguing in favor of ending state lockdowns in order to stimulate the economy, comparing COVID-19 deaths to car crash fatalities and swimming pool drownings in the process.

“People are dying from the coronavirus. I get that,” the good doctor generously conceded on Ingraham’s show. “But the fact of the matter is, 45,000 people a year die from automobile accidents, 480,000 from cigarettes, 360,000 a year from swimming pools, but we don’t shut the country down for that.” At least two of these statistics are actually wrong; per the National Safety Council, 38,800 people in the U.S. died from car crashes last year, and per the CDC, there are a little more than 3,500 nonboating-related drowning deaths a year in the United States, not all of which are specifically in swimming pools.

Dr. Phil (who has a Ph.D. in psychology, not medicine) is in good company in adding his voice to the chorus of daytime TV-famous doctors-cum-talk-show-hosts who have made misleading, if not outright inaccurate, comments about COVID-19 and social distancing. Earlier this week, Dr. Mehmet Oz argued in favor of reopening schools on Fox News, referring to it as “an appetizing opportunity” and inaccurately paraphrasing a Lancet article by saying “the opening of schools may only cost us two to three percent in terms of total mortality.” (The Lancet review actually argued in favor of social distancing, stating that closing schools alone would prevent only two to three percent of COVID-19 deaths; Dr. Oz later apologized for his comments, saying he “misspoke.”)

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/dr-phil-fox-news-laura-ingraham-coronavirus-covid19-985953/

[msongs]

1. same reason anyone is asking trump for his opinion - blathering on nt

[John Fante]

2. 105 die per day from automobile accidents.

Less than 10 per day die from nonboating-related accidents.

Even cigarette-related deaths (which cover a whole host of diseases from cancer, to respiratory issues, to heart disease) account for 1,300 deaths/day.


Today's COVID-19 death toll: 2,516...and counting. And we had to shut down huge portions of the country just to keep it that low.

Right-wing conservatism is every bit as damaging to the brain as CTE. It turns them into complete mush.

[TwilightZone]

3. "It turns them into complete mush."

Agreed. Trump seems to be the pinnacle of that. Otherwise intelligent people seem to lose their freaking minds where he's concerned. I have an acquaintance who is literally a brain surgeon who was spouting the "it's not that bad" routine for weeks until the situation at his own hospital took a dive.

[Goodheart]

4. Is it just a coincidence that he didn't mention 40,000 gun deaths per year?

I

[Blue Owl]

6. +1

n/t

[LakeArenal]

5. Other irrelevant opinions media chases

Anne Coulter
Michael Moore
Susan Sarandon
Chachi
Rogan
Spicer
Ghouliani
Graham
Eastwood
Collins
Ad nausea. (error intentional)