You know that guy. It’s pandemic expert Dr. Ashish K. Jha. He’s on TV a lot. He’s among the most knowledgeable people on the planet when it comes to this virus. The following is a twitter thread from this morning.
Today was a very, very odd day I testified before the Senate DHS committee. They held a hearing on hydroxychloroquine.
Yup, HCQ
In the middle of the worst surge of pandemic.
HCQ.
It was clear how our information architecture shapes questions of science and medicine of COVID. There were 4 witnesses, 3 who strongly supported HCQ They believed thousands of Americans were dying from lack of HCQ. And then, there was me. This split was not a reflection of evidence or the consensus in medicine. It reflected ability of the majority to seat more witnesses. The hearing was a testament to how politicized science has become.
I shared evidence of studies that have failed to find benefit of HCQ. 3 other witnesses shared personal experiences. And suggested my testimony was reckless because it would deny people access to lifesaving HCQ.
There was an attempt to make it personal. I passed. I’m not big on personalizing disagreement. I am more comfortable talking data, evidence, science. Their engagement with data was sparse. And they were horrified that I disagreed.
Most shocking?
[Senator Ron Johnson], other witnesses essentially argued there is coordinated effort by America’s doctors to deny patients HCQ. Why would we do this? Because we’re in bed with Pharma.
A version of the anti-Doctor rhetoric from [Donald Trump] and his “expert” [Scott Atlas]. I tried to explain that doctors don’t want to kill their patients by withhold therapy
But evidence matters. They tried to flip the narrative: that evidence was misinformation. And “art of medicine” was what mattered. And most amazing? That FDA, NIH, Pharma were all corrupt.
On a personal note, it was disheartening to be personally attacked during the hearing. By the witnesses, Ron Johnson and on @Twitter during and after.
But you may be wondering. What is going on? Why hold a hearing on HCQ in the middle of the worst surge of the pandemic? Why talk Hydroxy when so many Americans are dying?Because it was meant to push a narrative that masks and distancing don’t matter. If you get infected – no big deal – take some HCQ.
Its stunning.
I’m left pondering a quote from Barack Obama. An idea any American, liberal or conservative, would understand:
“If we do not have the capacity to distinguish what’s true from what’s false… the marketplace of ideas doesn’t work. And by definition our democracy doesn’t work”
Originally tweeted by Ashish K. Jha (@ashishkjha) on November 20, 2020.
It’s not working very well. Not very well at all. We are in big trouble.