COVID-19 denier and other quacks chosen for top public health jobs
Should anyone trust a doctor who asked, “Is COVID-19 as deadly as they say?” as the pandemic was sweeping the planet? That was the title of a March 25, 2020, Wall Street Journal article that Dr. Jayanta Bhattacharya co-authored as the pandemic was already killing thousands.
The doctor disputed the need for necessary public health measures and claimed that the coronavirus would kill at most 20,000 to 40,000 people in the U.S. Bhattacharya was echoing the late, unlamented radio bigot Rush Limbaugh, who had told his 12 million listeners a month earlier that COVID-19 was just the common cold.
As of Nov. 16, COVID-19 killed 1,211,535 people in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The World Health Organization estimates that 7,075,468 people have died globally as of Nov. 10.
Despite his record, Trump chose Bhattacharya to be director of the National Institutes of Health on Nov. 26. The agency has a $48 billion budget that issues grants to tens of thousands of researchers.
Hundreds of thousands of lives in the U.S. could have been saved if the capitalist government and corporations had protected workers from the coronavirus instead of exposing them to it.
New York State’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority ordered its 67,000 employees not to wear masks. In a memo dated March 6, 2020, MTA officials told workers that masks “are not part of the authorized uniform; they should not be worn by employees during work hours.” At least 177 MTA workers died from COVID-19.
Donald Trump celebrated Workers’ Memorial Day on April 28, 2020, by ordering dangerously unsafe meatpacking and poultry plants to remain open. By the fall of 2021, at least 59,000 of the industry’s workers had fallen ill, and 269 had died.
Bhattacharya used his medical credentials and Stanford University perch to attack any actions needed to save lives. He told a Florida audience in March 2021 that “the lockdowns were the single biggest public health mistake.” By that time, the pandemic had already killed 538,000 across the United States, including 32,000 in Florida.
The panel discussion was convened by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who wants to drive Black History out of the state’s schools.
Profits before people
Preserving their profits is more important for capitalists than saving lives, even possibly their own. Falling seriously ill from COVID didn’t stop Trump from failing to protect public health.
The wealthy and powerful consider the loss of any of their capital to be a fate worse than death. That’s why they resisted the limited health measures instituted during the pandemic and why Trump is now appointing COVID-19 deniers.
The defeated French slavemasters in Haiti had a chance to escape on two vessels owned by Philadelphia shipowner Stephen Girard. Instead of fleeing, they filled the ships with gold and other valuables.
Jean-Jacques Dessalines administered justice to these torturers and murderers. Girard sold the loot and ended up as the wealthiest person in the United States.
Dr. Huey P. Newton, who founded the Black Panther Party with Bobby Seale, called this behavior “avaricious,” meaning extremely greedy.
Karl Marx quoted T.J. Dunning about the lengths the rich will go to make a profit. “With adequate profit, capital is very bold. A certain 10% will ensure its employment anywhere; 20% certain will produce eagerness; 50%, positive audacity; 100% will make it ready to trample on all human laws; 300%, and there is not a crime at which it will scruple, nor a risk it will not run, even to the chance of its owner being hanged.”
Dr. Bhattacharya is part of this tradition. He was one of the three authors of the Oct. 4, 2020, Great Barrington Declaration, which was obscenely named after the Massachusetts town that was the birthplace of legendary scholar and activist W.E.B. Du Bois.
This declaration called for ditching most public safety actions. Instead, it called for the establishment of “herd immunity” as soon as possible. This meant letting many millions of people — hopefully younger and healthier — be infected with COVID-19, which could make them immune and supposedly help wind down the pandemic.
Bhattacharya was also against vaccinating children, demagogically claiming it would mean fewer doses “available for high-risk older people in Brazil, Congo, India or Mexico.” As if Big Pharma was rushing to help: Pfizer would later overcharge South Africa for vaccines.
More dangerously unhealthy picks
So it’s fitting that Jay Bhattacharya was a 2024 recipient of the Bradley Prize, awarded by the ultra-right Bradley Foundation. Its endowment of $850 million was from selling the electrical controls manufacturer Allen-Bradley, whose Milwaukee factory refused to hire Black workers.
A 2016 Bradley Prize winner was Charles Murray, who was the co-author of The Bell Curve, which claimed intelligence was linked to race.
Trump chose Robert Kennedy, Jr. — who scorns life-saving vaccines, including those against measles — as Secretary of Health and Human Services. Fox News commentator Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, who sells her own brand of dietary supplements, was appointed Surgeon General. The TV huckster Dr. Oz was picked to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Capitalists want to massively slash both Medicare and Medicaid. Over 72 million people depend on Medicaid, a drop of millions from 2022.
Meanwhile, the bird flu is getting worse and may cross over massively to humans to become another pandemic. It’s already been found in raw milk, a favorite drink of Robert Kennedy, Jr., who disdains pasteurization. Louis Pasteur knew raw milk could be dangerous more than 150 years ago.
The Trump team will be even more useless in a possible future pandemic than it was against COVID-19. Only by fighting back can the people’s and labor movements prevent such a disaster.
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