Radiologist, mask skeptic and COVID contrarian raising eyebrows at White House: ‘It’s a catastrophe’
A board-certified radiologist and “coronavirus contrarian” is raising experts eyebrows while filling a prominent role as part of the White House’s response to the pandemic.
Scott Atlas, MD, recently joined the Trump administration’s team, appearing at briefings while others such as Anthony Fauci, MD, have taken a back seat. A former professor and chief of neuroradiology at Stanford University, Atlas has drawn criticism for expressing doubts about the effectiveness of masks while promoting “herd immunity” as one way to address the pandemic, the New York Times reported Wednesday.
President Donald Trump has welcomed Atlas as an alternative to scientists such as Deborah Birx, MD, the White House coronavirus response coordinator. Both have advocated for greater caution in reopening the economy during the crisis, the report noted.
“I think Trump clearly does not like the advice he was receiving from the people who are the experts—Fauci, Birx, etc.—so he has slowly shifted from their advice to somebody who tells him what he wants to hear,” Carlos del Rio, MD, an infectious disease expert at Emory University who is close to Birx, told the Times.
The Washington Post first reported on Atlas’ interest in a herd immunity approach, which would allow the virus to spread among the population to help build resistance. Atlas declined to be interviewed by the Times, but the radiologist denied such claims during a radio interview Tuesday. However, he has embraced this strategy in previous interviews over the summer on Fox News, where he has also served as a frequent contributor, the NYT noted.
The radiologist’s interest in herd immunity—an approach that was deployed in Sweden to disastrous results—has alienated Atlas from colleagues the most, according to the report.
“Trying to get to herd immunity other than with a vaccine isn’t a strategy. It’s a catastrophe,” said Tom Frieden, MD, a former CDC director.
Read more from the New York Times below.
Editor's note: Federal officials strongly denied claims made in the Times and Post during a briefing following the two prominent reports. "The herd immunity so-called theory was something made up in the fanciful minds of the media. That was never something that was ever considered here at the White House," press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters, according to the Hill.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.