‘Lockdowns kill people’: Radiologist and White House COVID advisor Scott Atlas blasts colleagues
Controversial radiologist and White House COVID-19 advisor Scott Atlas was in the news again recently, after criticizing the idea of further lockdowns and blasting colleague Anthony Fauci.
His remarks about the long-time National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director came on Fox News during the “Ingraham Angle” on Nov. 10. As coronavirus cases continue to skyrocket across the U.S., Atlas derided the idea of further stay-at-home orders.
“The lockdowns kill people, the lockdowns destroy families, the lockdowns increase the risks of suicide and drug overdose, missed cancer diagnosis, missed medical care, all those things happen with the lockdown,” he told host Laura Ingraham, according to Huff Post.
The neuroradiologist and fellow of Stanford’s Hoover Institution directed further ire toward Fauci and Michael Osterholm, PhD, a newly minted member of President-Elect Joe Biden’s COVID task force. In particular, Atlas criticized Fauci for recent comments saying the U.S. is “positioned poorly” heading into the winter, perceiving the remarks as an attack against President Trump.
“Once you do that sort of thing and make yourself a political animal, basically you lose your credibility,” he said.
Atlas also made the news last month after 20 neuroradiologists penned a letter to JACR, criticizing his support for using “herd immunity” to fight the pandemic. Read more from Huff Post below.
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.