In October 2022, Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo added to his list of dubious pronouncements: The physician recommended that males between the ages of 18 and 39 avoid commonly used mRNA Covid vaccines, pointing to possible health risks that credible experts said didn’t exist in reality. In fact, Ladapo simply discarded the conclusions from the Centers for Disease Control and American Academy of Pediatrics altogether.
David Gorski, a surgical oncologist and debunker of anti-vaccine nonsense, wrote soon after, “This is the first time that we’ve seen a state government weaponize bad science to spread anti-vaccine disinformation as official policy.”
As regular readers might recall, the story got worse six months later: Politico reported that the Florida surgeon general received a state-driven study about Covid vaccines, saw the evidence that said there were no significant risks associated with the vaccines for young men, and simply replaced the findings with the opposite conclusions that he liked better. It led the editorial board of The Washington Post to conclude soon after, “By playing loose with the facts, Dr. Ladapo … betrayed the trust of the people of Florida and the nation.”
That was in April 2023. As 2024 gets underway, he’s still making matters worse. The Post reported overnight on Ladapo’s latest antics:
Florida’s top health official called for a halt to using mRNA coronavirus vaccines on Wednesday, contending that the shots could contaminate patients’ DNA — a claim that has been roundly debunked by public health experts, federal officials and the vaccine companies. … “Providers concerned about patient health risks associated with COVID-19 should prioritize patient access to non-mRNA COVID-19 vaccines and treatment,” Ladapo wrote.
Whether the timing of the statement was political is unclear. It was just two months ago when Ladapo took the unusual step of hitting the campaign trail, participating in a super PAC event in an…
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