Throughout the COVID pandemic, certain physicians have enjoyed widespread exposure on cable news and in social media. Presented to the public as experts, these doctors have been relied upon by certain governors and legislators for policy advice. Indeed, their impact has been significant. In Florida, for example, Governor DeSantis has adopted policies related to COVID upon the advice of physicians who, upon close inspection, lack the appropriate credentials. Here is a who’s who of the most visible fake experts.
The heavyweight champion of fake COVID experts is Robert Malone, MD.
https://lcaction.org/Site%20Images/Resources/vax/Malone-RWM-CV-11092021.pdf
No fake expert has gotten more prime time exposure than Malone. As the self - proclaimed “inventor” of the mRNA vaccine (he isn’t), Malone humbly describes himself as the “single most qualified expert” in the world. In truth, he is a General Practitioner who never even finished a residency program. Malone does have an MD and did one year of internship and one year of a pathology research residency. He never finished any residency program, isn’t board certified or even board eligible. Because he never finished a residency program, he is not eligible to have done a fellowship. So he is not an infectious disease doctor, immunologist or virologist. Heck, he isn’t even an internist! He is a general practitioner with zero clinical experience. He does hold an active license in Maryland but has never actually practiced medicine. Malone is not a member of the any of the organizations one would expect him to be in if he were a legitimate expert. He is not a member of the American College of Physicians, Infectious Diseases Society of America or the even the American Society for Virology. He is totally unqualified to opine as an expert on COVID, the vaccines or on any clinical matter.
The next great faker is Dr. Peter McCoullough. https://lcaction.org/Site%20Images/Resources/DrPeterMcCullough-cv.pdf
More qualified than Malone, at least McCoullough did finish an internal medicine residency and a fellowship…in cardiology! He is NOT an expert in infectious diseases and is unqualified to opine as such. McCoullough is licensed in Texas and is board certified in internal medicine and cardiology. He held a medical staff appointment at Baylor University Hospital but was credentialed and privileged as cardiologist, not in infectious diseases. Dr. McCoullough was kicked off the medical staff at Baylor for false claims about his status at Baylor and has been sued by the organization. Although he has a lot of publications on his resume, his papers on COVID are low quality speculative studies.
The next fake expert is Dr. Jayanta Bhattacharya, a Professor at Stanford. The media has been dazzzled by his lofty title and association with Stanford. But if you dig deeper, here is what you find.
https://cap.stanford.edu/profiles/viewCV?facultyId=4000&name=Jayanta_Bhattacharya
Bhattacaryia is an economist. He does hold an MD but has absolutely no postgraduate medical training. He never even did an internship let alone a residency program, thus he isn’t board certified or even board eligible. He has no clinical experience and doesn’t have a license to practice medicine. He has a PhD in economics and his research is all about health care policy. He is not an epidemiologist and has absolutely no qualifications to opine on clinical matters.
The final fake expert of the four horsemen of this apocalypse is Dr. Joseph Lodapo. Recently appointed as Florida’s surgeon general, Lodapo has an impressive CV.
https://www.uclahealth.org/sites/default/files/documents/Joseph-Ladapo-CV.pdf
There is just one thing missing. He has absolutely ZERO training in infectious diseases. Like McCoullough, he did complete an internal medicine residency but did not do an infectious disease fellowship. Thus he cannot be considered an an expert in COVID or any other infectious disease.
So what? Aren’t they at least doctors? They all hold MD degrees. Isn’t that good enough to opine? No, it isn’t. None of these doctors would qualify for credentials and privileges at any hospital in infectious diseases. If they can’t be credentialed to practice infectious diseases in a hospital, how is it they can be considered infectious disease “experts” in the media? The only reason that happened is the media failed to actually look at their resumes and see the obvious lack of education and training required to be an expert in infectious diseases. So, much of the country has been led astray by fake “experts”. These doctors have had a material adverse impact on the pandemic. By discouraging vaccination, they are responsible for prolonging it and the large pool of people serving as the host reservoir for the virus responsible for the emergence of mutant strains. They are responsible for the hundreds of thousands of avoidable deaths.
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/05/13/1098071284/this-is-how-many-lives-could-have-been-saved-with-covid-vaccinations-in-each-sta
The media who failed to vette their resumes and gave these doctors prime time exposure are also to blame. Fake “experts” like fake “news” are deadly. They must be deplatformed, discredited and silenced.