Doctors owe the public a genuine mea culpa for missteps made amidst a sea of unknowns
Mark Twain once said, via the inimitable Tom Sawyer, “Right is right, and wrong is wrong, and a body ain’t got no business doing wrong when he ain’t ignorant and knows better.”The NP Comment newsletter from columnist Colby Cosh and NP Comment editors tackles the important topics with boldness, verve and wit. Get NP Platformed delivered to your inbox weekdays by 4 p.m. ET.By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.
Such was the case in the early weeks and months of the COVID-19 pandemic, when uncertainty — and the high anxiety engendered by that uncertainty — ruled the day. The COVID saga unspooled amidst a sea of unknowns; yet public health officials, governments and news media appointed themselves as unassailable arbiters of COVID “truth” and reacted with hostility to ideas and opinions that challenged their narratives.
. This resulted in policy errors, and, sadly, in a serious erosion of public trust in institutional leaders.Article content This is not to say that all perspectives are equal, or that the online world was not littered with actual misinformation. Claiming that COVID-19 was not real or serious was misinformation. Suggesting that fresh and fitted high-quality masks do not work in controlled clinical settings was misinformation. Asserting that COVID-19 vaccines did not reduce severe disease was misinformation.
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