Dr. Anthony Fauci deserves better from Gov. Ron DeSantis than insulting comments

Recently, in a stump speech, Gov. Ron DeSantis said about Dr. Anthony Fauci that “someone needs to grab that little elf and chuck him across the Potomac.” As members of the medical community, we take great offense when such a distinguished leader of our profession is treated in this manner.

DeSantis turned on Dr. Fauci after he fell out of favor with then-president Donald Trump and the MAGA crowd because he refused to comply with Trump’s suggestion of swallowing bleach and using hydroxychloroquine. Hydroxychloroquine is supported only by anecdotal data and a controlled trial showed it to be ineffective. Common sense and emergency room data proves bleach to be a very bad choice.

Both President Trump and Gov. DeSantis have promoted a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education during their tenures, but chose to ignore the advice of experts highly educated in those fields.

After receiving his medical degree from Cornell University, Dr. Fauci spent his entire professional career at the National Institute of Health. He was appointed chief of National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases in 1984 when Ronald Reagan was president. He has served four Republican and three Democratic presidents over the past 38 years.

The Washington, D.C., voter registration office states he has had no party affiliation since 1984 and neither he nor the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases have endorsed either party. George W. Bush presented him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor a president can bestow on a civilian.

Dr. Fauci has not politicized COVID-19, but Trump and his followers such as DeSantis have. Fauci has been criticized for changing recommendations on our COVID response such as not recommending masks in February to March 2020, and later recommending masks.

Fauci states that masks were scarce at that time, and he wanted to make sure health care workers would have masks. Changes in recommendations were based upon the fact that COVID-19 was largely unknown when it presented, and the response was empirical (i.e., based upon verifiable observations).  

More than 1.04 million Americans have died of COVID-19. Before the COVID-19 vaccine was available in December 2020 and patients were dying at an alarming rate, therapy was based on expert opinion and anecdotal data. Controlled trials were performed in record time and their results proved some therapies effective and others ineffective or less effective. These trials pushed previous therapies aside.

Nonscientists accused Fauci of waffling. Medical scientists know this is how science works, i.e. flexibility not waffling. Controlled trials provide the highest level of evidence in science, but take time.

Physicians know this but politicians don’t or, if they do, they feign ignorance for political expedience. Dr. Fauci has always recommended the highest level of science and public health available at that time.

The medical community trusts Dr. Fauci. Fauci is the ninth most cited author in the field of immunology since 1980, according to the Web of Science.

He has made seminal contributions in how HIV destroys the body’s defenses. He led our nation’s response to AIDS and converted it from a certain death to a manageable chronic illness, with survival equal to uninfected cohorts accompanied with lifelong, highly active, antiretroviral therapy.

Dr. Fauci deserves better from Gov. DeSantis, and so do the citizens of Florida.

This piece was written by Bruce Stechmiller, MD, and signed by more than 30 other physicians in the Gainesville area: David Aurbach, MD; Mark Barrow, MD, PhD; Carolyn Carter, MD; Jean Cibula, MD; Karen Daily, MD; Kayser Enneking, MD; Melinda Fernandez, MD, FACEP; Ira Gessner, MD; Melanie Hagen, MD; Ann Hatfield, MD, FACOG; John Hiemenz, MD, FACP; Jacqueline Jackson, MD; Amar Kelkar, MD; Cindy Larimer, MD; Ronald Lee, MD; David Lefkowitz, MD; Judy Lew, MD; Larissa Lim, MD; Allan March, MD; Robert Newman, MD; Brandon Parrott, MD, PhD; Nicole Provost, MD; M.K. Punja, MD; Charles Riggs, Jr., MD; Robert Roseman, MD; Michelle Rossi, MD, MACP; Elias Sarkis, MD; Edward Staples, MD; Henry Storch, MD; Joseph Thornton, MD; Mack Tyner, MD; Renata Wajsman, MD; and Cristina Zeretzke-Bien, MD, FAAP, FACEP.

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This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Gainesville-area physicians: Dr. Fauci deserves better from DeSantis