Politics and Science: A Dangerous Combination

The COVID-19 pandemic has not just changed the way we interact within society, but it also has shown us that trust in our political and health care agencies is eroding. Politicians always struggled with gaining public trust, however, I have never seen our highest governmental healthcare agencies lose as much credibility as they have done today. Week after week during this pandemic we are bombarded by medical inaccuracies and false statements. Promoting medications for treatment of COVID 19 that have not shown efficacy. Guidance from agencies, that at best could have been created by my 14-year-old daughter. We have the highest leaders in our government that refuse to set an example by wearing a mask in public. Leading to conflict and adversarial relationships between mask wearers vs non wearers.

As a pharmacy educator and clinician for more than 20 years I would always educate my students on using the best evidence-based medicine guidance to promote optimal drug therapy. Within the academic world we trusted the best evidence and used this information to achieve the best health care outcomes for our patients. However, in this day and age this may not be the norm. With misinformation from our highest leaders and medical agencies, how can we trust their leadership? What kind of example are they setting for the next generation of leaders and scientists? It looks like politics is more important than science. It is the political agenda, not the scientific evidence that is driving health care decisions.  

My hope is that in time we will have the right leaders in place that prioritize the use of the best evidence-based medicine to make decisions than a political agenda. I hope that our governmental agencies begin to turn the tide, and again use accurate scientific evidence to drive change. I believe with the right leadership our country will begin to heal and in time the respect of these agencies will again be trusted. The next few years will tell all of us if we are going in the right direction.