208: 4 Doctors, a Virus, and a Battered Economy: Part 1

What a strange time we live in where even public health issues are politicized. The wingnuts on the right want to downplay a virus that has already taken the lives of more people than the Vietnam war. The wingnuts on the left want to demonize anyone who even suggests an alternative approach to dealing with the pandemic outside of staying at home in perpetuity. They want us to completely ignore the pain, suffering, and death that will inevitably occur from a financial depression. The polarity of thought on this black swan event is the product of politicized news—on both sides. That's a problem for us all. As a physician and an over-all rational guy, this kind of partisanship when we should be seeking facts is maddening. However, it is not surprising. When I was a kid, there was only one set of facts that people were given and they made decisions based on that. We now live in a world of "alternative facts" which has really made it a confusing place to navigate. That said, the idea that there are alternative sets of facts in science is, in fact, fake news. In science, we follow the studies. Sometimes studies show disparity but, over time, we get to the bottom of things. Take Hydroxychloroquine for example. Donald Trump has been talking it up like it's a vitamin with no down-side. That's not true of course. There is some potentially severe side-effects of the drug that have actually killed people in the past few weeks. On the other hand, in order to prove Trump wrong at every turn, the liberal news media makes Hydroxychloroquine sound like an asinine treatment of COVID-19 in any form. The reality… the evidence suggests that the role of Hydroxychloroquine in the treatment of this illness may be nuanced and can't be characterized simply as a black and white issue. That's just one example of the complex questions that are being dealt with in overly simplified ways in the press. It's not helpful for anyone who wants to understand what's really going on out there. So, this week, I have put together a two-podcast series of interviews with three other physician/investors for you to get some real facts and to help you understand where we currently are with this public health and financial disaster.