Thread by @DrRobDavidson

I know we're all now immune to reports of the White House mishandling Americans' health - but this story👇 about them meddling with @CDCgov to alter their weekly reports is an OUTRAGE & will make the job of doctors like me much harder. Here's why... (1/12) washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…

Everyday in my practice as an emergency physician I rely upon updated studies of various tests & therapies, so that I can best serve my patients. It's called evidence-based medicine & it means relying on rigorous data. Stated simply, patients depend upon it to stay alive. (2/12)

A political aide reportedly applied pressure to tamper with something called the MMWR (Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report), a digest in epidemiology. This journal has been a critical piece of communication about emerging & established diseases in the U.S. for 90 yrs. (3/12)

The MMWR has a particularly important place in the history of medicine, often giving us info very early in the outset of emerging diseases. In 1981, a primary care doctor & epidemiologist in LA reported 5 young gay men with diseases from a compromised immune system. (4/12)

They surmised that these men, who had no contact with one another, suffered from a common source that rendered their immune systems weak. Unbeknownst to them, this was the first report of AIDS in the U.S. (5/12)

While the U.S. response to the AIDS epidemic was anything but apolitical, reports like this, with their unvarnished scientific presentation, have been the keystone to helping advance our knowledge on any number of diseases. (6/12)

Why is the MMWR suddenly being altered? A Trump political aide didn't like the CDC's conclusion that hydroxychloroquine was ineffective for treating #COVID19. In a resource-limited nation, it's critical that scientists & physicians not follow a path dictated by politics. (7/12)

In March, the MMWR published a report of a multi-pronged testing, tracing & surveillance system in Singapore that helped slow the spread of #COVID19. Public health officials begged US policymakers to provide the leadership & tools needed to implement such a program here. (8/12)

Had our national leaders heeded their call, many more tens-of-thousands of Americans would be alive today, and college football & schools would be safely operating... instead of the unsafe patchwork of policies that dominate in the U.S. (9/12)

Meanwhile, the President has privately made it clear that he understands the science behind the #COVID19 pandemic - but he simply does not care, and will pursue a policy agenda to enhance his political goal of getting reelected in November. (10/12)

His enablers in Congress & @HHSGov will apparently act at his behest, irrespective of outcome, even risking the lives of fellow Americans. His ardent followers believe his every word & seem to act against their own interest by eschewing masks & gathering by the thousands. (11/12)

Meanwhile, doctors like me just want what’s best for our patients. We couldn't care less about a politician's fortunes if it opposes our ability to treat patients in the best way possible to maximize their quality of life & chance for survival.

Just give us that chance. (/END.)