Stanford's Jay Bhattacharya has served as an expert witness in many cases opposing mask mandates and other Covid restrictions. Multiple judges have pointed to major flaws in his testimony. A thread.
A judge in Tennessee called his testimony on masks in schools "troubling and problematic" and found that he "oversimplified conclusions" of at least one study.
tennessean.com/story/news/pol…
US District Judge Crenshaw went on to say Bhattacharya was "not qualified to speak" on the issue, and that he may have been "advancing a personal agenda."
"The court is simply unwilling to trust Dr. Bhattacharya."
tennessean.com/story/news/pol…
In Florida, Bhattacharya was the state's only scientific expert witness defending its ban on mask mandates.
Leon County Circuit Judge Cooper said his position was in a "distinct minority" & (again) concluded his interpretation of a study was incorrect.
apnews.com/article/lifest…
Similar concerns were raised by Court of Queen's Bench Chief Justice Joyal in a case regarding restrictions on religious services. Judge notes several instances where Bhattacharya's testimony is contradicted by further evidence, including his own sources.
winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/manitoba-churc…
The judge also notes several cases where Bhattacharya's testimony failed to consider the policies that were actually in effect in Manitoba.
The judge concludes that Bhattacharya's views are "not supported by most of the scientific and medical community" and that these views may be "justifiably challenged" bc of his lack of "consistent and more specialized long-term academic focus" on "immunology and virus spread"
The judge also talks about the Great Barrington Declaration, which Bhattacharya co-authored.
"Insufficiently nuanced and unduly simplistic"
"Raises significant ethical and moral questions"
Not judges, but the plaintiffs in a Cobb County, GA school mask case (parents of medically vulnerable kids) refer to Bhattacharya as a "widely discredited pseudoscientist, whose opinions have been denounced by the public health and medical community.” eastcobbnews.com/cobb-county-sc…
Context for TN case. Bhattacharya referenced the Bangladesh mask RCT, but his conclusions contradicted those of the pre-print's authors, including a lead author who was an expert witness for the other side.
ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/7e/16/573e8a1c…
"Replete with contradictions that undercut his credibility"
"Designed to deliberately mislead"
ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/7e/16/573e8a1c…
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