Confronting the Pandemic of Fear: Comments on “The Politics of a Pandemic Moral Panic”

Moral panic, or for that matter, any kind of panic is grounded in fear. Often, that fear is a consequence of misinformation, which leads to a core question “How do we discern the truth?” In my almost 80 years of life’s experiences as a student, physician, citizen diplomat to the USSR, cancer researcher and environmentalist, I have witnessed  many instances of misinformation. To be informed, and to truly understand something, is reassuring and allays fear. The common denominator in this process is an accurate assessment of “status” or basically “What’s really going on?” “Does this work in a real-world experience?”

In my travels to the USSR after Chernobyl in 1986 I learned from first-hand experiences with the Soviet people that a fear common to Americans about the Soviets related to the designation “the evil empire.” Such a tag originated from the U.S. government and also was perpetuated by the media in the U.S. Once inside the USSR and after meeting hundreds of Soviets, from taxi drivers and railroad conductors to citizens on the street and others in the medical profession, it was clear that this was American propaganda. It was simply bad information or incomplete information: not to distinguish the political leaders from the people, who were, in my opinion, truer to American ideals concerning the importance of family, nature, literature, music, and health. There is a lot to be said about the degree of harm that stems from the private agendas of those with power and influence.

Insofar as the Pandemic, I became aware of concerns of a coming viral epidemic in early January 2020. I had written an article about the early transmission of SARS in 1983, and this was clearly Yogi Berra’s déjà vu all over again. History repeats, but man forgets.

As a hematologist/oncologist and also an elderly gentleman recently diagnosed with an immunosuppressive malignancy (light chain amyloidosis) I alerted my community of fellow patients as to the coming of this epidemic back in early 2020. A month or so prior to the “official” notices of the pandemic, I shared with patients and colleagues that we were already in a pandemic phase, and that we needed to learn from the experiences of others who had faced pandemics what initial measures we should take. At that time, and now, I remain astonished at the initial misinformation from Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) about the importance of masking (then) and about having N95 masks readily available to every American (now). Communicating with my in-laws in South Korea I learned about the KN95 masks they were using, that they were readily available, and cost about $1.50 each. I identified high-quality masks (IqAir), with filtration capability down to SARS-CoV-2 size, and certainly at droplet size. At that time these could be purchased via Amazon; I ordered a large number for my wife and myself and informed patients to do the same. But within a month, these were out of stock. The Defense Production Act (DPA) had not been invoked then, nor has it been invoked now, to have N95’s available everywhere.

Reading hundreds of peer-reviewed papers on SARS-CoV-2, I learned that point of care (POC) test kits were readily available in early (April-May 2020) in South Korea. POC testing allows in-home testing with results in 15 minutes, revealing the status of individuals who might have, or who had COVID-19. The Korean company that was involved in such testing is SugenTech.

To this day, it is routine to see many not wearing masks, not wearing N95 or KN95 masks, or not wearing them properly. Despite the Defense Production Act (DPA), the American populace does not have easy and cheap access to N95 masks. And to this day, we hear those in positions of power and influence rightfully discuss the importance of full vaccination and booster vaccination, but we almost never hear about the need for ascertaining whether an individual has shown a robust antibody response that has been correlated with increased protection from breakthrough infections. All of this is discussed in the peer-reviewed literature. So why have we allowed the public, be it here in America or anywhere in the world, to live in a state of extreme anxiety or even panic?  My patients, friends, family members and colleagues often tell me how comforted they are to know the real “story”, as best as we can tell it now, about these issues. They are informed with the latest status and they know what rational strategy to follow.

In my experience in biological processes there are certain concepts that one could designate as Holy Grail. In medicine, “Do no harm” is one such mandate. For me as a physician/scientist “Status begets Strategy (SBS)” is another.  We cannot rationally inform others about what to do without knowing “what’s going on” (aka status).  That status relates to objective evidence that can realistically be obtained. But more often, it is not obtained, and others are told what to do based on a scenario where the full picture is not appreciated, and the case of COVID-19 is one such case where ignorance has proven fatal. As of the end of 2021, the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reports 5,425,024 people in the world have died due to COVID-19, with numbers continuing to climb. In the U.S., the number dead is 822,920. The last 28-day total for deaths in the U.S. is 39,563, or about 1,300 people dying each day. The statistic for the world population is 195,905 deaths per 28-days or 6,530 dead per day. That means that the American deaths comprise 20% of the global deaths due to COVID-19 while our population of  335 million vs. the global population of 7.9 billion is only 4%. Why? My belief is that we have not informed the public, or for that matter, many healthcare practitioners, of what we truly know about COVID-19. We have not melded academics with those in the front lines of care and research scientists to inform the public of the truth, as best as we know it at this moment in time.

“Truth emerges from arguments among friends.” – David Humes

“The best mind-altering drug is the truth.”  – Lily Tomlin

No matter what the country is, the U.S., Canada or Sweden, the issue boils down to completeness of information (i.e., status). And what has happened is that the truth of such data, which should be founded in scientific inquiry, discussion, interaction involving collaboration (arguments if you will in the spirit of collegiality), is corrupted by the ugly nature of the human element, or at least by the part which makes us less human (sub-human), and dangerously “Machiavellian.” In the scientific world this amounts to greed and ego. In the political world the it appears to be the idolatry of power and control. Toss into this cauldron the elements of separatism, racism, authoritarianism and sheer ignorance, and you have a witch’s brew which has led to the appalling statistics above—in the year 2022!

How can this be avoided or at least lessened?  For sure, speaking out against journalistic  sensationalism, and media that thrives on disaster stories for ratings.  Where are television channels totally focused on sharing information in a panel discussion with accessibility to the ascribed authorities, and interaction between panel members but also audience?  As a medical professional, I had no access to Dr. Fauci, only one of his junior staff who replied with a boilerplate email. In a formally written letter to President Biden that was sent in April 2021, I obtained a response six months later that also was boilerplate despite my detailing solutions to key problems that remain unresolved. Our government spends trillions of dollars, the citizen pays trillions in taxes, and yet where is the accessibility?  How can we learn from history, from the experiences of others, if there is no way to hear them?

“What we have learned about what man learns from history is that man learns nothing from history.” — Winston Churchill

In the many medical conferences that I have organized with audiences of at least 1,000, the most valued part of the agenda per attendee post-conference evaluation are the panel discussions with experts from the scientific community sitting alongside those from the lay community—with free exchange. Discourse, with analysis, discussion and resolution to the best of our knowledge given the changing nature involved with scientific issues lies at the foundation of how sentient beings solve problems. When did we ever see such an open “debate” with a panel interacting about something so simple, yet so important, as the mask? Where were/are the panel discussions with understandable presentations about the logarithmic nature of viral spread that is part and parcel of a pandemic? Where are the discussions about other over-the-counter therapies that can curtail the spread, morbidity and mortality of COVID-19 such as sulfated polysaccharides (from seaweed), vitamin D, and the use of cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) @ 0.075% found in inexpensive and available mouthwashes?  Where was the panel discussion and debate about the value ivermectin might have in COVID-19?

All of the above could have markedly decreased the anxiety-panic about the Pandemic, and it still could. Getting to the heart of the matter—the truth as best we know it—leads to knowledge and moves the learner away from ignorance and fear. Would you not think that in 2022, with all of our technology, resources and media, that the state of humankind would be a lot closer to truth than the distressing displays we have seen that have led to panic of a pandemic?

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