Ghaly vs. Atlas

Who is Mark Ghaly M.D., MPH, and basically who cares? Well I, for one, care, as he is the person who is apparently “advising” our Governor on California’s approach to Covid.

Dr. Ghaly is currently is the head of the California Health and Human Services Agency. He was appointed by Governor Newsom back in March, 2019. Prior to that he was a practicing pediatrician and director of health and social impact for the Los Angeles County Chief Executive Office.

Yes, you heard me right. A prior practicing pediatrician is now in charge of health care in California. Where does Gavin N. get these guys??

“Director of health and social impact” . . . does anyone know what this means? 

I don’t! Where did Gavin N. get this guy, and why?

Just read on.

Prior to his appointment, Newsom praised Ghaly’s “deep knowledge and understanding of how individual and community health outcomes intersect with policy and law on issues like whole-person care, mental health, and stage-of-life care.” (Sounds like liberal mumbo-jumbo to me.)

Still in 2019: “It was felt that Ghaly would play a pivotal role in the administration, helping prioritize increasing access to health coverage for undocumented adults and restraining health care costs, including drug costs.” 

(Translation = Dr. Ghaly is a leftist that probably went to Harvard med school.)

POLITICO Pro’s Angela Hart reported that Ghaly was chosen, in part, for his work on integrating behavioral and physical health care. Again, I ask what does “integrating behavioral and physical health care” mean?

I am still having trouble believing that of all the physicians in California, Gavin N. chose a pediatrician. (Interestingly just about every pediatrician I know is liberal, and it appears that Dr. Ghaly fits into that mold . . . I would even guess that he went to Harvard under-grad.

  • However, more to the point of “why I care.” Well just yesterday, he decided that   the multiple cases being picked up at San Diego State, should count against the tally for our county. Perhaps his decision is based on some made-up tiers – the scientific evidence for which I cannot seem to find. As a consequence probably more unemployment and more business closings fo San Diego County.

The response from Gavin N. and Ghaly is basically. . . tough. Criteria are criteria. (Perhaps he later told his wife, “What do they expect, after all I am only a pediatrician.”)

Now compare this “quality” to that of Scott Atlas M.D., , who is the Robert Wesson Senior Fellow in Scientific Philosophy & Public Policy at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University and a Member of Hoover Institution’s Working Group on Health Care Policy. Dr. Atlas was recently appointed to the White House Covid task force.

Read the following points from an article in the NY Post by Scott Atlas on 9/15/20. (N.B. Dr. Atlas is not a pediatrician.)

He following statements of Dr. Atlas are his opinions as to why colleges, including SDSU, should open up to in-person teaching.

“Science tells us that young adults are at extremely low risk for serious illness or death from COVID-19. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows that only 0.2 percent of deaths have been in those under age 25.

That’s fewer than 400 deaths in a country of 330 million. That’s also fewer than the 407 from influenza, 4,685 from accidents, 6,759 from suicides and 5,540 from homicides reported in the latest National Vital Statistics report from the CDC.”

(A Stanford epidemiologist John Ioannidis recently summed up what the entire world’s data consistently demonstrate: The risk for children and young adults dying from the novel coronavirus is “almost zero.”)

Again from Dr.Atlas:

“We are already seeing the negative effects of students not attending school. Almost three-fourths of those aged 18 to 24 reported at least one mental-health symptom by the end of June. A quarter of that age group contemplated suicide in the previous 30 days.”

He continues, “Even most university faculty aren’t at significant risk; two-thirds of them are under 55; only 13 percent are over 65.”

Meanwhile here in San Diego, San Diego State is going to be testing 2400 students this week . . . 2400 students, the vast majority of whom have little, if any symptoms. I am sure that SDSU has theorized some reason why this testing is a good thing, despite the fact that the cases picked up will probably punish the rest of us who live in the county.

I wonder if the head of Health Services at San Diego State is also a pediatrician?

9/21/20

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