The Failure of Fauci on Coronavirus with Peter Suderman

Dr. Anthony Fauci has been the head of the United States National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease since 1984 and the presidential chief medical advisor for two presidents. His rise to prominence began in February and March of 2020 and continues to this day as he was thrust forward as the main spokesman for the US federal government in its response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Fauci served as the lead for establishing policies and recommendations at the CDC and FDA to combat the virus.

What's Wrong with How Fauci Led the Response?

In many ways, Dr. Fauci's failure to properly handle the pandemic response with COVID was inevitable. Men like him - according to my guest Peter Suderman of Reason.com - believe in the general infallibility of the bureaucratic process. They think that by following a mechanical paperwork process that they will come to the best, safest, and correct conclusions. These public health bureaucrats also hold a paternalistic view of the average citizen and that those citizens need their protection.

As it turns out, Dr. Fauci's hubris and mistrust of the public led him to make a lot of errors in his communications and recommendations. He outright lied at least a few times including initially saying masks didn't help in order to prevent a run on masks by the public. He later admitted that they knew all along that masks were basically useless outdoors despite insisting earlier that they were effective. He also admitted to lying about the necessary level of vaccination necessary to reach herd immunity because he didn't think people would think it was possible to achieve. He very consistently eroded the already weak trust of the public in public health authorities through those deceptions.

What Errors Did the CDC Have in Its Response?

The CDC had been an absolute disaster in its response to the pandemic - ostensibly the sole reason for having a CDC. Initially, the CDC blocked the use of tests for COVID that were being used elsewhere in the world. Instead, the insisted on using only their own tests which turned out to be defective and delayed any meaningful testing in the US for weeks leaving our understanding of the extent of the virus in the dark. It has also decreed many contradictory statements on the use of masks, lock downs, projections of surges, and real risks to the public.

Was the FDA any Better in its Response?

Sadly, the FDA has probably done even worse in its reaction to the virus. It prevented the creation of rapid home tests, commercial tests for COVID from university and private labs, mask manufacturers from converting their masks for hospital use, and the production of antiseptic by various companies like distillers. These actions undoubtedly led the failure to detect or protect millions of Americans as well as the probable death of many by preventing us from having adequate and plentiful ways to assess the virus in our communities.

But worst of all is the FDA handling the vaccine rollout. Even though the vaccine got into bodies in a record time, Suderman said they didn't do it nearly as quickly as they could have. Partly by delaying the approval process by weeks or even by allowing the deployment of the virus into public before gaining full approval. They also blocked the use of challenge trials which would have probably shortened the time for vaccine rollout by two months. Imagine how many thousands of lives could have been saved had they had access to the vaccine months earlier.

Why Do They Mess Up?

Peter Suderman puts it very succinctly, much like my previous guest Dr. Hooman Noorchashm, the bureaucrats like Fauci don't trust average people to understand or be able to figure out how to respond to the virus on their own. The authorities rely on a "science" based top down centralized solution that carries the risk of not coming to the correct conclusion. In that scenario, a wrong process or judgement has enormous repercussions because there isn't any other way of finding a solution to the problem. Decentralized systems use a discovery process that appears messy but usually comes to a more nuanced and useful conclusion in a faster period of time. This is the fatal conceit that bureaucrats like Fauci are plagued with - trusting the public.