Public trust, the CDC and Tamiflu

Why do doctors lose credibility? Consider the few public doctors out there with millions of followers. The majority of the stuff they recommend is perfect: eat good food, exercise, be nice. and sleep. Check. No problem. Everyone is good with that until they shatter the sense with nonsense. One miracle cure or stupid supplement or financial conflict ruins everything. That goes, too, for the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). These guys must have the highest of the moral ground. For if we are to believe them about public health matters, there can be no conflicts of interest. The public good, pure evidence, that is all. I recently wrote about social media. One thing that marketing gurus teach is that social media has heightened the collective BS meter. Staci and I talked about that last night in regards to gaining physician respect in the new generation. The next generation of people are not gifting experts/doctors respect on lore alone. The respected doctor or health organization of the future will be transparent, consistent and humble. Now to the oseltamivir/Tamiflu CDC trust problem. The CDC has a Take Three program for Influenza. The third thing they recommend is to take anti-virals (like Tamiflu) if your doctor prescribes them. CDC director Dr Tom Frieden said three flu medications (Tamiflu, Relenza and Rapivab) can prevent “serious complications” and help people avoid hospitalization. But that is not what the FDA says. Christie Aschwanden reports on FiveThirtyEight tha...
Source: Dr John M - Category: Cardiology Authors: Source Type: blogs