The Gutting of American Health

Morning dispatch

The biggest difference between Donald and Mehmet Oz, Donald’s nominee to head the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) is that Oz has a medical degree and he never attempted a coup against the United States, although I have no doubt he supported it.

Beyond that, Donald and Oz are both cut from the same cloth—they’re con-artists and grifters who enrich themselves by telling lies that hurt people. If Oz does get confirmed to lead the CMS, millions of American lives will be put at risk because, in addition to over-seeing Medicare and Medicaid, Oz would be responsible for much of the Affordable Care Act. Altogether that accounts for the healthcare of about half the country.

If Republican senators abdicate all responsibility for safeguarding the health and well-being of the American people and take the egregious step of confirming Oz as head of CMS and Robert Kennedy as the head of Health and Human Services, much of what keeps Americans safe—from vaccines to food and drug safety to medical research—will be at risk.

Donald clearly wants dangerous people rolling the dice when it comes to the health of the American people as a way to keep us weak, frightened, and preoccupied. This is a strategy straight out of the autocrat playbook.

But it’s worse than that. Yes, Oz a deeply unqualified hack (a description that applies to the vast majority of Donald’s nominees). He settled a $5.25 million lawsuit that “accused him of exaggerating the benefits of weight-loss supplements,” according to The New York Times:

Over roughly two decades in the public eye, Dr. Oz has drawn the ire of medical experts, members of Congress and even his own peers, including a group of 10 doctors who called for him to be fired from a faculty position at Columbia University, arguing he had shown a ‘disdain for science.’

The Times further reported that the university later cut ties with Oz. 

Worse, though, Oz is also a cruel and careless man who places no value on human life. During COVID pandemic, as thousands of Americans were dying every day, he made one of the most chilling statements I’ve ever heard while advocating for the re-opening of schools as the pandemic still raged.

The opening of schools may only cost us 2 to 3 percent in terms of total mortality. I tell you schools are a very appetizing opportunity,” Oz said. I assume he meant for COVID.

To be clear, Oz was telling us that the unnecessary and avoidable deaths of hundreds of thousand if not millions of American children was a reasonable price to pay.

As the final vote total from the 2024 election comes into focus, it’s increasingly obvious Donald did not win a mandate. As votes continue to be counted, his popular vote lead shrinks, and he remains under 50 percent.

Most Americans likely didn’t sign up to have the country’s health care infrastructure gutted, but it looks like a lot of them are about to find out the hard way that by playing Russian roulette with American democracy by casting a vote for Donald Trump, that’s exactly what they’re going to get.