The sweeping election win for Donald Trump on November 5 was a mandate from the voters for disruptive change. He inspired and mobilized a widely diverse coalition of Americans who have awakened to the realization that the country is on a dangerous wrong track. He promised to disrupt the status quo and make government responsive to the people with a common core of common sense and the people believed him. One of the lessons of his first presidency was Donald Trump does exactly what he says he is going to do.
Trump has moved at lightning speed to name key members of his leadership team. They include outsiders and truth tellers from across the political spectrum and are generating enthusiasm and optimism that he intends to deliver on his promises. CBS recently released the results of a survey with 59% of Americans approving of Trump’s handling of his transition so far. The American media, reliably dishonest and out of touch with the people, continues on the road to self-destruction with their negative “reporting” on Trump’s choices. They see little to commend in his picks calling many of them MAGA loyalists, FOX News contributors, authors of Project 2025 (a conservative think tank’s recommendations about how the administration should govern) and people of low character. Having failed to thwart the reelection of Donald Trump, they are now on a mission to interfere with his Cabinet’s acceptance by the American public and confirmation by the Senate.
The recent announcement that Marty Makary, a Johns Hopkins University Professor and a highly regarded oncology surgeon, will lead the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is a sterling example of the wisdom of Trump’s picks and cause for celebration. Makary was one of the medical heroes of the COVID pandemic, calling the government the “greatest perpetrator” of misinformation and calling on medical professionals to be honest about the state of the science. Makary questioned masking, was against lockdowns, against vaccine mandates, very concerned about vaccinating young children, and called for more nuanced recommendations based on the known risks of the virus to various groups.
Marty Makary is a physician who is willing to buck the medical establishment by exposing the serious mistakes that have been made over the years and urging his colleagues to act with transparency, open discourse, and honest review of the available data. His latest book, “Blind Spots: When Medicine Gets it Wrong and What it Means to Our Health” provides vital information about the how the medical bureaucracy works and exposes stunning examples of harmful recommendations that have been made over the years.
Three of the examples Makary brought into public view illustrate the importance of understanding that science is ever-changing and what is considered true today may not be true tomorrow.
Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) for Menopausal Women
Makary calls the demonization of hormone therapy for menopausal women the “biggest screw up in all of modern medicine.” Replacing hormones that are reduced in menopause was common treatment for women prior to 2002. It alleviates symptoms of menopause and, more importantly, significantly reduces the risk of heart attack, osteoporosis (weakening of the bones) and cognitive decline in post-menopausal women. What happened? In 2002, as a result of the largest taxpayer funded research in history (nearly $1 billion), National Institutes of Health (NIH) researchers held a press conference announcing that hormone therapy caused breast cancer. The 40 researchers from Stanford and Harvard Universities misrepresented their data. The data did not support their conclusion and, according to Makary, the benefits of HRT are overwhelming. This misrepresentation of the data became gospel, was pounded into physicians, and changed their practice. As a result, an estimated 50 million American women have been denied the benefits of HRT.
The Explosion of Severe Peanut Allergies Was Caused by Bad Medical Advice
In the 1950’s and ‘60’s peanut allergies were nearly unheard of. In the 1990’s there was a slight uptick seen in mild cases. In response to parents asking their pediatricians what they should do the American Association of Pediatrics in 2000 issued a recommendation that children under the age of 4 and pregnant and nursing women avoid peanuts. There was no evidence to support this recommendation, and it disregarded the prevailing wisdom that early exposure to “dirt and germs” builds immunity in kids.
Peanut allergies grew in number and severity. By 2016, 25% of the anaphylactic food allergies (severe, life-threatening responses) were to peanuts. By 2019, there were reports that 1 in 18 kids in America had a peanut allergy. Peanut avoidance brought on severe allergies and when Marty Makary asked those who made the original recommendations why they recommended it, the response was, “We had to tell them something.” Today, it is understood that early exposure is best. There are many parts of the world where peanut allergies don’t exist.
Antibiotics Can Hurt You
For years, the prevailing thinking was antibiotics are worth a try to treat any infection because they won’t hurt you. According to Makary, this thinking is wrong and resulted in the average 10-year-old having had 11 courses of antibiotics. Makary says the antibiotics “carpet bomb” the normal bacteria in the gut needed for digestion and other bodily functions and there are significant adverse effects on health from their overuse. Overuse also gives rise to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Marty Makary makes a point of stressing the public should not become cynical about medicine. People are called to the medical professions out of a desire to do good work and help people. However, in science, discovery comes from endlessly asking questions. Too often the current system gets mired in the psychology of “herd mentality” and defers to senior members. Makary says a climate of “central authority” and recommendations that are based in opinion presented with absolute certainty have a terrible track record and have resulted in an “epidemic of mistrust.”
In his new role as Commissioner of the FDA, Makary will report to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). They are closely aligned on priorities affecting Americans’ health. They are concerned with the poisoned food supply – toxins, pesticides, and engineered additives – and the influence of the pharmaceutical and food industries on regulation. Makary says these are just some of the questions we should be asking:
- Why is the age of puberty in the United States going down every year by a week and a half?
- Why are sperm counts down 50% in the last 50 years?
- Why is autism going up by 14% every year for the last 23 consecutive years?
- Why are half of America’s children overweight or obese?
- Why is one in four kids diabetic or pre-diabetic?
- Why have pancreatic cancer rates doubled in the last 20 years?
Donald Trump’s election to the Presidency for a second go around is a mandate for disruptive change. Marty Makary represents the kind of help he needs to deliver to the American people. He is committed to the truth and has the courage to speak it. There is a wise old saying that makes the point if you want meaningful change you have to shake things up: If you want to make an omelet, you have to break some eggs. Many of us can’t wait to get cracking.
