Expertise?

By David Webb, MD

Lanesboro, MN

Tired of being told what to do by experts? Perfectly understandable. After all, highly educated, experienced individuals have time and again been completely wrong about things – to the dismay and often detriment of us all. That said, I would add that we might do well to differentiate true from self-proclaimed expertise and not to disparage as “so-called” experts, those individuals who do have recognized competence in what has been their life’s work. 

I would also suggest that we might do well not to equate being given sage advice with having things dictated to us with no good explanation. 

Your neighbor who has worked his family farm all his life probably knows more about animal husbandry and crop rotation than some recent agribusiness graduate working for a DC lobby firm. Perhaps even more than you do. And while you might not appreciate his always telling you what to do, you actually might not mind “picking his brain” about some problem you’re having on your own farm.

Chances are EMT-Paramedics know more than most of us about how safely to immobilize, extricate, and transport victims of motor vehicular accidents. I dare say that if you or a loved one were inside the wrecked car, or if you just happened to come upon the scene of the accident, you likely would not object too strenuously to being told by a paramedic, clearly and precisely, exactly what to do, what not to do, when to do it, and how to do it. 

On a personal note, as a retired physician, a former commissioned officer in the United States Public Health Service, and someone dedicated to life-long learning, while I certainly don’t pretend to have all the answers about the pandemic, I am at least conversant with those who do have some of the answers. 

For example, one of the speakers at a Mayo Clinic conference I recently attended noted that back in March, when there was still some question about it, the Mayo protocol was to give all COVID patients hydroxychloroquine. He went on to say that 100% of Mayo patients who died from COVID had been given the drug. Consistent with that fact and with numerous peer-reviewed studies showing it to be of no benefit, COVID patients at Mayo no longer get hydroxychloroquine. 

Frankly, I would give more credence to the carefully considered opinions of these experts than to those of some guy on the next barstool. 

On an even more personal note, as a father and grandfather, let me conclude by telling you about my youngest daughter, a physician’s assistant in the Twin Cities, who has been on the frontlines, and who has just tested positive for COVID. Now she’s at home ill; she, son-in-law, and grandson are in quarantine. So, sadly, I have joined the ranks of families all across the nation who have seen nearly six million of their loved ones contract and nearly 200,000 – babies, children, young adults, older adults – succumb to this plague – and for no reason other than our nation’s untimely, utterly chaotic response to the unfolding crisis! 

Tired of being told what to do by experts? I am mightily tired of being told what to do and what to think by ignoramuses. I am mightily tired of being lied to by self-serving, anti-science politicians more concerned about their polling numbers than about our lives and livelihoods. 

We must end this madness lest it be the end of us.