Dr. Joseph Ladapo opposed COVID-19 mandates, refused to wear a mask in the office of a state senator with breast cancer, and refused to disclose his vaccination status.
“When you are noncommittal to anything, then the optics are that you’re a yes man,” said Sen. Jason W. B. Pizzo, a Democrat, as he looked in Ladapo’s direction. “And we can’t have the third-largest state in the country’s top doctor being a yes man to a politician.”
Through his confirmation, Ladapo described himself as a medical professional married to data, once telling a Democratic senator who pressed him on whether vaccines are effective that “yes or no questions are not that easy to find in science.” He later would say that vaccines have been shown to provide protection against hospitalization and death but waning ability to prevent infections.of a committee room after saying they weren’t getting answers from the surgeon general.
The surgeon general, in addition to his coronavirus policies, drew national attention for refusing to wear a mask in the office of state Sen. Tina Polsky, a Democrat who told him she had a serious medical issue. She later revealed a breast cancer diagnosis. Ladapo released a statement that said he was “saddened” by the news of her illness and wished her “blessings and strength.
“I guess politics is a component of my role, but I’m not here for the politics, I’m here for health,” Ladapo said Wednesday. “It just so happens that the governor and I happen to sort of see things similarly among some major health issues, and that’s good.”Do you have information you want to share with HuffPost?