April 26, 2023

According to Politico, Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo made “edits” to a Florida Department of Health study that originally stated there was no significant risk to young men from Covid-19 vaccines. “Ladapo replaced that language to say that men between 18 and 39 years old are at high risk of heart illness from two Covid vaccines that use mRNA technology,” Politico reported. Those two vaccines are the Pfizer BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.

Ladapo then used the altered document in October “to bolster disputed claims that Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines were dangerous to young men,” Politico said. C&L has more on that presentation here.

Researchers who reviewed Ladapo’s edits called them “really troubling” and “a lie.”

But troubling medical lies are no surprise coming from a guy like Ladapo. The fact that he refused to wear a mask in the office of a cancer patient is a good indication of what a dangerous a-hole he is.

Also not surprising? Being a dangerous a-hole is what got him the job. More from Politico:

Ladapo was picked by DeSantis in September 2021 to become the state’s surgeon general as DeSantis waged war against President Joe Biden’s Covid-related restrictions and ordered the state to ban mask-wearing requirements in schools and employer-issued vaccine mandates.

It looks like Ladapo’s alterations drew concern last fall. Politico previously reported on an anonymous complaint investigated by the Florida Department of Health’s inspector general last year, accusing Ladapo of “scientific fraud” and “manipulated data” in a report Ladapo claimed showed that Pfizer and Moderna vaccines increase the risk of cardiac death among young men. The investigation was closed when the anonymous complainant failed to respond to follow-up questions.

But why should DeSantis care? Ladapo is a perfect match for his own politics and besides, DeSantis is too busy waging war on Disney to trouble himself with medical misinformation that could kill Floridians.

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