Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo continues to defend his agency’s new guidance against COVID-19 vaccines among adult men as medical experts point out flaws in the Florida Department of Health study intended to justify the recommendation.
Ladapo, who has consistently expressed skepticism about COVID shots, denounced Twitter for temporarily removing his post containing the guidance against doses for males aged 18-39 during an interview Monday with conservative media executive Steve Bannon.
The tweet was later restored by the social media platform, according to reports from news organizations including the Tampa Bay Times. On Friday, the Department of Health released the study suggesting that mRNA vaccines increase the risk of cardiac-related deaths among the male 18-39 demographic.
“It is almost criminal, really, in terms of how much disregard that they have for human rights. And I am not just talking about Twitter but this whole body that think it’s OK to crush the voices of others because you don’t like their message,” Ladapo told Bannon, who served in the administration of former President Donald Trump.
florida 
Guidelines from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that everyone “stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines,” including children, teens, and those 18 and older.
According to a press release by the state health department, “this analysis found that there is an 84 percent increase in the relative incidence of cardiac-related death among males 18-39 years old within 28 days following mRNA vaccination.”
“With a high level of global immunity to COVID-19, the benefit of vaccination is likely outweighed by this abnormally high risk of cardiac-related death among men in this age group. Non-mRNA vaccines were not found to have these increased risks.”
Rebuttals
However, the state study sparked criticism from the broader medical community in Florida and elsewhere. Jason Salemi, associate professor of epidemiology at the University of South Florida, was among the critics.
“I have zero problems with these exploratory investigations,” he said via Twitter on Sunday. “But they should lead to much better designed studies that are comprehensive and actually seek better data before such sweeping recommendations are made.”
Dr. Kristen Panthagani, an emergency medicine resident at Yale School of Medicine, pointed to the lack of an author listed in the analysis and that it is “not published [in a medical journal] and is not peer reviewed,” she said in a tweet following the state’s recommendation.
“Dr. Ladapo has written a thread responding to some of my criticisms of the Florida vaccine analysis,” she said in a tweet Monday. “Overall, his rebuttals do not satisfactorily address the points I raised, and my concerns remain.”
–Isaac Morgan, Florida Phoenix
Wallingford says
He is only following the lead of Governor DeSantis
Donald J Trump says
This Witch Doctor needs to return to his Roots and leave medical matters to people who can read, write and speak full sentences. Kissing DeSantis’s ass doesn’t qualify a “burger flipper” for any job that has real life consequences.
Jim says
It’s great to know the Florida Surgeon General feels comfortable participating in a public discussion of health and Twitter rules with a convicted criminal who is currently facing more charges for bilking Trump supporters out of money for a wall that didn’t get built and which he personally took the donations for his own use. Setting that lack of judgement aside, it’s even worse that in order to support the DeSantis position that Covid is a non-issue (apparently nobody in Florida has died from it nor in mass numbers) so he takes questionable “evidence” and issues a mandate for those who can’t get the newest vaccine. This is the kind of medical professional Florida needs to assure our best medical interests are being supported. The guy is a political hack who was hired because he’s willing to support medical recommendations that completely contradict the vast majority of professional medical opinion. He’s another reason why DeSantis should not be governor. We need to get rid of people who can’t follow science or care about the people of Florida.
c says
You forgot to add that he was also hired so DeSantis could say ” I like Black People .. in fact, I hired one”.
Smokey says
In response to “c says”, you mean like the way Sleepy Joe selected Kamala?
Skibum says
We all know this hack is just a political stooge, put in that position by Deathsantis specifically because he is a medical science denier just like the gov who reprehensibly spouted so much false and misleading information about COVID-19. Both the gov and this stooge are responsible for many Floridians getting infected when they could have otherwise been protected from the virus had the state not only given out timely, truthful information to the public, but also had they chosen to accurately account for the number and severity of virus infections statewide instead of hiding that information from the public merely due to the gov’s political future was certainly at stake. Florida had one of the highest per capita infection rates in the nation, and the fact that people in this state not only were infected at an alarming rate, but many were needlessly hospitalized with severe infections and many of our state’s coronavirus deaths could have been prevented had the gov and his stooge followed medical science instead of mocked it for their own benefit. It is a shame and a smear that they will have to live with, but I doubt that either one has a conscience or will think twice about the lives they cost by their inaction and lies.
Charles says
Two incompetent individuals messing with peoples lives. Please people remember DeathSantis when you go vote, he doesn’t care if you live or die, he just wants to be in power as a want to be Trump imitator.
Mark says
If Gov Duhs lap dog says one thing do the opposite, especially if he’s talking on a soon to be jailed insurrectionist talk show hosts program.
Charles says
Tell DeathSantis he needs to send his witch doctor back to medical school.
Regulator says
So tell me , where did you get your medical degree??
Timothy Patrick Welch says
Yep…
The government should stay out of health care.
Aj says
We keep voting for the Republicans look at the result. Desantis will win again. The republicans will have a blood bath next month, hopefully we will see their true colors. Hopefully they will get killed in 2024, we have to vote. The Fla, Repubs don’t care for the people,but we will vote them in office again, I guess we love political crooks. Regardless I am a Democrat and I will vote Democrat. They will get defeated in November I will continue to vote Democrat. They are better for the people than the Trump party. People please get out and vote.
Justsayin says
Maybe Twitter is really trying to suppress the information because it does not fit the government narrative. There other public blog sites that do the same as Twitter.