MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Earlier this year, Republican lawmakers worked themselves into a tizzy after the state department of health started informing teenagers about way to get the COVID-19 vaccine. The uproar led to the scapegoating and firing of Dr. Michelle Fiscus, Tennessee’s leading vaccination expert.
Now many of those same lawmakers are at it again. They are objecting to a state Board of Medical Examiners policy that would discipline doctors for spreading disinformation about the pandemic.
The issue got a public airing Wednesday during a legislative committee hearing. Doctors who support the board policy attended the hearing to confront lawmakers who not only agree with those spreading disinformation – but are helping spread false information themselves. Chief among them is Oak Ridge representative John Ragan, who did not want to hear the criticism. And has even threatened to disband the medical examiners board. Earlier this year, some lawmakers also threatened to dissolve the state health department over disseminating vaccine information to teens.
But sometimes the truth hurts. And the truth is, GOP legislators have done everything they can to hinder the fight against the virus, thinking it helps them politically with their base. That’s not leadership. In fact, it’s the opposite, and it has deadly consequences.
Common sense should tell us that science is better than partisan politics in the battle against COVID. But as we all know, common sense is in short supply in the legislature.