EXCLUSIVE — Protect the Public’s Trust, a watchdog group, is calling for an investigation into U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy for recommending “physical distancing” to combat the coronavirus despite an apparent lack of scientific evidence for the protocol.
In a letter to Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General Christi Grimm, obtained by the Washington Examiner, PPT called for an investigation into Murthy for “apparent violations of scientific integrity standards” after Murthy recommended physical distancing that resulted in draconian mandates and school closures at the height of the pandemic.
“It stands to reason that the more drastic a measure taken, especially a measure involving children, the more ironclad the science supporting it should be,” Michael Chamberlain, director of Protect the Public’s Trust, told the Washington Examiner. “But here is another instance of public health leaders recommending severe restrictions based on slapdash evidence, and the scars inflicted on these kids will affect them for decades.”
Murthy claimed in an August 2021 meeting that so long as children stayed 3-6 feet away from one another and were not in contact with someone who tested positive for more than 15 minutes, they did not need to quarantine, according to a public records request filed by PPT. That meeting was attended by Education Secretary Miguel Cardona as well as members of teachers unions, which supported prolonging the lockdowns.
In a separate records request, PPT obtained a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report titled “Operational Strategy for K-12 Schools through Phased Prevention,” which the organization said appears to be the “sole basis” for claiming distancing could work. The letter said the report has five sources, none of which reach that conclusion.
“It is particularly concerning when leadership within HHS and its subsidiary agencies appears to issue pronouncements that are either not supported by science or present as incontrovertible fact matters where the science may be murky, uncertain, or contradictory, to further a pre-determined narrative for political purposes,” PPT wrote in its letter.
One of the sources cited in the report is a review, notably not original research, of the transmission of other diseases in a hospital setting, as opposed to the coronavirus in a school setting. It also states that there should be a “layered prevention strategy,” adding, “The preponderance of the available evidence from U.S. schools indicates that even when students were placed less than 6 feet apart in classrooms, there was limited SARS-CoV-2 transmission when other layered prevention strategies were consistently maintained.”
Several more sources cited in the report also did not support social distancing, and some did not even mention it as a preventive method, according to the letter.
The letter set out the responsibility the Office of the Surgeon General has to the public, particularly when it comes to making sweeping recommendations that have the power to alter the everyday lives of people fundamentally, as many of the coronavirus protocols did.
It also made note of the robust scientific integrity policies that govern HHS and its subsidiary agencies, including the Office of the Surgeon General, which require decision-making to be backed by evidence and not swayed by political pressure.
“HHS shall sustain a culture of scientific integrity. Scientific progress depends upon honest investigation, open discussion reflecting a balance of diverse scientific views, refined understanding, and a firm commitment to evidence,” agency policy states. “Science, and public trust in science, thrives in an environment that shields scientific data and analyses from inappropriate political influence. Political officials should not suppress or alter, nor appear to suppress or alter, scientific or technological findings.”
Social distancing measures recommended by HHS led in large part to school lockdowns and remote learning, which some estimates say set student achievement back by two decades.
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“When they came into office, the Biden administration promised to ‘follow the science’ in decision-making,” Chamberlain said. “Now it seems we have another powerful member of that administration failing to live up to that promise. More and more, it appears that the precipitous decline in trust in our public health officials during these years has been well earned.”
The Washington Examiner reached out to HHS for comment.