New JAMA Network Open director criticized for backing COVID shutdowns
A teacher who backed COVID- 19 shutdowns, masks, and various measures that have been widely discredited has been appointed as the American Medical Association’s new editor in chief.
Dr. Eli Perencevich, a teacher of internal medicine at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, did take on the role July 1, replacing existing director Dr. Frederick Rivara, according to a Journal news release.
” My perspective is that JAMA Network Open will be a sounding board for professionals, researchers, and policy designers across all health subjects”, Perencevich stated.
The medical journal publishes study about” medical care, innovation in health care, health coverage, and international health across all health fields and places”, according to its site.
But, Perencevich’s appointment drew condemnation from scholars electronically over the past year, many voicing concerns about his views on COVID- 19.
Vinay Prasad, a professor at the University of California San Francisco, responded on X with “bad news.”
” Someone who was pro masking toddlers, pro school closure, pro lockdown and anti RCTs takes over. Will have to submit elsewhere. Sad”, Prasad, a medical doctor, wrote.
Others cited evidence of the negative effects of COVID- 19 mandates and school closures.
Austrian professor of sociology Muriel Blaive wrote on X that Perencevich might refute his earlier claims that” now that the Covid narrative is unraveling,” according to Austrian sociologist Muriel Blaive.
According to Blaive,” there are a good chance that he will soon have forgotten all of his previous statements and will declare that he has always been opposed to masks and lockdowns.”
Benjamin Ryan, a health and science journalist who writes for the New York Times,  , NBC News, and other publications,  , wrote in an X post some of the things Perencevich advocated for actually proved harmful.
Ryan wrote,” Many are distressed that Dr. Eli Perencevich is the new editor in chief of JAMA Network Open.” He was a vocal supporter of school closures and mask mandates. These child harming measures have not been proven to be particularly effective.
Perencevich did not respond to a request for comment sent on Tuesday from The College Fix.
In an interview with the Iowa Capital Dispatch in 2020, the Iowa doctor backed mask mandates in schools. In another interview with the Dispatch the same year, he warned against churches re-opening and permitting singing at services.
” We do n’t have public health in the state of Iowa”, Perencevich said at the time. We are n’t taking any of the necessary actions or allowing localities to decide their own actions. Unfortunately, politicians are making these decisions, not health professionals”.
In an interview with The Atlantic that year, he criticized Iowa government officials for not mandating more mandates during the initial outbreak.
Additionally, Perencevich co- authored an article published in April 2020 in JAMA highlighting research that found “bans on public gatherings, compulsory stay- at- home policies, mandating closures of schools and nonessential businesses, face mask ordinances, quarantine” and other measures can “quickly reduce COVID- 19 transmission if applied effectively”.
MORE: School reopenings only minimally contribute to COVID spread: study
IMAGE: Prevention &, Infection Control Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève/YouTube
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