Oct. 29, 2020 - Dennis Prager Show
09:43
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| Time | Text |
|---|---|
| Dr. Ladipo, welcome to the Dennis Prager Show. | |
| Hey, thank you, and happy to join. | |
| Thanks for inviting me. | |
| So before the mask issue, and I know we really have one segment here, but before that, I am very curious, how has the reaction been to you at the medical school? | |
| Oh, sure, Dan. | |
| Well, first, I just want to say that I'm speaking for myself and not on behalf of the university. | |
| Right. | |
| So that might give you a sense of how the reaction has been. | |
| You know, it's been mixed. | |
| I mean, I've received a lot of supportive messages and communications, both within the university and outside. | |
| But, you know, in terms of the general thinking of the university's general position on issues, it tends not to fit in with that. | |
| And so I've gotten quite a lot of pushback from some of my colleagues, which is absolutely their right to do. | |
| So that's how it's been. | |
| Have there been any calls for you to be fired? | |
| I'm sure there have been. | |
| I'm sure there have been. | |
| Yeah, I'm sure there have been. | |
| But, you know, yeah, and that, as you know, that's kind of, that's where we are right now as a country, and there's nothing special about me in that respect. | |
| Unfortunately, dissenting opinions have not in, at least not in any time in history that I can think of, ever been so, you know, so damaged. | |
| Suppressed in the United States. | |
| This is unique. | |
| That is correct. | |
| It's a point I make every day. | |
| We have never undergone such an assault on free speech. | |
| One final thing before the mask, but it's partially about the mask. | |
| Why is there such passion for masks? | |
| It isn't purely a medical answer. | |
| So what do you think is behind it? | |
| Yeah, and that's the million-dollar question. | |
| And I'm so happy to hear you ask that because for so many people, it's missed on them. | |
| They think that it's just an issue of science or, you know, it's just the mask. | |
| Why don't you wear the mask? | |
| And, you know, at its root, it's actually, for some people, it's a really personal issue. | |
| And because it's so personal, it also involves a personal part of the body. | |
| It absolutely rouses very strong passions about liberty and civil liberty. | |
| And they're not unfounded passions at all. | |
| And it's been kind of amazing to me that so many people can't, even if they think that everyone should wear a mask or however they feel, I've been surprised that so many people seem to not be able to recognize it. | |
| It really is a very, you know, very personal issue for many people. | |
| It touches a place that is... | |
| Right, but the passion to believe. | |
| I see a chart here. | |
| In addition to your article, the Federalist today has a chart of states and countries when they invoked a mask mandate and how the cases simply went up. | |
| It seems to have had no impact. | |
| So why would doctors support something that doesn't seem to have scientific credibility? | |
| Yeah, so what I would say to that is that I don't, personally, I don't believe that it has no scientific credibility. | |
| There is some evidence for it. | |
| Even before the pandemic, there was some evidence for it, but there was also quite a lot of evidence. | |
| Against it, arguing against any benefit, which is why that's just not been a recommendation. | |
| I think that what's happened now is that there's a big political component that's sort of steering the science instead of the other way around. | |
| So the political component has to do with political power. | |
| It has to do with fear. | |
| And just how transformative this pandemic has been and how so many people have felt loss of control. | |
| So I think that's all feeding into the passionate support for them. | |
| And I get those videos that show droplets spraying here and there. | |
| I totally get it. | |
| But that doesn't give us the answer to whether the mask mandates are effective or not. | |
| Does it matter what type of mask? | |
| So the studies that have looked at that do seem to have found differences in how much droplet activity is, how much droplets are released. | |
| So it seems to matter. | |
| I mean, kind of the theory supports it mattering. | |
| The question of whether in actuality it matters is basically, there's actually a little bit of data on that also, but it's mostly in healthcare settings, not in the community setting. | |
| And then in terms of protection and filtration, there's data on that too, you know, with the N95s and that sort of thing being more effective at filtering out particles. | |
| Where would you recommend someone, if anywhere? | |
| Someone wear a mask. | |
| You know, it's really interesting. | |
| So I'd say two things. | |
| The first thing is that there's a researcher. | |
| It is an infectious disease specialist at UCSF. I think the last name is Gandhi. | |
| And she has, you know, she's sort of supported and others have supported this theory that the mask may actually be protective for the wearer in terms of reducing the viral load. | |
| And who knows? | |
| She may be correct. | |
| So I think it's reasonable for people who are at increased risk to, you know, to consider wearing them. | |
| You know, that's different from the mandate, particularly given the uncertainty. | |
| But I think that that's a reasonable suggestion until we know more. | |
| Indoor settings are the other place. | |
| There seems to be anecdotes. | |
| You've got to be careful with them, but there seems to be enough anecdotal evidence that indoor places with poor circulation, there's probably a benefit on average with mask wearing and those situations. | |
| And that is probably the extent to where the evidence is strong. | |
| So indoor with poor circulation? | |
| Poor ventilation, pardon me, yeah. | |
| Like a phone booth? | |
| If you can put more than one person in a phone booth and one of them happens to be COVID-19 positive, sure. | |
| You're a good man. | |
| I'm glad you went along with me on that one. | |
| I'm actually surprised you know what a phone booth is. | |
| You sound very young to me. | |
| I know. | |
| So how do people explain that, and I have flown a fair amount during this lockdown, so while we eat, we're inches away from strangers, so for a prolonged period of time during eating, and if you nurse your drink, it's really prolonged, I'm referring to coffee. | |
| But if you nurse whatever drink you're drinking, we're talking about a serious period of time, and we are hearing nothing about people getting sick from airplanes. | |
| Yeah, absolutely, you know, and thank goodness for that. | |
| So, you know, I mean, a couple things with the planes. | |
| One thing is that my reading is that they actually have... | |
| The amount of air exchange in planes tends to be greater than buildings. | |
| So I'm not certain, but that's what I've read. | |
| So that's one piece that may be contributing. | |
| I mean, another piece that's relevant is that, you know, you've got to imagine, right, that someone, at least one person, has to have the virus. | |
| And if the number of people that have the virus, and then even if that person has the virus... | |
| They have to be asymptomatic, right? | |
| Because you're not going to get on a plane these days if you're symptomatic. | |
| So that's bringing the numbers down further. | |
| And then they have to be in a stage where they're actually contagious. | |
| And that window is, for most people, not that long. | |
| So, you know, even though, again, it's part of the hysteria. | |
| That has, you know, been our co-pilot through this pandemic. | |
| Well, okay. | |
| I've got to take a break, and I know you have to go. | |
| I would love to do a part two, and if you smoke cigars, I would love to have a cigar with you. | |
| Okay. | |
| Well, if you're going to take a break, I can stay on. | |
| Oh, okay. | |
| Fine. |
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