In March 2020, I drove the empty roads into the city with my thermos of coffee because I’m a doctor, and doctors show up when people are ill. One of my favorite patients became the second COVID fatality in New York City that spring. Unfortunately, he wasn’t the last COVID death we saw in my office that year.
I was acutely aware of the risks, and Mike and I had a plan if I got sick. I would quarantine away from him and our boys so that if anything happened to me, they would still have him. Our younger son was at Westfield High School, still hoping to play his senior lacrosse season.
We knew our concern wasn’t baseless anxiety. An estimated 3600 healthcare workers died between March 2020 and April 2021; hundreds of thousands more fell ill, many with long-term sequelae. Masks and other proactive equipment were scarce and honestly, I was scared. But I drove in with my thermos of coffee, because that’s what healthcare workers do.
I was also proud – proud of the knowledge and skills I’d acquired over the years that allowed me to help others. When I came home from work neighbors would stop by to ask me to listen to their lungs, suggest solutions and find ways to help keep them safe. I fielded hundreds of questions from local friends and even went to people’s homes to examine them when necessary. I was proud to have resources that let me learn from the best and brightest in research, learning in real time and adjusting when new information was revealed. I was proud to be on the front lines of the worst epidemic since the Spanish Flu.
Our neighbors showed their appreciation in a multitude of ways, and this gratitude further reinforced my commitment to service and community well-being. But then the misinformation began. This tragedy became politicized, and respected clinicians were demonized, mostly by those entitled to the luxury of remote workplaces and robust health. They either underestimated the risk to themselves and others (a charitable interpretation), or they simply didn’t care about the risk to the vulnerable among us. Crazy, dangerous ideas abounded, ideas not grounded in science and unmoored from reality because some people thought, and still think, that their opinions were as credible as actual validated research. That a degree from the University of TikTok holds the same weight as advanced degrees and years of high-quality research – research which accepts medical complexity and the need to adapt to updated information.
Enter Mike Domogala, with a dearth of scientific background or research experience, but an abundance of hubris. He planted signs on his lawn insisting that he and his family should not be expected to mask. The obvious inferences here are twofold. The first is that he trusts his own opinion over the fact-based conclusions of the medical professionals. The second is that he cares more about freeing his kids from the burden of wearing a mask than he cares about the well-being of others.
A mayor is entrusted to protect their constituents. Mike Domogala was more concerned with protecting his kids from the hardship of putting a mask over their mouths than protecting the asthmatic kid sitting next to them. If you can’t do the easy things to keep your neighbors safe, why would we trust you to do the hard things?
We shouldn’t entrust our wellbeing to those who conflate researched data with gut instinct or those who value the health of our vulnerable so feebly. We shouldn’t elect anyone who puts politics over sound judgment or who tries to score political points by disregarding the health of our community. His lawn signs insult the integrity, intelligence, and bravery of every healthcare worker who risked everything to serve others every day while he complained about wearing a flimsy mask.
Mike Domogala’s lawn signs signaled his disregard for facts, an opinion shared by charlatans and political opportunists like RFK Jr who undermine our safety even as legitimate physicians sound the alarm. Our job is no longer just to do no harm; we have to undo the harm caused by the willfully uninformed.
Heed the alarm. We are seeing the consequences of electing ignorance and selfishness over experience and rigorous scientific method. I doubt Mike Domogala gets his medical advice from anyone but a doctor, so why would he expect you to get your medical advice from him?
Hippocrates said “Wherever the art of Medicine is loved, there is also a love of Humanity. ” Be wary of those who advertise their disdain for both.
Meredith Lash-Dardia, MD, FACP
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