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Scott Atlas

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Scott Atlas
Atlas looking to the camera
Born (1955-07-05) July 5, 1955 (age 69)
Chicago, Illinois, US
EducationUniversity of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (BS)
University of Chicago (MD)
Scientific career
FieldsHealth care
InstitutionsHoover Institution

Scott William Atlas (born July 5, 1955)[1][2] is an American radiologist, political commentator, and health care policy advisor. He is a senior fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, a conservative think tank. From 1998 to 2012 he was a professor and chief of neuroradiology at the Stanford University Medical Center.[3]

Atlas was selected by President Donald Trump in August 2020 to serve as an advisor on the White House Coronavirus Task Force.[4] In that role, Atlas spread misinformation about COVID-19,[5] including theories that face masks and social distancing were not effective in slowing the spread of the coronavirus.[6] His statements and influence on policies caused controversy on the task force.[7][8][9] Contrary to the recommendations of most of the scientific community,[10] Atlas pushed for establishing herd immunity through infection without mitigation[11] and a faster reopening of schools and businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.[12][13] He advocated that states should not engage in COVID-19 testing of virus-exposed but asymptomatic individuals,[14] and encouraged residents to resist or "rise up" against state restrictions adopted to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.[15] Atlas resigned from his position in the White House on November 30, 2020.[16]

Early life and education

Atlas received a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign and his MD from the Pritzker School of Medicine of the University of Chicago.[3]

Career

Medical

From 1998 to 2012, Atlas was Professor and Chief of Neuroradiology at Stanford University Medical Center in California. He trained more than 100 neuroradiology fellows in his teaching career.[17] According to the American Board of Radiology, he is board certified in diagnostic radiology, while his certification in neuroradiology lapsed in 2017.[18]

He is the editor of Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain and Spine, a 2,000-page illustrated textbook with 83 contributors.[19][20] He has also written four books on health care policy.[3]

Political

Atlas is the Robert Wesson Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, a conservative public policy think tank.[21][17] He joined the Hoover Institution in 2003.[21]

He served as a senior advisor for health care to the Republican presidential campaigns of Rudy Giuliani in 2008 and Mitt Romney in 2012.[22][23]

He has advocated eliminating the Affordable Care Act and replacing it with modified tax deductions and incentives. He has also called for changes to Medicare[24] and "aggressive reforms" to turn Medicaid "into a bridge to private insurance"[25] and encourage health savings accounts.[24] Atlas views the Medicaid expansion as "one of the most misguided parts" of the Affordable Care Act.[25] He opposes proposals to establish a public health insurance option[26] or single-payer healthcare.[27]

Trump administration

Appointment as Trump coronavirus advisor

On August 10, 2020, President Donald Trump announced that Atlas would join his administration as an advisor on COVID-19.[28] Atlas, a radiologist, is not a specialist in public health or infectious diseases.[29][30][31] He reportedly caught Trump's eye because of his frequent appearances on Fox News that summer.[32]

Response from experts and others

Atlas's influence on policy alarmed many doctors and health experts.[33][7][9] In September 2020, 78 of Atlas's former colleagues at the Stanford Medical School signed an open letter criticizing Atlas, writing that he had made "falsehoods and misrepresentations of science" that "run counter to established science" and "undermine public health authorities and the credible science that guides effective public health policy."[34][10] Atlas's lawyer Marc Kasowitz threatened to sue the researchers.[35][36]

Atlas's comment urging Michiganders to "rise up" against measures to prevent COVID-19 transmission was widely condemned by health professionals and by Stanford University, home of the Hoover Institute where Atlas is a senior fellow.[37][38] In November 2020, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer denounced the tweet as "incredibly reckless"[37] and Fauci said: "I totally disagree with it, and I made no secret of that. ... I don't want to say anything against Dr. Atlas as a person but I totally disagree with the stand he takes. I just do, period."[5]

The same month, the Stanford University Faculty Senate, by an 85% vote, adopted a resolution condemning Atlas for his actions that "promote a view of COVID-19 that contradicts medical science." The resolution cited Atlas's statements and said they endangered the public.[39]

Resignation

On November 30, 2020, Atlas posted a letter (dated for the following day) resigning his White House position, days before the end of the maximum 130-day period in which he could serve with "special Government employee" status.[16][40][41]

Selected works

  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain and Spine (1990 1st ed.; 1996; 2002; 2008; 2016)[42][43]
  • Power to the Patient: Selected Health Care Issues and Policy Solutions (2005)
  • Reforming America’s Health Care System (2010)
  • In Excellent Health: Setting the Record Straight on America’s Health Care System (2011)[44]
  • Restoring Quality Health Care: A Six‐Point Plan for Comprehensive Reform at Lower Cost (2016 1st ed.; 2020)[25]

References

  1. ^ "Scott W. Atlas (Atlas, Scott W., 1955-)". onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu. University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  2. ^ "Resume" (PDF). docs.house.gov. US House of Representatives. September 1, 2019. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  3. ^ a b c "Scott W. Atlas—Hoover Institution Biography". hoover.org. Hoover Institution.
  4. ^ Varadarajan, Tuunku (September 4, 2020). "Trump's Covid Adviser Gets a Washington Welcome". The Wall Street Journal.
  5. ^ a b Alba, Monica; Lee, Carol E. "Atlas on the outs with coronavirus task force but still pushing Trump's pandemic claims". NBC News. Atlas, has not attended White House task force meetings in person since late September, according to two administration officials, as he continues to spread alleged misinformation about the worsening health crisis. ... The growing split between Atlas and task force leaders came after the group's leading medical experts — Dr. Deborah Birx and Dr. Anthony Fauci — indicated that they did not appreciate Atlas' controversial input or contributions in the Situation Room gatherings. "That was done in deference to Fauci and Birx because they basically said they will not work with him," a senior administration official said about the adviser's absence at the meetings.
  6. ^ "Trump's den of dissent: Inside the White House task force as coronavirus surges". The Washington Post. 2020.
  7. ^ a b Abutaleb, Yasmeen; Rucker, Phillip; Dawsey, Josh; Costa, Robert (October 19, 2020). "Trump's den of dissent: Inside the White House task force as coronavirus surges". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  8. ^ Stolberg, Sheryl Gay; Haberman, Maggie; Weiland, Noah (October 19, 2020). "Trump Calls Fauci 'a Disaster' and Shrugs Off Virus as Infections Soar". The New York Times. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  9. ^ a b Dawsey, Josh; Abutaleb, Yasmeen (October 31, 2020). "'A whole lot of hurt': Fauci warns of covid-19 surge, offers blunt assessment of Trump's response". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 31, 2020.
  10. ^ a b Bruggeman, Lucien; Cathey, Libby. "Former Stanford colleagues warn Dr. Scott Atlas fosters 'falsehoods and misrepresentations of science'". ABC News. Archived from the original on November 20, 2020. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
  11. ^ Atlas, Scott (June 29, 2020). "Mixed messages: Corona deaths level off as cases surge". Tucker Carlson Tonight (Interview). Interviewed by Tucker Carlson. Fox News Channel. We like the fact that there's a lot of cases in low-risk populations because that's exactly how we're going to get herd immunity—population immunity—when low-risk people with no significant problem handling this virus, which is basically 99% of people, uh, get this, they become immune and they block the pathways of connectivity to contagiousness of older, sicker people.
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference Cook was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference :4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Avlon, John; Warren, Michael; Miller, Brandon. "Atlas push to 'slow the testing down' tracks with dramatic decline in one key state". CNN. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference LeBlanc was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ a b Collins, Kaitlan; Acosta, Jim; Cole, Devan (November 30, 2020). "Dr. Scott Atlas resigns from Trump administration". CNN.
  17. ^ a b "Scott W. Atlas' Profile". Stanford.
  18. ^ "Verify Board Certification Status". The American Board of Radiology. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
  19. ^ "Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain and Spine, 4th ed., Vol. 1 and 2". American Journal of Neuroradiology. 30 (5). American Society of Neuroradiology: e76 – e77. May 1, 2009. doi:10.3174/ajnr.A1553. ISSN 0195-6108.
  20. ^ Alexander, Joseph T.; Hair, Regis W. (October 1, 1997). "Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain and Spine, Second Edition". Neurosurgery. 41 (4): 989–990. doi:10.1097/00006123-199710000-00053. ISSN 0148-396X.
  21. ^ a b Do, Huy M.; Quencer, Robert (September 1, 2003). "Scott W. Atlas Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution". American Journal of Neuroradiology. p. 1729.
  22. ^ "Romney's new health care adviser once attacked 'Romneycare'". CNN. March 23, 2012.
  23. ^ "Rudy Giuliani's health care proposal". PNHP.
  24. ^ a b Atlas, Scott (December 27, 2016). "Replace Obamacare with a system that cuts costs and values quality care". CNN. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  25. ^ a b c "Opinion: Medicaid fails the poor". Becker's Hospital Review.
  26. ^ Atlas, Scott W. (July 16, 2019). "Public Option Kills Private Insurance". Wall Street Journal.
  27. ^ Atlas, Scott W. (March 9, 2020). "The Dangers of Medicare for All". The New York Times.
  28. ^ Morrison, Cassidy (August 10, 2020). "Critic of coronavirus lockdowns and school closures made adviser to President Trump". Washington Examiner. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  29. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYTSept1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  30. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  31. ^ Perez, Matt. "Who Is Dr. Scott Atlas? Trump's New Covid Health Adviser Seen As Counter To Fauci And Birx". Forbes. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  32. ^ Stolberg, Sheryl Gay (November 30, 2020). "Scott Atlas, a Trump Coronavirus Adviser, Resigns". The New York Times. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  33. ^ Brumfiel, Geoff; Keith, Tamara. "President Trump's New COVID-19 Adviser Is Making Public Health Experts Nervous". NPR.org. NPR. Archived from the original on November 29, 2020. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
  34. ^ Philip A. Pizzo, MD; Upi Singh, MD; Bonnie Maldonado, MD (September 9, 2020). "Dear Colleages" (PDF). The New York Times. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 26, 2020. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  35. ^ Niedzwiadek, Nick. "Scott Atlas lawyer threatens defamation suit over critical Stanford open letter". Politico. Archived from the original on November 22, 2020. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  36. ^ "Scott Atlas, White House adviser on coronavirus, threatens to sue colleagues back at Stanford". www.insidehighered.com. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  37. ^ a b Cathey, Libby (November 16, 2020). "Dr. Scott Atlas under fire for telling Michigan to 'rise up' against COVID-19 restrictions". ABC News. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  38. ^ Williams, Michael (November 16, 2020). "Stanford rebukes Scott Atlas following his controversial rise up tweet". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  39. ^ Nietzel, Michael T. (November 21, 2020). "Stanford Faculty Senate Condemns Dr. Scott Atlas Over His Covid-19 Conduct". Forbes. Retrieved November 22, 2020.
  40. ^ Scott Atlas resigns as special adviser to Trump on coronavirus, Reuters (November 30, 2020).
  41. ^ Scott Atlas, US Coronavirus advisor to Donald Trump resigns, Pro Magazine (December 01, 2020).
  42. ^ Mancuso, Anthony A. (November 1, 1991). "Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain and Spine, First Edition". Magnetic Resonance in Medicine: 175. doi:10.1002/mrm.1910220119.
  43. ^ Liu, Charles Y. (November 1, 2002). "Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain and Spine, Third Edition". Neurosurgery. 51 (5): 1316–1317. doi:10.1097/00006123-200211000-00037.
  44. ^ Miller, Thomas (August 1, 2012). "A Diagnosis At Odds With A Treatment Plan". Health Affairs. 31 (8): 1905–1907. doi:10.1377/hlthaff.2012.0722. ISSN 0278-2715.
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