James Muller, MD
3 min readNov 1, 2020

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Biden Would End the Pandemic in the Sunshine State and Beyond: A Florida Doctor Speaks Out

Janet Gersten MD and James Muller MD

The voters of Florida have a major opportunity to pick the better presidential candidate to end the COVID-19 pandemic and its terrible consequences. As physicians we believe Biden is by far the better choice to provide the science-based leadership essential for victory.

The choice is of special importance to Florida, since COVID-19 infection has been widespread in the state, and it is many times more lethal in an elderly population. The state has experienced over 16,000 COVID-19 deaths, far more than have occurred in the entire country of Canada, which has a larger population than Florida.

President Trump has led the government as the pandemic has worsened. In February 2020, as the virus began to attack the United States, he told a reporter in a confidential interview that the virus could spread through air and was more dangerous than the flu. Shortly thereafter he told the public the opposite — that the virus was not a serious problem and would soon disappear. It was as if a physician failed to inform a patient of the early signs of cancer.

When it became known that he had lied to the public, he said he did not want Americans to panic. His continuing efforts to deny the threat have hampered the development of countermeasures.

Understanding that COVID-19 is a threat requires respect for truth and acceptance of unwanted biologic facts. Respect for truth, whether it is welcome or unwelcome news, is a basic principle of medicine taught at the beginning of medical school.

A president untrained in medicine and epidemiology should not be criticized for his lack of knowledge of methods to control the pandemic. However, he can and should be faulted for his lack of respect for experts, such as Dr. Anthony Fauci, who do have such knowledge.

The President’s disregard of the advice of medical experts led to over 100,000 more deaths than would be expected if we had the same mortality rate as Germany or Canada, countries with leaders who followed the advice of knowledgeable epidemiologists.

President Trump has failed to protect the health and safety of the American people. In medical terms, President Trump is guilty of presidential malpractice, and is not qualified to lead the recovery from COVID-19.

By contrast, former Vice President Biden, has demonstrated a respect for medical expertise.

He has a history of working effectively against the prior H1N1 and Ebola epidemics, which never led to massive deaths, cessation of business activity, and closing of schools. Biden has consistently sought the advice of experts and runs his campaign events with social distancing and masks — the imperfect, simple, but very effective tools we have against the virus.

There are some who favor Biden for his approach to COVID-19 but are concerned by the charges that he favors socialism. These charges are false — they have been created and fostered by the Trump campaign in an effort to discredit Biden among Florida voters. He was a leader in the fight against communism. He is a centrist in the democratic party, not a socialist.

Floridians look forward to a future free of the virus and filled with the normal business, educational, and social activities that should be flourishing in the Sunshine state. A vote for Biden will move Florida, and the United States to a better post-COVID world.

Dr. Janet Gersten is a specialist in obstetrics and gynecology in practice with her identical triplet daughters in Miami, Florida.

Dr. James Muller is a practicing cardiologist in Boston, Massachusetts, and a co-founder of the International Physicians for Prevention of Nuclear War, the winner of the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize.

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James Muller, MD

Dr. James Muller is an academic cardiologist practicing in Boston and co-founder of IPPNW, winner of the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize