The Pandemic and its Aftermath: Restoring Trust in America's Institutions

The SARS2 pandemic and its management is a tragedy on several levels, representing the most egregious debacle of public health policy in modern history. Beyond the gross incompetence and the enormous harms from policies controlled by bureaucrats who had been delegated unprecedented authority, this crisis has also exposed what has existed for years but have tolerated in this country—the plethora of conflicts of interest in those with power, the overt bias of the media, the lack of diverse viewpoints on campuses, the absence of neutrality in social media, and now more visibly than ever the intrusion of politics into science. Ultimately, the freedom to seek the truth and openly state it is at risk.  These are profound issues in our society that could interfere with our ability to address future crises and threaten the very principles of freedom and order that we often take for granted and that the rest of the world depends on.  One issue stands above all others—the urgent need to restore trust in our vital institutions. The management of this pandemic has left a stain on many of America’s once noble institutions, including our elite universities, research institutes and journals, and public health agencies. Earning it back will not be easy, but there are specific steps to immediately undertake to begin that process and restore accountability.

Speakers

Scott W. Atlas, MD is the Robert Wesson Senior Fellow in health policy at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University. From July to December, 2020, he served as a Special Advisor to the President and a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force. Before his health policy appointment at Hoover Institution, he was Professor and Chief of Neuroradiology at Stanford University Medical Center for 14 years.  Dr. Atlas is the author of numerous books, including A Plague Upon Our House: My Fight at the Trump White House to Stop COVID from Destroying America (Post Hill Press).

Aaron Kheriaty, MD is currently Chief of Psychiatry & Ethics at Doc1 Health and Chief of Medical Ethics at The Unity Project. He is a Fellow and Director of the Program in Bioethics and American Democracy at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, and a Senior Fellow and Director of the Health and Human Flourishing Program at the Zephyr Institute. For many years he was Professor of Psychiatry at UCI School of Medicine and Director of the Medical Ethics Program at UCI Health, where he chaired the ethics committee. Dr. Kheriaty has authored books and articles for professional and lay audiences on bioethics, social science, psychiatry, religion, and culture. His most recent book is The New Abnormal: The Rise of the Biomedical Security State.

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This event has been made possible by a generous grant from the Apgar Foundation.