Health board member Ryan Cole shouldn’t spread his lies and disinformation unchallenged

Dr. Ryan Cole got appointed to the Central District Health board fair and square. For those of us who find Dr. Cole to be a poor choice to be making decisions about the public health of Idahoans, our fault lies with either supporting the election of the Ada County commissioners who appointed Dr. Cole over the most qualified expert in all of Idaho (Dr. Sky Blue), or failing to vote to ensure that these irresponsible commissioners never had the chance to serve in this role.

So, Dr. Cole gets a vote on the CDH board — for now. But that doesn’t mean that the board should allow him to be the sole source of medical facts and information upon which the board will make its decisions. In fact, doing so would be irresponsible, given that there are numerous fact-checks readily available that document his disinformation.

It is easy enough to check with real scientists in this area and authoritative professional organizations to see that Dr. Cole’s speaking points are wrong and in conflict with the field of reputable scientists and medical experts.

As Bernard Baruch first said in 1946, “Every man has the right to an opinion but no man has a right to be wrong in his facts. Nor, above all, to persist in errors as to facts.”

Dr. Cole has indicated at the last meeting that he would be preparing some kind of a presentation for the board about COVID-19 vaccines in children. I already know what he is going to say, because he has spoken on the subject numerous times at anti-vax conferences.

There can be legitimate debate and discussion about when, if ever, there should be mask or vaccine requirements, but we should not thwart this honest debate by asserting lies, pseudo-science or conspiracy theories to scare the public about these public health measures.

In fact, the bedrock of medicine is that we allow people who are competent and have the requisite mental capacity to make health care decisions for themselves, but our role as physicians is to present them with the facts and truth as best as we know them to enable patients to make an informed decision.

When we lie to patients (one of the most heinous offenses of our profession) we are manipulating patients in an attempt to unfairly influence them to decide what we think is best for them (or us) and depriving them of the ability to make informed decisions as to what is the best course of treatment, if any, for them according to their own risk assessment and values.

I am fine if Dr. Cole wants to express his opinion that we should not have mask mandates, vaccine mandates or lockdowns. Those are all matters ripe for debate. I object to Dr. Cole spewing false and misleading information that is intended to manipulate the public into making the personal health decisions that support his false narratives and that all too often harm them.

If the CDH board allows Dr. Cole to make such a presentation to the board at its next meeting, then I would ask that the board require that the presentation be posted publicly and that Dr. Cole cite his sources for any evidence that he includes in his presentation to support his assertions, and then allow the medical and scientific community adequate opportunity to respond before the board acts, so that the board can make an informed decision.

Alternatively, if Dr. Cole is going to be given this opportunity to present, invite recognized vaccinologists, immunologists, virologists and/or infectious disease experts to have a similar opportunity to present and respond to Dr. Cole’s presentation.

Lies and disinformation can only thrive when truth and evidence are not given the same opportunity to be presented and debated.

Our public health boards should not be a forum for the dissemination of unchecked and unchallenged misinformation and disinformation.