How Do We Trust the AAP Again?

 

I have a five-week-old baby, and I must admit, they’re pretty boring. Up until this point, all they do is sleep, eat and cry. There’s very little time actually awake, although over the last few days, we’ve seen more time with his eyes open, ready to engage the world. And what do we do with him when he’s awake? We talk to him, we make faces at him with exaggerated expressions, we talk to him some more, we sing to him. This is, I think, a natural way for humans to interact with tiny babies; we want to show them our smiles to signal to them that they are safe and loved and we’re exuding happiness in their direction. This natural understanding of how babies work is what made this statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics so enraging:

The AAP would like you to believe that we need studies to confirm what we all know: that babies’ development is tied to seeing and responding to faces. In the absence of these studies, babies and toddlers should spend yet another year with masked caregivers, and that the latter can be masked yet another year.

There are a few pediatricians with enough integrity to push back on this outlandish claim from the AAP:

But here’s the thing: While we may not have studies (because they won’t commission them) about the negative effects of masks, we know the importance of faces. The AAP does too, because they used to tell parents as part of their education efforts:

This is vital information, and since their latest claims about masking and development, this page has now gone missing from their website:

This isn’t just the AAP making absurd statements, they are actively disappearing information they once deemed vital in order to serve a narrative about masking young children and those around them.

In the coming months, the AAP is going to make statements about the safety and vital importance of vaccinating not just against COVID, but against the flu and other childhood illnesses. But now parents are required to double-check all of the information put forth by the medical body that we might have once trusted without the need to verify. I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel equipped to analyze scientific and medical information like vaccine safety or the proper dosing of antibiotics; that’s why I have a pediatrician. But if my pediatrician is taking its guidance from the AAP, how can I? The AAP is destroying its credibility at a moment it needs it more than ever. If you want me to give my children an emergency use vaccine for a virus they’re not at risk of, the AAP is certainly going about it in an interesting way.

And the CDC? Don’t even get me started.

 

Published in General
Like this post? Want to comment? Join Ricochet’s community of conservatives and be part of the conversation. Join Ricochet for Free.

There are 23 comments.

Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.
  1. Stina Inactive
    Stina
    @CM

    Guess what? It isn’t the anti-maskers politicizing the issue when the pro-maskers are reversing all previous info in the wake of Covid.

    • #1
  2. BDB Inactive
    BDB
    @BDB

    To the CDC, we are just 330 million disease vectors to be isolated.

    • #2
  3. Chris Oler Coolidge
    Chris Oler
    @ChrisO

    If anything is more amazing than the AAP’s advice turning 180 degrees it’s that they apparently thought no one would notice.

    • #3
  4. Brian Watt Inactive
    Brian Watt
    @BrianWatt

    We may be entering a very dark period in history as long as the Left has a stranglehold on information, speech, and thought. We have been warned countless times by people like Orwell, Huxley, Ray Bradbury, Robert Heinlein, Ayn Rand, Solzhenitsyn, Ronald Reagan and many others. When I continue to see the subversion of once trusted institutions or history being rewritten, I am reminded of this:

    “Now, of course, Björnstrand feels that there’s really almost no hope, and that we’re probably going back to a very savage, lawless, terrifying period. Findhorn people see it a little differently. They’re feeling that there’ll be these pockets of light springing up in different parts of the world, and that these will be, in a way, invisible planets on this planet, and that as we, or the world, grow colder, we can take invisible space journeys to these different planets, refuel for what it is we need to do on the planet itself, and come back. And it’s their feeling that there have to be centers now where people can come and reconstruct a new future for the world.

    And when I was talking to, uh, Gustav Björnstrand, he was saying that, actually, these centers are growing up everywhere now. And that what they’re trying to do, which is what Findhorn was trying to do, and, in a way, what I was trying to do. I mean, these things can’t be given names, but in a way, these are all attempts at creating a new kind of school or a new kind of monastery. And Björnstrand talks about the concept of “reserves”, islands of safety where history can be remembered and the human being can continue to function in order to maintain the species through a dark age. In other words, we’re talking about an underground, which did exist in a different way during the Dark Ages among the mystical orders of the church. And the purpose of this underground is to find out how to preserve the light, life, the culture, how to keep things living.”

    – Andre Gregory from the film, My Dinner with Andre.

    And this from Heinlein:

    Secrecy is the keystone to all tyranny. Not force, but secrecy and censorship. When any government or church for that matter, undertakes to say to its subjects, “This you may not read, this you must not know,” the end result is tyranny and oppression, no matter how holy the motives. Mighty little force is needed to control a man who has been hoodwinked in this fashion; contrariwise, no amount of force can control a free man, whose mind is free. No, not the rack nor the atomic bomb, not anything. You can’t conquer a free man; the most you can do is kill him.

    • #4
  5. Lilly B Coolidge
    Lilly B
    @LillyB

    My trust in pediatricians has been compromised by the extremely left-leaning political statements of some on social media regarding Trump, climate change, etc. Same goes for cardiologists and other doctors in my social network. When my physical therapist told me he listens to an ABC news podcast, I assume he’s mostly getting lefty news. I also think he probably doesn’t know that it’s biased or think that much about politics. And maybe I should listen. But I follow the Washington Post, NY Times, The Atlantic, and other “mainstream” news sources that seem to me to be pushing Covid fear and dunking on vaccine-skeptics who get sick and/or die. The lack of context about age or degree of illness and focus on case numbers is so frustrating.

    • #5
  6. Doctor Robert Member
    Doctor Robert
    @DoctorRobert

    Didn’t the AAP also endorse sex-free birth certificates?  Aren’t they also promoting experimental hormonal treatments and childhood genital mutilation of sexually confused, delusional children?

    • #6
  7. Henry Castaigne Member
    Henry Castaigne
    @HenryCastaigne

    Don’t trust AAP when anything becomes remotely political.

    • #7
  8. Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patriot) Member
    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patriot)
    @ArizonaPatriot

    Doctor Robert (View Comment):

    Didn’t the AAP also endorse sex-free birth certificates? Aren’t they also promoting experimental hormonal treatments and childhood genital mutilation of sexually confused, delusional children?

    I think that was the AMA.  I trust neither.

    • #8
  9. Old Bathos Member
    Old Bathos
    @OldBathos

    Even with the most optimistic assumptions about mask effectiveness, the net reduction in spread from mandates on kids would be infinitesimally small.  What “science” could possibly  arrive at a conclusion that 25 kids in the same room (with no surgical-suite levels of circulation/filtration/replacement) for seven hours breathing through dirty masks that let 60-90% of  viral contamination pass thru even when worn properly would somehow produce an outcome with a measurably reduced risk of airborne spread? Even if the likely harms from the mask mandates are small, they still outweigh the minuscule hypothetical benefits.

    Mask mandates on kids is symbolic kabuki solely about preserving the authority and image of people pretending they are Doing Something About It and certifying the bona fides of bureaucrats and non-profit pilot fish who implement the gestures.

    The bottom line is that the AAP is comprised of white collar, managerial elite class people who are terrified of appearing to break ranks with their class zeitgeist. Masks now have political and cultural significance which trumps science and even the well-being of kids. Appearing to be part of the elite who are entrusted with Doing Something About It is more important than any duty of candor or of best policy.

    You will notice that defenders of mask mandates NEVER explain why the mandates have not worked (nor lockdowns or magic six-foot rituals). Is it the masks? Their use? Or simply the fact that there is a lazy, inertial refusal to deal with the scope of serial asymptomatic small load transmission characteristic of the pandemic that made general suppression strategies blindingly stupid from jump?  Only a policy in support of systematic efforts to build PPE-safety zones for the vulnerable  had any chance of being useful. Wearing a bandana in a grocery store was never the answer or even part of the answer. And pretending to protect the kids while using them for political window-dressing  is just evil.

    • #9
  10. DonG (2+2=5. Say it!) Coolidge
    DonG (2+2=5. Say it!)
    @DonG

    Do not trust any organization.   They have *all* been corrupted.  Do not trust what the media tells you.  If you are lucky, you can find a doctor that is not plugged into the narrative and you can trust them.

    • #10
  11. Gumby Mark (R-Meth Lab of Democracy) Coolidge
    Gumby Mark (R-Meth Lab of Democracy)
    @GumbyMark

    The AAP is simply a political, not medical, organization.  In June 2020 they stated that schools should reopen.  A week later Trump said schools should reopen.  A few days later the AAP reversed its earlier recommendation because beating Trump was more important than the welfare of school age children. 

    • #11
  12. Full Size Tabby Member
    Full Size Tabby
    @FullSizeTabby

    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio… (View Comment):

    Doctor Robert (View Comment):

    Didn’t the AAP also endorse sex-free birth certificates? Aren’t they also promoting experimental hormonal treatments and childhood genital mutilation of sexually confused, delusional children?

    I think that was the AMA. I trust neither.

    The medical establishments have certainly done much in the last few years (the last 18 months especially) to give the public plenty of reason not to trust their statements and recommendations.

    Also more of the public should be aware that the only a small minority of pediatricians are members of the the AAP, and only a minority of medical doctors are members of the AMA. So I do not consider their pronouncements representative of the profession as a whole. 

    • #12
  13. Full Size Tabby Member
    Full Size Tabby
    @FullSizeTabby

    Bethany Mandel:

     

    That doesn’t even pass the laugh test. As you note, any person who has held a baby knows that the baby’s primary visual interest is your face. The face of a person cradling a newborn baby is at exactly the right focal distance for the baby’s developing eyesight. Babies react to the facial expressions of other people more than any other thing that the baby sees. Any person who has held a baby knows that covering your face is going to significantly reduce the baby’s ability to learn what is most important to that baby – how to interact with you, and by extension, other humans. 

    • #13
  14. Titus Techera Contributor
    Titus Techera
    @TitusTechera

    Gumby Mark (R-Meth Lab of Demo… (View Comment):

    The AAP is simply a political, not medical, organization. In June 2020 they stated that schools should reopen. A week later Trump said schools should reopen. A few days later the AAP reversed its earlier recommendation because beating Trump was more important than the welfare of school age children.

    What’s worse is that nothing has gotten better since!

    One could understand the desire for victory, though not approve wicked deeds–but now these people are even crazier after victory! Unless, of course, the enemy was not Trump–but ordinary Americans, who are as yet not quite defeated…

    • #14
  15. Titus Techera Contributor
    Titus Techera
    @TitusTechera

    More people talking about this AAP memory-holing exercise: ~10k likes, I assume from the somewhat liberal crowd, this isn’t a conservative or right-wing account… 

    • #15
  16. Charlotte Member
    Charlotte
    @Charlotte

    I hope Bethany asks her pediatrician these exact questions. Maybe show the doctor this post and comments.

    • #16
  17. Charlotte Member
    Charlotte
    @Charlotte

    Old Bathos (View Comment):
    non-profit pilot fish

    Very nice.

    • #17
  18. Vance Richards Inactive
    Vance Richards
    @VanceRichards

    Bethany Mandel: While we may not have studies (because they won’t commission them)

    We are going to follow the science . . . but we are not going to actually do any science that might possibly conflict with our predetermined conclusions.

    • #18
  19. BDB Inactive
    BDB
    @BDB

    Bethany Mandel: How Do We Trust the AAP Again?

     

    • #19
  20. Retail Lawyer Member
    Retail Lawyer
    @RetailLawyer

    Obviously the time of trusting government information about anything is long gone.  Our institutions have lost all credibility.  And the public health institutions are the least trustworthy.  Their job is not to truthfully explain or inform, it is to control behavior towards what they think is best.  Even if they have to lie to accomplish it.  And this is not new, it has been the case at least the “Spanish flu”.

    What I found most remarkable is their valid implication that babies exhale carbon dioxide.  Its a pollutant, according to the Supreme Court.  Its about to make the world uninhabitable, according to Greta, and some of it comes from babies!

    • #20
  21. Jerry Holisky Inactive
    Jerry Holisky
    @JerryHolisky

    Brian Watt (View Comment):

    We may be entering a very dark period in history as long as the Left has a stranglehold on information, speech, and thought. We have been warned countless times by people like Orwell, Huxley, Ray Bradbury, Robert Heinlein, Ayn Rand, Solzhenitsyn, Ronald Reagan and many others. When I continue to see the subversion of once trusted institutions or history being rewritten, I am reminded of this:

    “Now, of course, Björnstrand feels that there’s really almost no hope, and that we’re probably going back to a very savage, lawless, terrifying period. Findhorn people see it a little differently. They’re feeling that there’ll be these pockets of light springing up in different parts of the world, and that these will be, in a way, invisible planets on this planet, and that as we, or the world, grow colder, we can take invisible space journeys to these different planets, refuel for what it is we need to do on the planet itself, and come back. And it’s their feeling that there have to be centers now where people can come and reconstruct a new future for the world.

    And when I was talking to, uh, Gustav Björnstrand, he was saying that, actually, these centers are growing up everywhere now. And that what they’re trying to do, which is what Findhorn was trying to do, and, in a way, what I was trying to do. I mean, these things can’t be given names, but in a way, these are all attempts at creating a new kind of school or a new kind of monastery. And Björnstrand talks about the concept of “reserves”, islands of safety where history can be remembered and the human being can continue to function in order to maintain the species through a dark age. In other words, we’re talking about an underground, which did exist in a different way during the Dark Ages among the mystical orders of the church. And the purpose of this underground is to find out how to preserve the light, life, the culture, how to keep things living.”

    – Andre Gregory from the film, My Dinner with Andre.

    And this from Heinlein:

    Secrecy is the keystone to all tyranny. Not force, but secrecy and censorship. When any government or church for that matter, undertakes to say to its subjects, “This you may not read, this you must not know,” the end result is tyranny and oppression, no matter how holy the motives. Mighty little force is needed to control a man who has been hoodwinked in this fashion; contrariwise, no amount of force can control a free man, whose mind is free. No, not the rack nor the atomic bomb, not anything. You can’t conquer a free man; the most you can do is kill him.

    Wow!  Homerun @BrianWatt !!  Anyone who can skillfully employ an extended quote from “My Dinner with Andre is my hero!!!

    • #21
  22. RichardKoenig Inactive
    RichardKoenig
    @MyTwoCents

    So many doctors are, individually, terrific. So many of their professional organizations have lost their collective minds. 

    • #22
  23. Brian Watt Inactive
    Brian Watt
    @BrianWatt

    RichardKoenig (View Comment):

    So many doctors are, individually, terrific. So many of their professional organizations have lost their collective minds.

    Bar associations seem to have as well. 

    • #23
Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.