Dr. Anthony Fauci is stepping down as the chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden and the government’s top infectious disease expert, but he says, “I am not retiring.”
That’s really too bad. Fauci should retire. At most, he should take a job as a professor. What he shouldn’t do is remain in the public spotlight or cash out to industry.
I’m probably less anti-Fauci than the average conservative. In fact, early on, I publicly defended the guy. I believe celebrity damaged him. I also believe that his constant public proclamations — tainted by politics and calibrated for an infectious-disease specialist rather than for a policymaker or spokesman — harmed the credibility of and respect for the public-health establishment.
Fauci, if he wants the people’s trust in public health to rebound, should gracefully disappear from the public spotlight. Maybe he will become a teacher, as his resignation announcement says he wants to “inspire and mentor the next generation of scientific leaders.” But his statement is vague on what exactly he will do.
The first thing he should not do is to cash out to industry. I’m sure Pfizer or 3M or GE Healthcare would love to hire Fauci or add him to their board. I’m sure some consulting firm could rake in lucrative clientele if it hired him. But going to work for profit-seeking health interests will have three harmful effects.
- Fauci will cast increased suspicion on his past actions if he takes a high-paying gig from any medical company that profited from his past actions and recommendations. The vaccine or mask manufacturers are the obvious examples here.
- Fauci will send a message to his successors that there are industry jobs waiting on the other side, which would (at least subconsciously) influence the actions of his successors.
- Fauci will cast massive suspicion on the actions of his successors, for the two reasons stated above.
It’s a free country, and Fauci is free to take whatever job he likes. There’s nothing wrong in itself with getting rich. But, in this case, pursuing his maximum profit is harming the cause to which he has dedicated his career.
Almost as harmful would be Fauci becoming a media expert. He has already proven his inability to stay in his lane, thus casting his public health undertakings in a political light. For instance, Fauci appears to have deliberately misled the public over our government’s involvement in China’s coronavirus research. Fauci also absurdly stated that he personally symbolizes science and that attacks on him were really just attacks on science.
If he becomes a media expert, he will be even more political, more self-aggrandizing, and thus, more corrosive of the public’s trust in public health policy.
Fauci should do the country a favor by quietly disappearing and enjoying his retirement.
