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Scott Atlas

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Scott W. Atlas
Born1955 (age 68–69)
NationalityAmerican
EducationUniversity of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign (BS)
University of Chicago (MD)
Scientific career
FieldsHealth care
InstitutionsHoover Institution

Scott W. Atlas (born 1955)[1] is an American neuroradiologist, professor, commentator, and health care policy advisor. He is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution.[2] He was selected by President Donald Trump in August 2020 to serve as an advisor on the White House Coronavirus Task Force.[3]Atlas, whose specialization is radiology rather than public health or infectious diseases, has quickly become an influential policymaker on COVID-19 under Trump.[4] He was described as a proponent for the herd immunity approach to the virus, advocated that children have "virtually zero risk of dying" and "almost never transmit the disease", that only symptomatic individuals should be tested for the coronavirus, and expressed skepticism that face masks are effective to halt the spread of the virus[citation needed].

Early life and education

Atlas received a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign and his MD from the Pritzker School of Medicine of the University of Chicago.

Career and views

Atlas is the Robert Wesson senior fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, a conservative public policy think tank.[5][6] From 1998 to 2012, he was Professor and Chief of Neuroradiology at Stanford University Medical Center.[6]

Atlas served as a senior advisor for health care to the Republican presidential campaigns of Rudy Giuliani in 2008 and Mitt Romney in 2012.[7][8]

He has advocated for eliminating the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, and replacing it with modified tax deductions and incentives. He has also called for changes to Medicare and "aggressive reforms" to Medicaid to encourage private insurance and health savings accounts.[9]

In policy, Atlas has authored Power to the Patient: Selected Health Care Issues and Policy Solutions (2005), Reforming America’s Health Care System (2010), In Excellent Health: Setting the Record Straight on America’s Health Care System (2011),[10] and Restoring Quality Health Care: A Six‐Point Plan for Comprehensive Reform at Lower Cost (2016, 2nd ed. 2020).[11]

In medicine, Atlas is the editor of Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain and Spine,[12] currently in its fifth edition and translated into Spanish, Portuguese, and Mandarin.[13]

His work and interviews have appeared in media outlets such as Fox News,[14] CNN,[9] RealClear Politics,[15] Istoé,[16] and The Hindu.[17]

Trump administration

On August 10, 2020, President Donald Trump announced that Atlas would join his administration as an advisor on COVID-19.[18] Atlas is a radiologist,[19] not a specialist in public health or infectious diseases.[14][20] Atlas has advocated for school reopening and resumption of college sports during the pandemic.[21][14][22] The Washington Post reported that Atlas was the leading proponent within the Trump administration for a "herd immunity" approach to the virus.[22] In an interview with Fox News’s Brian Kilmeade in July. Atlas said: “These people getting the infection is not really a problem, and in fact, as we said months ago, when you isolate everyone, including all the healthy people, you’re prolonging the problem because you’re preventing population immunity. Low-risk groups getting the infection is not a problem. In fact, it’s a positive.”[22] Atlas denied later that he advocated for the herd immunity strategy.[23][24]

Atlas has claimed that "children are very low-risk. They have virtually zero risk of dying, and a very, very low risk of any serious illness from this disease" and "children almost never transmit the disease" and has pushed for reopening of physical school,[19][25] although children can carry, transmit, and be killed by the COVID-19 virus.[19] He has argued that only symptomatic individuals should be tested for the coronavirus, and pushed for the CDC's August 2020 recommendation that non-symptomatic people do not be tested;[22][19] this position was opposed by many public health experts, as 40% of people infected with the virus are asymptomatic and can transmit the virus.[22] He has expressed skepticism that face masks are effective "scientifically" to halt the spread of the virus, although the broad scientific consensus is that face masks do prevent the spread of the virus.[22]

Atlas quickly became influential within the administration, and Trump has welcomed his recommendations such as faster reopening and less testing, which are in accord with Trump's own preferences.[4][19] Atlas was the only doctor to share the stage at Trump’s pandemic briefings in the week after his appointment was announced,[14] and he has also prepared Trump's briefing materials.[19] Trump has publicly disagreed with his other COVID-19 medical advisors, Deborah Birx and Anthony Fauci.[4] Atlas is said to have alienated Birx and Robert R. Redfield of the CDC with his heavily disputed ideas.[19] Atlas has denied any intention of replacing Fauci or other task force members.[26]

Honors

Atlas received the Comeback Award in 2008[27] and the 2011 Alumni Achievement Award[28] from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. He has been awarded several honorary memberships in medical societies in the United States, Mexico, and Brazil, and served as honorary Visiting Professor in Neuroradiology from 2013–2016 at the University Hospital of Zürich. He is on the Advisory Board of the Clinical Neuroscience Center of the University Hospital of Zürich.[29]

Selected works

  • Restoring Quality Health Care: A Six‐Point Plan for Comprehensive Reform at Lower Cost (2016 1st ed.; 2020)
  • In Excellent Health: Setting the Record Straight on America’s Health Care System (2011)
  • Reforming America’s Health Care System (2010)
  • Power to the Patient: Selected Health Care Issues and Policy Solutions (2005)
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain and Spine (1990 1st ed.; 1996; 2002; 2008; 2016)

References

  1. ^ "Scott W. Atlas (Atlas, Scott W., 1955-) | The Online Books Page". onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu. Retrieved 2020-08-31.
  2. ^ "Scott W. Atlas—Hoover Institution Biography". Hoover Institution.
  3. ^ Varadarajan, Tuunku (September 4, 2020). "Trump's Covid Adviser Gets a Washington Welcome". The Wall Street Journal.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ^ a b c Cook, Nancy (August 17, 2020). "Trump elevates Scott Atlas, a doctor with a rosier coronavirus outlook". Politico. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  5. ^ Do, Huy M.; Quencer, Robert (1 September 2003). "Scott W. Atlas Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution". American Journal of Neuroradiology. pp. 1729–1729.
  6. ^ a b "Scott W. Atlas' Profile". Stanford.
  7. ^ "Romney's new health care adviser once attacked 'Romneycare'". CNN. March 23, 2012.
  8. ^ "Rudy Giuliani's health care proposal". PNHP.
  9. ^ a b Atlas, Scott (December 27, 2016). "Replace Obamacare with a system that cuts costs and values quality care". CNN. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  10. ^ Miller, Thomas (1 August 2012). "A Diagnosis At Odds With A Treatment Plan". Health Affairs. 31 (8): 1905–1907. doi:10.1377/hlthaff.2012.0722. ISSN 0278-2715.
  11. ^ "Opinion: Medicaid fails the poor". Becker's Hospital Review.
  12. ^ Mancuso, Anthony A. (1 November 1991). "Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain and Spine, First Edition". Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. pp. 175–175. doi:10.1002/mrm.1910220119.
  13. ^ Liu, Charles Y. (1 November 2002). "Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain and Spine, Third Edition". Neurosurgery. pp. 1316–1317. doi:10.1097/00006123-200211000-00037.
  14. ^ a b c d Colvin, Jill (August 16, 2020). "Trump makes call for new White House doctor's virus advice". Associated Press. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  15. ^ "ObamaCare: Kiss Your Access Goodbye". RealClearPolitics. September 6, 2009. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  16. ^ "Scott Atlas: As pessoas sofrem com doenças cada vez mais caras". ISTOÉ Independente (in Brazilian Portuguese). 25 May 2018.
  17. ^ Sujatha, R. (15 August 2016). "'Private sector is crucial for universal healthcare'". The Hindu.
  18. ^ Morrison, Cassidy (August 10, 2020). "Critic of coronavirus lockdowns and school closures made adviser to President Trump". Washington Examiner. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  19. ^ a b c d e f g Weiland, Noah; Stolberg, Sheryl Gay; Shear, Michael D.; Tankersley, Jim (September 2, 2020). "A New Coronavirus Adviser Roils the White House With Unorthodox Ideas". The New York Times. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  20. ^ Perez, Matt. "Who Is Dr. Scott Atlas? Trump's New Covid Health Adviser Seen As Counter To Fauci And Birx". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-08-17.
  21. ^ Ballhaus, Rebecca (August 13, 2020). "Trump Adds Coronavirus Adviser Whose Views Closely Align With His Own". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  22. ^ a b c d e f "New Trump pandemic adviser pushes controversial 'herd immunity' strategy, worrying public health officials". The Washington Post. 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  23. ^ Kashmira Gander (September 1, 2020). "'Overt Lie': White House Adviser Scott Atlas Denies Herd Immunity Strategy Claims". Newsweek.
  24. ^ https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dr-atlas-denies-promoting-herd-immunity-coronavirus
  25. ^ "Dr. Scott Atlas pushes for reopening and asks, 'aren't schools an essential business?'". July 8, 2020.
  26. ^ Morrison, Cassidy (August 19, 2020). "'I'm not here to replace anyone': New Trump adviser Scott Atlas says his role is to work with Fauci". Washington Examiner. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
  27. ^ "Illini Comeback Award (Est. 1980)". University of Illinois Alumni.
  28. ^ "Congratulations 2011 UI Alumni Award recipients!". UI Alumni Network.
  29. ^ "Willkommen am UniversitätsSpital Zürich". University Hospital Zurich (in Swiss High German).
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