Joe Rogan’s Defenders Point Out Only 87 of 270 to Pen Letter Denouncing His Podcast Are Medical Doctors
Defenders of podcaster Joe Rogan have pointed out that the majority of those who signed an open letter requesting Spotify add a misinformation policy to its platform due to his podcast are not actually medical doctors.
While the letter itself clarified that the signatories consisted of “a coalition of scientists, medical professionals, professors, and science communicators spanning a wide range of fields,” it was largely reported to be from a group of 270 “doctors.”
The letter followed Rogan’s interview with Dr. Robert Malone, which was largely condemned for promoting conspiracy theories regarding the Covid-19 pandemic and vaccines.
“By allowing the propagation of false and societally harmful assertions, Spotify is enabling its hosted media to damage public trust in scientific research and sow doubt in the credibility of data-driven guidance offered by medical professionals,” the letter stated. “Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, Joe Rogan has repeatedly spread misleading and false claims on his podcast, provoking distrust in science and medicine.”
YouTube also removed Rogan’s interview with Malone from the platform while Twitter suspended the doctor’s account this month for breaking its guidelines on Covid-19 misinformation.
On Wednesday, The Daily Mail reported that only 87 of the 270 who signed the letter are medical doctors, including Dr. Christine Garvey, a Western New York-based veterinarian, and Dr. Colleen Trecartin-Frost, a dentist from New Jersey.
Other signatories include teachers, engineers, psychologists, and social workers, according to the outlet.
The Blaze additionally issued a rundown of those who signed the letter:
The range of credentials among the signatories includes: 82 medical doctors (MD), five doctors of osteopathic medicine (DO), more than one dozen nurse practitioners, nearly 100 Ph.D.s and Ph.D. candidates (most of whom are professors), registered nurses, veterinarians, a dentist, a psychologist (which is different from a psychiatrist, which requires an MD), physicians’ assistants, a biochemist, master’s students, research associates, pharmacists, a “COVID-19 laboratory supervisor,” medical students, public health advisers, teachers, engineers, social workers, and even a podcast host.
Although not signed exclusively by medical doctors, the letter validly hits at Rogan for largely inaccurate takes on the Covid-19 vaccine.
“He has discouraged vaccination in young people and children, incorrectly claimed that mRNA vaccines are ‘gene therapy,’ promoted off-label use of ivermectin to treat COVID-19 (contrary to FDA warnings), and spread a number of unsubstantiated conspiracy theories,” the letter read, adding, “Notably, Dr. Malone is one of two recent JRE guests who has compared pandemic policies to the Holocaust.”
Rogan has encouraged young and healthy people to skip the vaccine, mocked those who wear masks, baselessly claimed that lockdowns worsen the spread of infections, promoted the usage of unproven drug ivermectin to treat Covid-19, and has repeatedly and inaccurately claimed Covid-19 vaccines using mRNA technology are “really gene therapy.”
