VIDEO: The Full (CENSURED) Press Conference with Dr. Erickson and Dr. Massihi on COVID-19

Todd Wilcox from the Patriots Defense Group posted the below commentary with video:

Unfortunately, it appears dissenting medical and scientific opinion is not always so welcomed. This video was censured by YouTube and having watched it from start to finish I do not understand why. Regardless of your political affiliation, we should all object to censorship especially that of opinion that contradicts conventional wisdom or generally accepted norms.

Take the time to watch it for yourself if for no other reason than someone at YouTube didn’t want you to see it.

As COVID-19 spread globally, the CDC created forecasts based on the use of statistical mathematical models aimed at predicting changes in the national and state level cumulative reported COVID-19 deaths. Using the scientific method these early CDC models were built on hypothesis because we didn’t have any empirical data about this novel virus. Those models along with the advice of our nation’s top medical and scientific professionals guided the early decisions of our political leadership at every level of government to justifiably halt international travel, shut down the economy, close schools and issue stay at home orders in an unprecedented effort to quarantine the population to alleviate the spread.

It is clear that those collective mitigation efforts significantly decreased the number of people that would have otherwise been killed by COVID-19. This allowed us to avoid overwhelming of the health care capacity of ICU beds and ventilators which, based on the model’s early predictions, could have been a tipping point for the collapse of our socio-economic system as we know it.

Those models initially predicted millions of deaths in the US which were later revised to hundreds of thousands of deaths as new data became available. As the models were further refined with data on a daily basis, we saw new signs of optimism and the projected deaths rates came down yet again though tragically already surpassing the number of Americans killed in the Vietnam War.

Without the benefit of data in the early stages of this pandemic, we now see in hindsight that these predictive models were grossly inaccurate; but that is OK because the models served us well in the early stages of the pandemic and saved American lives. However as additional data becomes available, we can and should leverage a more sophisticated analysis which can be supplemented with data from other countries and the comparative results of varying levels of mitigation efforts undertaken by political leaders in counties, cities and states, and countries around the world. In fact that is exactly what is happening here in the US and around the world.

It is now incumbent upon all of us to be open minded and follow the scientific method to analyze and apply the empirical data that we now have and so desperately needed 8-weeks ago. We should put aside fear, politics and our innately human confirmation bias, as we consider various policy options to get back to work and reignite the US economy.

ABOUT TODD WILCOX

Todd Wilcox is the Founder and Executive Chairman of Patriot Defense. He founded Patriot Defense in 2005 with the purpose of Serving those who defend America®. Todd is a decorated combat veteran, former CIA case officer and a successful entrepreneur and business leader.

Prior to 2005, Todd Wilcox served as an Arabic-speaking CIA Field Operations Officer (C/O) focused on the Middle East and Counterterrorism issues. His last assignment before founding Patriot Defense was as the CIA Liaison Officer to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Joint Terrorism Task Force – Orlando Office. Todd joined the CIA in 1997 after serving in the U.S. Army. He was commissioned as an infantry officer after graduating with a B.S. in Finance from the University of Tampa’s Reserve Officer Training Corps program and spent the early part of his military time as a rifle platoon leader in the 101st Airborne Division with a combat tour during Operation Desert Storm. He went on to serve in the U.S. Army Special Forces where he earned the coveted Green Beret. As a Special Forces A-Team commander in 1st Special Forces Group, he served in East Asia where his team was focused on counterterrorism issues.

After serving as Patriot Defense’s Chief Executive Officer for 10 years Todd stepped out of the CEO role to become Executive Chairman in 2015. In this position, Todd leads the company’s vision and oversees the acquisition strategy and subsequent integration of acquired companies. Todd’s professional and business success has been recognized by the induction into the US Army ROTC Hall of Fame, the Wall Street Journal, Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year, and the Orlando Business Journal’s Veterans of Influence Award. Todd has served on the board of directors for the National Defense University Foundation, Rand Corporation’s Center for Middle East Public Policy, and the Orlando Economic Partnership. Todd is an active member of the Young Professionals Organization (YPO) and serves as the Treasurer of Business Force, a non-profit political action committee.

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