Senator dispenses sketchy medical advice on virus

Roger Marshall criticized for statements about COVID-19 vaccines and immunity. Doctors and experts say his comments defy medical consensus and official government guidance; some call them dangerous and unethical.

By

State News

October 11, 2021 - 9:16 AM

U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall Photo by (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Roger Marshall won’t let people forget he’s a doctor, putting “Doc” in the letterhead of his U.S. Senate office’s news releases. But when he talks about COVID-19 vaccines, some doctors and experts say the Kansas Republican sounds far more like a politician than a physician.

He’s made statements about vaccines and immunity that defy both medical consensus and official U.S. government guidance. He’s aggressively fighting President Joe Biden’s vaccine requirements, arguing they’ll infringe on people’s liberties and wreck the economy. He’s acknowledged experimenting on himself with an unproven treatment for warding off the coronavirus.

Marshall’s positions are pushing the first-term senator and obstetrician closer to the medical fringe. But he has company in other GOP doctors, dentists and pharmacists in Congress, several of whom have also spread sketchy medical advice when it comes to the pandemic.

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