X owner Elon Musk has hailed President-elect Donald Trump's choice of making health economist Dr. Jay Bhattacharya the lead of the National Institutes of Health. Trump, in a statement on Tuesday evening, said that the 56-year-old physician and professor at Stanford University School of Medicine will work in collaboration with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services to make important discoveries that will improve the health of citizens.
Musk, while hailing this decision on X, wrote, "Great outcome!"
Who Is Jay Bhattacharya?
Dr. Jay Bhattacharya is a professor of medicine at the Stanford University who holds courtesy appointments in economics and health research policy too. He holds the position of senior fellow at both the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research and the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. Furthermore, he leads Stanford's Center for Demography and Economics of Health and Aging. His academic work centers on health care economics, with a strong focus on the health and welfare of vulnerable groups.
He has been a vocal critic of pandemic lockdowns and vaccine mandates, often challenging the U.S. government's COVID-19 policies. He gained prominence for his opposition to measures such as lockdowns and mask requirements during the pandemic.
In 2020, he co-authored the Great Barrington Declaration, which proposed a strategy of "focused protection" for vulnerable populations while permitting the virus to circulate among lower-risk groups to build herd immunity. He expressed concerns that lockdowns were inflicting significant and lasting damage. Additionally, he argued that vaccine mandates, which excluded unvaccinated individuals from workplaces or public activities, undermined public confidence in the US healthcare system.
This perspective sparked considerable debate, drawing criticism from numerous public health experts and organizations, including the World Health Organization (WHO). However, it found support among some officials in the early Trump administration.
Social Media Cancelled Jay Bhatta?
Bhattacharya encountered social media restrictions due to his outspoken views. He became a complainant in a significant Supreme Court case, alleging that federal officials improperly sought to suppress conservative opinions on social media under the guise of combating misinformation. The Supreme Court ultimately ruled in favor of the Biden administration in this case.
After Elon Musk's 2022 acquisition of Twitter, Bhattacharya was invited to the platform's headquarters to investigate how his content had been restricted. More recently, he has taken to X to share his opinions, including a sarcastic comment about scientists migrating to Bluesky, describing it as "their own little echo chamber."