Jay Bhattacharya

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Jay Bhattacharya
Jay Bhattacharya 2020 (cropped).jpg
Bhattacharya in 2020
Born
Jayanta Bhattacharya

1968
Kolkata, India
NationalityUS
Alma materStanford University
BA, AM, MD, PhD[1]
Known forEpidemiology of COVID-19; Great Barrington Declaration
Scientific career
FieldsMedicine/surgery; epidemiology; health economics
InstitutionsStanford University

Jayanta "Jay" Bhattacharya (born 1968) is a professor of medicine at Stanford University and a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. He directs Stanford's Center for Demography and Economics of Health and Aging.[2][3]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Bhattacharya has been a prominent opponent of lockdowns and mask mandates.[4][5] With Martin Kulldorff and Sunetra Gupta, he was a co-author in 2020 of the Great Barrington Declaration, which advocated letting the virus spread in lower-risk groups with the aim of herd immunity, with "focused protection" of those most at risk.[5]

Education[]

Bhattacharya has four degrees from Stanford, including an MD from Stanford Medical School and a PhD in economics.[3][1]

Career[]

Bhattacharya is a professor of medicine at Stanford University, a professor by courtesy of economics at Stanford, a senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, a senior fellow by courtesy at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, a professor by courtesy in Stanford's Department of Health Research and Policy, a research associate at Acumen LLC, and research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research.[2][1]

He researches the health and well-being of populations, with emphasis on the role of government programs, biomedical innovation, and economics.[2][3]

From 2006 to 2008, he was a research fellow at the Hoover Institution. From 1998 to 2001, he was an economist at the RAND Corporation and a visiting assistant professor at the UCLA Department of Economics.[2][4]

COVID-19 pandemic[]

Main article: Great Barrington Declaration

Bhattacharya was an early opponent of lockdowns in the COVID-19 pandemic, and publicly questioned the severity of the virus.[4]

He is a co-author of the Great Barrington Declaration, a proposal arguing for an alternative public health approach to dealing with COVID-19, through “focused protection” of the people most at risk. In it, Bhattacharya and the two other researchers called on governments to overturn their coronavirus strategies and to allow young and healthy people to return to normal life while protecting the most vulnerable. This would let the virus spread in low-risk groups, with the aim of achieving “herd immunity”, which would result in enough of the population becoming resistant to the virus to quell the pandemic.[5] The authors conceded that it was hard to protect older people in the community, but suggested individuals could shield themselves and that efforts to keep infections low "merely dragged matters out". Bhattacharya wrote the declaration with Martin Kulldorff, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, and Sunetra Gupta, professor of theoretical epidemiology at Oxford University. It was published on 5 October 2020.[6][7]

In October 2020, the World Health Organization's Director General stated that pursuing herd immunity before vaccination would be “scientifically and ethically problematic”, and "allowing a dangerous virus that we don’t fully understand to run free is simply unethical."[8][9]

Writing for Science-Based Medicine, David Gorski, Professor of Surgery at Wayne State University, stated that "One possible interpretation is that Drs. Gupta, Bhattacharya, and Kulldorff are politically very naïve or were "simply being useful idiots" for the American Institute for Economic Research, the organization promoting it, or whether they were actively being "motivated more by ideology than science", but said that the practical effect was that the declaration provided a narrative of scientific division useful for political purposes.[10]

In an interview, Bhattacharya said he hoped the declaration would prompt a dialogue about the benefits and harms of public health interventions.[11][12][13] In October 2020, Bhattacharya, Kulldorff and Gupta met with then-U.S. President Donald Trump's health officials about the declaration.[14]

In March 2021, Bhattacharya called the COVID-19 lockdowns the "biggest public health mistake we've ever made" and claimed that "The harm to people is catastrophic".[15] In May 2021, Bhattacharya was called as an expert witness for ten applicants who filed a constitutional challenge against Manitoba's COVID-19 public health orders.[16] In August 2021, Bhattacharya provided testimony in defense of Florida's ban on mask mandates.[17] He publicly opposed COVID-19 vaccine passports and mandates, although he called the vaccines successful.[18][19]

Selected publications[]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Jay Bhattacharya, M.D., Ph.D." cap.stanford.edu. Stanford University. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c d "Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD". Stanford Health Policy. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c Jones, Kara (11 August 2020). "Jay Bhattacharya on Understanding the COVID-19 Virus". Freopp. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c D'Ambrosio, Amanda (19 October 2020). "Who Are the Scientists Behind the Great Barrington Declaration?". www.medpagetoday.com. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c CNN, Christina Maxouris. "As Covid-19 cases surge in Florida, governor says parents should decide whether their children wear masks to school". CNN. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  6. ^ Varadarajan, Tunku (23 October 2020). "Epidemiologists Stray From the Covid Herd". WSJ Opinion. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  7. ^ Sample, Ian (6 October 2020). "Scientists call for Covid herd immunity strategy for young". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  8. ^ Staff and agencies in Geneva (12 October 2020). "WHO chief says herd immunity approach to pandemic 'unethical'". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  9. ^ "WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19 – 12 October 2020". World Health Organization. 12 October 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  10. ^ David Gorski (12 October 2020). "The Great Barrington Declaration: COVID-19 deniers follow the path laid down by creationists, HIV/AIDS denialists, and climate science deniers". Science-Based Medicine.
  11. ^ Lenzer, Jeanne (7 October 2020). "Covid-19: Group of UK and US experts argues for "focused protection" instead of lockdowns". BMJ. British Medical Association. 371: m3908. doi:10.1136/bmj.m3908. PMID 33028622. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  12. ^ "Great Barrington declaration and petition". Great Barrington Declaration Website. 4 October 2020. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  13. ^ Moffitt, Mike (13 October 2020). "Stanford professor's anti-lockdown movement faces fierce resistance". sfgate. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  14. ^ Hellmann, Jessie (10 May 2020). "Trump health official meets with doctors pushing herd immunity". The Hill. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  15. ^ Impelli, Matthew (8 March 2021). "Jay Bhattacharya, Stanford doctor, calls lockdowns the 'biggest public health mistake we've ever made'". Newsweek. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  16. ^ Crabb, Josh (4 May 2021). "Vocal critic of pandemic lockdowns defends stance in Manitoba court case". CTV News Winnipeg. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  17. ^ Stofan, Jake (25 August 2021). "State pleads case in school masking trial". Capitol News Service. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  18. ^ Cutway, Adrienne (18 March 2021). "Florida won't require COVID-19 'vaccine passports,' governor says". WKMG. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  19. ^ "Stanford doc Jay Bhattacharya calls vaccine mandates "unethical," says patients can choose". Newsweek. 21 July 2021. Retrieved 27 August 2021.

External links[]

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