Unsung Hero: Trump's Mental Health Czar Opposed Lockdowns, Blasted Media

Government psychiatrist is also an infectious disease expert

As we look back on the corruption, fraud, and outright evil of the past two years, it’s important to acknowledge the unsung heroes who stood against the tide that caused so much destruction.

One such hero is Dr. Elinore McCance-Katz. In addition to being a psychiatrist with a PhD in infectious disease epidemiology, she was the first Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use (the nation's top mental health official, aka "Mental Health Czar"), and as such had the opportunity to address the Trump White House about the terrible impact of the national lockdown.

In May, 2020, speaking compassionately and with the benefit of her many years of experience, Dr. McCance-Katz noted that, "pre-pandemic, we lose 120,000 lives a year to drug overdose and suicide." She then asked, "How many more lives are we willing to sacrifice in the name of containing the virus?"

She continued:

“We continually ask ourselves what the health costs and risks may be of reopening, but I ask: What might they be of not reopening or reopening in such a restrictive way that American lives are not restored? Of course, containing the effects of coronavirus are critically important, but so too is preventing suicide. So too is keeping a person from being terrified to ever leave their home. So too is protecting the mental health of our nation's young people.”

After discussing the tremendous toll in mental health and substance abuse issues that the lockdown is engendering, she concluded with the sobering argument that, "The preservation of Americans' health and the health of our citizens cannot be measured by only one metric. Virus containment cannot be our only goal, no matter the cost to Americans."

Watch the full video of Dr. McCance-Katz's May, 2020 remarks here.

This was not Dr. McCance-Katz’s only public stand. In September of 2020, she blasted the media in an HHS podcast, stating: “I just wish that the media would get honest about its coverage of Covid. For children this is not a life-threatening illness … There was no agreement to this nonstop restriction and quarantining and isolation and taking away anything that makes people happy.”

In remarks that clearly seem prescient now, she continued:

“When you shut down an entire healthcare system, when you do that, you want to talk about the vulnerabilities, the obesity, the diabetes, the cardiovascular disease, the pulmonary diseases that puts you at greater risk for morbidity and mortality from Covid, but you take away the people’s ability to get any health care … All you’re doing is making certain that if they do become infected, it’s going to have the maximum possible negative effect on them and it will end in death for thousands.”

Dr. McCance-Katz resigned from her position in January, 2021, and after a brief stint as the head of a hospital in Rhode Island, has kept a low profile since then. Like the Cassandra of Greek myth, she had the misfortune to predict the future to people who refused to listen. Perhaps someday, her efforts will be acknowledged.