As I write this, the news of the president's illness dominates our news cycle. As recriminations and political spin whirls around Washington, we should not forget that we have lost 210,000 Americans to this plague, with no end in sight. I currently have a gifted colleague who traveled here from Australia to introduce a new technology to America, who is now spending his third month at Lenox Hill Hospital where he is not expected to recover from the ravages of the virus.

This past week a patient of mine who was born in Taiwan and still travels back and forth shared with me that only 450 out of her 25 million countryman have succumbed to Covid-19. She explained that all of the residents without exception wear masks, social distance and engage in comprehensive and accurate contact tracing. As a result children are back in school full-time and business is thriving. One only has to contrast our nation's medical status to have serious questions how we got here.

As drug companies race to come up with a vaccine its safety and efficacy will be questioned by many. A vast disturbing number of Americans have reservations about whether they will be even willing to be vaccinated. As someone who was trained in evidence-based science I find it extremely disturbing that the culpability of physicians and evidence-based medicine has now become a political football.

It has been and always will be appropriate that our nation be divided along the lines of political issues. It is not appropriate however that we revert back to the time when Galileo was imprisoned for discovering that the sun did not revolve around the earth.

As always I appreciate your feedback. In the meantime we will continue to engage in best practices to keep all concerns safe.

By Westchester Center for Periodontal & Implant Excellence

January 12, 2023