The new motto of Sarasota's far right: Give me 'medical freedom' - and give you the bill.

Sarasota Herald-Tribune
·2 min read
Protesters demonstrated outside Sarasota Memorial Hospital in 2021 after a doctor who was being treated for COVID-19 accused the hospital of mistreating him and providing inadequate treatment to another COVID-19 patient. That doctor's claims became an issue in Sarasota County Hospital Board races during the 2022 election season.
Protesters demonstrated outside Sarasota Memorial Hospital in 2021 after a doctor who was being treated for COVID-19 accused the hospital of mistreating him and providing inadequate treatment to another COVID-19 patient. That doctor's claims became an issue in Sarasota County Hospital Board races during the 2022 election season.
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'Medical freedom’ could affect insurance rates

I am biased. But I am not an ideologue or radical.

I can live with a lot of the far-right agenda being pushed in my community. Honestly, a lot of it just doesn’t impact me personally and I don't think of myself as some kind of champion for justice these days.

But the “medical freedom” slate running for Sarasota Memorial Hospital Board seats has me activated. The unsafe practices encouraged by these people put my life in danger.

Three "medical freedom" candidates are running as a slate in this year's election for Sarasota Memorial Hospital Board seats. They embrace the views of Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo (pictured above), who has actively discouraged Floridians from getting COVID-19 vaccinations and taken other controversial public health views that have drawn criticism from federal government officials.

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I do not want my public hospital going private. And I need these services. This alone has gotten more than my attention.

What I would like to know, and encourage the newspaper to investigate, is this: What kind of positions are Blue Cross, Humana, United and Medicare taking on all of this? I wonder if these entities would be willing to contract with hospitals that practice so-called "medical freedom" and, if so, will it affect the rates for coverage?

We have a world-class public hospital here in our county. Let's keep it that way and free of politics.

J. Maxwell Jackson, Venice

NBC fired McDaniel over election lies

Ingrid Jacques’ column March 29, “NBC fires Ronna McDaniel, caving to liberal hypocrites at MSNBC,” expressed indignation and outrage over the rescinding of a job offer to Ronna McDaniel by NBC, suggesting the problem the network had was that McDaniel “headed the Republican Party at the behest of former President Donald Trump.”

This is disingenuous. The problem was that McDaniel participated in Trump’s attempt to hold onto power after he lost the 2020 election and supported the lie that the election had been stolen.

From The Washington Post: “The company's on-air personalities − especially those on NBC’s liberal-leaning cable affiliate MSNBC − disagreed vehemently, saying that McDaniel’s promotion of former President Donald Trump's media-bashing and false election-fraud claims disqualified her from a role in their news divisions.”

This point has also been ignored on Fox News, where it was also reported that the firing was based on the GOP credentials of McDaniel.

It does not seem unfair to consider McDaniel’s integrity suspect on this basis. Former White House spokesperson Jen Psaki, on the other hand, has no such albatross around her neck.

It would be a good thing if MSNBC could find an alternative conservative/Republican voice to balance its generally left-wing commentary, but any such person should not support the lies regarding the 2020 election.

Randy Morse, Sarasota

Hoping for a clean Siesta Beach

What a shame in regard to spring break on Siesta (“Party animals left beach in shambles,” April 3). We love Siesta.

We will be coming down April 15. Hope all will be back to normal by then.

Stephen Carroll, Hampton, New Hampshire

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: 'Medical freedom' for some in Sarasota could mean higher rates for all