United States | Red and blue science

America’s culture wars extend into medicine

Florida is exhibit A

FILE - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at an annual leadership meeting of the Republican Jewish Coalition on Nov. 19, 2022, in Las Vegas. A Florida prosecutor suspended by DeSantis opened his federal trial against the governor, Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2022, with testimony that alleged his removal was based on his personal political positions on abortion and transgender rights. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)
Florida’s chief scientistImage: AP
|Washington, DC

ASIDE FROM public schools, another covid and culture-war casualty, no institution had a steeper fall in public confidence in 2021 than the medical establishment, according to Gallup, a pollster. In 2022 this downward trend continued: only Americans’ confidence in the Supreme Court and the presidency fell faster. And politics is making matters worse.

This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “Red and blue science”

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