Maryanne Demasi, reports

Maryanne Demasi, reports

Share this post

Maryanne Demasi, reports
Maryanne Demasi, reports
Can’t we just let doctors be doctors?
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More

Can’t we just let doctors be doctors?

FDA commissioner Marty Makary tried to explain that decisions belong to doctors and patients—not government panels. But CBS’s Margaret Brennan wasn’t ready to hear it.

Maryanne Demasi, PhD's avatar
Maryanne Demasi, PhD
Jun 03, 2025
∙ Paid
143

Share this post

Maryanne Demasi, reports
Maryanne Demasi, reports
Can’t we just let doctors be doctors?
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More
36
18
Share
Dr Marty Makary appears on CBS’s Face the Nation on June 1, 2025

It was one of the more cringeworthy TV interviews I’ve seen in some time.

Not because the guest said anything shocking, but because the host seemed incapable of grasping a foundational concept of medicine - doctors are meant to treat patients, not guidelines.

When FDA commissioner Dr Marty Makary recently appeared on CBS’s Face the Nation to discuss recent shifts in Covid-19 vaccine policy, he calmly and repeatedly made the case for clinical autonomy.

Decisions about whether to vaccinate healthy children or pregnant women, he said, should rest with “a patient and their doctor.”

But host Margaret Brennan wasn’t having it.

Like much of legacy media, Brennan seemed to expect a single directive from government—a rule to follow, a top-down mandate to repeat.

The idea that different patients might warrant different decisions, or that doctors should assess individual risks and preferences, was met with disbelief.

This post is for paid subscribers

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in
© 2025 Maryanne Demasi
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture

Share

Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More