Norm Diamond speaks with Patricia Kullberg about the ambiguous role of so-called medical populism as it has played out during the Covid epidemic and earlier during the mid-twentieth century polio epidemic in this country. Medical populism often rises up out of legitimate grievances, with the potential both to promote rightful challenges to elite medical institutions and to spread clinical disinformation that is harmful to public health. Dr. Kullberg is a retired medical doctor and public health official.
Image of polio treatment by RW Lovett, courtesy of Look and Learn History Picture Archive at https://www.lookandlearn.com/history-images/YW031081L/RWLovett-Treatment-of-Infantile-Paralysis Public Domain photo licensed under Creative Commons.
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