The Florida Department of Health did not respond to The New York Times’ request to interview Dr. Ladapo.
Prior to the pandemic, Dr. Ladapo, 43, who immigrated from Nigeria when he was 5, was an experienced clinical researcher at UCLA with a Harvard degree in medicine and health policy. He focused on topics such as smoking cessation and cardiovascular risk for HIV patients.
In early 2020, he contacted Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, professor of medicine at the University of Southern California, to discuss blockages, which Dr. Klausner believes are of limited benefit.
Dr. Ladapo didn’t want to take politics at face value, said Dr. Klausner: “He was the kind of guy who reads an article in the medical or scientific literature and then goes to the links, digs up those links, and then goes to those links.” links”.
In April 2020, Dr. Ladapo published essay opinion in The Wall Street Journal under the heading “Lockdowns won’t stop spread”. He argued that it is too late to completely stop the virus, so policymakers should consider the heavy toll from the shutdowns, and not just “the sole goal of reducing deaths from Covid-19.”
His national profile has grown. Other opinions followed.
A few months later, Dr. Ladapo appeared in a white medical coat on the steps of the United States Capitol with a group of people who called themselves “American foremost doctors.” Some doctors in the group made misleading claims about the virus, including that the drug hydroxychloroquine was an effective treatment. The Food and Drug Administration recommends otherwise, warning that doing so could lead to irregular heart rhythm.
A video of their appearance shared by President Donald J. Trump went viral online before social media platforms could remove him for spreading misinformation. One of the founders of the group, Dr. Simone Gold, was later charged with forced entry and disorderly conduct during the siege of the Capitol on January 6, 2021.