Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Tuesday that Florida's next Surgeon General will be Dr. Joseph Ladapo, a UCLA physician with a history of opposing mask, vaccine mandates and promoting COVID treatments like hydroxychloroquine.
In a press conference, Ladapo echoed DeSantis' COVID policies and pledged the state will make health decisions based on science, and not opinion and emotion.
"We’re done with fear. That’s been something that’s unfortunately been a centerpiece of health policy in the U.S. ever since the pandemic," Ladapo said.
Ladapo previously wrote two op-eds for the Wall Street Journal, criticizing mask mandates as a "distraction" and saying vaccine requirements would not be effective at ending the pandemic.
"Vaccines are up to the person, there's nothing special about them from any preventive measure," Ladapo said Tuesday. "The state should be promoting good health and vaccination isn’t the only path to that."
Ladapo has also promoted the use of hydroxychloroquine as a potential treatment for coronavirus. In July 2020, he joined a group of doctors holding a press conference outside the U.S. Supreme Court, touting the benefits of using the unproven drug in COVID patients.
Video of the press conference was removed by Facebook, Twitter, and Facebook for misinformation. The FDA has cautioned doctors against using hydroxychloroquine outside of a hospital setting.
"How can the right answer be to limit physicians' use of the medication," Ladapo said during the press conference, saying there was evidence for and against the use of the drug in treating COVID patients.
Before accepting the Surgeon General position, Ladapo was a physician and health policy researcher at UCLA. He has a bachelor's degree from Wake Forest University, as well as an M.D. and Ph.D. from Harvard.
One source inside the Florida Department of Health said Ladapo "fits" with the governor's COVID priorities but added he is extremely qualified for the position.
The doctor's overall message on Tuesday was to remove the pollicization of the pandemic.
"We’re going to be very explicit of the difference between the science and our opinions," he said.