Bad history or bad math? Joseph Ladapo tweet off the mark

Florida’s newly-hired top doctor needs a history lesson, or maybe math.

Department of Health Secretary Dr. Joseph A. Ladapo‘s first Tweet erroneously claimed he was the state’s 25th Surgeon General.

He’s not. He’s the sixth.

The Surgeon General’s new Twitter account was updated after the error was noted on Twitter by Democratic political consultant Kevin Cate.

The current Department of Health was created in statute 25 years ago when the legislature in 1996 agreed to eliminate what was then the beleaguered Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services and create two new agencies: the Department of Health and the Department of Children and Families.

At the urging of the Florida Medical Association, the Legislature agreed at the time to require the department be run by a secretary who is a Florida licensed physician who has advanced training or extensive experience in public health administration.
But Florida didn’t have a “state surgeon general” until 2007 when former Gov. Charlie Crist pushed for the creation of the post.

At the behest of Crist, the Legislature in 2007 passed a bill that deleted the word “secretary” from the health department and replaced it, instead, with “state surgeon general.”

The bill also amended health department statutes to require the state surgeon general to serve as the “leading voice on wellness and disease-prevention efforts, including the promotion of healthful lifestyles, immunization practices, health literacy, and the assessment and promotion of the physician and health care workforce in order to meet the health care needs of the state. “

The bill also required the state surgeon general to focus his or her efforts on “advocating healthy lifestyles, developing public health policy, and building collaborative partnerships with schools, businesses, health care practitioners, community-based organizations, and public and private institutions in order to promote health literacy and optimum quality of life for all Floridians. “

Five years later, the Legislature struck the advocacy requirements when it passed a bill that reorganized the health department. Signed into law by then-Gov. Rick Scott, the bill also deleted a requirement from statutes that the department “prevent to the fullest extent possible, the occurrence and progression of communicable and noncommunicable diseases and disabilities.”

The law still requires the head of the health department to be a Florida licensed physician, which Ladapo is. Ladapo became a licensed medical doctor in Florida on Sept. 10, 11 days before Gov. Ron DeSantis announced he was appointing Ladapo to lead the agency.

Like DeSantis, Ladapo opposes mask mandates, government shutdowns, and vaccine mandates. He recently wrote an article for The Wall Street Journal expressing those opinions. He also co-wrote an opinion piece for The New York Daily News in October 2020 promoting hydroxychloroquine.

Ladapo’s first move as state surgeon general was to sign off on a policy leaving quarantining decisions about students exposed to COVID-19 up to their parents, not school or health officials.

Ladapo isn’t the only controversial choice for the job.

Scott had three state surgeon generals, Dr. Frank Farmer, Dr.John Armstrong and Dr. Celeste Philip.

Armstrong was forced to step down from the agency in 2016 after the Florida Senate refused to confirm him. It was the first time in 22 years the Senate had refused to confirm a gubernatorial appointment.

Scott Rivkees, DeSantis’ first state surgeon general, was on a two-year loan from the University of Florida and resigned in September.

But he also was a controversial choice. Although the Senate confirmed him, Rivkees faced scrutiny and tough questions about a reported history of sexually suggestive comments and his intention to continue working at the University of Florida, where he remained a full-time employee.

Rivkees wrote a memoir documenting the surprisingly bawdy world at a previous hospital where he worked, describing “break-room sex, drug abuse and a long list of … women” moving in and out of the physician’s life.

Ultimately, though, he was confirmed by a 31-9 vote.