Dr Phil wants the country reopened, arguing the shut down is doing more damage than coronavirus itself.
The TV star made an appearance on Fox on Thursday night, arguing that the US doesn’t close for automobile, smoking or swimming pool deaths.
“Look, the fact of the matter is, we have have people dying… 45,000 people a year die from automobile accidents, 480,000 from cigarettes, 360,000 a year from swimming pools, but we don’t shut the country down for that,” he told Laura Ingraham. “But yet we’re doing it for this? And the fallout is going to last for years because people’s lives are being destroyed.”
Twitter was quick to challenge his argument, with many people pointing out out that none of those things are contagious.
Many more pointed out that McGraw’s figures were way off; less than 3,900 people accidentally drown in the US every year according to the CDC — and that includes all bodies of water, not just swimming pools.
More still highlighted the fact he was comparing annual average fatalities to a brand new virus that has been killing Americans for only one and a half months, and nobody has any idea what the final death toll will be.
Dr. Phil appears on Laura Ingraham and says we don’t shut the country down for automobile deaths, cigarette related deaths, and swimming pool deaths pic.twitter.com/q8KCgLLClY
— Acyn Torabi (@Acyn) April 17, 2020
And of course there were those who pointed out that Dr Phil is not a medical doctor; while he has a doctorate in clinical psychology, he is not licensed to practice.
Nevertheless, it was Dr Phil’s prognosis that depression and loneliness caused by the shut down would ultimately kill more than COVID-19.
“This is invisible. I can’t show you an X-ray of depression, I can’t show you an X-ray of anxiety, but the fact of the matter is, the longer this lockdown goes on, the more vulnerable people get,” he said.
“And it’s like there’s a tipping point. There’s a point at which people start having enough problems in lockdown that it will actually create more destruction and actually more deaths across time than the actual virus will itself.”
He added: “So we think we’re protecting people’s lives by keeping them locked up. You keep it locked up long enough, there’s a paradoxical effect. You actually destroy more lives than you do by letting them go out and protect themselves and up into their lives to fight for what they believe in.”
His comments came hot on the heels of fellow TV doctor, Dr OZ, who told another Fox host, Sean Hannity, that a 2-3 percent fatality rate caused by reopening the schools might be an acceptable “tradeoff”.
“I tell ya, schools are a very appetizing opportunity,” he said. “I just saw a nice piece in The Lancet arguing the opening of schools may only cost us 2 to 3 per cent in terms of total mortality.”
“Any life is a life lost, but to get every child back into a school where they’re safely being educated, being fed and making the most out of their lives with a theoretical risk on the backside, that might be a tradeoff some folks would consider.”
DR OZ: “Schools are a very appetizing opportunity. I just saw a nice piece in The Lancet arguing the opening of schools may only cost us 2 to 3%, in terms of total mortality. Any, you know, any life is a life lost, but … that might be a tradeoff some folks would consider.” 😳 pic.twitter.com/aifMeKTsIv
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 16, 2020
He later tried to clarify his comments, admitting he “misspoke”, although he never explained his “tradeoff” suggestion.
While both Dr Phil and Dr Oz trended, so too did Oprah Winfrey, as tens of thousands of Twitter users called on her to justify building both men the public platforms they enjoy today.
More than 680,000 Americans have tested positive for COVID-19 so far, and almost 35,000 people have died.
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