EDITORIAL: Sickening secrecy
You can’t fight the spread of an infectious, deadly disease with secrecy. In fact, containing a potential outbreak requires exactly the opposite: openness, transparency and rapid disclosure.
But Dr. Joseph Iser, chief medical officer for the Southern Nevada Health District, doesn’t see it that way. As reported Wednesday by the Review-Journal’s Steven Moore, public health officials have designated specific valley hospitals to admit patients who could have Ebola — something certainly possible, given the number of international visitors to Las Vegas and the city’s busy international airport. But Dr. Iser won’t identify the designated hospitals.
Dr. Iser is keeping public health information from the public because he thinks it will make them safer. Why, someone who thinks they might have Ebola might actually go to a hospital specially prepared for Ebola!
“Every single one of our hospitals has to be prepared, and I can’t take the chance that releasing those names might be a reason that someone might not be as prepared as possible,” Dr. Iser said.
That’s one of the dumbest excuses for secrecy we’ve ever heard. Fortunately, the state’s public records law doesn’t give Dr. Iser the discretion to decide that we’re too stupid to do the right thing. The health district must release the names of county hospitals designated to handle Ebola. Today.
