Science skriver om hvordan de forskerne og helsepersonell som kritiserte svenske FHM har blitt møtt: «A group of scientists known as “the 22” has called for tougher measures since April, when it published a blistering critique of the country’s public health authority, the Folkhälsomyndigheten (FoHM). The group, which has grown to include 50 scientists and another 150 supporting members, now calls itself the Vetenskapsforum COVID-19 (Science Forum COVID-19). ... The group’s criticism has not been welcomed—indeed, some of the critics say they have been pilloried or reprimanded. “It has been so, so surreal,” says Nele Brusselaers, a member of the Vetenskapsforum and a clinical epidemiologist at the prestigious Karolinska Institute (KI). It is strange, she says, to face backlash “even though we are saying just what researchers internationally are saying. It’s like it’s a different universe.”»
Lyder kjent.
«On 25 March, as confirmed cases passed 300 per day, about 2000 scientists signed an open letter calling for stricter control measures. It provoked little reaction. But a scathing op-ed, published by the 22 researchers in the newspaper Dagens Nyheter on 14 April, did get noticed. The piece carried the headline “The public health agency has failed. Politicians must intervene.” ... The response was swift. A cascade of columnists and opinion writers criticized the piece for its tone and said the 22 got their numbers wrong.»
Hm. Lyder kjent.
«Tegnell said the authors “were not leaders in their field”
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and claimed they “cherrypicked” days with the highest death tolls. (The scientists replied they had used ECDC statistics and noted there were even more deaths the next week.)»
Lyder kjent.
«The response to the op-ed was “insane,” says co-author Jan Lötvall, an allergist at the University of Gothenburg. “A colleague emailed me to say [the article] was shameful, and that we should be loyal and follow the tradition of respecting public health workers.”»
Her i Norge ble slikt publisert i avisene.
«The frontal attack violated one of Sweden’s strongest cultural norms, the taboo on open disagreement, says Andrew Ewing, an analytical chemist at the University of Gothenburg who moved to Sweden from the United States 13 years ago. ... Brusselaers says she also faced backlash from colleagues and was publicly reprimanded by her department chair for being a “troublemaker” and “a danger to society.”»
What to say.
“A colleague told me, ‘We have to stick with [FoHM] and defend it,’” she says. The situation prompted her to return to her native Belgium, where she now has a position at the University of Antwerp, although she is also keeping her group at KI. “I just didn’t expect this reaction in Sweden,” she says. “I never felt like such a foreigner as I did over the past few months.”»
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