Republican gubernatorial nominee Scott Jensen just revealed why he is seeking the state’s highest office.

To help Minnesotans access more affordable health care by giving them a public option? Nope. To invest in building a world class education system? No way. To deliver guaranteed family and medical leave to struggling families?  He opposes that too.

Instead, Jensen is positively passionate about retaliating against the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice!

What did the Board, which exists to ensure the public is protected from unsafe and ineffective medical practices, do to Jensen?  According to Jensen, the Board is investigating him for encouraging the use of ivermectin.  In February 2022, Web MD explained the latest research on ivermectin.

Ivermectin, the controversial anti-parasitic drug, does not help treat mild to moderate COVID-19, another new study has found.

“The study findings do not support the use of ivermectin for patients with COVID-19,” researchers said in the study published last week in JAMA Internal Medicine.

There have been reports of people becoming hospitalized after taking ivermectin, and the FDA has even warned against its use.

The authors of the new study acknowledge the controversy: “Although some early clinical studies suggested the potential efficacy of ivermectin in the treatment and prevention of COVID-19, these studies had methodologic weaknesses.”

Even worse, Jensen also had been encouraging the public to endanger their neighbors by defying mask mandates during lethal COVID spikes.  The Hill reports on what the world’s top public health experts have learned about such mandates:

The BMJ, a global health care publisher, released a massive review Thursday that analyzed 72 studies from around the world to evaluate how non-pharmaceutical health measures reduced cases of COVID-19. Researchers found measures like hand-washing, wearing masks and physical distancing significantly reduced incidences of COVID-19. 

Researchers found that wearing a mask could reduce COVID-19 incidence by 53 percent. 

One experiment across 200 countries showed 45.7 percent fewer COVID-19 related deaths in countries where mask wearing was mandatory, according to the study. In the U.S., one study reported a 29 percent reduction in COVID-19 transmission in states where mask wearing was required. 

That’s a lot of research that Dr. J is ignoring in order to pander to the extreme anti-science right wing of his party. I don’t throw the term “quack” around lightly. But if someone talks like a quack and acts like a quack, then they might just be a quack. 

Here’s hoping the Board isn’t spooked by this political bullying, and does the job Minnesota patients depend on it to do.

If the Jensen experiment works, the retaliation model could become a rich vein of recruiting new Republican office-seekers. 

Tax cheats can be recruited to run to retaliate against the Minnesota Department of Revenue.

Polluters can be recruited to run retaliate against the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

Enemies of democracy can be recruited to run to retaliate against the Minnesota Secretary of State’s office.

Abusive cops can be recruited to run to retaliate against the Minnesota Attorney General’s office.

Criminals can be recruited to run to retaliate against the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

More quacks, tax cheats, democracy enemies, polluters, abusers, and criminals in public office!  What could possibly go wrong?