Rokita Continues To Question Transparency Of COVID Reporting
By Dan Spalding
InkFreeNew
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita is continuing to question transparency “on all levels” of government in how deaths tied to COVID-19 are being reported.
In recent weeks, Rokita has questioned the credibility of statistics, saying he doesn’t trust any figures.
In an interview with a South Bend television station, he also questioned whether more people are dying since the emerging Omicron variant appears to be milder than the Delta variant.
The state health department’s COVID-19 dashboard has been the main source for updated information on COVID-19-related statistics that the public and media have relied on during the two-year pandemic. The service has not seen any significant criticism from health or state officials until Rokita raised the issue.
Those comments were sharply criticized by fellow Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb who said he was stunned at the remarks, adding, “It’s quite serious when you accuse or insinuate anyone of inflating numbers.”
In a commentary issued by Rokita’s office, Rokita on Thursday repeated concerns over transparency involving COVID-19 deaths.
Rokita said one of the most common complaints he hears is “the lack of transparency tied to the decision-making of officials at all levels of government.”
Rokita uses anecdotal examples that underscore the confusion of how health officials determine what exactly was the cause of death.
He points to an article published in an Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) journal in February of last year that raised the issue of “whether people die ‘of’ COVID-19 or ‘with’ COVID-19.” The journal noted a case in which a man significantly ill from terminal cancer entered a hospital while also infected with COVID-19 and later died. His death was recorded as a COVID-19 death statistic.
“This lack of clarity leaves many to believe government officials are making decisions based more on politics than on data,” Rokita said in his column
In his commentary, Rokita also says he did not attack any elected officials; Nor did he call into question the work of medical professionals or question the motives of anyone who has used the statistics.
“What I did do is raise a concern over how these statistics are created, compiled, and, more importantly, how they are presented to the public,” he said.