What does it say when Dr Harold Shipman signs your petition seven times – not to mention Dr Johnny Fartpants?
It’s hard to take a petition seriously when the signatures read, ‘Dr Person Fakename’ and ‘Dr Johnny Bananas’…
“The Great Barrington Declaration” sounds solemn and perhaps even important. (Spoiler: It’s not.)
It’s a letter written by Very Serious academics from Harvard and Oxford and Stanford in support of ending lockdowns and letting COVID-19 rip.
Use of herd immunity in the absence of a COVID vaccine is a controversial (some would say pro-death) strategy that has been rejected by all governments except maybe Sweden since the start of the pandemic.
This letter has apparently been signed by 15,000 experts and 150,000 members of the general public.
But an investigation by reporter Rowland Manthorpe at Sky News revealed that dozens of these doctors on the petition were fake (that, or they have very mean parents).
One of the joke signatories was named ‘Dr. Johnny Bananas’, who listed himself as a “Dr of Hard Sums”.
Other names on the list included Dr Person Fakename, Dr Very Dodgy Doctor and Mr Banana Rama.
At least seven signatories called themselves Dr Harold Shipman after a British GP who killed more than 200 patients in the 1990s.
The letter was also signed by 18 self-declared homeopaths, who were listed as medical practitioners even though homeopathy has no basis in science.
One “therapeutic sound practitioner” and hypnotherapists were also listed as experts supporting the letter.
“We do not have the resources to audit each signature, especially given the incredible interest that the Great Barrington Declaration has drawn,” Professor Jay Bhattacharya, a professor of medicine of Stanford University who wrote the petition, told Sky News.
“It is unfortunate that some people have abused our trust by adding false names, but I suppose it is inevitable.”
Ah yes… it’s inevitable that such an important document would attract pranks and tomfoolery that completely undermine the message it was trying to send.
If you see something stupid, say something stupid… Petition felicity@medicalrepublic.com.au.
