Hating On Hotez: Did He Have It Coming?

One of America’s premiere physician scientists takes it on the chin.

Hubris and science are incompatible.

— Douglas Preston

The price of being in the public eye is to be constantly judged for everything one says and does. The Dutch have a proverb, “Hoge bomen vangen veel wind” (in English, “High trees catch loads of wind”), which captures that reality.

Dr. Peter Hotez is certainly a tall tree. Here’s the Wikipedia description of the man:

Dr. Peter Hotez is an American scientist, pediatrician, and advocate in the fields of global health, vaccinology, and neglected tropical disease control. He serves as founding dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine, Professor of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology & Microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine, where he is also Director of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development and Texas Children’s Hospital Endowed Chair in Tropical Pediatrics, and University Professor of Biology at Baylor College of Medicine.

Hotez served previously as president of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and is a founding Editor-in-Chief of PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. He is also the co-director of Parasites Without Borders, a global nonprofit organization with a focus on those…