A Look Inside a COVID-19 Masking Case
I was asked to serve as an expert witness in a tribunal hearing in which the issue of masking to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is being contested.
For those who have not served as an expert witness, let me give you a brief overview of what this entails. Expert witnesses are retained by one of the two parties involved in any given case. Of utmost importance, an expert witness serves the court (or tribunal in this instance), not the person who retained them. They are to provide objective answers to all questions to facilitate an accurate determination of the outcome of the case. I take this role of serving the court and not the person who retained me very seriously. My answers are always based on my expert interpretation of the scientific literature that I have researched. There are two key contributions that expert witnesses make:
They write and submit a detailed report that discusses the issues being argued for which they possess deep knowledge. Multiple experts are often recruited to cover all aspects of complex subject matter.
They must make themselves available to be examined by the retaining legal counsel and then cross-examined by the opposing legal counsel.
Ideally, expert reports should be based largely on peer-reviewed scientific publications and a demonstrated mechanistic understanding of the science by being able to explain raw data in great detail.
The scope within which an expert can opine and even whether or not they can serve as a witness is debated and agreed upon by both parties after submission of the reports but prior to being examined on the stand. Full word-for-word transcripts of any examination and cross-examination are taken by a court reporter. I have come to appreciate the very challenging task that these court reporters have. Trust me, they earn their pay!
What follows is a series of documents that are in the public record. They provide insights into a hearing in which the effectiveness of masking is being debated in the context of transmission of SARS-CoV-2, which is the virus that causes the disease known as COVID-19.
Here is the notice of hearing…
Here is my expert report…
A request was made to keep the transcripts of the expert witness testimonies private. However, it was ruled that they should be kept in the public record based on the following decision…
Here is the transcript of the testimony of the opposing party’s expert witness…
Here is the transcript of my expert testimony…
I know someone who has a facial difference and works retail.
Her first work day since Ontario lifted indoor mask mandates was one of the hardest ever.
She never willingly wore a mask but would put one on for required things such as work and going into stores. She wasn't looking forward to today because she knew she was going to be upset.
It was worse than she expected. Instead of being glad to no longer have to, she constantly feels judged. All the self-doubt from her facial difference she had moved on from in previous years came rearing back fiercely.
"I lost two years of my life for THIS" she says sobbing. She feels for all the children with conditions like her who were masked during this time who may now never want to unmask. She's concerned that because masks were made into a twisted symbol of obedience that it's going to have incredibly negative consequences moving forward. She isn't sure how she is going to regain the ability to be seen in public without fear of judgement.
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I hate what this has done to people, I hate that lasting damage has been done by the carelessness (or more likely malevolence) though this literal scam-demic. I want the evil that was committed during these last two years to be burned into the public conciousness. I hate the people who in their indifference have maintained their own ignorance during this time.
I haven't read it yet, but it look impressive and I'm confident that it will be valuable. It was disappointing to see only about 20% of the faces at the grocery store yesterday. It had me wondering if I mixed up the drop the mask date here in Ontario. Given that I'm usually the only one, 20% is a slow start. I pity the psychological turmoil that people must(will) go through to realize they've been duped. I share the Brownstone link where I can. https://brownstone.org/articles/more-than-150-comparative-studies-and-articles-on-mask-ineffectiveness-and-harms/?fbclid=IwAR3IZJLqYvoBZuDZHX4CA66d07Goeh2LzWRiDZf5sJtNwOlgL2iOWGZO5GE