Senate Medical Affairs committee fails to give favorable report to public health nominee after hours of COVID-era questioning

The Senate Medical Affairs Committee on Thursday declined to forward a favorable report on Dr. Simmer’s nomination to serve as director of the Department of Public Health after a day-long confirmation hearing focused heavily on his leadership at DHEC during the COVID-19 pandemic. The committee’s roll-call tally on the nomination was 5 in favor and 12 opposed, producing no favorable recommendation to the full Senate.

Committee members questioned Dr. Simmer about DHEC’s pandemic-era promotion of vaccination, mask recommendations in schools, the agency’s use of opt-out forms, and whether the agency adequately investigated outside researchers’ claims about contaminants in vaccine vials. Senator Cash (Anderson) pressed the nominee on the relationship between aggressive vaccination promotion and the principles of informed consent, asking about incentives such as offering beverages at clinics and the agency’s opt-out language for school masking. “Informed consent must include understanding,” Senator Cash told Dr. Simmer during…