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Surgeon General\u00a0Joseph\u00a0Ladapo <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li> ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Tina-Polsky-1-768x1024.jpg\")
Sen.\u00a0Tina Polsky <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n \u201cI told him I had a serious medical condition,\u201d said Polsky, who will begin radiation therapy treatment for cancer next week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Polsky said that Ladapo had requested to meet with her in Tallahassee this week; he was making the rounds visiting several Senators who will be asked in the upcoming Session to confirm him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Polsky said he offered to go outside when she asked him to put the mask on, but she declined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to go outside,\u201d Polsky said she told Ladapo after he made the offer. \u201cI want you to sit in my office and talk to you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Polsky said there was a brief back-and-forth, and then she finally asked whether there was a reason he couldn\u2019t wear a mask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe just smiles and doesn\u2019t answer. He\u2019s very smug,\u201d Polsky recalled. \u201cAnd I told him several times, `I have this very serious medical condition.\u2019 And he said, \u2018That\u2019s OK,\u2019 like it basically has nothing to do with what we are talking about.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eventually, Polsky said she asked Ladapo to leave her office, which he agreed to do, she said. But the Senator said before going, Ladapo remarked, \u201cSometimes I try to reason with unreasonable people for fun.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Weesam Khoury, a Department of Health spokesperson, confirmed the meeting but said Ladapo didn\u2019t make the comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDr. Ladapo is committed to meeting with members of the Legislature regardless of their party affiliation to discuss policy, even when they do not agree on the subject at hand,\u201d Khoury said in an email. \u201cMeetings between highly regarded and intelligent, elected and appointed officials happen all the time, and it is disappointing you don\u2019t hear about them more \u2014 but it is probably because the only time they get reported is when a genuine meeting turns into a media headline expected from a gossip column.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Khoury added, misspelling Polsky\u2019s name, that she and Ladapo \u201care saddened to hear about Sen. Polsky\u2019s recent diagnosis and wish her well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Polsky said she is taking all precautions she can to protect herself from getting infected with COVID-19. A positive test means a delay in her treatment, and she doesn\u2019t want to take any risks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI really wanted to interview him. I had a lot of good questions,\u201d Polsky said. \u201cSo that was unfortunate that I didn\u2019t do it. But I felt really uncomfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Ladapo as the state\u2019s new Surgeon General and head of the Florida Department of Health in mid-September, touting the associate professor from UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine as having \u201ca superb background\u201d and \u201cbringing a superb intellect.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n