A recent article in MinnPost called into question the lack of disclosure from individuals that appear as experts, analysts, and contributors on media outlets. One of the people named specifically was Dr. Michael Osterholm, the Director for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.
Osterholm has been a weekly guest on WCCO Radio’s Chad Hartman Show since the beginning of the pandemic, and has appeared on many other programs and media outlets around the region and country. He is also the author of book published in 2017.
During Friday’s appearance on the Chad Hartman Show, Hartman asked Osterholm directly about the article and asked him to clear up questions raised by the author which was titled “Full disclosure: Why are you doing this interview?”
The MinnPost story mentions a just purchased condo Osterholm reportedly paid $3.4 million. It was reported locally by a couple of different media outlets including Axios and the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal. The accusations were not direct, but indirectly asked the question, “How does a college professor afford this?” There were similar texts and emails subsequently sent to WCCO Radio asking the same questions.
Osterholm, who is not paid by WCCO and appears of his own free will, says the entire story of his purchase of the condo is not being told and this is a chance for him to be transparent.
“It's not been disclosed that my partner, who is a very successful business woman, is a major part of this condo expense,” Osterholm says. “I feel very fortunate to be part of that very fortunate. The second thing is what I did put in and, you know, I do feel compelled to discuss this because I want the public to understand what I do and how I do it in this case. I've been saving for 20 some years. People can identify with that. I lived in an apartment building much to the last eight years. I've had two cars in 22 years. I've saved a lot. I've tried. I've tried saving and on a professor’s salary. The benefit is that I had a partner that was never mentioned. It always made it seem like somehow I had this.”
Osterholm also addressed accusations that he was benefitting financially due to the pandemic. He says not only is that not true, like many employees across the country, he had to take a pay cut.
“The only financial situation that occurred to me differently during the pandemic was I took a 10 percent salary cut at the U as we all did to get through the pandemic.”
Osterholm directly addressed the question of disclosure in the MinnPost article as well, saying it is a violation of his responsibilities to the University of Minnesota to not disclose these things.
“In terms of any outside activities, and it was inferred in there when I'm on the media and so forth, and as you well know on this show, I have never been paid a penny for any media interview,” Osterholm told WCCO. Whether it's a newspaper, print, whether it's TV or radio, in my 47 years in the business. Never been paid a penny. Never had a conflict of interest. More importantly, at the university, the office of institutional compliance, which oversees all of us, I have to file anytime I do anything outside the University itself for their approval.”
Another accusation that has been levied against Osterholm, Dr. Anthony Fauci and others, is that they are being paid by pharmaceuticals, or have stocks in the drugs and vaccines they are recommending. It’s something Osterholm again denies.
“I have none. I don’t have any investments in anything in the pharmaceutical industry and I’ve never accepted a penny from vaccine or pharmaceutical industry in 47 years,” he said. That’s all public information in the sense of my report at the University and the oversight. I welcome the oversight that the University provides. I’m very proud of how they actually monitor what professors do and it goes to the credibility of not just me but all my colleagues. We are tightly regulated. In that sense it would be a conflict of interest for me to have any proprietary information or any kind of financial consideration in a drug company, a pharmaceutical company. We have none, zero, zip. In 47 years, I haven't, and I'm not going to do for the rest of my career.”
Dr. Osterholm reiterated that his goal is to simply provide credible health information based on his knowledge and research.
“I appreciate the opportunity to be able to share this message and I appreciate the people in Minnesota,” Osterholm said. “I think they had a right to know that information about me and this particular condominium with my partner was put out there. And the last thing that I want to have happen is a credibility issue. It's like public health in general. My message has to be based on the best intent to save lives, to reduce illness and to make this place a better place for Minnesotans to live.”
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