Pang
Legislative leaders, including House Speaker Scott K. Saiki, Senate President Ronald D. Kouchi, House and Senate health committees Chairs Representative Ryan I. Yamane and Senator Jarret Keohokalole, and Maui Senator Rosalyn H. Baker, today sent a letter to Governor David Ige seeking the immediate removal of Dr. Lorrin Pang from his position as head of the Maui District Health Office.
According to the letter, Dr. Pang is a co-founder of a group called the Pono Coalition for Informed Consent (PCIC) that has been spreading “false, misleading, and outright dangerous information about the ongoing pandemic.”
With the state’s healthcare system near a breaking point and hospitals at capacity, the letter states:
“His involvement and endorsement of PCIC directly conflict with the guidance of the Department of Health, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, and generally accepted standards of medical practice.
“Dr. Pang has undermined the State’s critical public health message and public trust.
“Accordingly, after consultation with the Maui legislative delegation, we request that you immediately remove Dr. Pang from his position with the Department of Health. “
Pang told the Star-Advertiser he doesn’t agree with all the views espoused by members of the organization, but his involvement as a co-founder has sparked alarm. Pang also stated that he supported the use of malaria drug hydroxychloroquine and the veterinary dewormer ivermectin as treatments for COVID-19, drugs that federal and state health officials have warned against.
According to Pang’s online resume. Pang was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, a 1971 graduate of Punahou School. Honors graduate from Princeton University with a Bachelors in Chemistry. Received M.D. and Master in Public Health (M.P.H.) degree from Tulane University (New Orleans). Board Certification in Preventive Medicine. Worked for 20 years with the U.S. Army’s Walter Reed Overseas Research Laboratories, assigned to Bangkok, Rio de Janeiro, and Geneva, developing drugs and diagnostics for tropical diseases. Consultant to the World Health Organization (WHO) 1985-2005 for tropical diseases. Retired from the U.S. Army and moved to Maui in 2000 for his current position as the District Health Officer. Has about 6 dozen publications in peer-reviewed medical journals covering rabies, HIV, malaria, hepatitis E, dengue, falls prevention of the elderly. 2007-9 selected to America’s Best Doctors Listing (3% of Nation’s physicians). 2014-present reviewer for medical research proposals for US Congress. (CDMRP) 2014 – Visiting Professor of Medicine Federal University Brasilia, Brazil