Elmhurst Doctor 'Ashamed' Of Fauci Over Past Schools Advice

ELMHURST, IL — An Elmhurst doctor took to Facebook on Monday to blast Dr. Anthony Fauci, saying she was "beyond furious" with him. A city alderwoman, meanwhile, disagreed.

Dr. Shirley Stilson made her views known on the Reopen D205 Facebook page, a group of 1,200 residents who are pushing to resume in-person learning in Elmhurst public schools.

Stilson aimed her criticism at Fauci, the federal government's top infectious disease official since 1984.

"Anthony Fauci is now saying that kids should be in school. Where was this statement months ago??" Stilson wrote in her post. "He has been a legend in the medical community, but he should be ashamed of himself. As a doctor, I'm ashamed of him."

Stilson, who specializes in internal medicine, described herself as "livid and speechless."

"He has bought into this political BS and made himself the decider of the fate of our children as so many people hung on his every word," Stilson said. "I hope he feels the weight of the impact on this generation on his shoulders. I wish he could feel and know the repercussions that go beyond what we will see for years to come."

Stilson found a welcome audience on the Facebook page, but not everyone agreed with her assessment. In a reply to Stilson's post, Elmhurst Alderwoman Dannee Polomsky called Fauci brilliant.

"I was reading an article by another epidemiologist, and he said that no one in the infectious disease community contemplated the scenario where a first world country would encounter a pandemic without a national response, without following recommended protocols and in turn, it not being controlled," Polomsky wrote. "Essentially, this has been going on for too long for many recommendations that would have applied early on."

Fauci has become a target of criticism by President Donald Trump and conservative talk show hosts such as Tucker Carlson.

For a couple of weeks in October, all grades in Elmhurst School District 205 were open for a blend of in-person and remote education, but then the district closed campuses because of a surge in coronavirus cases. Special needs students were slated to return for in-person learning Monday, but they make up a tiny percentage of students.