Dr. Ben Carson claimed he would not have brought American ebola patients to the U.S. if he ran the CDC, saying it’s a factor of risk versus reward and “a matter of protecting the American populace.”
Carson appeared with Fox News host Neil Cavuto to discuss the transfer of two American ebola patients to CDC centers in the United States.
“Would you have brought those patients here?” Cavuto asked.
“No, I would not have,” Carson replied. “I’m not a risk-adverse person, but I think risks ought to be done in a logical way . . . The worst thing that can happen is so much worse than the best thing, you wouldn’t even consider putting people at risk.”
“It’s a matter of protecting the American populace,” he continued. “And that’s the duty of our government.”
Carson also noted that the two American patients, who had been treating ebola victims in west Africa, “were supposedly well-versed in this disease and how to contain it, had all the precautions in place, and still caught it. That should not go unnoticed.”
“We have to guard against worst-case scenarios,” he claimed. “And obviously we’re not.’