Fallout from Lockdowns for Health Care

The Administrative State’s overreach during Covid also had grave consequences for Americans’ health care. Draconian mandates imposed by state governors in the early (and even waning) days of the pandemic created widespread social isolation and disrupted many routine aspects of life, such as visits to the doctor’s office. For many people these disruptions were not only bothersome, they were also life-threatening.

Lockdowns frequently prompted healthcare providers to cancel elective procedures and routine check-ups, even for those with chronic illnesses. Social-distancing rules and reduced public-transit services left many people, including people with disabilities and the elderly, without a reliable means of transportation to medical appointments, resulting in missed visits. Canceled and missed medical appointments meant that many could not receive critical preventative and diagnostic care. The high number of canceled appointments during lockdown periods also forced medical offices and hospitals to lay off medical personnel, like doctors, in large numbers—resulting in a significant shortage of doctors thereafter.

Strikingly, as a result, the number of non-Covid illnesses and deaths spiked significantly during the pandemic. The national rate of death from heart disease, for example, increased by about 4% in 2020, despite decreasing by almost 10% from 2010-2019.[1] Missed medical appointments in 2020 were associated with an increase in missed early-stage cancer diagnoses, leading to later diagnoses when prognoses had worsened.[2

The isolation resulting from lockdowns led to significant mental health declines for vulnerable populations, too. People receiving medical treatments in hospitals or those residing in care facilities often had to be separated from their families and loved ones. Social-distancing and lockdown rules meant that women frequently had to give birth alone, and then not receive visitors in their hospital rooms after giving birth. Not coincidentally, there was a significant increase in the levels of acute traumatic stress and PTSD among women who gave birth during the pandemic.[3] Strict rules regarding visitation of senior living facilities likewise had a marked effect on the mental and cognitive health of the elderly. Seniors residing in nursing homes faced increased rates of cognitive disorders, anxiety, and depression due to social isolation.[4]Beyond physical and mental health, lockdowns and Covid mandates harmed the doctor-patient relationship and the overall level of trust in healthcare institutions. Arbitrary Covid policies caused many patients to question the reliability of current healthcare systems and related physical infrastructure. Vaccine mandates eroded the trust patients once had in their doctors, many of whom were forced to toe the line with regard to the safety and efficacy of vaccines, without fully informing their patients of the associated risks or assessing the need for vaccination on an individualized basis.[5]

 Unfortunately, each of these issues remains. Our health, and our healthcare system, will likely continue to experience disastrous aftereffects of the Administrative State’s overreach during Covid for many years to come.

[1] American Heart Association, Heart Disease Death Rates Spiked During the Covid-19 Pandemic, Erasing Years of Progress, Am. Heart Ass’n Newsroom (Oct. 31, 2022), https://newsroom.heart.org/news/heart-disease-death-rates-spiked-during-the-covid-19-pandemic-erasing-years-of-progress.

[2] Jen DeMoss, The Missed Cancer Diagnoses: Impacts from Covid-19, UC Davis Health (Oct. 25, 2023), https://health.ucdavis.edu/news/headlines/the-missed-cancer-diagnoses-impacts-from-covid-19/2023/10.

[3] Ruta Nonacs, MD, PhD, Understanding the Mental Health Impact of Giving Birth During a Global Pandemic, MGH Ctr for Women’s Mental Health (Feb. 1, 2022), https://womensmentalhealth.org/posts/covid-19-childbirth/.

[4] Isabel San Martín-Erice et al., How Did Covid-19 Lockdown Impact the Health of Older Adults in Nursing Homes? A Scoping Review, BMC Geriatrics (Sept. 14, 2024),  https://bmcgeriatr.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12877-024-05356-9.

[5] See Høeg v. Newsom, https://nclalegal.org/case/tracy-hoeg-m-d-et-al-v-gavin-newsom-governor-of-california-in-his-official-capacity-et-al/.

April 18, 2025