In the wake of controversial mask and vaccine mandates and gender transition procedures being pushed on children, public trust in America’s medical establishment is at a historic low. But one doctor is leading a growing movement of health care professionals who are speaking out against politicized mainstream medical associations and putting patients first.

A JAMA study published in July illustrated the magnitude of how far public trust in the health care profession fell over the course of the COVID pandemic. The survey of almost a half million U.S. citizens found that “trust in physicians and hospitals decreased substantially over the course of the pandemic, from 71.5% in April 2020 to 40.1% in January 2024.”

As Dr. Simone Gold, an experienced emergency physician and attorney, revealed during Wednesday’s edition of “Washington Watch with Tony Perkins,” most doctors were heartbroken to see such a precipitous fall in confidence in their essential profession.

“We physicians were very upset during COVID to watch, really, the health care institutions and infrastructure just kind of collapse and not put patients first,” she lamented. “It was shocking, astonishing, disheartening. And the good news about it is many independent-minded physicians did find each other. And we have built a strong coalition, a strong support group for each other to help patients.”

Gold, who serves as the founder and president of America’s Frontline Doctors (AFLDS), went on to describe the origins of her organization.

“So we got to thinking, really, what is a doctor?” she observed. “Is a doctor a pill pusher? Is a doctor just a government employee, there as a mouthpiece for the government? What is a doctor? We independent physicians know that a doctor has a higher calling, a special relationship [with] another human being sitting in front of them, and we put the doctor-patient relationship first. And we are standing for our patients who need us. That’s what a doctor is.”

As noted by Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, a significant issue facing modern medicine and contributing to the public distrust of the medical establishment is the rise in prominence of the transgender ideology, which is being pushed by powerful medical associations.

“[T]he good news is they are much less powerful than they used to be,” Gold pointed out. “In my father’s day, the American Medical Association represented about two-thirds of physicians. Now, I think the number is about 15%. … Many of us are choosing to leave these associations behind in the dust. They’re terrible. [E]xamples [are] the American Medical Association [and] the American Academy of Pediatrics. I would not go to a doctor that has those initials after their name. They’ve been corrupted. The evidence is overwhelming that they’re not putting patients’ best interests first. It’s really a shame. But we have an opportunity to build back something better.”

Recent news has provided evidence that a small number of doctors are responsible for pushing ideologies via medical associations that most doctors have not publicly supported. On Wednesday, a Daily Caller report revealed that the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) — which has 67,000 members — only consulted four doctors who were involved in the gender transition industry before recommending that the World Professional Association of Transgender Health (WPATH) change its standards of care to remove minimum age requirements for undergoing the surgical removal of healthy sexual organs and receiving puberty-blocking drugs.

Gold detailed the consequences that transgender procedures have on minors. “We are mutilating healthy young bodies, causing people to have lifelong infertility … where you produce no sperm or no egg forever. The kind where if you have a mastectomy at age 15, you will never be able to breastfeed. It’s horrific. So what we doctors did, we got together and we are pulling aside the curtain so the average American can see what’s at stake. … It’s chronic wounds. It’s chronic infections. It’s lifelong pills, lifelong medical care. We’re exposing this mutilation industry for what it is.”

Gold further emphasized that a significant part of what is driving the transgender ideology is the financial incentive. “[E]ach one of these children represents at least $1 million to the medical industrial complex over their lifetime. They have repeated surgeries. They have repeated medications for the rest of their lives. There [are] all kinds of surgeries and costs associated with this. So every case is lucrative.”

As exhibited in a new film produced by AFLDS, Gold underscored that despite the powerful forces pushing transgender ideology, more and more families and doctors are being “empowered” to push back. “The more you learn about this, the much more manageable it becomes. … Don’t be bamboozled. Your common sense will get you through. You need a little bit of resources. That’s what we’re doing. We’re doing it for the parents. We’re doing it for people of faith and of conscience. And we’re doing it also to wake up doctors so doctors start acting responsibly and ethically.”