Tag: misinformation
Medical Misinformation Falsely Links a Serious Infection to Leftover Chinese Food
A young man contracted a dangerous infection that was newsworthy, because it could have been prevented by a safe vaccine, but it had absolutely nothing to do with leftover Chinese food despite what is being promoted by a viral YouTube video and several news articles.
Dr. Vinay Prasad: “Public Health’s (Mis)Truth Problem”
Dr. Vinay Prasad continues to spread fear, uncertainty, and doubt about the government response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
A Medical Myth: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has quietly changed their standards for early childhood development
We should strive to retain our ability to be shocked and upset at doctors who pollute the COVID landscape with misinformation.
Everything old is new again
Since the pandemic hit, I've frequently said things like, "Everything old is new again", referring to the antivaccine movement in the age of COVID-19. As 2022 dawned, I thought I'd expand a bit on what I mean. Is there a term for déjà vu, but what I'm seeing now is amplified a thousand-fold? Proponents of science-based medicine have been warning us for...
How we got here with political and health misinformation: The case of “Hacker X” and Mike Adams
Ars Technica recently published a story about Hacker X, who helped Mike Adams expand his online empire of health fraud into an empire of fake news and political disinformation, thus intertwining health and political misinformation into the deadly combination we see now.
State medical boards vs. COVID-19 misinformation, an update
The disinformation epidemic about COVID-19 has pushed state medical boards to consider disciplining physicians who promote COVID-19 disinformation. How would that work? What are the obstacles? Is it even possible? It should be, but it will be messy and complicated.
The Federation of State Medical Boards vs. COVID-19 misinformation: A losing battle so far
A few weeks ago, the Federation of State Medical Boards, which itself does not have any regulatory power but advocates for state medical boards, issued a statement that physicians who spread COVID-19 misinformation should be subject to disciplinary measures. Unfortunately, a recent report found that not a single US physician has had action taken against their medical license for doing this. Why?
A New Covid-19 Myth?
A correspondent suggested I should have known that the pandemic was over months ago. That's obviously a myth. But where did that idea come from?
Antivaxxers misrepresent a study to falsely claim that COVID-19 vaccines cause cancer
The latest antivaccine propaganda claims that a 2018 research paper published by researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center shows that the RNA in the Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines can cause cancer. As usual, it's a complete misapplication of a cherry picked study grounded in a lack of understanding of molecular biology. Same as it ever was.
The Misinformation Dilemma
Is there a workable solution to the social media dilemma?