Category: Misinformation, Disinformation, and Conspiracy Theories
South Carolina’s Measles Outbreak Shows Chilling Effect of Vaccine Misinformation
Kaiser Health News Near the back corner of the local library’s parking lot, largely out of view from the main road, the South Carolina Department of Public Health opened a pop-up clinic in early November, offering free measles vaccines to adults and children. Spartanburg County, in South Carolina’s Upstate region, has been fighting a measles […]
Nov 26, 2025
Navigating vaccine misinformation with a pediatrician
NPR The CDC recently rewrote its vaccine guidance to suggest shots might cause autism, renewing false claims about vaccines and causing anxiety among parents. Physicians often deal with misinformation, but the difference is that it’s now coming from the federal government. How do families know what guidance to trust? NPR’s Scott Detrow speaks with Dr. […]
Nov 26, 2025
How conspiracy theories infiltrated the doctor’s office
Wired Every day, physicians and therapists work to keep their patients safe. Medical rumors, misinformation, and an online web of disreputable sources aren’t making their jobs any easier. As anyone who has googled their symptoms and convinced themselves that they’ve got a brain tumor will attest, the internet makes it very easy to self-(mis)diagnose your […]
Nov 12, 2025
How to Spot Medical Misinformation on Social Media and Determine What’s Trustworthy
Healthline Always fact-check health claims and trends on social media with what trustworthy sources are saying on the topic. Medical misinformation can have dangerous effects for you and others. Because health content on social media is typically delivered in a conversational tone, it can sometimes feel like listening to advice from a friend. But it’s […]
Oct 22, 2025
6 Reasons Why People Believe Health Misinformation
Psychology Today Reasons 1 and 2: Mistrust of Experts and Personal Autonomy Almost everyone has had at least one bad experience with the health care system—particularly in the United States, where both insurance and health care delivery lack consistency and coordination. And historically, certain groups—such as women and people of color—have faced discrimination and inequities in health […]
Oct 15, 2025
Fighting the Pandemic of Misinformation
The Hospitalist On November 28, 2021, scrolling through Twitter, I came across a tweet by @SailingKateMD: “Checked my ICU list after being gone for a few days for the holiday…Every single one of my COVID-19 patients died while I was gone. All of them.”1 It was my third year as an attending hospitalist. The world […]
Oct 1, 2025
Vaccine misinformation led to an officer’s murder at the CDC – politicians’ silence is deafening
Guardian After a gunman reportedly deceived by anti-vaccine disinformation opened fire on the CDC and fatally shot David Rose, a community grieves as Trump officials remain silent. A lie murdered David Rose. Five hundred cops packed the pews of an Atlanta megachurch on Friday to bear witness in person, to have a memory of the slain DeKalb […]
Aug 27, 2025
The Playbook Used to ‘Prove’ Vaccines Cause Autism
NYT The Playbook Used to ‘Prove’ Vaccines Cause Autism. The health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., says he wants to understand what causes autism. It’s a perfectly laudable goal and one that scientists have been pursuing for decades. But after announcing a large new federal study on the topic, he made a shocking choice by bringing in […]
Aug 20, 2025
How conspiracy theories about COVID’s origins are hampering our ability to prevent the next pandemic
The Conversation In late June, the Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO), a group of independent experts convened by the World Health Organization (WHO), published an assessment of the origins of COVID. The report concluded that although we don’t know conclusively where the virus that caused the pandemic came from: a zoonotic origin […]
Jul 30, 2025
The Rise of Misinformation and Distrust in Science
Harvard Global Health As part of our ongoing event series, this session is dedicated to navigating the complexities of health information, misinformation, and trust. We’ll explore how to distinguish between misinformation, disinformation, and legitimate differences in opinion. Participants will gain practical tools for fact-checking health claims and evaluating sources, while also examining how shifts in […]
Jul 2, 2025