An updated hierarchy of evidence for the age of memes, rumors, and AI hallucinations I’ve been dissecting science rumors and flawed studies for five years now, and there is one communication challenge that I have run into over and over again. For any given scientific claim or study, it&
A version of this article originally appeared on Your Local Epidemiologist. Like “misinformation” and “disinformation,” the phrase “doing your own research” has become deeply polarizing. To some, it’s a call to think critically about health information and do their due diligence before making health decisions. To others—especially in
Robert F Kennedy Jr. has fired the entire panel that oversees vaccine recommendations in the US and replaced them with his own picks, including prominent vaccine skeptics. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, RFK Jr. announced his decision to fire all 17 members of the CDC's vaccine advisory
Last month I wrote an article about shame and why criticizing "anti-vaxxers" backfires, and I got some great comments and feedback from you. Some of the questions were so thoughtful, they deserve an in depth response, so I've decided to try out something new. Instead of
Last week the government released the "The MAHA report," a lengthy document that attempted to explain the rise of chronic disease in children. Yesterday, it was discovered that some of the studies cited in the report simply do not exist. The Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) report suggests
This week, a new proposal for COVID vaccines was announced that—if implemented—will likely mean many healthcare workers like me will no longer have access to COVID shots. Two new FDA appointees announced the change via an opinion article in the New England Journal of Medicine: COVID boosters will
If you talk to people about why they lost trust in public health, there is one topic that comes up over and over again: mandates. For many during the pandemic, the choice wasn’t simply get a COVID vaccine or risk getting sick, it was get a COVID vaccine or
This is post 3 of 4 looking back at the public health communication around the COVID vaccines and why trust in vaccines was damaged. Catch up on the first two posts: misinformation versus miscommunication and expectation management. Shame doesn’t work, but has become widely adopted as a response to
This is post 2 of 4 in this series looking back at the public health communication around the Covid-19 vaccines, why trust was lost, and where communication broke down. The goal is not to point fingers or lay blame, but rather get a view from outside our bubble to see
Last week, I wrote about the importance of empathy, listening, and trying to genuinely understand those who distrust public health instead of automatically dismissing or fact-checking them. To continue in this vein, I am resharing a series I wrote last year (originally published on my Health (Mis)communication column for
Last week I hopped on the train down to NYC to attend one of the most unusual and enjoyable events I have ever attended in my academic career. A comedian, podcast host, and epidemiologist walked into a bar, and they dished out some tough love to the public health community.
There is a growing, concerning movement undermining one of the most well established scientific theories there is: germ theory, the idea that germs – like viruses and bacteria – cause disease. But it's subtle. Outright denial of germ theory is still a fringe idea: very few deny that viruses and