Misinformation

Meeting patients where they are: Why medical training must include social media literacy

Some medical schools are beginning to explore digital health communication, but comprehensive social media literacy training remains the exception rather than standard practice.

Three tools clinicians use to debunk viral health myths

Canadians face a steady stream of confident health claims; some partly right, others wrong and risky – and some potentially fatal. Health care experts share some best practices to combat myths in clinic.

Tylenol misinformation puts pregnant patients at risk

Casting doubt on Tylenol without solid evidence does not empower pregnant people, it corners them. It adds guilt, stigma and undermines their confidence in making safe decisions for themselves and their babies.

Trust those who heal, not those who provoke

A Seuss-style rhyme on the very real harm of health misinformation.

#ScienceMatters. Canadian medical, research, clinical and health-care organizations stand up for science

In Canada and around the world, science is under attack. Increasingly, clearly false health information is being normalized and it’s causing serious harm to patients, communities, public trust and health policy.

It’s not just the measles . . .

Many have forgotten how serious infections from Measules, Mumps, Rubella and Varicella can be because we have not seen them for many years. I am reminded every day by my mumps-induced deafness.

Harms from fossil fuel expansion are absent from this election campaign. Why we need to worry

Calls for rapid scaling of fossil fuel projects not only ignore the impacts of these industries on atmospheric warming but fail to consider their direct effects on human health.

Managing measles better (and cheaper) with family physician home visits

After many years of near absence, measles is back, and public health is scrambling to control its spread. It's time to rethink our strategies for care.

Vaccine safety, politics and the nocebo effect

The nocebo effect has an important role to play in vaccine uptake and safety. We must vigorously counter the misinformation and political spin that helps to fuel the accelerating vaccine concern vortex.

‘We do not need compassionate care: We need a country that cares with compassion’

Conservative politicians have pushed for involuntary treatment, often termed "compassionate care." While compassionate care seems like the easiest answer, the policy is problematic.

The cost of lies: Misinformation is worsening mental health and eroding our social fabric

Political propaganda, amplified by social media and unscrupulous actors, has become a weapon of choice, wreaking havoc on mental health, public safety and democracy itself.

Misinformation on social media is winning – scientists must adapt or lose the battle

Scientists and health professionals must rethink how we communicate or risk further marginalization in the public discourse, allowing falsehoods to shape policies, behaviours and health outcomes.

Has peer review become a complete waste of time?

We live in a time when ideology-driven political leaders actively feed conspiratorial narratives about health and medicine. Ensuring that scientifically robust information is identified and valued has never been more important.

Health misinformation is rampant and deepens inequities for marginalized communities

Health misinformation is more than a communication challenge; it’s a driver of inequity. By addressing these disparities head-on, we can ensure that no one is left behind in our health system.

Is the red dye ban a case of virtue signalling?

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s recent announcement that Red 3 will be banned will go down in history as the very definition of a red herring.

MAiD’s vanishing slippery slope

New data on MAiD sheds much needed light on a topic so broiled in hysteria and unforced errors to seem like some sort of deranged game of political and health-care tennis.

Canada’s health charities must prioritize trust and transparency

An Investigative Journalism Bureau investigation has revealed questionable practices – and regulatory lapses – in Canada’s health charity community, raising questions about fundraising practices, administrative costs and government oversight.

A plea to maskless health-care workers from vulnerable patients

Health-care workers have a responsibility to protect their vulnerable patients. Our lives are in your hands.

We must tackle misinformation. Our youth’s health depends on it

It's time to treat misinformation as the public health crisis it truly is, particularly among youth in marginalized Black, Indigenous and People of Colour communities.

Patients, not politicians, decide what is an emergency

Ontario Premier Doug Ford made reckless statements on Oct. 25 that we as emergency physicians must correct. Patients decide what is a medical emergency. We trust our patients to make that decision.