Doctors Warn: Medical Misinformation Surges, Harming Patient Care

According to a recent survey, doctors are increasingly grappling with a surge in medical misinformation that is undermining their ability to treat patients effectively. The survey, conducted by the Physicians Foundation, found that 61% of doctors say they encounter patients influenced by misinformation or disinformation a moderate amount or a great deal of the time over the past year.

Even more concerning, an overwhelming majority of 86% of physicians reported that the incidence of such falsehoods among patients had increased significantly over the past 5 years, a period that includes most of the COVID-19 pandemic. Over half (57%) of the doctors surveyed believe misinformation and disinformation have had at least a moderate impact on their capacity to provide quality care.

Doctors say the spread of pseudoscience is "frustrating" and "demoralizing," cutting to the core of what motivates them to practice medicine - a desire to help people. One physician recounted how a patient refused to take a COVID-19 test during the pandemic, canceling a scheduled operation due to a belief that the virus was not dangerous. For doctors, this loss of control over patient outcomes is "a setup for burnout."

The survey paints a troubling picture of the challenges physicians face in an environment where distorted health claims proliferate online and are sometimes even backed by government authorities. Experts warn that public health officials have a fundamental obligation to provide the public with accurate, trustworthy information to counter the tide of misinformation.