By Randi Locke, Northend Agent’s
I always liked to believe that I was impervious to falling for misinformation. I learned how to fact check in college, I know which voices of authority are real and which ones are just regurgitating facebook posts. I have often wondered how people that I went to school with or have experience in the medical industry fell prey to medical misinformation. That was until I not only found out I was pregnant two months ago, I also contracted a knee infection in my ninth week. I had to undergo surgery where I was placed under traditional anesthesia. Though the anesthesiologist informed me of the risks, the word “miscarriage” was enough to have me sobbing up until seconds before my surgery. From there I had to wait until the next day before I could get an ultrasound confirming the baby is okay. Which gave me more than enough time to scour through mom Facebook groups, WebMD, and yes even reddit on how anesthesia impacts a fetus. Despite the doctors saying that there were no complications, I still felt like I was left in the dark. Much to my relief, I saw my baby on the ultrasound at 3 am very much unphased despite my anxiety. Now flash forward to last week when I read that RFK Junior (Robert F Kennedy Jr.) declared that covid vaccines are no longer needed for children and pregnant people, I knew where this could lead. If I have learned anything over these past two months it’s that falling into the misinformation pipeline is easier than most would like to believe. I was looking at the misinformation pipeline as something someone already had to be trapped in to fall for. But after my experience, I learned that fear and affirmation can lead anyone to fall for harmful misinformation.
Part of what caused me to go down the Google spiral is fear. Not only for myself but for my unborn child. Even when I was told answers were coming, I needed some sort of answers so I could relax. Despite experts telling us solutions to our medical issues, the fear that they could be wrong causes us to spiral even more. The term for this is called cyberchondria. Cyberchondria refers to medical anxiety and fear that stems from online research about one’s symptoms. According to The University of Vermont Health Network, cyberchondriacs can spend up to three hours daily researching medical ailments. Though 90% of Americans admit to researching symptoms online, what makes cyberchondriacs dangerous is that they may never feel satisfied with the answers they receive. Even with doctors’ advice, they will continue to seek out answers until they feel like their unknown illness is diagnosed. Although cyberchondriacs are on the extreme side of this fear, the issue is that if a fear festers long enough, people will be willing to seek confirmation from anyone.
Which is what makes figures of authority with no medical knowledge like RFK Junior so terrifying. His decision to remove the covid shot from the list of recommended shots for children and pregnant people was not backed by scientific data. Rather he claimed that there was no critical data that supported that the covid vaccine was either safe or necessary. Instead of waiting for the CDC (center for disease control) to support his statement, he chose to have the Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Martin Markay and National institute of health director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya support his decision. Despite them both being doctors, none of them have any experience in immunology. Thus making their support feel hollow. On May 30th, the CDC recommended that the decision for children to receive the covid vaccine to be determined by both their doctor and parents. However, the site still does not mention if pregnant people should receive the vaccine. RFK deciding to remove the covid vaccine from the list of recommended vaccines for pregnant people and children not only impacts families’ ability to receive the vaccine, it also emboldens medical skeptics.
For those who already fell privy to medical misinformation, having someone like RFK Junior who does not have a medical background make uninformed statements can serve as confirmation for their fears. Aside from influential figures, social media platforms like redditt, Facebook, and Twitter can cause a greater exchange of medical misinformation. Instead of having to go to urgent care, people can simply describe their symptoms in a post and receive dozens, even hundreds, of answers in minutes. Providing not only shared experiences but immediate comfort without waiting for hours. Different symptoms can mean different things. For random strangers with no expertise other than they have seen fit to offer solutions with no other information is dangerous. One of the most prolific examples of the dangers of medical misinformation is Belle Gibson. A wellness influencer who faked brain cancer and created a cookbook of recipes she claimed healed her cancer. After being called out for laundering money she claimed to give to charities, it was revealed that she never had cancer. Her instagram profile at the height of her fame amassed 200,000 followers. Most of which were either cancer survivors or going through cancer themselves. Instead of facing jail time, Gibson was charged with $500,000 USD worth of fines which she has not yet paid. Unfortunately Gibson is not the only influencer to prey on people’s fears. These platforms do not require fact checking or ask about medical background before people speak on medical issues. Some even can go as far as selling products that claim to cure illnesses like cancer without any research.
No one ever thinks they will fall prey to medical misinformation but it can happen to anyone. The key to stopping it in its tracks is to ask these questions: Where are they getting their information from? What are their credentials? Does this apply to my situation? Are they trying to share information or sell me on an idea or product? Medical issues can be scary but the key is to not let fear override our judgement.
Photo by RF._.studio _: https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-holding-injection-3825529/
