Category: Misinformation, Disinformation, and Conspiracy Theories
Anti-Vaxxers Are Grifting Off the Measles Outbreak—and Claim a Bioweapon Caused It
Wired Activists affiliated with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are selling a “measles treatment and prevention protocol” for hundreds of dollars, including supplements supposedly formulated by AI. Anti-vaccine activists with close ties to US health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are falsely claiming that the measles public health crisis in Texas is caused by a “bioweapon” targeting the Mennonite community. […]
Apr 23, 2025
Like measles, misinformation is spreading, poll finds
NPR The U.S. has now reported more than 800 measles cases in at least two dozen states. The vast majority of cases — more than 600 — are in Texas. In the midst of the outbreak, a new poll shows how much misinformation people are seeing about measles. The good news is the vast majority of people […]
Apr 23, 2025
Anti-vaccine advocates battle over narrative in West Texas, downplaying role of measles in deaths
Texas Tribune After Daisy Hildebrand died of measles, her death was made public first by Dr. Robert Malone, a vaccine skeptic who blamed the hospital for fumbling her care. Daisy’s father told The Texas Tribune he never to spoke to Malone. When Daisy Hildebrand became the second Texas child to die of measles on April […]
Apr 16, 2025
Measles cases linked to Texas outbreak reach 561, with 20 new infections confirmed
USA Today Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the measles vaccine is “leaky” because its effectiveness wanes over time, something medical experts dispute. Kennedy, a vaccine skeptic who now oversees the nation’s federal health agencies, said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is doing a “very good job” of controlling the measles outbreak that has […]
Apr 16, 2025
Flawed Flu Vaccine Study Sparks Misinformation Storm
MedPageToday Jeremy Faust debunks viral claims of negative effectiveness in Cleveland Clinic report. In a video originally published on Inside Medicine, MedPage Today editor-in-chief Jeremy Faust takes aim at a widely circulated Cleveland Clinic preprint on flu vaccine effectiveness — one that was touted on Fox News as proof that this year’s flu shot made people more likely to get sick. […]
Apr 15, 2025
West Texas children treated for vitamin A toxicity as medical disinformation spreads alongside measles outbreak
Texas Standard Medical disinformation connected to the West Texas measles outbreak has created a new problem. Children are being treated for toxic levels of vitamin A. Medical disinformation connected to the West Texas measles outbreak has created a new problem. Children are being treated for toxic levels of vitamin A. Covenant Children’s Hospital in Lubbock […]
Apr 2, 2025
Health misinformation and disinformation: How to avoid it
Medical News Today In the age of viral content and fast and furious social media communication, disinformation and misinformation, including about health matters, are spreading more widely than ever. Why is this the case exactly, and how can we learn to spot inaccurate and even malicious health information? Why do we fall so easily for […]
Apr 1, 2025
Who Is David Geier, the Man Leading Federal Autism-Vaccine Study?
Medical News Today Discredited researcher, vaccine skeptic was disciplined for practicing medicine without a license. David Geier, a man without a medical degree who once was disciplined by the Maryland State Board of Physicians for practicing medicine without a license, reportedly will lead a new HHS study to identify whether a relationship between vaccines and autism exists. […]
Apr 1, 2025
Vaccine skeptic hired to head federal study of immunizations and autism
Washington Post A long-discredited researcher and vaccine skeptic will conduct a government study on whether vaccines cause autism. A vaccine skeptic who has long promoted false claims about the connection between immunizations and autism has been tapped by the federal government to conduct a critical study of possible links between the two, according to current […]
Mar 26, 2025
Kennedy Instructs Anti-Vaccine Group to Remove Fake C.D.C. Page
NYT Children’s Health Defense, founded by the health secretary, had published online a vaccine-safety page that looked like the agency’s but that suggested links to autism. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nation’s health secretary, on Saturday instructed leaders of the nonprofit he founded to take down a web page that mimicked the design of the […]
Mar 25, 2025