Former HHS secretary says healthcare needs to fight back against medical misinformation
Tom Price, MD, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) and orthopedic surgeon, is calling on healthcare leaders to take a more active role in combating medical misinformation and rebuilding public trust in science, clinicians, and public health institutions.
In an interview with Health Exec, Price reflected on the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and the vocal opposition to vaccines, fluoride to water, and incorrect health information that is spread over social media. He said this has accelerated the erosion of trust in the medical system due to politically driven misinformation and disinformation campaigns. That distrust, he noted, continues to hinder public health efforts and strain the doctor-patient relationship.
“One of the concerns that I've got, and it kind of rose to a head during COVID, and that is the increasing distrust in the public health arena," Price explained. "If we as Americans don't have confidence in the public health services and the public health recommendations that they're making, then getting to a healthy society just becomes that much more difficult. So I think it's incredibly important that the folks who are charged with making these decisions be as transparent as possible about how these decisions are made, who's making the decisions, what the science was behind the decision, how the conclusion or the recommendation was arrived at all."
Price said the persistence of vaccine skepticism, even toward long-established vaccines like measles, mumps and rubella (MMR), is a symptom of that deeper problem. He noted that MMR vaccines have been administered in billions of doses over decades and are known to be highly effective, yet public confidence in them has still been shaken, leading in large part to the measles outbreaks now seen in the U.S., which are being spread my unvaccinated people. But disease rates have been low or eliminated for many disease in the U.S., including measles, polio and others whose vaccines have been highly effective. But for many people, seeing is believing: There is a problem that needs a solution.
“We’re victims of our own success,” Price said. "If you don't see individuals with these diseases and you don't see the consequences, or you don't hear about the consequences, like so-and-so's father wasn't vaccinated as a kid and got encephalitis and died because of measles, you [think no problem exists]. When I was a kid, people would get measles and they'd be out of school for months. And so when that's not ever present, when that's not front and center, that's not part of your life experience. It's important that that education occur. And it can be done. It just takes time and effort."
He also emphasized that misinformation is not just a cultural or political issue, noting it directly affects medical professionals. Burnout among doctors is at an all-time high due to many reasons, but surveys of doctors point to misinformation as a problem in recent years. Physicians say that are constantly questioned about established science based on something a patient saw on social media.
To reverse the damage, Price urged greater transparency from policymakers, health agencies and clinicians.
"It is a huge challenge, and it makes it that much more difficult to practice medicine, to recommend for your patients what it is that you believe is in their best interest, and to have them say, yes, I trust my physician. I trust the person who's sitting before me and telling me what it is that I ought to do for myself or for my family," Price said.
Rebuilding trust, he acknowledged, won’t be easy. "That won't just happen overnight and it won't happen if it's not a focus of the policy makers and the decision makers involved in the public health arena,” Price said.
Dave Fornell has covered healthcare for more than 17 years, with a focus in cardiology and radiology. Fornell is a 5-time winner of a Jesse H. Neal Award, the most prestigious editorial honors in the field of specialized journalism. The wins included best technical content, best use of social media and best COVID-19 coverage. Fornell was also a three-time Neal finalist for best range of work by a single author. He produces more than 100 editorial videos each year, most of them interviews with key opinion leaders in medicine. He also writes technical articles, covers key trends, conducts video hospital site visits, and is very involved with social media. E-mail: [email protected]