HIFA members might be interested in this article from the STAT Newsletter today:
"Doctors are rarely disciplined for spreading misinformation
Disseminating misinformation to the public is the least common reason for doctors to be disciplined by state medical boards, according to a study published yesterday in JAMA Network Open [https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2826059]. Researchers analyzed more than 3,100 disciplinary meetings in the five most populous states between 2020 and mid-2023. Only six proceedings were focused on public misinformation, while 21 were for spreading misinformation directly to patients.
No governmental body tracks the prevalence of physician-spread misinformation. But a study published in the same journal last year found that in 2021 and 2022, 52 doctors spread misinformation on social media about Covid-19 vaccines, masks, and conspiracy theories [https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2808358].
'We allow the profession to police themselves. And when they fail to do that, even in the most egregious cases, what they are abetting is the erosion of trust and respect for doctors,' Wendy Parmet, director of Northeastern University’s Center for Health Policy and Law, told the Washington Post last year for an investigation that also found doctors are rarely punished for spreading misinformation. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2023/07/26/covid-misinformation-do... Experts have long called for doctors to be held more accountable for spreading misinformation [https://www.statnews.com/2022/09/27/hold-accountable-doctors-who-knowing..., but others have questioned whether medical boards are equipped to fill that role." [https://www.statnews.com/2022/09/27/hold-accountable-doctors-who-knowing...
Margaret Winker
Margaret Winker, MD
eLearning Program Director and Trustee, World Association of Medical Editors
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wame.org
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HIFA profile: Margaret Winker is Secretary and Past President of the World Association of Medical Editors in the U.S. Professional interests: WAME is a global association of editors of peer-reviewed medical journals who seek to foster cooperation and communication among editors, improve editorial standards, promote professionalism in medical editing through education, self-criticism, and self-regulation, and encourage research on the principles and practice of medical editing. margaretwinker AT gmail.com
