Health Care Misinformation: A Moving Target for Regulatory Oversight

Course overview

A vibrant, effective health care system relies partly on disseminating accurate health information to the public. Information may come from governmental entities, national or state medical organizations, medical professionals, or individual citizens and community members. But what happens if health information is incorrect, misleading, or false? What should the societal response be to overcome misinformation and disinformation? These questions rose to new prominence with the COVID-19 pandemic. Federal governmental entities, states, and national or state medical organizations have grappled with controlling COVID-19 misinformation and disinformation while at the same time not chilling the development of COVID-19 science or the free speech of medical professionals and laypersons. This activity will review misinformation and disinformation and some of the attempts to deal with it.