JAMA, a doctor at Boston University (BU) School of Public Health, MA, and a medical journalist warn of the dangers of spreading “hurried, incomplete, biased misinformation” about possible treatments for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
They highlight the roles that government reports, news stories, talk shows, and press releases have played in disseminating misleading information.“Trust in science, medicine, public relations, and journalism may be in jeopardy in the intersection where these professions meet,” write Dr.
Richard Saitz, professor and chair of community health sciences at BU, and Gary Schwitzer, the founder and publisher of HealthNewsReview.org, an initiative that used to rate health news reports.