They lied to you.

A really scary study was just published…one that shows just how deadly healthcare misinformation is.

Not “can be”, but is.

Remember those politicians promoting hydroxychloroquine as a cure for COVID – AFTER studies showed it had little to no benefit – and was dangerous?

Well, they have blood on their hands.

A very well done meta-analysis (rigorous review of all available research studies)  estimated there were 16,990 hydroxychloroquine related deaths in hospitalized patients in six countries.

One of the studies, known as the RECOVERY trial, showed a significant increase in cardiac mortality among patients receiving hydroxychloroquine (HCQ). 

The study published in PubMed this February is here.

Two things.

First, anyone willfully lying – or passing along someone else’s lies – to people terrified of a deadly disease has much to apologize for. Would these people tell friends and family to eat rat poison?

Drive drunk?

Inject fentanyl?

Of course not – yet by pushing HCQ misinformation out to friends and family, they did much the same thing.

Second, in a case before the Supreme Court, some politicians are trying to argue that spreading misinformation – like “hydroxychloroquine cures COVID” is “protected free speech.”

What utter BS. Again, is it okay to tell kids – “hey, vaping is good for you!”… or “Sure, unprotected sex is fine!” or “No car seat needed – just carry your baby sister in your lap!”

Tobacco companies and the opioid business are just two examples of industries forced to pay billions for publishing lies.

As noted in yesterday’s post, thousands of us are dying from preventable causes…that’s really, really bad…what’s much worse is politicians legitimizing deadly disinformation. 

What does this mean for you?

Spreading deadly misinformation is NOT “free speech”. It is a cynical and disgusting abuse of power.