The Monitor

This Monitor covers how fears about fluoride as a neurotoxin are impacting public health and how trust in food safety is eroding following the USDA’s disbandment of two food safety panels. It also discusses approaches to addressing false information and the accuracy of AI chatbots compared to search engines.

This volume examines beliefs about bird flu and the false promotion of vitamin A as a measles prevention. It also covers social media content moderation and the misrepresentation of a study on gender-affirming care. Lastly, it explores when people prefer AI chatbots over humans for health information.

This volume covers recent claims about COVID vaccine safety after a new study describes a rare condition it calls “post-vaccination syndrome” (PVS). It also investigates the false claim that ivermectin can treat cancer and highlights the re-emergence of concerns online about Gardasil, and its alleged mortality rate.

This volume discusses the spread of race-based vaccine myths and shifts in health communication from fact-checking to fostering open dialogue. It also explains common misconceptions about heart attack treatment and prevention, a new scientific journal that questions established science, and gaps in research standards for AI chatbots used in healthcare.

This volume examines the impact of recent executive actions on federal health communication, along with concerns and stigmas surrounding ADHD diagnoses and treatments, including skepticism about pharmaceutical influence on medication promotion. It also explores distrust in food regulations following the FDA’s ban on Red Dye No. 3.

This volume shares findings from the latest KFF Tracking Poll on Health Information and Trust, along with updates from Robert Kennedy Jr’s senate hearings. It also examines distrust in public health messaging about bird flu, motivations for sharing information online, and how fraudulent research can sometimes inform AI chatbot models.

This volume examines misleading claims about birth control, focusing on the mischaracterization of emergency contraceptives as abortifacients, the influence of social media on patient-provider communication, and online messages that inaccurately promote fertility awareness methods as safer alternatives.

This volume explores narratives linking vaccines to autism and misleading claims about the benefits of raw milk. It examines how trust and perceived expertise influence misinformation and AI’s role in spreading false mental health information.

This edition examines the role of news influencers in spreading misinformation, misleading narratives about harm reduction amid disparities in opioid overdose, and biases in artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare.

This volume of the Monitor explores the growing opposition to water fluoridation, how misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines is influencing public health policies and trust in health authorities, and the balance between free speech and mitigating health misinformation.