Infodemia, Fake News and Medicine: Science and The Quest for Truth
Besides fighting against the COVID 19 pandemic, there is another critical problem that Medicine and Science need to face in this crucial moment: the spread of inaccurate information online. By the end of March 2020, more than 2100 Iranians were poisoned by the oral ingestion of methanol. Iran, as an Islamic country, has severe restrictions on alcohol, but in this case, patients told that social media messages suggested they could prevent being infected by SARS CoV 2 drinking alcohol. Almost 900 illicit alcohol poisoned patients were admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and 296 died (fatality rate of 13.5%.1 In the past, news was produced and distributed by a few organizations or private companies, but today, in the Internet and social media age, anyone can broadcast news online. Fake news is better defined as deliberate false information spread via social or conventional media.2 Fake medical news can mislead in order to damage an organization and/ or a person. Another problematic consequence of a fake medical report is to make profits with some specific food, supplement or treatment. WHO Direc tor Genera l Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus recently said: "We are not just fighting an epidemic; we are fighting an infodemic" Knowing that stressful times like pandemic are associated with an overload of information and misinformation, immediately after COVID 19 was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, a platform to share tailored information with specific target groups was launched WHO Information Network for Epidemics (EPI WIN).3 The infodemic, the global epidemic of misinformation, can have severe consequences to healthcare and for the society. Content created on the web has the potential to provide the right information and to change people's behavior positively. Still, it is also capable of generating opinions and social behaviors that may put health in danger.4 The first and most consequential misinformation in public health is the misconception that the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine causes autism created by a fraudulent article published in Lancet.5 This misinformation was widely disseminated on social media and, combined with conspiracy theories and other beliefs strength an anti vaccination movement. As a consequence, in 2020, many countries, including the United Kingdom, Greece, Venezuela, and Brazil, have lost their measles elimination status.6,7 In cardiology, there are examples of fake news too. Social media disseminated much misinformation about the potential oncogenic effect of antihypertensive drugs driving many patients to stop using some proved beneficial medication. Battistoni et al. demonstrated that there is any support to promote or encourage the banning of antihypertensive drugs because of a possible risk of neoplasms.8 O'Connor makes a strong argument calling cardiologists to firmly oppose exaggerated therapies, untested entities, unproven vaccines, and nutraceuticals taking the example of heart failure fake news.9 Widening the quote of Jonathan Smith, fake news diffuses significantly farther, more quickly, deeper, and 203