When we&#x27;re talking about something a person did (promoting junk science, in this case), it&#x27;s easy to use the meaning of <i>setting</i> a bad example.  It&#x27;s usually clear from context whether the example is &#x27;terrible to follow&#x27; or &#x27;terrible at explicating&#x27;.<p>You might prefer a nonambiguous wording, but the current wording is valid, and not a grammatical error.<p>For the pain example, think of &quot;a terrible example of how to excruciatingly injure yourself&quot; as a phrase that&#x27;s easier to use in either context.