How misinformation has fuelled the sale of COVID-19 substandard and falsified medical products.
A UCL Fight The Fakes lead study written by Oksana Pyzik, Dr. John Hertig, Hoda Kanso, Anika Chamba and Sofia Khan shows there is a strong link between fake news and fake medicines. As waves of COVID-19 continue to threaten public health, an increasing volume of disease-related information is widely accessible, and not all of it is accurate or reliable.
The patient safety consequences remain the same, including amplifying vaccine hesitancy and propagating dangerous “coronavirus cures” myths, leading to higher COVID-19 related mortality rates. Disinformation, desperation, and panic drive the production and sale of falsified medical products. Ultimately, substandard or falsified medical products undermine public trust in COVID-19 vaccines and treatments. Author agree on the fact that all sectors must come together in this crisis in order to ensure quality COVID-19 medical products are distributed safely and fairly to end the pandemic sooner rather than later.
Read the full study here.
