As commissioner of health for New York State, I am charged with overseeing the state’s response to health crises: Ebola, Zika, measles, and, currently, the COVID-19 pandemic. In each case, I have experienced firsthand how the development and spread of misinformation can make responding to public health crises even more challenging. It has become increasingly evident that our job now is fighting not only the spread of disease but also the spread of misinformation about the disease. Although the control of misinformation is most urgent when tackling outbreaks of infectious diseases such as COVID-19, it is also important in many other domains of health, including chronic disease. For example, last year, the Food and Drug Administration released a statement warning consumers not to drink a solution that turns into bleach when “activated” following product directions, because it was being promoted on social media as a treatment for conditions ranging from autism to cancer (https://bit.ly/3hetir2).
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