Biden’s FDA commissioner urges crackdown on health ‘misinformation’

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf is pushing the agency to expand its crackdown on health-related misinformation, particularly surrounding vaccines, according to in an interview with The Associated Press.

The effort is already underway, with the FDA making online posts, YouTube videos, Instagram posts and Twitter threads addressing perceived medical misinformation, according to the AP. Califf called for the effort to be expanded and for non-governmental actors to get involved in shutting down misinformation.

“We’re now in a 24/7 sea of information without a user guide for people out there in society,” Califf told the AP. “So this requires us to change the way we communicate.”

The agency is facing numerous challenges beyond misinformation, including its slow response to the baby formula shortage; Califf acknowledged that the government alone couldn’t handle what it considers misinformation, and called for a bigger, broader effort to crack down on misinformation with help from people outside of government, according to the AP.

“Anyone who thinks the government’s going to solve this problem alone is deluding themselves,” Califf told the AP. “We need a vast network of knowledgeable people who devote part of their day to combating misinformation.”

You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y’all. Stop it. https://t.co/TWb75xYEY4

— U.S. FDA (@US_FDA) August 21, 2021

Google’s algorithms prioritize sources it perceives as credible, including the FDA, meaning that its articles tend to appear high up in search results about health topics such as vaccines, according to the AP. News outlets also echo the FDA’s messages to large audiences, often communicating their message into more simple and understandable language.

Califf also suggested that nearly all recent COVD-19 deaths were preventable and caused by misinformation steering people away from vaccines and treatments.

“Almost no one should be dying of COVID in the U.S. today,” Califf told AP, noting the government’s distribution of free vaccines and antiviral medications. “People who are denying themselves that opportunity are dying because they’re misinformed.”

Many health officials have backpedaled on their enthusiasm for the COVID-19 vaccine’s effectiveness or have endorsed positions once considered misinformation.

Dr. Anthony Fauci recently acknowledged that the COVID-19 vaccine never had a realistic chance of getting the virus under control. Former COVID-19 response coordinator Deborah Birx said the vaccines were “overplayed” and did not did not protect against COVID-19 infection, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in August that the vaccine couldn’t stop the transmission of the virus.

Governmental leaders have acknowledged on numerous other occasions that ideas they once labeled COVID-19 misinformation were actually true.

The FDA did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

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