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Friday, June 23rd, 2023

Harassment of doctors has more than doubled since 2020: research survey

Author:     Matt Keeley
Source:     AlterNet / The New Civil Rights Movement
Publication Date:     June 19, 2023
 Link: Harassment of doctors has more than doubled since 2020: research survey
Stephan:  

The misinformation spewed out by Robert Kennedy, Jr. and other anti-vaxxers not only resulted in the death of hundreds of thousands of Americans who believed the crap put out by the anti-vaxxers and didn’t get vaccinated. As this report lays out it also seriously impacted the wellbeing of the physicians and other medical personnel who were supporting the effort to get people vaccinated and treated. Willful ignorance and the weaponization of misinformation has become a serious problem in the American culture

Citation: To read the formal medical research letter upon which this report is based see: Physician and Biomedical Scientist Harassment on Social Media During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Doctors performing surgery. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Dr. Peter Hotez has become the latest doctor to face online harassment—and a new survey shows he’s not alone. Since 2020, the rate of harassment of doctors and scientists on social media has more than doubled, from 23.3% to 66%.

The research letter, published Wednesday by JAMA Network, surveyed 359 doctors and scientists on their experiences using social media. A total of 238 respondents said they were harassed, with the vast majority saying they were harassed for comments specifically about the COVID-19 pandemic and issues like masking and vaccination. Of those, 66 respondents said they had been doxxed, and others reported death threats.

“This study highlights that physicians and scientists changed the way they used social media during the pandemic,” first author Dr. Regina Royan, a research fellow at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a Northwestern emergency medicine physician said. “Sadly, those that use social media to share public health messages are more likely to face harassment. These are the people that we can’t afford […]

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