Forbes April 28, 2023
Misinformation is killing Americans. At least, that’s what one of America’s top public health officials says.
Speaking to CNBC in April, U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Robert Califf said misinformation is part of the reason Americans have lower life expectancies than people in other wealthy nations.
The FDA chief is hardly alone in raising the alarm about U.S. life expectancy. Every year pundits react with horror to the fact that, despite spending more on health care than other developed countries, Americans seem to die earlier.
But lagging U.S. life expectancy has little to do with the quality of our nation’s healthcare system. Americans die younger than their peers abroad because of a number of social and cultural factors unrelated...