In this episode of the BMJ's Medicine and Science podcast, editor-in-chief Kamran Abbasi discusses the urgent need to tackle disinformation in health, especially in the context of the US, with Heidi Larson and Martin McKee from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. 

 

We also hear from Jane Ballentyne, professor of anaesthesia and pain medicine at the University of Washington, about new guidelines that strongly recommend against the use of spinal injections for chronic pain - and why that recommendation might be hard for some patients and doctors to hear.

 

Finally, we revisit the progress made in addressing racism in UK medical schools over the past five years with Gareth Iacobucci, The BMJ's assistant news editor.

 

Running order

01:44 Defining Misinformation and Disinformation

04:08 Vaccines and Misinformation

05:38 Strategies to Combat Disinformation

10:04 Denialism and Its Implications

16:21 BMJ Rapid Recommendations on Spinal Injections

26:27 Racism in Medical Schools: An Update

 

Reading list

Spinal interventions for chronic back pain

Racism in medical schools: are things improving?