The Cost of Misinformation: How False Health Claims Harm Patients & Strain Healthcare System

The spread of false information online is increasingly impacting public health, and even costing lives, according to a patient rights advocate. The issue was highlighted at the Eleventh National Health Challenges Congress, where officials are grappling with how to combat the growing problem.

“If we are dealing with individuals who profit from persuading patients to abandon cancer therapies, those patients ultimately pay the highest price,” said Konrad Madejczyk, a patient rights ombudsman. “There have been cases of fatalities.”

Misinformation carries both health and financial costs. Madejczyk explained that patients who return to medical facilities after unsuccessful treatment from unqualified practitioners place a greater financial burden on the healthcare system. “These patients generate enormous costs,” he said.

The Patient Rights Ombudsman’s office reports a large scale of medical misinformation online. Last year, the Scientific and Academic Computer Network (NASK) reported approximately 40,000 such posts to internet platforms, but in most cases – 68 percent – the platforms did not consider them to be violations of their policies. Only around 20 percent of the reported content was flagged or moderated in some way, such as by adding information that it contradicts medical knowledge. “This represents where we see the problem,” the ombudsman stated.

Number of cases rising. GIS: The situation is quite complicated

The RPP’s efforts against pseudomedicine have broad support from both the Ministry of Health and the medical community, as they are likewise directly affected. Those spreading misinformation often attack doctors, public institutions, and representatives of evidence-based medicine online. “Everyone sees the need to curb these practices,” Madejczyk emphasized.

At the same time, the ombudsman notes that this is not about restricting freedom of expression online. The problem arises when someone not only promotes unproven methods but also starts profiting from them, presenting them as effective and safe for health.

“Each of us can gain knowledge from the internet. We can apply that proverbial leech if we feel the need, even though we know it is not a medically confirmed action (…), but if someone says that my leech is good, but you have to buy it from me, then that is earning money and that is dangerous,” the ombudsman said.

Combating misinformation in healthcare requires decisive action. Konrad Madejczyk indicated that legislative measures – the so-called “Lex Szarlatan” (roughly translated as “charlatan law”) – could be a tool in the fight against false information. Work is underway on the bill, with the goal of combating individuals or institutions operating online to the detriment of patients. “It is now really in the final stage, awaiting the Standing Committee of the Council of Ministers, so I think we will soon be able to put the provisions of the law into effect,” he clarified.

“Lex Szarlatan” is the colloquial name for a draft amendment to the Act on Patients’ Rights and the Patient Rights Ombudsman, the purpose of which is to combat pseudomedicine and practices that may mislead patients. The project includes, among other things, strengthening the powers of the Patient Rights Ombudsman, the possibility of faster response to dangerous pseudotherapies, issuing public warnings, and imposing high financial penalties. The main goal is to better protect patients from individuals and entities offering methods not supported by current medical knowledge.

Magdalena Pietras, a journalist for Wirtualna Polska