Bad Influence

"This superb book is an essential guide to the wild world of internet health." --Chris van Tulleken, author of Ultra-Processed People When did we start trusting influencers over doctors? You used to see a doctor. Now you go online. Want to track your blood sugar? Your heart rate? Your sleep? You can. Need to focus? Want to lose weight fast? Everything is a click away. But who is regulating this? As hospital wait times grow ever longer and some patients are priced out of medical care altogether, influencers have filled the gap. From doctors promoting new therapies, to entrepreneurs selling solutions, these self-styled experts glow with good health and guarantee results. But they are not familiar with our medical history. They don't owe us a duty of care. And they're rarely either qualified or impartial. So why do we trust them?

Dr. Deborah Cohen is an award-winning broadcaster, journalist, and editor, who has worked across mainstream and academic print, digital, TV, and radio. Previously Science Editor for ITV News and Health Correspondent for BBC Newsnight, leading their Covid-19 coverage, she established the investigations unit at the BMJ, one of the world-leading medical and health policy journals.