General Discussion

At the heart of these claims is widespread misunderstanding about how the scientific method works.

It is a perspective informed in part by frustration. Changing guidelines impact people’s daily lives. But the claims ignore the realities and challenges presented by a global pandemic caused by an emerging virus, researchers and science experts told us.

Scientists and doctors are worn down by the narrative.

"These kinds of charges are frustrating," said Sarah Richardson, a science historian at Harvard University. "They reflect a misunderstanding of how science works, how public health policy is created, and how empirical science and public health policy relate to one another."

Scientific findings are often confusing and conflicting. But evolving research and changing guidelines aren’t unprecedented or shocking, nor are they indicative of something nefarious.

"I can hardly blame people for feeling confused, but the problem is how this has been used politically," said Dr. Lynn Goldman, dean of the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University. "I think there has been a deliberate effort to take advantage of that kind of confusion by accusing people of purposely misleading the public and there is no way that that has been happening — it’s not reality."