When “Experts” Spread Disinformation
Scroll through Instagram for five minutes and you’ll quickly stumble upon someone selling certainty. Often, they come wrapped in credentials: MD, PhD, CEO. They present themselves as truth-tellers the mainstream is ignoring. And with hundreds of thousands of followers, their words carry weight regardless of whether those words are rooted in fact.
Recently, i came across a post from a self-branded doctor with 116,000 followers making the claim that the CDC is being sued for “pushing an untested 72-dose vaccine schedule on American children.” The post frames this as proof of government corruption, public health negligence, and even as the root cause of skyrocketing autoimmunity.
It sounds dramatic. It’s designed to. But when you peel back the layers, you find an all too familiar story, cherry-picked information, misleading framing, and a call to action designed not to protect your health but to capture your attention and, ultimately, your wallet.
Breaking Down the Claims
Let’s analyze the key points made in this post:
Claim 1: “The CDC is being sued for pushing an untested 72-dose vaccine schedule on children.”
Misleading framing. Vaccines are tested individually (and in combinations) for safety and efficacy before approval by the FDA, not the CDC. The “entire schedule” isn’t tested as a single package, but post-marketing surveillance systems track safety across the schedule in real time. Calling the schedule “untested” is a distortion.
Claim 2: “The full schedule has never been tested for cumulative safety.”
Technically true, but context matters. Large-scale epidemiological studies have consistently found no causal link between vaccines and chronic illness. So while the entire schedule isn’t tested in a single randomized trial (logistically impossible), cumulative safety is monitored and studied continuously.
Claim 3: “The Institute of Medicine warned in 2002 and 2013 to test the schedule.”
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) did recommend more research. But it also concluded there’s no evidence the schedule is unsafe. Selectively quoting the IOM to imply the opposite is intellectual dishonesty.
Claim 4: “Federal law requires HHS to file safety reports every 2 years. None have been filed since 1998.”
This is a misleading legal technicality. While one reporting mechanism lapsed, multiple other systems have been actively monitoring vaccine safety including the Vaccine Safety Datalink, Clinical Immunization Safety Assessment (CISA), and more. To suggest vaccines are “unmonitored” is flatly false.
Claim 5: “Autoimmunity is exploding because of vaccines.”
There’s no scientific evidence to support this. Autoimmune diseases are influenced by genetics, environment, lifestyle, and improved diagnostics. Pointing to vaccines as the sole culprit is not science, it’s speculation presented as fact.
What’s Really Going On
When you strip away the rhetoric, what’s left is a sales funnel. After a series of scary claims, the post ends with:
“Comment AUTO and I’ll send you my Autoimmunity Recovery Framework.”
This is not a neutral public service announcement, it’s a marketing strategy. Fear creates engagement. Engagement grows followers. Followers become leads. And leads turn into buyers.
This isn’t unique to one person. It’s part of a larger disinformation economy where algorithms reward controversy, not accuracy. The more outrageous the claim, the further it spreads.
Why This Matters
The problem isn’t just that one doctor misrepresents the data. The problem is trust. When self-branded experts spread misleading claims under the guise of medical authority, they erode public confidence in legitimate science and healthcare.
And when public trust is weakened, real harm follows. Parents delay or refuse vaccines. People waste money on unproven “frameworks” instead of effective treatment. Communities become more vulnerable to preventable diseases.
A Call for Critical Thinking
i’m not asking anyone to blindly trust institutions. Healthy skepticism is important. But skepticism without discernment turns into cynicism and cynicism is the oxygen that fuels disinformation.
So here’s the takeaway:
Check sources. If a post makes sweeping claims without citations, be cautious.
Follow the incentives. Is the author educating you, or funneling you into a product?
Demand transparency. Real experts cite studies, provide data, and acknowledge uncertainty.
This post really isn’t about vaccines. It’s about learning to spot when fear is being used as a business model and refusing to let disinformation masquerade as expertise.
