A so-called documentary about COVID-19 vaccines prompted the latest social media effort by physicians to dispel dangerous medical misinformation.
Jonathan Laxton, MD, of the University of Manitoba Max Rady College of Medicine in Winnipeg, is one of those experts leading the effort to set the record straight. He called the claims made in the film -- titled "Died Suddenly" -- "blatant lies."
"My first impression was it's just basically over-the-top lies made to scare people away from getting the COVID-19 vaccine," Laxton told MedPage Today. "I think it's so over-the-top that it actually won't convince anybody who doesn't already believe it."
"Died Suddenly" was simultaneously released on Twitter and Rumble on November 21, and has been viewed more than 12 million times.
It features several embalmers and funeral directors who claim to be coming forward for the first time to share their concerns over supposedly unusual blood clots found in deceased individuals they prepared for burial. But the main individual featured in the film is Ryan Cole, MD, who has a history of promoting false claims about the COVID vaccines and cancer.
Katrine Wallace, PhD, an epidemiologist at the University of Illinois -- Chicago School of Public Health, debunked several of the claims from the film on her social media accounts, where she has become known for her work in pushing back against public health disinformation. She said the film follows a consistent pattern for disinformation campaigns.
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