Misinformation Will Be A Public Health Crisis In Milwaukee County Resolution

MILWAUKEE, WI — Health misinformation would be declared a public health crisis under a resolution introduced by Milwaukee County Supervisor Sheldon Wasserman on Monday.

The resolution would ask the county to work with state and local public health agencies to build resilience to misinformation spread online and to release timely and accurate health information digitally, in print and in person, the resolution said.

Wasserman, who is also an obstetrician and gynecologist at Ascension Columbia St. Mary's in Milwaukee, told Patch that he was frustrated after hearing patients repeat misinformation spread online about the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccines.

One nurse we worked with left the job over a vaccine mandate, and one patient denied that their stepfather had died of COVID-19 despite what doctors told them, he said. Another patient said they had heard a claim that the virus was introduced to the U.S. by China in order to destroy former president Donald Trump.

The resolution would be a first step to identifying misinformation as a problem and finding further solutions to it, Wasserman added. The county would have a role to send a message and make people more aware about the effects of misinformation.

"COVID-19 denial has brought a fringe element of health to the mainstream with devastating consequences," Wasserman said. "If we talk about this and share this, a few people might listen, get their shots and live."

As an obstetrician, Wasserman said he has seen pregnant women and babies suffer severe effects due to the disease. Some of COVID-19's effects on these groups were premature birth and death, he added.

Both the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine endorse COVID-19 vaccines for people who are pregnant and lactating.

The county would partner with local health officials to fight misinformation.

The resolution was expected to come before the Health Equity, Human Needs and Strategic Planning Committee at its Dec. 8 meeting.

If the resolution passes, Milwaukee County would join San Diego County among the first local governments to declare medical misinformation a public health crisis. The San Diego County Board of Supervisors made its declaration in the summer.