Doctors Increasingly Addressing Harm from Online Health Misinformation, CMA Survey Finds

Nearly all Canadian physicians have had to intervene to prevent harm or address consequences after patients followed false health information found online, according to a new survey by the Canadian Medical Association (CMA).

The Physician Pulse survey, published Tuesday, reveals that 97 percent of the 645 responding doctors reported having to address harm caused by patients acting on misleading health information, including content generated by artificial intelligence.

“When individuals are unable to access care in a timely fashion, they will go online to seek health information,” Dr. Margot Burnell, medical oncologist and president of the CMA, said in an interview. “We know from previous studies released within the past year that those individuals that follow advice from online sources are at a five-times increased risk of reporting self-harm.”

This troubling trend comes as the vast majority of Canadians turn to the internet for medical guidance. According to the CMA’s 2026 Health and Media Tracking Survey published in February, 89 percent of 5,000 responding Canadians reported going online for health information.

While exposure to false health information has increased across all age groups from 2024 to 2025, the most notable rise was among baby boomers. However, younger Canadians—specifically Generation Z and millennials—are more likely to use AI to diagnose and treat health issues. Google and ChatGPT were identified as the most commonly used platforms for health information.

Dr. Burnell explained that online health searches can sometimes lead patients down dangerous paths. In one case, she noted a family doctor who treated a patient whose skin rash worsened after following online advice to apply a topical steroid cream. In other instances, patients become unnecessarily alarmed about common illnesses when symptoms persist longer than generic online information suggests.

“If they went in and discussed it with their family doctor, who knows the community and has seen lots of individuals, then they may say: ‘No, this particular virus is going around and it tends to last much longer than the typical virus,'” Burnell explained.

The root cause of Canadians’ reliance on online health information appears to be the nationwide shortage of healthcare providers. A CMA study published in January 2025 identified a need for nearly 23,000 more family physicians in Canada—representing a 49 percent increase from current numbers. The shortage extends across healthcare professions, with Canada requiring 14,000 more licensed practical nurses, 2,700 more nurse practitioners, 28,000 more registered nurses, 500 more registered psychiatric nurses, and 2,000 more occupational therapists.

Despite federal, provincial, and territorial health ministers meeting in Calgary in October 2025 to discuss improvements to the healthcare system, the CMA criticized these discussions for missing “an opportunity” to deliver meaningful solutions.

The CMA survey underscores that while Canadians recognize the potential inaccuracy of online health information, most continue to rely on it due to difficulties accessing professional healthcare advice. Long wait times to see specialists and family doctors drive many patients to seek immediate answers online, a situation exacerbated by disconnected healthcare systems and administrative barriers that hinder effective communication between healthcare professionals.

To address these challenges, the CMA and provincial medical associations are meeting with parliamentarians and senators in Ottawa this week to discuss strategies for combating health misinformation. They will also focus on reducing administrative burdens through digital tools, improving access to team-based primary care, supporting Indigenous-led approaches to health equity, and streamlining the licensing process for internationally trained health professionals.

The CMA has already launched its “Healthcare For Real” initiative to make accurate health information more accessible to the public. “There are reputable sources online, but we need to identify those,” Burnell said. “We really need to educate our public, not only about health literacy, but also digital literacy.”

She advises Canadians to carefully scrutinize online health information: “Be very cautious on the information that you’ve obtained, and be curious where that information has come from. Who has put the information online? Are they reputable? Can it be validated? Can you find it in an academic setting?”