GPs Sound Alarm as Medical Misinformation Reaches Critical Levels on Social Media

General practitioners across Australia are increasingly dedicating consultation time to combating medical misinformation as patients arrive with questionable health advice found online, according to medical professionals.

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) has joined forces with other leading health organizations to issue urgent warnings about the proliferation of inaccurate and potentially dangerous medical information circulating on social media platforms.

“For as long as we can remember, patients have come in seeking advice about conditions, and the internet has certainly democratised access to information,” RACGP President Dr. Michael Wright told newsGP. “But now we’re overwhelmed with information and increasingly patients are coming in wanting to understand what’s true, what’s not, what’s real.”

Dr. Wright emphasized that GPs have historically excelled at evaluating information and guiding patients through medical decisions—a skill he says is “going to be more important than ever” as medical misinformation continues to flourish online.

The challenge has been highlighted by a recent University of Sydney study that analyzed nearly 1,000 Instagram and TikTok posts about medical screening tests. The research revealed deeply concerning patterns: 68% of influencers promoting these tests had financial interests at stake, while only 15% of posts mentioned potential harms, and a mere 6% discussed scientific evidence or risks of overdiagnosis and overtreatment.

These posts reached an estimated audience of 200 million followers, underscoring the massive scale of the problem.

“Given that social media platforms like Instagram are moving away from fact-checking their content, the need for stronger regulation to prevent misleading medical information has gained urgency,” warned research co-author Dr. Josh Zadro.

The impact is being felt directly in consultation rooms. Dr. Preeya Alexander, a GP focused on countering medical misinformation, reports frequent encounters with patients bringing social media health advice to appointments.

“I’ve had a lot of questions about specific diets for their health condition, the thyroid diet, the diet for whatever it is that’s being sold to them, supplements, people will tell me, ‘I’ve seen this on TikTok, what do you think?'” she explained.

While Dr. Alexander appreciates when patients openly discuss content they’ve encountered online, she worries about those who don’t seek professional guidance. “I think if you’re a GP or a health professional sitting in a consulting room and you don’t know what your patients are seeing and they’re not asking you, holy moly you’d have your eyes opened,” she said.

The problem extends beyond traditional social media. Last month, ChatGPT Health launched in Australia, claiming to help patients “take a more active role in understanding and managing their health and wellness”—a development that has received mixed reactions from medical professionals concerned about the accuracy of AI-generated health information.

Young Australians are particularly vulnerable. A survey by The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne found 63% of teenagers get health information from social media, primarily about fitness and diet. Alarmingly, more than three-quarters of both teenagers and their parents admitted difficulty distinguishing between true and false information online.

“Few young people are regularly in contact with healthcare professionals who can be regarded as a trusted source of health information,” the report concluded.

The sophistication of misleading content has reached new heights, making detection increasingly difficult. Dr. Alexander admits that even with her medical training and expertise, she sometimes struggles to identify well-packaged but inaccurate information.

“Even with all my knowledge, and my medical degree, and my training, I actually find it quite difficult sometimes to spot really well-packaged, inaccurate information, and that’s quite scary,” she said.

As misinformation becomes more sophisticated and widespread, doctors stress the importance of directing patients to reliable sources and fostering open conversations about online health content. The RACGP continues to advocate for improved digital health literacy and greater regulatory oversight of medical content on social platforms.