Trust in Science and Medicine? P4
Fall 2025
Photo / Image Source: Unsplash,
Surveys of shifting U.S. attitudes reveal concerning trends — and some surprises
After all the work you’ve done with the Civic Health and Institutions Project, do you think there is a crisis of public trust in science and medicine?
I’m not sure it’s just a crisis of trust in science and medicine. It’s a crisis of trust in institutions more generally. What we found during the pandemic was that levels of trust in institutions overall declined after some initial increases very early on. Still, most people trust hospitals and physicians more than almost any other institution.
But it is disconcerting, especially as a doctor myself, to see how much trust has declined. I think that is in large part a result of the spread of misinformation during the pandemic. There has been a concerted effort to cause people not to trust science and not to trust medicine. It has undermined people’s willingness to go along with public health recommendations, for example, and we’ll be living with the consequences of that for many years to come.
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