The Dark Side of Health Misinformation: How Desperate People Get Exploited with Hannah McElhinney

In this powerful conversation, Osher Gunsberg sits down with journalist and author Hannah McElhinney to explore the complex world of chronic illness, medical misinformation, and what can happen when people lose trust in the systems designed to help them.

Hannah shares the deeply personal story that inspired her latest book - the loss of her cousin Lauren, and the journey to understand how someone searching for answers to chronic pain and illness could become drawn into alternative treatments, online health communities, and misinformation.

Having had his own experience with chronic pain, Osher and Hannah unpack the desperation that drives some people to seek out alternative solutions, the need to feel heard, and the longing for a diagnosis or treatment when conventional medicine doesn’t have easy answers. They also discuss health anxiety, patient mistrust, medical misogyny, systemic failures within healthcare systems, and how vulnerable people can be exploited by those offering certainty and “miracle” cures.

Hannah and Osher also explore why empathy matters when talking about health misinformation — and why understanding someone’s experience is often the first step toward actually helping them find their way back to evidence-based care.

LINKS

• Hannah's book 'Wormhole' is available now
• Follow Hannah (@hannahemcelhinney) on Instagram
• Watch Osher's documentary 'A World Of Pain' on SBS On Demand
• Sign up to the Better Than Yesterday newsletter
• Watch episodes of Better Than Yesterday on YouTube
• Watch full stories recorded live at Story Club on YouTube
• Get tickets for our next Story Club show
• Get Osher's latest book "So What? Now What?" here
• Send a pic of what you're looking at to sendosheremail@gmail.com

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