The disinformation playbook problems of US healthcare – Grant 2025, 2017
Disinformation Playbook Charts - Union of Concerned Scientists - 2017
Vitamin D Research, Disinformation playbook against vitamin D, MAHA hope - Grant March 2025
GLASP AI Summary
(00:01-01:31) Dr. William B. Grant, PhD in physics with a 30-year atmospheric sciences career, founded the Sunlight Nutrition and Health Research Center in 2004 after studying UVB radiation and vitamin D since 1999.
(01:31-04:52) Big Pharma utilizes the "disinformation playbook" against vitamin D because it reduces their income, including tactics like counterfeit science, harassing scientists, manufacturing uncertainty, buying credibility through alliances, and manipulating government officials.
(07:30-10:24) Competing vitamin D recommendations exist: The 2011 Institute of Medicine recommends 20 ng/ml focusing only on bone health, while the Endocrine Society recommends above 30 ng/ml, with a new 2024 Endocrine Society committee controversially recommending supplements only for ages 1-18 and over 75.
(10:24-14:06) Most "mega trials" of vitamin D are improperly designed based on pharmaceutical drug guidelines rather than nutrient needs (allowing placebo groups to take supplements, enrolling non-deficient individuals, using low supplement doses, not analyzing by achieved blood levels).
(16:12-21:20) Analysis of prospective cohort studies shows vitamin D concentrations above 30 ng/ml significantly reduce risk of stroke (60%), cardiovascular disease (55%), dementia (50%), and 8 of the 10 leading causes of death in the US, with benefits most evident when follow-up periods are shorter.
(23:43-27:34) Seasonal variations show 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels drop in winter when mortality increases by 30%, with a newly discovered mechanism showing vitamin D accumulates in skeletal muscle cells providing functional storage during winter months.
(27:34-29:05) A recent analysis shows vitamin D supplementation reduced COVID-19 incidence by 60% in randomized trials, by 41% in analytical studies, and ICU admission by 68%, supporting Dr. Grant's early 2020 paper proposing vitamin D's role in reducing COVID risk.
(29:05-31:21) With new leadership at the CDC, FDA, and NIH in 2025, there's hope for greater acceptance of vitamin D supplementation for reducing infectious and chronic diseases, though proper study design for nutrients (restricting to deficient subjects and analyzing by achieved levels) remains critical.
The problems with healthcare in the U.S. - Grant 2017
By William B. Grant, PhD.
Elisabeth Rosenthal, MD, spoke at the Commonwealth Club on December 13, 2017.
Her new book is An American Sickness; How healthcare became big business and how you can take it back . Penguin Press, 2017.
Her main message is that healthcare in the U.S. has morphed from one based on care to one based on business principles of maximizing income and profit. She gave examples of receiving emergency care in other countries for a fraction of what similar care would cost in the U.S.
She also discussed how the healthcare industry has gamed the system, such as by obtaining patents for drugs that slightly extend the capabilities of existing drugs. Turns out that drug approvals by the FDA only consider effectiveness and safety, not cost or comparison with other drugs or approaches. An example she gave was Vanda's new sleep drug, which is just a modified form of melatonin, but is very expensive. (see below).
She also pointed out that insurance companies do not contest charges although they may negotiate them down. One reason they give is that to contest them, they may have to go to court. Another reason is that if the charge is from a large hospital or treatment system, they do not want to anger them and lose their business. Also, insurance companies know they can pass on the costs to the insured.
Not mentioned by her but discussed with another member of the audience is that physicians only recommend standard treatments . In his case, he was diagnosed with 80% arterial blockage and underwent triple bypass surgery at Stanford Medical Hospital. The bill was $500k, which the insurance company "negotiated down" to $300k. However, Dean Ornish, Caldwell Esselstyn, John McDougall, and others have shown that switching to a low-fat vegan diet can clear blocked arteries quickly and without surgery or a large pile of money.
The Disinformation Playbook
Vitamin D does not fit into the business model of health care in the U.S. I recently heard a program at the Commonwealth Club on how tobacco and oil and coal interests and the National Football League cast doubt on evidence that their product was causing great harm. They all followed The Disinformation Playbook Union of Concerned Scientists – Dec 2017
1) The Fake
Conduct counterfeit science and try to pass it off as legitimate research
Examples
How Georgia-Pacific Knowingly Published Fake Science on the Safety of Asbestos
Industry Groups Used Cherry-Picked Science to Avoid Regulation of Chromium
Merck Manipulated the Science about the Drug Vioxx
Fossil Fuel Companies Distorted the Science about the Dangers of Benzene
2) The Blitz
Harass scientists who speak out with results or views inconvenient for industry
Examples
The NFL Tried to Intimidate Scientists Studying the Link between Pro Football and Traumatic Brain Injury
Syngenta Harassed the Scientist Who Exposed Risks of its Herbicide Atrazine
How the Fossil Fuel Industry Harassed Climate Scientist Michael Mann
GlaxoSmithKline Tried to Silence the Scientist Who Exposed the Dangers of its Drug Avand
3) The Diversion
Manufacture uncertainty about science where little or none exists
Examples
How Fossil Fuel Lobbyists Used “Astroturf” Front Groups to Confuse the Public
The Corn Refiners Association Used Front Groups to Spread Disinformation about Sugar and Health
The Indoor Tanning Association Used Misleading Ad Campaigns to Distort Skin Cancer Science
How the American Chemistry Council Sowed Uncertainty about Formaldehyde Risks
4) The Screen
Buy credibility through alliances with academia or professional societies
Examples
How Coca-Cola Disguised Its Influence on Science about Sugar and Health
The Fossil Fuel Industry Hid the Truth about Its Funding of Fracking Research
Philip Morris Funds University Research—with Strings Attached
The Case of ExxonMobil and the American Geophysical Union
5) The Fix
Manipulate government officials or processes to inappropriately influence policy
Examples
How Dow Chemical Influenced the EPA to Ignore the Scientific Evidence on Chlorpyrifos * *
Pfizer Pressured the FDA to Downplay the Risks of Its Arsenical Animal Drug
How the NRA Suppressed Gun Violence Research
BP and Other Companies Exploited a Regulatory Agency to Continue Negligent Offshore Drilling
I looked at the evidence to see whether that is being done for vitamin D and the answer is an emphatic yes.
Vanda's Sleep Disorder Drug Is A Nightmare - TheStreet – June 2013
https://www.thestreet.com/story/.../1/vandas-sleep-disorder-drug-is-a-nightmare.html
Jun 19, 2013 - Vanda's Sleep Disorder Drug Is A Nightmare. ... Tasimelteon belongs to the melatonin family of compounds which helps regulate the 24-hour sleep-wake cycle, also known as circadian rhythm.
Why a drug maker is spending big on TV ads aimed at the blind - May 2016
https://www.statnews.com/2016/05/04/sleep-drug-blind-advertising/
May 4, 2016 - Vanda's drug, sold as Hetlioz, costs $148,000 a year, 76 percent more than when it was first introduced in 2014, according to the research firm Truven ... Non-24 sleep-wake disorder 5, often called “non-24,” is a circadian rhythm disorder in which the body clock is out of sync 6 with the 24-hour cycle of night ...
Non-24-Hour Sleep-Wake Disorder - VANDA Pharmaceuticals
www.vandapharma.com/non24.html
A misalignment between an individual's body clock and their sleep-wake schedule may result in a Circadian Rhythm Sleep Disorder (CRSD). Examples of CRSDs include Shift Work Sleep Disorder, Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder, Jet Lag, and Non-24-Hour Sleep-Wake Disorder.
Henry Lahore, founder of VitaminDWiki, sees 3) The Diversion, frequently
Vitamin D Studies which appear to intentionally confuse the public are frequently wrong - in 5 to 12 ways
I was confused about net neutrality - then found that was confusion was strategy of the lobbyists
The Global Disinformation Campaign Against Ivermectin - The "Blitz"
Pierre Kory substack Nov 7, 2022
Ivermectin pages on VitaminDWiki: Ivermectin and COVID-19 - many studies
See also web
The disinformation playbook: how industry manipulates the science-policy process—and how to restore scientific integrity - December 2021 FREE PDF
COVID-19 Disinformation How to Spot It—and Stop It Union of Concerned Scientists Feb 2021 FREE PDF