73. How to Spot Medical Misinformation: Guest Interview on The Sick Times

Subscribe to the Long Covid, MD newsletter for more long COVID content. Voiceover is available for every newsletter on the Substack app. Evaluating Long COVID Research, Treatments, and Medical Misinformation.  Today's episode is a cross-post from The Sick Times' podcast "Still Here."  In my conversation with hosts and journalists Miles Griffis and Betsy Ladyzhets, we discuss ways people with long COVID can better judge research, treatments, and online claims without getting overwhelmed by hype or pseudoscience. I also explain my approach to reading studies, thinking through off-label treatments, and spotting red flags in medical content. Timestamps 00:00 - Opening and why this episode matters for the long COVID community  02:35 - Dr. Khan introduces herself and her path from ICU physician to long COVID patient  04:41 - Why long COVID care still falls short and medicine has not caught up  08:28 - How off-label treatments work and how patients can think about them  12:28 - Dr. Khan’s process for reading a clinical trial or research paper  17:12 - How to bring research to a clinician without getting dismissed  20:48 - Choosing between sequential treatment and trying multiple interventions at once  24:20 - Triaging the most painful problem first in a complex illness  26:31 - Why long COVID care feels overwhelming and why prioritization helps  27:01 - Spotting pseudoscience and misinformation in long COVID content  30:06 - Red flags: certainty, conspiracies, “root cause” language, and brain retraining claims  33:22 - Staying hopeful and remembering long COVID patients are not alone  34:35 - Research update: skeletal muscle abnormalities in long COVID and ME  35:15 - Research update: large genetic study links fibromyalgia to the central nervous system  36:01 - Research update: racial disparities in long COVID diagnosis  36:48 - Credits and closing Support the show Sign up for the free Long Covid, MD newsletter for more science, validation, and strategies to regain your health.