“Broken Trust: What COVID Did to American Medicine”

<p>In Part One of our COVID series, <em>Broken Trust</em>, we examine how confidence in doctors, hospitals, vaccines, and public-health agencies began to fracture. Were people reacting to changing science, poor communication, real adverse events, personal loss or something deeper?</p><p>Years later, the questions remain.</p><p>What happened to our trust in medicine… and can it ever be restored?</p><p>Sources </p><ul><li><strong>Perlis et al., </strong><em><strong>JAMA Network Open</strong></em><strong> (2024), “Trust in Physicians and Hospitals During the COVID-19 Pandemic in a 50-State Survey of US Adults.”</strong> The study included 443,455 unique respondents and found the share reporting “a lot” of trust fell from 71.5% in April 2020 to 40.1% in January 2024. <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2821693?utm_source=chatgpt.com" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">JAMA Network</a> <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2821693?utm_source=chatgpt.com" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">JAMA study</a></li><li><strong>FDA, June 25, 2025, updated myocarditis/pericarditis warning.</strong> FDA estimated about 8 cases per million doses among ages 6 months–64 and about 27 per million among males 12–24 during days 1–7 after a 2023–24 mRNA dose. FDA also says the significance of persistent MRI abnormalities in some patients is not yet known. <a href="https://www.fda.gov/vaccines-blood-biologics/safety-availability-biologics/fda-approves-required-updated-warning-labeling-mrna-covid-19-vaccines-regarding-myocarditis-and?hl=en-US" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">U.S. Food and Drug Administration</a> <a href="https://www.fda.gov/vaccines-blood-biologics/safety-availability-biologics/fda-approves-required-updated-warning-labeling-mrna-covid-19-vaccines-regarding-myocarditis-and?utm_source=chatgpt.com" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">FDA safety communication</a></li><li><strong>CDC Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System.</strong> CDC explicitly states that VAERS is an early-warning system and that a report does not establish that a vaccine caused the reported condition. <a href="https://cdc.gov/vaccine-safety-systems/vaers/?utm_source=chatgpt.com" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">CDC</a> <a href="https://cdc.gov/vaccine-safety-systems/vaers/?utm_source=chatgpt.com" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">CDC VAERS explanation</a></li><li><