The U.S. life expectancy is three to five years lower than that of peer countries, and health misinformation may be playing a big role in creating that disparity, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner Robert Califf told CNBC Tuesday. The COVID-19 pandemic, while a contributor, is not the only reason for the gap, Califf said. Instead, the list of known causes of life expectancy disparity is growing, noting that living in a rural area—where people are exposed to different information sources, Robert Califf said—is now the latest factor to make the list, joining race, ethnicity, income and education. “Why aren’t we using medical products as effectively and efficiently as our peer countries? A lot of it has to do with choices that people make because of the things that influenced their thinking,” Califf told the outlet, also calling for greater regulation of misinformation from agencies like the FDA and Federal Trade Commission.
