Browsing: Trust in Science

With more than 4,400 measles cases in the United States this year, double the number in 2025, public health authorities are desperate to persuade more people to take the virus seriously.

Americans have more trust in science than most of the rest of the world, according to a new survey of people in 140 countries, a finding that may seem difficult to explain in a country deeply divided by issues such as the benefits and harms of vaccines. 

On this week’s episode of “The Readout LOUD”: Why have so many Americans lost trust in science? And how have our policy leaders fueled that mistrust? We speak to STAT’s new trust-in-science reporter Nicholas Florko about the impact of Americans’ growing skepticism of science. 

Public trust in science, and in health institutions in particular, has been in decline for years. 

When health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. talks about the chronic disease epidemic ravaging America’s young, I am one of the people he is speaking about. At 34 years old, I am overweight and already suffering from high cholesterol and high blood pressure. I have ADHD so bad I often forget to brush my teeth…