Unfortunately, there is a long history of using / hiring medical people with letters after their name, not as 'experts' per se, but as ADVOCATES for some product or cause under the guise of being an 'expert'. Nothing particularly new under the sun here.
An advocate is a paid shill, just as professional athletes are paid shills for endorsing a particular brand of sneakers.
It is critical to understand where the funding for a given 'expert' is coming from, and to understand that the 'expert' DOES need to continually justify their existence (or else, they, AND the funding go away). The time has come, though, for people operating under and publicizing medical or scientific credentials as part of their statements and opinions to be held to a much higher standard, under LAW, than athletes advocating for a pair of sneakers. Medicine and science are simply too important, with the health and lives of untold numbers of people at stake.
There have been medical 'quacks' and snake-oil salesmen for as long as there have been ailments. But one operating under the umbrella of medicine or science should be held fully accountable for the information that they spew.
