The coronavirus conspiracy news cycle

The coronavirus conspiracy news cycle has grown more powerful off of audiences that were already susceptible to misinformation about other health care myths, like anti-vaccination conspiracies.

Driving the news: The latest conspiracy theory — that the virus is a "plandemic" engineered to increase vaccination rates — stems from a documentary-style video featuring a discredited medical researcher that has gone viral.

The video, which continues to be taken down by social media sites, features former researcher and activist Judy Mikovits issuing misinformation like that wearing masks is harmful and that Dr....