Health misinformation is lowering U.S. life expectancy, FDA Commissioner Robert Califf says

Life expectancy in the U.S. is between three and five years lower than the average in other high-income countries — and the gap comes in part from misinformation, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf said.

“It’s looking worse, not better, over the last several years,” Califf told CNBC in an interview Thursday at the agency’s headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland.

It’s not just the Covid pandemic contributing to the decline, he said, pointing out the gap with peer nations is widening. Califf said a new factor has joined...