Mitigating Misinformation and Changing the Narrative: Allergies in the Media

Refer a patient to Children’s Colorado.

Facts and fiction can overlap in movies and television. That’s especially prevalent in medical dramas where the details seem so real but often don’t portray the full picture. While the intention may be to create powerful entertainment, sometimes a storyline can misinform the viewer. Unrealistic circumstances, exaggerated outcomes and the bending of scientific truth create confusion. When it comes to food allergies, how a situation is handled can be the difference between a routine medical occurrence and a lifesaving episode. 

Listen to our pediatric experts discuss asthma and allergy misconceptions in the media

In this episode, David Stukus, MD, and Vivian Hernandez-Trujillo, MD, join us for a conversation about asthma and food allergies and how portrayals in the media landscape can impact patient families in the medical community.

Dr. Stukus, also known as the allergy kids doc, is the director of the Food Allergy Treatment Center at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. He is also a professor of clinical pediatrics in the division of allergy and immunology.  

Dr. Hernandez-Trujillo is the director of the Division of Allergy and Immunology at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital and a clinical professor of pediatrics at Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine.  

In this episode, our experts discuss:  

• Asthma and food allergy misconceptions in the media 
• Guidelines for albuterol inhalers and spacers 
• Smart therapy and using inhalers as relievers instead of emergency devices 
• The narrative around nut allergies 
• Stigma around allergies and changing how they're portrayed