Reimagining the Role of Communication in Medical Consensus to Address Medical Mistrust and Disinformation

Medical consensus is a critical element in deriving and substantiating evidence-based approaches to guide patient communication and care delivery. However, in recent years, mistrust in medicine—and in science more broadly—has deepened, driven in part by the recent politicization of public health guidance and the spread of disinformation, as well as by historically siloed and opaque public engagement practices. There has been limited critical analysis of the social processes that shape medical consensus and how these processes intersect with contemporary public attitudes and guideline adherence. Here, we discuss the intricate sociological history of medical consensus-making and its broad and deepening challenges. We further propose pathways toward more inclusive, transparent, and effective consensus-building practices, providing recommendations for a new Public Medicine Consensus framework.