Can Consumers Trust You with Their Public Health?

Back in June, I told you that opportunity is knocking for providers to become the most-trusted source of public health information for consumers as the federal government has largely abdicated that role under Cheeto Jesus and his worm-brained HHS secretary.

In fact, you could make a strong case that they’re actively trying to kill us through their antivax rhetoric, fat- and meat-heavy upside down food pyramid, non-existent food safety inspections, the elimination of science, health and medical advisory committees and nixing of medical research grants. But I digress.

A new survey is out that suggests that opportunity is still knocking for providers if they can stop playing footsie with this death cult long enough to take advantage of that opportunity and keep the public safe and as healthy as possible.

The Annenberg Public Policy Center at that University of Pennsylvania conducted the survey. They asked a representative sample of 1,904 U.S. adults age 18 and older about their confidence in various agencies and healthcare industry sectors to disseminate trustworthy public health information. Their choices were the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and their own primary care provider (PCP).

Here’s are the results this year compared with a similar survey that Annenberg conducted in 2024:

• 61% were confident in the CDC, down from 72% in 2024.
• 61% were confident in the NIH, down from 74% in 2024.
• 59% were confident in the FDA, down from 73% in 2024.
• 87% were confident in their PCP, essentially unchanged from 88% in 2024.

“It is concerning to see the gap between confidence in the federal public health agencies and confidence in healthcare providers double over the course of 2025 and not recover since,” said Patrick Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Health and Risk Communication Institute, in a prepared statement.

“It is critical for the public to have a reliable source for healthcare information,” said Ken Winneg, the managing director of survey research at Annenberg in the statement. “So, it’s a relief to see high and consistent trust in their personal healthcare providers.”

Jamieson and Winneg, who I don’t know, are politely saying what I said in June. Cheeto Jesus and Worm Brain have blown up our federal public health agencies, and the private healthcare sector has to pick up the pieces to protect us.

“Most people aren’t stupid. They just need someone smart like a nurse, a doctor or a pharmacist to tell them what they should do,” said me in that earlier blog post.

Building better healthcare starts with knowing who to trust. Providers need to give consumers a reason to trust them on public health issues.