I posted this same article on Facebook and they blocked it saying “False Information Checked by Independent Fact Checkers” ... and when you click through they lead you to this article allegedly exposing the falsehoods:
As for whether it was a Stanford study, I can't find any good evidence that it was. My initial assumption would be that anything published at the US National Library of Medicine (National Institutes of Health) would carry a fair amount of credibility, but I see that it's taken from a publication called "Med Hypotheses", and the title itself contains the qualification "A health hypothesis".
The abstract says, "The current article comprehensively summarizes scientific evidences with respect to wearing facemasks in the COVID-19 era, providing prosper [typo for "proper" --a trivial error, but not a good indication of accuracy] information for public health and decisions making." In other words it's not the result of experiments done by the author at Stanford or anywhere. It's merely the author's opinion of studies done by others.
At the CDC there are contradictory opinions and links to contradictory summaries of studies. I agree that news of this publication shouldn't be suppressed, but see no reason to assume that its conclusions are correct.
FWIW the author is a clinical exercise physiologist, not a medical doctor. That is a PhD, not an MD, though I’d note that increasingly PhDs are if anything the preferred medical research credentials over MDs.
“an expert in or student of the branch of biology that deals with the normal functions of living organisms and their parts.”
“Clinical physiologists are also called physiological scientists, and they work in hospitals and healthcare facilities. Their job involves examining and monitoring physiological organs of the human body to diagnose and offer treatment for physiological disorders and long-term illnesses.”
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. This study is not affiliated with Stanford University, nor does the author work for the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System as he claims. The study presents a hypothesis that includes false claims about the health effects of wearing masks. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to recommend wearing face coverings to reduce the spread of COVID-19, as research shows they can block the transmission of respiratory droplets, which spread the virus.
THE FACTS: Websites and social media users ranging from political candidates to health influencers are falsely claiming a study published on a digital research repository came from Stanford University and proves face masks are ineffective.
In reality, the study is not affiliated with Stanford and is based on debunked claims about face masks, including the false notion that wearing a face covering decreases oxygen levels and increases carbon dioxide levels.
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