I think pilots lie to doctors every day. And the NASA culture treated astronauts as their cash-cow celebrities and protected them.
They got away with plenty. I find the story credible.
I think some people believe what they want because it suits their strong biases, regardless of total lack of evidences.
I find THAT credible.
Yeah, pilots don’t lie to doctors to protect their hobbies...and astronauts would never lie to their flight surgeons to protect their shot at a mission...and MC fanboys would never protect their Hero from dissappointment...