People think that, because sooner or later they end up meeting someone who spent 5 years in medical school, plus an internship, plus got a masters degree, plus a specialty... yet is still cocky, jumps to conclusions, and refuses to admit being wrong.

That gives people with no clue, the idea that they can be more educated than all medical staff and all scientists. Then shit happens.

Unfortunately it's a bit more complicated. In France a famous (now more like infamous) virologist, head of an immunology institute, has defended hydroxychloroquin for months, calling COVID-19 a small flu with negligible mortality on all media. Initially as a call to do more experimental medical studies, but he kept at it long after everything he said was disproved by the academic world in general.

He manipulated studies, he put all of his experience, reputation, and inflated ego in the balance, and he acted as a beacon for all conspiracy theories on vaccines, masks and lockdown measures. He even started selling his bullshit in Africa when he was largely exposed as a fraud in France.

That guy alone is responsible for a lot of deaths, and he didn't just spend 5 years in medical school, he directed a medical research institute.

I huess you need to add the amount of false science to things as an excuse.

Exxon for example spent millions on climate research. And were the first to discover global warming evidence.

But after a change of leadership spent billions on false or questionable science to argue against man made and every other excuse about the evidence.

Plastics is another that did a huge amount of damage to the laymans intrepretation of science.

Plus many many more over the last 4 or 5 decades.

Hard to blame lay men for thinking science is often about the highest bidder rather then formal methods.

It doesn't help when you have people that Supposedly went to Harvard spouting out BS misinformation.