“It’s misinformation and it’s dangerous.”

TikTok

Brittany Hockley and Laura Byrne have been slammed for spreading “dangerous” medical misinformation about toxic shock syndrome on their Life Uncut podcast.

On May 8, the podcast hosts uploaded an episode titled: “I used a tampon correctly, and I ended up losing both of my legs”, featuring model and TSS survivor Lauren Wasser.

However, fans were quick to call out the podcasters for spreading medical misinformation.

Life Uncut hosts Brittany Hockley and Laura Byrne have been slammed for spreading “dangerous” medical misinformation about toxic shock syndrome. Source: TikTok

Life Uncut podcast guest Lauren Wasser claims tampons contain ‘pesticides’ and ‘chemicals’ that ‘can kill you’

In a clip posted to the Life Uncut social media accounts, Lauren told Brittany and Laura about her experience with TSS before claiming that “thousands of women have died” using period products “correctly”.

“All of the name-brand tampons or feminine hygiene products that we have today on the market are full of bleach, dioxin and chlorine,” Lauren claimed. “Even if it says it’s 100 per cent cotton, it’s still sprayed with pesticides.”

She explained that all it takes is one toxin to “get inside your bloodstream” and “start shutting down your organs”, calling period products “lethal” and “dangerous”.

“It’s my goal to make sure that not only is this information out there, but women have these conversations amongst each other. Because knowledge is key,” she finished.

Podcast guest Lauren Wasser claimed that tampons contain deadly chemicals. Source: TikTok

Fans urge Life Uncut to take their ‘fake news’ episode with Lauren Wasser down

Fans rushed to the comments section, urging the hosts to take the clip and the episode down because it was factually incorrect.

“Women need to know that tampons absolutely don’t contain pesticides,” one user wrote. “Take this down. Get the facts without the made-up nonsense.”

Another user asserted that the podcast duo were spreading “fake news”.

“TSS is NOT caused by pesticides in tampons. Take this down. It’s dangerous and wrong.”

Another user called Brittany and Laura “terrible people” for keeping the video up, writing, “Guess you need that money bad.”

A fourth added: “Posting that there are pesticides in tampons is a lawsuit waiting to happen. Good luck. I hope you’ve done the research to back up this claim.”

A number of listeners also informed the pair that TSS is caused by “bacteria”, not “products.”

According to Mayo Clinic, toxic shock syndrome (TSS) is a “rare, life-threatening complication of certain types of bacterial infections”.

It can be caused by skin wounds, surgery, and the use of tampons and other devices, such as menstrual cups and diaphragms.

Dr Michael Mrozinski calls out Life Uncut podcast for spreading medical ‘misinformation’ and not removing the episode

Dr Michael Mrozinski took to TikTok on May 20 (12 days after the episode went live) to call the former Bachelor stars out for spreading misinformation about TSS on their podcast and not removing the episode and social media clips.

“I’m actually really disappointed at Life Uncut podcast, because I’ve got quite a few mutual friends of the show and the producer,” he started.

He then urged the duo to take the episode down, which they hadn’t done at the time.

“It’s misinformation and it’s dangerous,” he told his followers. “Don’t get me wrong. It’s a very sad story. A lady had toxic shock syndrome from a tampon, which is very rare, but it does happen.”

He then explained exactly how TSS works, stating that it’s not caused by “what’s in tampons”.

“Toxic shock syndrome is a form of sepsis, in response to the toxins usually from staph or strep bacteria,” he said.

“When you have a period or particularly heavy periods and use a tampon, there’s a higher risk of some of the toxins being reabsorbed. So changing tampons regularly reduces that risk.”

He then stated that Lauren’s claim that TSS is “caused by chemicals and pesticides in tampons” is “absolute nonsense”.

“You can actually get it from lots of other different causes. And it’s not caused by what’s in tampons. That’s a dangerous message to send out,” he asserted.

Dr Michael accuses Brittany Hockley and Laura Byrne of spreading ‘misinformation’ for ‘publicity’

He then accused Brittany and Laura of favouring their ratings over their responsibility to publish correct information. He pointed out that they are yet to delete their clip on TikTok despite receiving a tonne of comments and messages from concerned fans.

“Your views haven’t been very good, but this one got millions of views. I can see why you want to keep it up.

“It was good publicity for you. But it’s misinformation, and it shows you that misinformation on social media spreads so much faster than the truth.”

He then claimed that he’d reached out to the hosts on Instagram, offering them a gynaecologist or a microbiologist who could speak more about TSS on their podcast. However, they “ignored” his offer.

“If you want to do a podcast on that topic, you should start with speaking to some experts and getting the opinions of the medical professionals, instead of promoting misinformation. Do better,” he finished.