Sanjay Gupta

After the Los Angeles Times revealed plagiarised passages in David Agus's books written with Kristin Loberg, Sanjay Gupta arranged for his own books on which Loberg had collaborated to be re-examined. He publicly acknowledged that problematic passages had also been found in his titles and apologised for his role; publishers subsequently corrected editions.

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Documented

An online advertising campaign imitated the appearance of a CNN article and falsely claimed that Sanjay Gupta had launched or recommended a brand of CBD gummies. FactCheck.org verified that the website was not a CNN article and that a network spokesperson described the content as completely false.

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Role of the person profiled

Protagonist is the victim

During a three-hour interview with Joe Rogan, Rogan criticised CNN for describing him as having taken a 'horse dewormer' when he had been prescribed a human formulation of ivermectin. Gupta repeatedly replied that CNN 'shouldn't have said that'. The exchange triggered controversy over the accuracy of the network's wording.

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Attribution

Directly implicated

During the Nepal earthquake, Gupta performed emergency neurosurgery while reporting on the disaster for CNN. Media ethics specialists raised questions about patient confidentiality and the risk of a television network turning a medical intervention into promotional material. CNN subsequently had to correct an article that had mistakenly identified another child as the patient who underwent surgery.

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Directly implicated

After writing in 2009 that he would vote against medical marijuana, Gupta publicly changed his position in 2013. He apologised, saying that he had not researched the subject sufficiently, had relied too heavily on certain American publications and had been too dismissive of patients reporting therapeutic benefits.

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Directly implicated

After Barack Obama considered Sanjay Gupta for the position of Surgeon General, several groups and elected officials challenged the choice. Some progressive doctors criticised his views on public healthcare systems; others raised a potential conflict of interest arising from medical programmes in which he had participated and which were partly funded by pharmaceutical companies. Gupta ultimately withdrew his name.

Sanjay Gupta produced a CNN fact-check of Michael Moore's documentary 'Sicko' about healthcare systems. Moore accused Gupta and CNN of using outdated data, presenting certain foreign systems in a biased manner and making errors. During the subsequent televised debate, Gupta notably acknowledged a transcription error concerning healthcare spending in Cuba while maintaining the substance of his analysis.

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Attribution

Directly implicated