All doctors can — and should — play a part in challenging pseudoscience, from the small ways such as smiling through the 20th debunk of the day, to doing the “tough forensic work necessary” to expose medical fraud, researchers say.

It is understandable doctors feel tempted to give up in the face of fake health news, such as claims made by Gwyneth Paltrow’s company Goop that vaginas are so ‘unclean’ they require the assistance of a jade egg to aid hygiene.

“However, rather than despairing about the apparent elasticity of inelastic facts, we are issuing a rallying call: it’s time to fight back. It’s time to be superheroes for scientific truth,” says the opinion piece in the BMJ.

“Step one is to engage the public and stat. Get out there and mingle because grumbling at conferences surrounded by like-minded others will not save the day.”