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How COVID’s deadly conspiracy theories cost one woman her life | NPR

Laurie’s mother, Stephanie, 75, died of COVID-19 in December. “I don’t believe she was supposed to die,” Laurie says. “I blame the misinformation.” Stephanie had been wrapped up in a world of conspiracy theories online, which led her to refuse treatments for COVID.

Laurie’s mother, Stephanie, 75, died of COVID-19 in December. “I don’t believe she was supposed to die,” Laurie says. “I blame the misinformation.” Stephanie had been wrapped up in a world of conspiracy theories online, which led her to refuse treatments for COVID.

One thing everyone agrees on is that Stephanie didn’t have to die. Even months after it happened, her family is struggling to figure out why.

“There is no perfect puzzle piece,” says Stephanie’s daughter Laurie. “I literally go through this all the time.”

Stephanie was 75 when she succumbed to COVID-19 this past December. But Laurie says it wasn’t just COVID that killed her mother. In the years leading up to her death, Stephanie had become embroiled in conspiracy theories. Her belief in those far-out ideas caused her to avoid vaccination and led her to delay and even refuse some of the most effective treatments after she got sick.

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Source: How COVID’s deadly conspiracy theories cost one woman her life | NPR