Twitter adds 'unsafe' label to disputed research alleging potential heart risks of COVID vaccine

Twitter this week ignited controversy when it slapped an "unsafe" label on a research abstract regarding potential heart effects arising from the use of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines. 

The abstract in question, "Mrna COVID Vaccines Dramatically Increase Endothelial Inflammatory Markers and ACS Risk as Measured by the PULS Cardiac Test: a Warning," claims that research suggests those vaccines "dramatically increase inflammation on the endothelium and T cell infiltration of cardiac muscle" and that the purported side effects "may account for the observations of increased thrombosis, cardiomyopathy, and other vascular events following vaccination."

The abstract, published in the American Heart Association-affiliated journal Circulation, drew an "expression of concern" from the AHA's Committee on Scientific Sessions Program. That statement claimed that, within the article, "there are several typographical errors, there is no data in the abstract regarding myocardial T-cell infiltration, there are no statistical analyses for significance provided, and the author is not clear that only anecdotal data was used."

Twitter subsequently applied the "unsafe" warning to the original article, with users who click through to the abstract being told that the research "could" constitute, among other potential categories, "violent or misleading content that could lead to real-world harm."

The original abstract was published by controversial American cardiac surgeon Steven Gundry, who has been criticized for his theories on the link between heart inflammation and lectins.