On 28 August, LithuaniaBIO will take part in Lithuania’s leading discussion festival, BŪTENT! — and we warmly invite you to join us, listen in, and meet our community in person.

We are hosting the discussion “Health Information Jungle: How to Tell Truth from Myth,” moderated by LithuaniaBIO Executive Director Simona Šimulytė. She will be joined by:

• Aivaras Vilutis – one of Lithuania’s best-known critics of pseudoscience, researching misleading health claims and advertising;
• Tomas Lapinskas – President of the Lithuanian Society of Cardiology and Director for Innovation and Science at the Hospital of LSMU;
• A Nordic expert – bringing consumer-protection and science-communication practice from a country that has already tackled this challenge.

  DATE & VENUE

  📅 28 August 2026, 2:00 PM
  📍 BŪTENT! Discussion Festival — Nordic Council of Ministers’ Office space, Sereikiškės Park / Bernardinai Garden, Vilnius

  What it’s about — and why it matters

  Lithuania spends 21% of its health budget on medicines (the EU average is 13%), yet ranks among the lowest in the EU for avoidable mortality. Between paying and getting better sits a market worth hundreds of billions of euros, and one of its tools is science washing — the misuse of scientific language for marketing.

  “Clinically tested.” “Science-based.” “Studies confirm.” These phrases are often written by lawyers, not scientists. Europe’s food-supplement market is worth €44.5 billion, yet no manufacturer is required to prove that a product actually works. In this discussion, we’ll explore how this works, what the Nordic countries do differently — through regulation, transparency and consumer education — and how each of us can quickly separate fact from fiction.

  You’ll walk away with concrete EU indicators, Nordic solutions that work in practice, 5 red flags to spot pseudoscience in seconds, and even a working prototype of a tool that assesses a health claim in 30 seconds.

  Come and meet us! It’s a great chance not only to follow the discussion, but to connect in person with the LithuaniaBIO team and fellow members. See you on 28 August at 2:00 PM in the Nordic space.