I don't follow your reasoning. People died before seat belts. We have seat belts and they save lives. I publish a paper claiming that seat belts cause lung can

I don't follow your reasoning. People died before seat belts. We have seat belts and they save lives. I publish a paper claiming that seat belts cause lung cancer. Seat belts are withdrawn from cars and people die. If my research was bunk, haven't I just killed a lot of people in the name of public health?