I don't know if it's fair to pin it on the doctor...
I mean, do you honestly think that was the complete information that she gave? I would expect it probably went more like:
"Hi, I'm Dave from The Sun, have you got a minute to answer some questions on blood pressure?"
"Sure."
"If someone had a heart rate of 85 could it cause problems?"
"Not necessarily, it would be considered high if that was their resting rate, but other than that it would have to be raised to that level for very long periods of time before it would cause any form of circulatory problems."
"Thanks"
See what I did?
I think it's prudent for experts to never talk to such trash, but some of them probably:
a) could do with some easy cash to answer a few questions
b) naive and honestly think their views will be used fairly, and see something stupid and want to discredit it
The real fault lies with the shoddy reporting (and the fact that nowhere near enough is made of it) which could probably be quite damaging to the careers of some well-meaning people.