DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson may very well wish he had never opened his mouth to claim Brexit's Northern Ireland Protocol caused delays in heart surgery.
For his allegation that cardiac operations were postponed because equipment had to be sourced from outside the UK due to the trading arrangements has spectacularly backfired.
As the old adage goes, if you're explaining - you're losing.
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While Sir Jeffrey has doubled down saying he stands by his assertions, two health trusts and the supplier of the equipment have all dismissed his claims.
It places the DUP in the uncomfortable position of appearing at odds with the stance of the public health service itself.
And the failure to corroborate claims he said came from "sources from within the medical profession" has been an open goal for political opponents to accuse the DUP of spreading misinformation.
It has also enabled Stormont rivals to shine a spotlight once more on past debunked DUP claims about the protocol.
Sir Jeffrey's claim during a TV debate that consumers in Northern Ireland pay "4% more per item" than in Great Britain was found to be incorrect by a fact-checking group.
FactCheck NI said that while some of his stats on individual items were supported, the Kantar analysis he cited actually found that grocery prices in Great Britain were on average 8% higher than in Northern Ireland.
"Cherry picking facts to suit a narrative is one of the mainstays of the modern age of mis- and dis-information. Rarely, however, is it quite this brazen," it concluded in June.
The group also found a claim by DUP MP Ian Paisley that the protocol was "adding 27% additional costs to everything in Northern Ireland" was not supported by evidence.
While it may be inconvenient for parties seeking to pitch a singular narrative to voters, the truth about the protocol is that it's complicated.
There will inevitably be winners and losers, with the retention of an open border with the Irish Republic a boon for some industries and others more adversely affected by increased red tape on goods moving from Great Britain.
A mix of factors - from the hangover of the Covid-19 pandemic to rising inflation rates and the war in Ukraine - also make it difficult to examine the protocol in isolation on issues such as the cost-of-living crisis.
On BBC Radio Ulster's Talkback programme, Roger Pollen of the Federation of Small Businesses in Northern Ireland told how a tractor importer had initially blamed increased costs on the protocol.
He added: "But then when we pushed a bit further he said, well yes, there would be fuel increased costs for the haulier to bring that in et cetera."
Mr Pollen said it was therefore "unclear exactly which part of the increase in price was attributed to what".
The picture for the health service is also not black and white, calling into question the DUP's repeated unequivocal warning that the protocol is "jeopardising our medicine supply".
Pharmaceutical firms had warned the protocol could lead to the withdrawal of products, but changes were made to European Union law this year aimed at guaranteeing the supply of medicines from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.
Stormont's Department of Health said medicines are manufactured as part of a "global and highly complex industry" and shortages can occur "from time to time for reasons unconnected to EU exit or the NI Protocol".
Alan Stout from the British Medical Association said there will "always be intermittent supply problems, especially within a huge market".
In what should be awkward reading for the DUP, he tweeted: "Biggest issues at the moment are as a result of Brexit not protocol, and also our lack of budget and ability to plan, change or negotiate."
The longer the DUP's block on Stormont power-sharing in protest over the protocol goes on, the more intensely its claims will come under the microscope.
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