The Disinformation Dozen

The following people have been identified as being responsible for 65% of the anti-vaccine and health misinformation circulating on social media. On Facebook, they account for up to 73% of misleading vaccine propaganda. On Twitter, their names are referenced on 17% of anti-vaccine tweets. Meet the Disinformation Dozen.

1. Joseph Mercola
2. Robert F. Kennedy Jnr
3. Ty and Charlene Bollinger
4. Sherri Tenpenny
5. Rizza Islam
6. Rashid Buttar
7. Erin Elizabeth
8. Sayer Ji and Kelly Brogan
9. Christiane Northrup
10. Ben Tapper
11. Kevin Jenkins
12. Clay Clark

These names (with the exception of Clay Clark, who Medika has added for reasons you’ll see below) are listed on a report issued by The Center for Countering Digital Hate,(CCDH), a not-for-profit NGO that seeks to disrupt the architecture of online hate and misinformation. You can access the full report here and this article comprises much of the report. They are, with the possible exception of Kennedy, grifters par excellence.

The report reveals that just twelve individuals and their organizations are responsible for the bulk of anti-vaxx content shared or posted on Facebook and Twitter. The majority of the Disinformation Dozen remain on major social media platforms, despite repeated violations of their terms of service. We’ll summarize each of the names listed with a brief explanation as to why these individuals pose a real and present danger to public health. Where individuals are linked to existing Medika articles, we’ve referenced those articles by linking the names.

In addition to the named individuals listed above, their business or websites pose an equal or greater threat to public health. A sample of these are shown below and these websites multiply like viruses, with more springing up every day.

• Children’s Health Defense (Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.) 
• Informed Consent Action Network (ICAN) (Del Bigtree)
• National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) (Barbara Loe Fisher, Joseph Mercola)
• Organic Consumers Association (OCA) (Joseph Mercola)
• Millions Against Medical Mandates

How did the CCDH narrow down its list?

The individuals above were selected because they have large numbers of followers, produce high volumes of anti-vaccine content, or have seen rapid growth of their social media accounts in the last two months. According to the report:

Analysis of a sample of anti-vaccine content that was shared or posted on Facebook and Twitter a total of 812,000 times between 1 February and 16 March 2021 shows that 65 percent of anti-vaccine content is attributable to the individuals named above. Despite repeatedly violating Facebook, Instagram and Twitter’s terms of service agreements, nine of the Disinformation Dozen remain on all three platforms, while just three have been comprehensively removed from just one platform. 

This is the product of a series of failures from social media platforms: 

• Research conducted by CCDH last year has shown that platforms fail to act on 95 percent of the Covid and vaccine misinformation reported to them. 
• CCDH’s recent report, Malgorithm, uncovered evidence that Instagram’s algorithm actively recommends similar misinformation. 
• Tracking of 425 anti-vaccine accounts by CCDH shows that their total following across platforms now stood at 59.2 million in December, an increase of 877,000 more than they had in June. 
• CCDH’s ongoing tracking shows that the 20 anti-vaxxers with the largest followings account for over two-thirds of this total cross-platform following of 59.2 million. 
• Analysis of anti-vaccine content posted to Facebook over 689,000 times in the last two months shows that up to 73 percent of that content originates with members of the Disinformation Dozen of leading online anti-vaxxers. 
• Facebook’s own internal analysis of vaccine-hesitant content on its platform is likely to underestimate the influence of leading anti-vaxxers by failing to address the ultimate source of this content, and by the recorded failure of its algorithms to identify content concerning vaccines.
• Analysis of over 120,000 anti-vaccine tweets collected in the last two months shows that up to 17 percent feature the Disinformation Dozen of leading online anti-vaxxers.

Who are the Disinformation Dozen?

If you’re not familiar with the names above, these brief bio’s will help you develop a clearer understanding of the names listed and their places in the anti-vaxx community.

1. Joseph Mercola

We’ve previously listed Mercola on Medika’s Quack scale and he’s been consistently selling his version of quackery for far longer than most, allowing him to build up an impressive social media following of misled converts. 

His ridiculous suggestions widely shared on Facebook include 

• Hydrogen Peroxide can successfully treat most viral respiratory illnesses, including coronavirus — FALSE
• The same number of people died on average in 2020 that died the previous year, so the coronavirus deaths are a hoax — FALSE
• Forced vaccinations are part of a plan to reset the global economy — FALSE

Mercola has been peddling dietary supplements and false cures as alternatives to vaccines for years. His combined personal social media accounts have around 3.6 million followers. At the time of writing, Mercola still enjoys active social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

2. Robert F Kennedy Jnr

Trained as a layer, Kennedy enjoyed early public successes against large chemical corporations guilty of chemically contaminating our environment and knowingly poisoning their communities and customers. His early career boasts many admirable achievements and he was one of the original eco-warriors.

Which makes what has become of him, al the more painful. His focus gradually shifted to big pharma and his clear vision has been clouded by an obsession with healthcare conspiracies and anti-vaxx rhetoric. In many ways, he may have been one of the original victims to buy into a complex web of lies and deceit. Many now view him as the unofficial, uncrowned “king” of the anti-vaxx movement, and the reach and influence he exerts through his website, Children’s Health Defense, would support this view.

In Kennedy’s case, his misguided and misleading exertions are not necessarily spawned by a desire to grift but may be seated in a deeply subverted view of actual science and medical fact. His background suggests he would view any large corporation as suspect, including pharma and government. Irrelevant of his motivation, he poses a real and present danger to public health. His Children’s Health Defense offers a welcoming platform to many of the names on this list, to further their propaganda, expand their reach and further enrich themselves at the cost of public health and safety.

A recent film made by Kennedy on Black healthcare displays all the tactics of anti-vaxx propaganda and appropriates black culture to promote Kenedy’s agenda. We discussed this move at length here.

3. Ty and Charlene Bollinger

Ty and Charlene Bollinger are anti-vax entrepreneurs who run a network of accounts that market books and DVDs about vaccines, cancer, and COVID-19. In 2020 they launched the United Medical Freedom Super PAC ahead of last year’s United States elections. 

The Bollingers have promoted the conspiracy theory that Bill Gates plans to inject everyone with microchips as part of a vaccination program.

The Bollingers have also posted content that violates platform standards on election misinformation. As with almost every name on this list, their ties to the Republican party are undeniable. The pair are extremely talented alternate health charlatans profiting handsomely from the disinformation they spread. At the time of writing, they still enjoy active social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

4. Sherri Tenpenny

Dr. Sherri Tenpenny is an osteopath physician who spreads anti-vaccine sentiment and false claims about the safety and efficacy of masks via her social media channels. While her Facebook account has been removed, her Twitter and Instagram are still intact. One of her most recent claims related to the covid vaccine.

“Some people are going to die from the vaccine directly,” Tenpenny said in the video, which has nearly 1 million views. “But a large number of people are going to start getting horribly sick and get all kinds of autoimmune diseases, 42 days to maybe a year out.”

This is of course complete nonsense. you can read an article here that debunks this ridiculous statement. In the video, Tenpenny refers to the covid vaccine as deadly and a bioweapon. She is a licensed osteopath based in suburban Cleveland and the author of “Saying No To Vaccines: A Resource Guide for All Ages.” She runs an alternative health clinic and has previously claimed vaccines cause autism. 

On 23 June 2020 Sherri Tenpenny tweeted that the longer you wear a mask, the more unhealthy you get. Tenpenny alleged that masks suppress your immune system.https://medika.life/media/4fa458bd9d888e08c17eb721712bb898

5. Rizza Islam

Rizza Islam’s anti-vaccine posts aim to spread vaccine hesitancy amongst African Americans. While Facebook removed Rizza Islam’s Facebook Page in February, he continues to post anti-vaccine messages from his Instagram and Twitter accounts.

Islam intentionally discourages fellow African Americans from being vaccinated. His dangerous rhetoric contributes to the increased risk of death this sector of the population faces from the coronavirus. His Twitter account is a carefully managed stream of vaccine misinformation, focusing on the covid vaccine. Every person he turns away from the vaccine is a potential death at his hand in a community he claims to serve. 

He’s no stranger to manipulating healthcare for his own profit. In 2015 the executive director of World Literacy Crusade (WLC), then Hanan Islam, Ronnie Steven Islam (AKA Rizza Islam), and Hanan’s adult children were arrested for Medi-Cal fraud and insurance fraud for billing for a detox program. The Compton, Californian offices of the WLC housed a drug detox program using “dry heat sweat therapy.

This Jan 4 article explains what’s awaiting a very deserving con artist. Hanan and Rizza Islam get trial date for $4 million Medi-Cal fraud at Scientology rehab. At a pretrial conference, the trial was set for May 20 in the case, which seeks felony convictions against Hanan Islam, 61, and three of her children, including her son Ronnie “Rizza” Islam, 30. If you’re an African American, Rizza Islam is not your friend. 

6. Rashid Buttar

Rashid Buttar is an American osteopathic physician from Charlotte, North Carolina. He is an ardent conspiracy theorist known for videos posted to his YouTube channel. Buttar claims that COVID-19 tests have living microorganisms (discouraging people from getting government-approved tests) and that Covid vaccines cause infertility

In an early 2020 video, after warning that corrupt government leaders would seize on the crisis to enact authoritarian rule, Buttar — a widely discredited osteopath — directed viewers to his website, where he sells information packages that cost up to $450. Only there, he claims, can he share the “real truth” in its entirety. Buttar is a grifter, a con artist, not a particularly good one, with a healthcare spin. A popular QAnon Instagram page reposted one of his videos with the caption “Coronavirus Was Man-Made.” 

While Buttar’s scam may not be as sophisticated as many of his more practiced colleagues on this list, he is nonetheless hugely disruptive to public health. At the time of writing, Buttar still enjoys active social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

7. Erin Elizabeth

Erin Elizabeth is the partner of Joseph Mercola (surprise, surprise). She runs Health Nut News, a prominent ‘alternative health’ website with affiliated newsletter and social media accounts.

She has posted an antisemitic conspiracy theory about the Rothschilds to her Instagram account, connected Bill Gates to wild vaccine plots, suggested the influenza vaccine makes you chronically ill. She actively supports Mercola and they are, not unlike the Bollingers, representative of a new element emerging from the alternate health sector, the “Power-Con Couples”. Healthcare Bonnie and Clyde’s but they aren’t robbing banks, they’re threatening your health.

Her social media accounts remain active on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

8. Sayer Ji and Kelly Brogan

Another “Power-Con Couple” with a slight difference. The only real danger here is Brogan. Her partner, Sayer Ji, is the joke on the list. If you want to take health advice from an unqualified supplement salesman, then you pretty much get what you deserve. His philosophy degree is as far away from healthcare as the sun is from the moon.

Sayer Ji runs a popular alternative health website, GreenMedInfo.com, and affiliated social media accounts that promote pseudoscience and anti-vaccine misinformation. Despite his GreenMedInfo accounts being removed by Twitter and Instagram, it is still available on Facebook. 

Kelly Brogan on the other hand is a cold, calculating medical charlatan. You can read more about her on Medika’s Quack Scale and her abusive relationship with past patients. She now claims to practice “holistic psychiatry” and sells a range of books and courses from her website. In a widely viewed video in March 2020, Kelly Brogan claimed that “there is potentially no such thing as the coronavirus” because “it’s not possible to prove that any given pathogen has induced death.” 

A post on Kelly Brogan’s website titled “Why We Stay Asleep When Covid-19 Is Trying to Wake Us Up” cites a number of COVID conspiracy theories, including that the pandemic was planned. CrowdTangle analytics show it has been shared on Facebook nearly 11,000 times.

9. Christiane Northrup

Our favorite Covid kook. Christiane Northrup offers up theories so wild and unbelievable, they’re actually entertaining. If she didn’t pose such a serious risk to public health, we’d be encouraging her to take her show on the road. 

We’ve written about Christiane Northrup on Medika’s Quack Scale and she doesn’t shy away from insanity when attacking the covid vaccines, dragging fetal cells, 5G cell towers, and tracking chips out in the same breath. The only thing more amazing than Northrup’s crazed theories is the fact that anyone would even consider them. She makes baseless claims that vaccines cause an 800% increase in chronic illness and that getting vaccinated will allow governments and organizations to somehow track you.

She’s a sought-after guest on alternate health podcasts and “news” channels, appearing with Thrivetime’s, Clay Clark in his latest anti-vaxx, anti-covid effort, the “Health and Freedom Project”, a Republican based disinformation campaign with ties to QAnon, designed to destabilize a Democrat-led American government. Her social media accounts remain active on all three platforms, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

10. Ben Tapper

Ben Tapper is a chiropractor with a growing following on social media. He has routinely posted COVID disinformation and spoken out against masking. Although he is fond of introducing himself as a doctor, he is not a medical doctor. In fact, some doubt exists as to his actual qualification.

Apparently, chiropractic students are now doing courses in virology and molecular biology and have a broad knowledge of nutrition and chemical interactions when they qualify. Oh no wait, that’s not actually true. In fact, they aren’t doctors at all and their courses focus on the mechanistic treatment of pulled muscles, and aches and pains supposedly initiated by poor spinal alignment. Their manipulation techniques apparently extend beyond just treating patients.

This small technical issue doesn’t however stop an inordinately large amount of chiropractors from advising on everything from virology to pandemics and cancer cures. Tapper is the perfect example of someone way out of his depth. Here is an article that debunks a lot of nonsense Tapper sprouted about PCR tests (under the false guise of being a medical doctor) while addressing a city council in the USA.

At the time of writing, all Tapper’s social media accounts remain active on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

11. Kevin Jenkins

Another black man hell-bent on harming his fellow African Americans by spreading lies about the dangers of Covid and the Covid vaccine. 

Kevin Jenkins is an anti-vaccine activist with a growing social media presence who has appeared at public events with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Jenkins has called vaccines a “conspiracy” to “wipe out” black people and is a co-founder of the Freedom Airway & Freedom Travel Alliance, a company founded in late 2020 to help its members travel around the world without observing any masking, quarantining, vaccination, or other pandemic control measures.

In a now-deleted Facebook Live from DC on January 6th, Kevin Jenkins stands on stage and tells the crowd that Black people are being targeted with the vaccine. “They are spending a trillion dollars to convince you [the Black Community] that it’s ok to kill yourselves [with the COVID vaccine].” Jenkins has also claimed that the Black community is being targeted for experimentation with the vaccine.

All Jenkins’ social media accounts on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram remain active.

12. Clay Clark

Clay Clark was not originally included in the original Disinformation Dozen. Medika feels this is a massive oversight and we’ve rectified it here. 

We’ve left the best for last and judging by the photo below, you may want to make sure your children are tucked up tight in bed. Clay Clark has officially embedded himself with his fellow Republican anti-vaxx, democracy denying, covid doubting, Qanon supporters, and sympathizers.

The presenter of Thrivetime now actively promotes quacks, covid conspirators, and a host of other radical Republicans directly from the front page of the Thrivetime website. It’s worrying that people with profiles like Clark’s feel comfortable enough to come out in such a public show of support for these radical elements, such is their confidence in their growing power base and if ever there as a wake-up call to moderate and sane Republicans, Clark represents this call.

A link on the front page of Thrivetime takes you directly to Christiane Northrup discussing fetal cells and tracking devices in the covid vaccines, both repeatedly disproven statements. One of the sites he links to is called timetofreeamerica.com with possibly the largest collection of anti-covid propaganda we’ve comes across. It also includes false claims on 2020 election fraud, a popular Trumpian narrative.

Gates is shown as an orchestrator of world domination and every other imaginable covid conspiracy is wheeled out, including the disgraced Judy Mikovitz. The scariest part of all this, as if it could get any worse, isn’t the collection of fake and misleading, misquoted and appropriated science, it is Clark’s clear attempt at garnering himself a power base for his political aspirations. He intends to do this by ingratiating himself with an ever-expanding radical segment within the Republican party.

He’s hosting conferences, which he has inappropriately labeled “Health and Freedom” conferences and we wrote extensively about them here. They are nothing more than an embarrassingly public display of the collapse of the mainstream Republican party, eroded from within by Clark and the cancerous elements he represents. He isn’t grifting for money, it’s power he’s after.

Speakers at the first event included Andrew Wakefield, Christiane Northrup, Simone Gold, and a smorgasbord of conspiracy theorists, covid doubters, and general health disinformation experts. Clark is actively mixing alternate health and anti-vaxx propaganda with seditionist rhetoric and election fraud conspiracies. 

Clearly, he feels this base is growing sufficiently within the Republican party to justify coming out of the closet. Make no mistake, Clark isn’t a believer. He’s merely a skilled manipulator who’s seen an opportunity he can exploit for his own benefit. He enjoys a large public following and all his social media accounts remain active. Don’t forget to vote for him when you see the ticket.

What can you do to stop the Disinformation Dozen?

There are actually a few really simple actions you can take to deplatform these individuals. Despite this list having been provided by a congressional body to the implicated social media companies well over a month ago, most of the accounts above still remain active.

Report these accounts whenever you come across them, report individual posts, and ensure the owners of platforms like Twitter and Facebook are continuously made are of their responsibility to protect the public against disinformation.

If you’re a mainstream Republican that values democracy and the rule of law, express your outrage to your local Republican office. Question why these elements are allowed to persist and thrive within your party. Act now or you may find yourself looking for a new political homeland in the not too distant future. 

Images are all used in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, commonly known as “fair use law”. This material is distributed without profit with the intent to provide commentary, review, education, and increase public health knowledge.

The post The Dirtiest Dozen. Meet The Anti-Vaccine, Anti-Covid Health Grifters appeared first on Medika Life.

Confused about Covid? Hell yes, who isn’t and you have every right to be. People are lying to you and feeding you misleading information every day. Almost all businesses do it, politicians and the media do it and more recently, a new group has joined their ranks. So-called medical experts — many of whom hold actual qualifications in their ‘fields of expertise’ — are now also misleading you about Covid-19 and a host of other health-related issues.

If you’re not interested in how and why we’ve compiled this list and the criteria we applied in selecting the names below, you can scroll down to the actual list and skip the bits below.

Misguided, Misdirected Medical Mayhem

The key difference between these self-styled “health guru’s’ and your run of the mill politician or media company, is that following their advice can scar you emotionally, cripple your life and your health, bankrupt you — it is your money and blind allegiance they covet — and at worst, lead to your death. They are, what we refer to when we talk about Predatory Health practitioners.

The list below will highlight, by name, some of the most prominent purveyors of Covid-19 falsehoods. You may have already fallen for their self-serving propaganda. It is easy to do. Most of the individuals listed are charismatic, intelligent, educated and some even enjoy the respect of colleagues within their profession. They appear beyond reproach and they specialize in mixing scientific facts with pseudo-science and new age fallacy, little bits of truth to support their larger lie.

They are dangerous, unethical, and empowered as never before by social media platforms that reward their controversial views with algorithms that promote their voices. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and a host of others are all willing participants. Controversy is good for business.

The list has been prepared by Medika Life in the interests of public safety during the Covid-19 Pandemic. We process masses of information on the pandemic. Research, opinions, and all the latest news and we afford everyone an equal, impartial opportunity to be heard, no matter their views. Opinions are judged based on supporting figures, verifiable data, and the voices we are privy to from within the medical community reflecting the true impact of Covid in hospitals across the US. We don’t publish one mantra but try to address all aspects of the Covid-19 virus and this is where you come in.

It is an impossibly complex web of information, misinformation, conspiracies, for lack of a better term (yes, they do actually exist within the industry) to try and disseminate. Even experts hold up their hands in confusion and yes, medically trained professionals are as susceptible to being misled as the public. They too rely on data and advice from within the industry and its governing bodies. The Covid-19 pandemic and our global responses have rapidly devolved into a multi-layered cluster-fuck of monumental proportions and again, you have every right to be confused.

You are required to exercise your free will, to inform yourself and to form an independent opinion based on ACTUAL FACTS supported by research that is above reproach. Sadly, of late, even giants like the CDC have been questioned and found wanting. So too with research. Not all of it is to be trusted. In choosing your sources for reliable information, it is as important to know whom you shouldn’t trust.. Here then the criteria, for the sake of fairness and transparency, that we apply to arrive at the list below.

Our Fallacy Filters

This list is based on a single FACT. Covid-19 can kill you and depending on any comorbidities you may exhibit, an unfortunate possession of a gene, and your age, that risk can increase exponentially. This is a fact, as inescapable as the rise and setting of the sun. All else is open to conjecture and sensible debate, as it should be. However, anyone whose statements attempt to diminish the risks of Covid-19 to the public falls foul off the filter. They are endangering the public’s life. Your life and my life.

This one simple fact places them at odds with the basic premise of the medical profession — first do no harm. Our Filters we use are these.

• Do the views espoused encourage individuals to expose themselves to risk from Covid-19?
• Are the views promoted harmful to the health of the community at large?
• Is there a fusion of proven medical science with unrelated and unsubstantiated pseudo-science?
• Are unrelated and unproven alternate health concepts and beliefs introduced through the selective use of proven but unrelated facts?
• Is the individual or business abusing its position within the industry to spread disinformation?
• Are the agendas presented associated with or tied in any way to anti-vaccine groups, conspiracy theorists, and new-age spiritualism?
• Is there financial motivation, political, social gain, or other to the parties involved in the message they are conveying?

Answering yes to the questions above will place you firmly on Medika’s naughty list. What matters here is that the general public recognizes the importance of these criteria. You can use them to objectively judge news you encounter on a daily basis. If it isn’t free of the above, then chances are there is an agenda involved, one that does not include consideration for your individual health or wellbeing.

Medium recently released a list of trustworthy sources for Covid-19. None of the names on our list appear on their list and the Medium list is an excellent if slightly biased resource for science-based information on the pandemic. Whilst we do not agree fully with all the views these professionals may offer, none of the those mentioned in Medium’s list would intentionally place you in harm’s way and their advice is offered with your wellbeing as the sole motivation. The same cannot be said for the individuals on Medika’s list.

Here then, our list and below it, a little guidance on how to filter the many voices you encounter on social media and across the internet and the press.

in light of recent events (Nov 17, 2020) we have now added Scott Atlas to the Medika Quack Scale. You can read our review of his disinformation campaign here.

The Covid ‘Medical’ Scam Artists Top 10 List of 2020

1. Kelly Brogan: At number 1 for good reason. Her growing reach and influence belie her message. She is a new age conspiracy theorist/alternate health ‘expert’ and a qualified (currently unregistered) psychiatrist gone bad. The worst kind, who feeds off the misery and mental conditions of her patients for profit and fame. For an object lesson in the abuse and manipulation of the mentally-ill, read this excellent and in-depth report. Her unashamed denial of Covid-19 as a potential killer makes her all the more dangerous and every effort should be made to de-platform her. View Kelly Brogan on Medika’s new Quack Scale.
2. Sayer Ji: Included at number 2 as he has the questionable distinction of being married to Brogan. A health food salesman with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Rutgers, he runs the pseudoscience, anti-vax website GreenMedInfo.com, which attracts over a million visitors a month. His support of Brogan, ties to QAnon, and his promotion of their dangerous and misleading narrative earn them both the distinct dishonor of top spot. Avoid, unfollow and move on
3. Zach Bush, MD. Bush now enjoys his own page on our Quack Scale. An interesting inclusion on the list. Triple board-certified and until recently widely respected within the medical community, his use of science and his medical credentials make his abuse of office and position all the more reprehensible when it comes to diluting the dangers of Covid-19. His newly discovered spiritualist beliefs in an existence beyond this one encourage him to espouse a view of embracing death as an expansion of consciousness. His vocal criticism of Covid-19, which occasionally raises valid issues, has been completely compromised by his views on our ‘journey to the light’. Visit his site and once you’re done taking in his Covid-19 advice, you can shop to your heart’s delight from the range of products he recommends. It would appear not even three medical degrees are a good enough substitute for a paying affiliate stream. A particularly dangerous and beguiling individual. By all means, hope for life after death, just don’t expose yourself to Covid-19 in an effort to achieve it.
4. Christiane Northrup, MD: With 108 000 followers on Twitter alone, Dr Northrop has reach and is recognized as one of the leading voices in Women’s Health.Northrup’s Facebook post of the fake documentary Plandemic catapulted it out of QAnon groups and into mainstream social media. As with Dr Bush, she raises certain valid points on aspects of the pandemic, only to discredit her voice by siding with fringe elements. This association is dangerous and lends credibility to organizations that should simply be banned for the harm they do to healthcare and the health of individuals or their ability to access care. Read more about Dr Northrup on Medika’s Quack Scale
5. Dr Joseph Mercola: Dr. Mercola went hog-wild on Covid, recommending a smorgasbord of products and therapies claiming to help treat COVID-19 through his website. Check out his news archive, where you can get a sense of the range of therapies he was pushing, from beets to sweet wormwood to antacids and vitamin C. According to the CSPI, he even advised consumers in a podcast episode and an online article “that intentionally contracting the virus after consuming purportedly immunity-boosting supplements would confer greater protection against COVID-19 than a vaccine would. A complete and utter crock of shit that encouraged people to infect both themselves and others. Inexcusable and his continued ability to trade is a serious indictment of medical regulatory bodies within the US. Read more about the dodgy Dr Mercola on his Quack Scale on Medika Life
6. Dr Judy Mikovits: She obtained a Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology from George Washington University in 1991. In a recent video that exploded on social media, the virologist claimed the coronavirus is being wrongly blamed for many deaths. She makes head-scratching assertions about the virus — for instance, that it is “activated” by face masks. The video is an excerpt from the movie Plandemic, which promised to “expose the scientific and political elite who run the scam that is our global health system.” Both her association with and support of Plandemic and her unsubstantiated views on Covid-19 make her a dangerous and unreliable source of information to be avoided. Read more about Judy Mikovits on Medika’s Quack Scale
7. Dr. Richard Bartlett: Dr. Bartlett claims that he has discovered a magic bullet for the treatment of Covid-19, an existing asthma medicine — inhaled budesonide, a corticosteroid — whose success, he suggests, negates the need for a vaccine. His claims are unsubstantiated outside of the scope of his limited experience with his own patients and ignoring and diminishing the importance of a vaccine, which would prevent infection in the first place, is also hugely irresponsible. As any doctor should know, rigorous trials are required across a large group of patients to accurately establish the real efficacy of any treatment. He has also made various unsubstantiated and false claims about the more widespread use of budesonide in Asian countries as a standard treatment. It would not appear Dr Bartlett has any nefarious intent to spread misinformation, merely that he has preempted a possible treatment in an irresponsible fashion and without due concern for established clinical process and the wellbeing of the broader community.
8. Dr Stella Immanuel: A Texas-based Nigerian born doctor who highlighted the use of Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), suggesting it was the only thing required to cure Covid-19. Medika is of the belief that there is value to the use of HCQ as a form of early intervention if used in conjunction with other treatments. The drug has however been tainted, both politically and within the industry, and is now effectively buried. Dr Immanuel is a pastor of her own church in Texas and readily mixes science, religion, spiritualism, and esoteric beliefs. She is no stranger to controversy and once again, the undesirable mix of science, new age magic, and religion simply added to the controversy surrounding HCQ. A potentially useful treatment that has now been lost.
9. Dr. Sherill Sellman (featured on Medika’s Quack scale here): This naturopathic physician is a real piece of work. She currently faces legal action and cease and desist letters from both the FDA and the New York Attorney General’s office. Her recommended cure of colloidal silver for Covid-19 included products offered for sale on her website. Colloidal silver has no proven effect on the coronavirus and can cause serious side effects including permanent discoloration of the skin. Dr. Sellman serves as an excellent example of the following. Never make the mistake of confusing a medical qualification with honesty or integrity. Neither of the latter are prerequisites for the former.
10. America’s Frontline Doctors (AFLD) (read our latest expose, 2021/13/01, on Simone Gold, MD the founder of this dangerous group, here): An organization fills No 10 and you’ll soon see why. Not to be confused with the AAFP. The Academy is in no way affiliated with this group. The AAFP is a partner in America’s Front-line Physicians — the Group of Six(www.groupof6.org) — a coalition that advocates for evidence-based care. America’s Frontline Doctors are in no way connected. Here are 7 of AFLD’s founding members, in no particular order;

• Stella Immanuel, MD (look familiar),
• James Todaro, MD,
• Bob Hamilton, MD,
• Dan Erickson, DO,
• Richard Urso, MD,
• Joseph Ladapo, MD, PhD
• Simone Gold, MD, JD,

AFLD’s agenda is interwoven with right-wing politics to the extent that the two are almost inseparable. The doctors listed above have no actual proven exposure to Covid-19 patients and as such are not in a position to make the outrageous claims they make relating to treatments and the opening of the countries economy and schools. Three of the doctors do not actively practice and two are ophthalmologists, hardly what you’d call a glowing recommendation and referring to themselves as ‘America’s Frontline’ is disingenuous and insulting to the real physicians that risk their lives daily on the forefront of Covid-19.

It is disrespectful to the thousands that have died and to our young doctor, Adeline Fagan, who selflessly made the ultimate sacrifice to protect her patients. Avoid both the organization and the doctors associated with it and should you encounter them or the doctors involved, unfollow, unfriend and de-platform.

The tip of the iceberg

Sadly, this isn’t a complete list, not by a long shot. Many other quacks and medical charlatans continue to operate openly and without consequence, spreading disinformation and false hope, mostly for the purposes of self enrichment. Sadly, one of the areas most prone to this is psychology, but that is another post for another day.

Hopefully, this list will offer you a little more insight into the mechanisms employed by these individuals and help you avoid them in the future. Their biggest sales tools are your desperation and your fear. They sell to this, they speak to this, they encourage it and they abuse these emotions for their own gain. Never forget that.

Finally, there is one last additional test you can apply to these individuals which will invariably expose them. It isn’t foolproof, but rather an additional tool in your “bullshit arsenal”. Use it when needed.

The Goodness Guide

Goodness is the one thing con artists and misleading marketing cannot fake, not for an extended period of time. Most doctors — there are many of them — who enter the profession motivated by a desire to help their fellow humans, exude this goodness. It cannot be faked convincingly and their overwhelming desire to assist their patients is obvious in all their actions. Good doctors are born to their profession. Want an example?

Read his articles. They are filled with compassion, care and genuine concern for his patients. He is quick to speak out against injustices in the profession, issues that affect his patient’s access to healthcare, in defense of minorities and in favor of equal opportunity. He is consistent and he is genuine. You cannot fake this and on a subconscious level, we can all recognize it. This is what I refer to as Goodness. Let it guide you.

Watch this space for our next list on the fraudsters that occupy psychology as we highlight the structural flaws in a system that will if left unchecked, become the healthcare scourge of our century.

The post Who Not To Trust: A List of 10 Covid-19 Charlatans and “Medical” Snake-Oil Salesmen appeared first on Medika Life.