Fake cancer cures
Its been a constant stream of fake medicine, weird new age bullshit ("energy healing"), natural nonsense and, the most frustrating to me, faith healers, for the past year. Mostly on Facebook ads, although genuinely a lot less than I expected, and while Facebook is really bad about taking down con artists, their block function seems to work in a very absolute way. I don't see a lot of objectionable cancer stuff on Facebook anymore.
On the wider internet, things are more dire. Google is terrible about letting you block dangerous advertisers, and the place I spend the second most time is YouTube. Google ads power much of the rest of the internet, too, making it often difficult to navigate.
Its all very frustrating, because even though some of these clowns might genuinely believe in what their doing (new agers and natural fanatics are generally in this camp), the whole lot of them get a lot of people killed. I devoted much of my adult life to scientific skepticism, which puts me, personally, in a good place when it comes to these people. I've seen their claims, often am familliar enough with their products to know if they've been properly tested, and if that testing reflected well on them (none of the things I listed pass these tests). And, if I don't know their products and claims, I have a strong network of people who I trust and who I can ask.
None of which helps the people who were not fortunate enough to be exposed to skepticism. Or those who grew up in the church, and think seeking out real medicine is equivalent to questioning their faith. Or people who's support group is made up of those well meaning frauds who still get people killed.
I want a call to action, to tell you to write your MPP/MLA to kick medical fraudsters out of the medical system, and your MP to put these con artists in jail. But their lobbies are far, far too powerful, because their lies are too profitable. The best I can reasonably hope for is that we can save a few of our most vulnerable from wasting their time, their money and, in the case of people like me, what little life they have left on dangerous charlatans.
The following was originally posted August 30, 2022
If your wondering how fast advertisements for nonsense natural remedies take over your feed, it's within hours (maybe quicker, I was at work and not paying full attention).
I've already blocked and reported a half dozen.
Right now I'm still in a position where I can laugh these off, block some scammers, and move on. If I start to break, someone please just point me at Science Based Medicine to set me straight again ❤️