'Miracle doctors' are everywhere on the internet with the claim 'my family has been curing diseases for three generations...'
(Baonghean.vn) - In the past few months, a series of exaggerated advertisements from traditional healers have surrounded people from social networks to television.
Fake TV show
In the past few weeks, the family of Ms. Nguyen Bich Hue (38 years old), in Vinh Tan Ward (Vinh City), had to turn off the Youtube channel on TV because they were bothered by advertisements of traditional healers. “Of course, we do not believe in these types of fraudulent advertisements. But it is really annoying, every few minutes of watching, it is interrupted by such advertising videos. Now, whenever we hear the phrase “my family has been treating for three generations”, I am haunted,” Ms. Hue shook her head in disappointment.
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| Advertisements for drugs and functional foods are besieging viewers on social networks. Photo: Tien Hung |
Similar to Ms. Hue, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Long (34 years old), the owner of a coffee shop in Hung Binh ward, is also trying to find ways to block these ads. “My shop often opens Youtube for customers to watch music. But for many months now, customers have complained so much that the staff always has to hold the remote control to turn off the ads. There are songs that are less than 5 minutes long, but sometimes the ads are repeated several times, all by “miracle doctors,” Mr. Long said.
According to the reporter's investigation, a series of advertisements of traditional healers have been flooding the internet in an unusual way in recent months. Many of the advertisements even fake the brands of television stations, fake the form of television reports and cut and pasted the content.
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| One of the advertisements that imitates the format of TV stations. Photo: Tien Hung |
Specifically, many videos use self-produced content, then attach the station logo to make viewers mistakenly think that this is an advertisement of a reputable TV station. There are advertising clips that imitate the format of the TV station, but use a different name. In particular, "doctors" also defy the law, cutting and pasting an existing news report, inserting images for advertising. Many TV MCs and many famous people in the medical industry have also become victims when their "realistic" images are cut and pasted for advertising...
In the advertising clips, the “miracle doctors” do not hesitate to exaggerate about themselves by saying that they can cure all kinds of diseases from weight gain, weight loss, colitis, liver, kidney... or even diseases that modern medicine has not found a method for such as cancer or diabetes... and also affirm “100% cure”, “if not cured, money back”. In most of these advertisements, the doctor’s address is not clearly stated, but only the phone number is left. After calling this number and briefly describing the illness, customers will immediately receive a prescription without needing to see a doctor.
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| According to experts, many diseases that are claimed to be cured completely or 100% in advertisements are untrue and deceive customers. Photo: Tien Hung. |
Money lost, disease carried
Not only annoying and torturing viewers, these false advertising videos have caused many people to "lose money and suffer". Most of the victims are elderly people, mistakenly thinking that they are highly reliable advertisements from TV stations. "I have had arthritis for many years now. I saw the advertisements on TV continuously, so I called to try it out. After taking the first few doses, I saw very rapid progress, so I asked my children for money to buy more. They also promised to cure 100%, if not, I would return the money, so I trusted them. Unexpectedly, after taking them for a while, the pain became worse than before," said Mr. Nguyen Dinh Bao (65 years old, in Tan Ky district).
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| Exaggerated advertisements about oriental medicine have been rampant on social media for the past few months. Photo: Tien Hung |
After calling the phone number on the advertisement many times to get a refund for the medicine but to no avail, Mr. Long had to "swallow the bitter pill", considering it a painful lesson for himself and his family. Not only that, in some localities, hospitals have recently received many patients in critical condition after using oriental medicine advertised on social networks.
From these advertisements, TV stations have repeatedly warned about the counterfeiting of their brand logos. Then MCs, celebrities, and reputable physicians whose images were taken advantage of and copied have also spoken out many times, but the chaotic advertising situation seems to be more rampant than before.
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| An advertisement for erectile dysfunction medicine on Youtube tortures viewers. Photo: Tien Hung |
Meanwhile, according to regulations, traditional medicine production facilities are licensed by local health departments and can only be circulated within the province. These remedies can only be circulated nationwide when licensed by the Ministry of Health and the agency responsible for traditional medicine management.
Mr. Hoang Van Hao - Chairman of the Nghe An Province Oriental Medicine Association said that advertising Oriental medicine also has positive aspects, but on the condition that the advertisement must be truthful. "Currently, there is a phenomenon in the mass media, including state press agencies, that many advertisements about Oriental medicine are exaggerated," Mr. Hao said and gave examples of diseases that require a long time of treatment but can only be relieved but are very difficult to cure completely, such as bone and joint diseases, diseases related to the urinary tract, metabolic diseases, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, etc. However, in advertisements on social networks, people claiming to be traditional doctors still claim to cure 100%. Then even if they only need to treat a few courses of treatment, if they are not cured, they will return the money. According to Mr. Hao, that is completely untrue.
According to Mr. Hao, there is also a situation where some sellers of traditional medicine, in order to have a faster effect, have added some modern chemicals to the medicine. When the patient takes it, the effect is very fast. “For example, when suffering from arthritis, pain, swelling and heat, taking this so-called traditional medicine will reduce it very quickly. Then the patient thinks that this medicine is effective so they happily continue to buy it without knowing that the medicine has been added with modern chemicals. Taking these medicines will cause serious side effects. This can also be considered a scam!”, Mr. Hao said.
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| Mr. Hoang Van Hao - Chairman of Nghe An Province Oriental Medicine Association: Tien Hung |
In addition, this pharmacist who has been Chairman of the Nghe An Oriental Medicine Association for more than 20 years said that not long ago, a relative of his was sick and in need of Oriental medicine. “At that time, I also saw some advertisements online with pictures of people I knew. These were all prestigious people with high expertise in Oriental medicine. After that, I called them directly and they all said it was not true. It was all fake,” Mr. Hao said and recommended that the State management agency should take a tough stance on social networks that facilitate these types of advertisements. For cases of selling medicine that show signs of defrauding patients, criminal proceedings should even be taken.
In addition, Mr. Hao also recommended that the advertising approval agency and state media agencies review and evaluate the content to ensure it is as accurate as possible. “Many media agencies are currently operating autonomously, with advertising as their main source of income. But we cannot, because of that, approve advertisements that exaggerate the truth,” Mr. Hao stated his opinion.
The Department of Food Safety - Ministry of Health affirms that all advertisements for functional foods and health protection foods claiming to be the perfect solution, cure, and treat the root cause of diseases... are deceiving consumers. The Department of Food Safety never grants licenses for advertisements with these phrases in their licenses. Products that are widely advertised and exaggerated as medicines often appear today, such as products to support the treatment of cancer, stroke, kidney disease, liver disease, bone and joint diseases, weight loss, andrology... up to 99% of advertisements for functional foods on social networks are not true. The Department of Food Safety recommends that consumers do not buy or use drugs of unknown origin, which affect health and the economy.