The actor assured in one of the most listened to podcasts in the United States that three friends were “cured” by resorting to substances and medications without scientific support and that are “potentially toxic” while specialists warn of the risk of these speeches
Elle Macpherson and the problem of celebrities who use their loudspeaker to defend pseudotherapies
Mel Gibson has visited Joe Rogan’s podcast, one of the most listened to in the United States, to spread information about cancer treatments that, according to experts, contravene any type of scientific evidence. The actor and director took the opportunity to affirm that three of his friends who suffered from stage four cancer had been cured after ingesting products and medications such as ivernectin, fenbendazole, hydrochloride and methylene blue. Various oncologists warn of the danger of these messages and the dire consequences for a patient who may have the ingestion of these substances.
In the conversation, Rogan goes so far as to state that “there are many things that do work, that are demonized but that turn out to be effective.” This leads the presenter to ask himself “how our medical institutions have failed us so that things that do cure are not promoted because they are not profitable.” César A. Rodríguez is the president of the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology (SEOM) and the first adjective with which he calls these statements is “far-fetched.”
The expert’s first argument to discard the postulate defended by Gibson and Rogan is closely related to the modern perspective of medicine: “We are at a time in which we know that cancer can involve more than 200 different diseases, that one type of tumor It is subdivided into other subtypes with different therapeutic targets, with diverse treatments.” Therefore, to think that by ingesting certain products, stage four cancer can disappear is “highly absurd,” to paraphrase its terms.
This is not the first time that Rodríguez has had to respond to messages of this type. A few months ago, the Australian actress Elle Macpherson admitted to suffering from breast cancer that was being treated through a series of therapies without scientific evidence. “There are many very dangerous aspects here, but one of them is that this information comes from people with a lot of social impact, which increases its dissemination,” adds the expert.
The potential toxicity
This medical oncologist emphasizes that substances such as those mentioned in the American podcast are not only ineffective in addressing cancer, but can cause significant toxicity. Gibson’s words go back to the recommendations without scientific evidence that multiplied during the coronavirus pandemic in which US President Donald Trump participated and that increased cases of poisoning.
Elías López, radiation oncologist at the Spanish Cancer Association (AECC), explains that ivernectin and fenbendazole are two antiparasitic medications used, above all, for intestinal infections in veterinary medicine. Hydrochloride, on the other hand, refers to the common bleach that anyone has within their reach. Meanwhile, methylene blue is a product used in medicine as a diagnostic reagent, not even as part of any treatment. “I don’t know why a person like Gibson could say something like that. I wish that curing a stage four cancer patient were as easy as ingesting these substances,” López himself emphasizes.
The uncontrolled use of these substances is useless when it comes to fighting cancer, but they are also potentially toxic.
The president of the SEOM warns that these products can become more dangerous if they are combined with other types of medications that a patient is probably taking as a treatment for their illness. “The uncontrolled use of these substances is useless when it comes to fighting cancer, but they are also potentially toxic,” he reiterates.
López points out that these messages can give false hope to a cancer patient. “There is a consensus in the scientific community that maintains that these messages are totally false, and that they do not help at all, quite the opposite. None of the substances mentioned there are used for the treatment of cancer patients,” he points out. In this sense, like Rodríguez, he invites anyone who has questions about their treatment to talk to their medical team.
Dangerous message speakers
“Cancers are treated with a multidisciplinary team that will resolve any type of concern, and it is to them that you should go, not to people like Mel Gibson, whose specialty is not treating this type of disease and his role in society is another very different one, although he uses it to spread this false information,” explains the radiation oncologist.
López is no longer surprised that these speeches come to light by public figures in broadcasts as frequent as that of Joe Rogan’s podcast. “Unfortunately, there has already been a lot of precedent. Social networks also help transmit this information without verifying it, so the media are essential to deny it through expert voices,” he argues.
Spanish oncologists are among those with the best training in the world. Everyone knows what has proven efficacy and evidence and, above all, what can be harmful.
In this sense, it emphasizes that the AECC has a telephone number, 900100036, available any day and at any time to answer any question that a citizen or patient may have about the disease. “People have come to me saying that perhaps if they take vitamin supplements they can be cured and the answer is always the same: no substance alone has the ability to cure,” he confirms. Ultimately, these are very complex diseases with very different mechanisms of action.
When in doubt, experts
Questions of this type have also come to Rodríguez’s consultation, at the head of the SEOM. “They are usually patients in advanced stages, who see that their treatment possibilities are exhausted and conceive these false expectations as another opportunity. I’m not worried that they ask about it, but that they abandon their potentially effective treatments for others that do not have any type of scientific evidence,” he elaborates.
The experience of this medical oncologist makes him suspect that this type of approach by some public figures will increase over time. At the same time, he considers that “the population suffering from cancer has a much higher level of information and knowledge about their disease than a few years ago.” According to his point of view, there is now more trust in science and avoidance of false promises and pseudotherapies. Rodríguez concludes: “Spanish oncologists are among those with the best training in the world. Everyone knows what has proven effectiveness and evidence and, above all, what can be harmful. When in doubt, ask them and don’t get carried away by messages like Mel Gibson’s.”
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