The Doctors Are Real, but the Sales Pitches Are Frauds

FreeinChrist · Sep 5, 2025

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/05/technology/ai-doctor-scams.html

Dr. Robert H. Lustig is an endocrinologist, a professor emeritus of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco, and an author of best-selling books on obesity.

He is absolutely not — despite what you might see and hear on Facebook — hawking “liquid pearls” with dubious claims about weight loss. “No injections, no surgery, just results,” he appears to say in one post.

Instead, someone has used artificial intelligence to make a video that imitates him and his voice — all without his knowledge, let alone consent.

The posts are part of a global surge of frauds hijacking the online personas of prominent medical professionals to sell unproven health products or simply to swindle gullible customers, according to the doctors, government officials and researchers who have tracked the problem....

Dr. Gemma Newman, a family physician in Britain and the author of two books about nutrition and health, took to Instagram in April to warn her followers about a video on TikTok that had been altered to make it seem she was promoting capsules of vitamin B12 and 9,000 milligrams of “pure nutrient rich beetroot.”

Dr. Newman was horrified: Her likeness was pushing a supplement, one that could be harmful in high doses, by playing on women’s insecurities — implying the pills could make them “feel desirable, admired and confident.”

The video was so realistic that her own mother believed it was her.

“It’s a double betrayal because my image is there, supporting something that I don’t believe in,” she said.

This is worrisome. Folks really need to be skeptical of claims. I often see claims that a certain drink melts fat for weight loss....yeah, right.

ThatRobGuy · Sep 5, 2025

The irony is... the market for that kind of stuff was created by (and still sustained by) a refusal to make peace with a piece of information that the overwhelming majority of people already know.

While it's fraudulent use of someone's likeness...

I've never been 100% sure how the actual demand for this kind of stuff falls into the misinformation rubric.

This kind of stuff (especially in the "weight loss" realm) isn't the same as other forms.

For instance, vaccine misinformation and quack cancer cures leverages the ignorance of the marketplace. You're average person doesn't really know the ins and outs of the mechanisms by which cancer spreads. So the people selling quack cancer cures are capitalizing on ignorance.

But, in the case of the weight loss quackery, it's capitalizing on the fact that society actually knows the right answer, but merely wishes it wasn't true.

Most people know how to lose weight, you eat less and exercise... they just don't care for that answer.

durangodawood · Sep 5, 2025

ThatRobGuy said:
The irony is... the market for that kind of stuff was created by (and still sustained by) a refusal to make peace with a piece of information that the overwhelming majority of people already know.

While it's fraudulent use of someone's likeness...

I've never been 100% sure how the actual demand for this kind of stuff falls into the misinformation rubric.

This kind of stuff (especially in the "weight loss" realm) isn't the same as other forms.

For instance, vaccine misinformation and quack cancer cures leverages the ignorance of the marketplace. You're average person doesn't really know the ins and outs of the mechanisms by which cancer spreads. So the people selling quack cancer cures are capitalizing on ignorance.

But, in the case of the weight loss quackery, it's capitalizing on the fact that society actually knows the right answer, but merely wishes it wasn't true.

Most people know how to lose weight, you eat less and exercise... they just don't care for that answer.

It sounds like youre saying the semaglutides are not effective for weight loss. Do I have you right?

ThatRobGuy · Sep 5, 2025

durangodawood said:
It sounds like youre saying the semaglutides are not effective for weight loss. Do I have you right?

I wouldn't put those prescription meds in the category of quack cures

The OP mentioned
hawking “liquid pearls” with dubious claims about weight loss. “No injections, no surgery, just results,” he appears to say in one post.

I was referring to types of things...

GLP-1 medications would still fall into the well-understood "you lose weight by eating less" knowledge base, it's just relying on injecting hormones into your body that promote the feeling of fullness in order to accomplish that rather than a person making conscience decision to stop at 2 slices of pizza instead of 4 (despite maybe still feeling hungry)...but the end result of that is still the same, the weight loss is occurring due to a reduced food intake.

Dietary intake by patients taking GLP-1 and dual GIP/GLP-1 receptor agonists: A narrative review and discussion of research needs - PMC

Obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are increasingly common in the United States and worldwide. Because both conditions are associated with serious health consequences, weight reduction is recommended by professional medical and nutrition ...

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

RocksInMyHead · Sep 5, 2025

ThatRobGuy said:
But, in the case of the weight loss quackery, it's capitalizing on the fact that society actually knows the right answer, but merely wishes it wasn't true.

I would say that it's more people knowing the right answer, but hoping there are other right answers. There's always going to be a market for ways to do something quicker and easier, especially when backed up by a perceived expert. It's the same reason why get-rich-quick investment scams are so successful at bilking people.

durangodawood · Sep 5, 2025

ThatRobGuy said:
GLP-1 medications would still fall into the well-understood "you lose weight by eating less" knowledge base, it's just relying on injecting hormones into your body that promote the feeling of fullness in order to accomplish that rather than a person making conscience decision to stop at 2 slices of pizza instead of 4 (despite maybe still feeling hungry)...but the end result of that is still the same, the weight loss is occurring due to a reduced food intake.

I dont think so. The "well understood" eat-less prescription that you say people "dont like" is all about correcting behavior via the application of willpower. Thats precisely why they dont like it in your scoldy worldview, and youre probably right.

GLP-1s do not fit that model. The willpower is provided by the med.

ThatRobGuy · Sep 5, 2025

durangodawood said:
I dont think so. The "well understood" eat-less prescription that you say people "dont like" is all about correcting behavior via the application of willpower. Thats precisely why they dont like it in your scoldy worldview, and youre probably right.

GLP-1s do not fit that model. The willpower is provided by the med.

GLP-1 Agonists

If you have Type 2 diabetes or obesity, GLP-1 agonists might be a helpful part of your treatment plan. Learn more.

my.clevelandclinic.org

The satiety effect of GLP1-agonists reduces your food intake, appetite and hunger. These combined effects often result in weight loss.

GLP-1 affects areas of your brain that processes hunger and satiety.

It's actually not willpower at all with regards to GLP-1 medications. Quite the opposite. People are still eating until they "feel full" when they get hungry, it's just that the hunger is more infrequent, and the "fullness" signal occurs with a smaller portion of food.

In the NIH write up I linked before, it mentioned that people on GLP-1 medications consume up to 39% fewer calories.

So it's still operating off of the tried and true concept that if your calorie intake is less than your caloric expenditure, you'll lose weight. If it's the opposite, you'll gain weight.

Unlike the quacky stuff referenced in the OP article, with people making dubious claims about some magic supplements "the medical industry doesn't want you to know about" that will "turn your body into a fat melting machine" or whatever claims it was making... the article is behind the paywall, but those "get thin without having to put in effort or sacrifice anything" supplement scams are pretty predictable in their marketing pitches so it's probably something along those lines.

Pommer · Sep 5, 2025

It’s rather a good thing that commercial speech isn’t afforded the (near) blanket protections to free expression that we hoi polloi have to protect us.

Servus · Sep 6, 2025

I remember one that kept popping up on youtube with an AI Oprah Winfrey hawking the "pink salt weight loss trick".

bèlla · Tuesday at 7:07 AM

FreeinChrist said:
This is worrisome. Folks really need to be skeptical of claims. I often see claims that a certain drink melts fat for weight loss....yeah, right.

There’s already a solution available to combat misrepresentation but the majority wouldn’t like it rightfully so. But the product is used elsewhere. I’ve posted about the orb in the past. It’s a small device that scans your retina and verifies your identity.

The Orb Will See You Now

An audacious startup co-founded by Sam Altman wants to prove you’re human. What else does it want?

time.com

~bella

Hentenza · Tuesday at 7:40 AM

FreeinChrist said:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/05/technology/ai-doctor-scams.html

Dr. Robert H. Lustig is an endocrinologist, a professor emeritus of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco, and an author of best-selling books on obesity.

He is absolutely not — despite what you might see and hear on Facebook — hawking “liquid pearls” with dubious claims about weight loss. “No injections, no surgery, just results,” he appears to say in one post.

Instead, someone has used artificial intelligence to make a video that imitates him and his voice — all without his knowledge, let alone consent.

The posts are part of a global surge of frauds hijacking the online personas of prominent medical professionals to sell unproven health products or simply to swindle gullible customers, according to the doctors, government officials and researchers who have tracked the problem....

Dr. Gemma Newman, a family physician in Britain and the author of two books about nutrition and health, took to Instagram in April to warn her followers about a video on TikTok that had been altered to make it seem she was promoting capsules of vitamin B12 and 9,000 milligrams of “pure nutrient rich beetroot.”
Dr. Newman was horrified: Her likeness was pushing a supplement, one that could be harmful in high doses, by playing on women’s insecurities — implying the pills could make them “feel desirable, admired and confident.”

The video was so realistic that her own mother believed it was her.
“It’s a double betrayal because my image is there, supporting something that I don’t believe in,” she said.

This is worrisome. Folks really need to be skeptical of claims. I often see claims that a certain drink melts fat for weight loss....yeah, right.

If it seems too good to be true it probably is. Unfortunately scammers appeal to emotion and prey on the weak. Best thing to do is to verify any claim to make sure is true. The good thing about the internet is that it usually will have information that will help catch the scam for those that research the claim.

The Doctors Are Real, but the Sales Pitches Are Frauds

CF Advisory team

Part of the IT crowd

re Member

Part of the IT crowd

God is innocent; Noah built on a floodplain!

re Member

Part of the IT crowd

CoPacEtiC SkEpTic

<><

❤️

I will fear no evil for You are with me

Similar threads