Idiot of the Week; Dr. Mercola - Dangerous Conspiracy Theorist, Anti-Vaxxer, Quack, Scammer

    This week's IDIOT of the Week has been around for years. It's "Dr." Joseph Mercola. He even has an asinine theory about neutering your dog.  You may know this fool from his right-wing conspiracy theories that he publishes under his website "Natural News." There's nothing natural about his "news" other than his stupidity. **WHY IS HE THIS WEEK'S IDIOT?   This week, a neighbor sent me a "warning" about the COVID vaccines that came from  him and other conspiracy theorists. The email said "the COVID vaccine will alter your DNA (it won't), AND that in each vaccine are tiny microscopic nanobots (little robots) that will take over your body."  In fact, this idiot sells tanning beds and says they don't cause skin cancer (I know MANY people who got carcinoma from sun tanning).  SERIOUSLY. People actually believe this crap. 

   Further, he has been BILKING people out of money with his "Natural cures" and stands against vaccines and he's made a big profit as a scammer. There is nothing more despicable than someone who purposely scares others, so they will give you money to supposedly "Keep you safe."  This idiot  tells women not to get mammograms to screen for breast cancer. Instead, he says, use his products.  

   As a dog dad, who has spayed and neutered 6 canine kids, I can tell you his "science" is asinine. He said "By spaying or neutering your dog, you are dooming your canine friend to an eventual cancer diagnosis." None of our kids developed cancer from spaying and neutering. In fact, all veterinarians will tell you spaying and neutering actually REDUCES cancer risk in dogs and cats.  

    This guy is a total Fraud. He was exposed in a 2019 article by the Washington Post and from Chicago Magazine all the way back to 2012. You'll see how much of a scammer this guy really is. READ ON (I did a LOT of research)>>> 

A major funder of the anti-vaccine movement has made millions selling natural health products 

 Washington Post: By Neena Satija and Lena H. SunDec. 20, 2019 at 5:50 p.m. EST 

The nation’s oldest anti-vaccine advocacy group often emphasizes that it is supported primarily by small donations and concerned parents, describing its founder as the leader of a “national, grass roots movement.” But over the past decade a single donor has contributed more than $2.9 million to the National Vaccine Information Center, accounting for about 40 percent of the organization’s funding, according to the most recent available tax records.

PEDDLING HIS "CURES," INSTEAD OF GETTING VACCINATED 

That donor, osteopathic physician Joseph Mercola, has amassed a fortune selling natural health products, court records show, including vitamin supplements, some of which he claims are alternatives to vaccines. 

 In recent years, the center has been at the forefront of a movement that has led some parents to forgo or delay immunizing their children against vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles. 

Health officials say falling vaccination rates contributed to the infectious virus sickening more than 1,200 people in the United States this year, the largest number in more than 25 years. Measles outbreaks are surging worldwide, including in Samoa — where nearly 80 people have died since mid-October, the great majority of them young children and infants. 

WHAT TRUE EXPERTS SAY

“The information he’s putting out to the public is extremely misleading and potentially very dangerous,” opines Dr. Stephen Barrett, who runs the medical watchdog site Quackwatch.org. “He exaggerates the risks and potential dangers of legitimate science-based medical care, and he promotes a lot of unsubstantiated ideas and sells [certain] products with claims that are misleading.”

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QUACKERY EXAMPLES

 The Northern Virginia-based National Vaccine Information Center lists Mercola.com as a partner on its homepage and links to the website, where readers can learn about and purchase Mercola’s merchandise.  A page that was recently removed said that “vitamin C supplementation is a viable option for measles prevention.” Elsewhere on the site, a page about vitamin D includes the headline, “Avoid Flu Shots With the One Vitamin that Will Stop Flu in Its Tracks.” 

IT'S ALL ABOUT MAKING MONEY FOR HIM

 Mercola, whose claims about other products have drawn warnings from regulators, has also given at least $4 million to several groups that echo the anti-vaccine message. 

His net worth, derived largely from his network of private companies, has grown to “in excess of $100 million,” he said in a 2017 affidavit. He declined to be interviewed and did not respond to questions about how much profit his vitamin D and C supplements generate relative to the rest of his wide-ranging merchandise, which includes organic cotton underwear and pet food. 

WHAT SCHOLARS SAY ABOUT HIS PRODUCTS

 Steven Salzberg, a prominent biologist, professor, and researcher at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, calls Mercola “the 21st-century equivalent of a snake-oil salesman.” 

Some of the articles on Mercola’s site, Barrett and others say, seem to be as much about selling the wide array of products offered there—from Melatonin Sleep Support Spray ($21.94 for three 0.85-ounce bottles) to Organic Sea Buckthorn Anti-Aging Serum ($22 for one ounce)—as about trying to inform. (Your tampon “may be a ticking time bomb,” he tells site visitors—but you can buy his “worry-free” organic cotton tampons for the discounted price of $7.99 for 16.)

ANOTHER ARRESTED IN SAMOA FOR THE SAME

 Earlier in Dec. 2019, Samoan anti-vaccine activist Edwin Tamasese, who touted vitamins as an alternative to vaccination, was arrested for allegedly claiming on social media that measles vaccinations would result in mass deaths. Mercola referred The Post to materials he said showed evidence that vaccines can be harmful, including some studies on vaccines no longer in use. Experts and government health officials say medical evidence overwhelmingly supports the safety and efficacy of vaccines. MY QUESTION: WHY HASN'T MERCOLA BEEN ARRESTED FOR THE SAME THING?

THINGS MERCOLA  CLAIMED WILL GIVE YOU CANCER.

Cut.com reported this Wacked out list of things that supposedly will give you cancer, according to the Idiot of the week:  Root canals. Tattoos. Birth control. Bras. Microwave popcorn. The H1N1 vaccine. The HPV vaccine. Actually, most vaccines. Cellphones. Landlines (if they’re cordless). Fructose. Antiperspirant. Tamoxifen (a cancer treatment). Heartburn medications. Tap water. Power lines. Burning incense. Electric blankets. Hair dye. Pringles. Carbs. “Dirty” electricity. Cereal.   Basically, everything causes cancer — except, apparently, Mercola’s top-secret way to prevent cancer: using tanning beds.

BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU GIVES MERCOLA AN "F" 

The Better Business Bureau has tagged Mercola.com with an F rating, its lowest, due in part to customer complaints that the company doesn’t honor its 100 percent money-back guarantee. That black mark isn’t exactly the kind of thing that tends to boost revenues. 

THE FDA TOLD HIM TO STOP MAKING FALSE CLAIMS

Chicago Magazine did a large investigation about Mercola. He has had many recurring run-ins with the Food and Drug Administration. Last March, the agency slapped the doctor with its third warning to stop making what it describes as unfounded claims. Specifically, the FDA demanded that Mercola cease touting a thermographic screening he offers—which uses a special camera to take digital images of skin temperatures—as a better and safer breast cancer diagnostic tool than mammograms. (As of presstime, Mercola’s site had not removed the claims.)