From Doctors to Healers: 232 Facebook Accounts Publish Health ‘AI Slop’ to Push Supplements, Guides and Misinformation to Their 81 Million Followers

From contents that proclaim that “fruit can starve cancer” to assertions that “COVID-19 vaccine mRNA causes turbo cancers”, Maldita.es has found viral health-related claims on Facebook that are completely unsupported by evidence, including alleged "miracle" cures for cancer, dementia and diabetes. These claims are published by some of the more than 230 accounts and pages identified on the platform that pose as doctors, grandparents or healers, but in reality operate an AI slop machine: low-quality AI-generated content that is typically eye-catching and repetitive. The goal? To redirect users off the platform so they will buy supplements, guides or books.

The Supposed Doctors: Accounts Using AI to Portray Doctors and Spread Misinformation About Cancer and Other Diseases

Dr Rafael Vega, Grandma May and Mr Doctor are among the names used by some AI-generated profiles posing as doctors. Their avatars wear white coats, carry stethoscopes or appear in consulting rooms carrying out tasks such as taking blood pressure. In some cases, the username does not even match the profile image—for example, “Dra Barbara” in the account name but “Dr K. Smith” in the profile picture. Maldita.es identified 37 such accounts publishing in English and Spanish. They often present themselves as healthcare professionals in their biographies or include the words “doctor”, “dr” or “dra” in their names.

“These four fruits starve cancer cells,” claims the profile Dr Alejandro Gómez in a video viewed more than 19,000 times. The post encourages users to comment “NATURAL” in order to receive an ebook. The comments section is filled with that word, including one message reading: “Thank you for your advice, doctor.” However, as Maldita.es has explained, there is no evidence that any fruit can “starve” or cure cancer. There is also no evidence that this supposed doctor exists, and Google Gemini detected the SynthID digital watermark in the video, indicating that it was generated using Google AI tools.

Of the 29 Spanish-language accounts identified, 41% published unsupported claims related to cancer. For example, both Mr Doctor and Dr Benjamin Brooks posted videos claiming that coffee can “stop cancer”, despite there being no evidence for this. We also found unsupported claims that COVID-19 vaccine mRNA causes “turbo cancers” (a concept with no medical recognition), that Ozempic is linked to “aggressive thyroid cancer”, that turmeric can “destroy colon cancer”, that soursop, a drink or a seed can cure cancer, or that certain foods can “make cancer die”. Other posts claim that “a gut bacterium can eliminate 99% of cancer cells” and that “foods can repair cellular DNA” so that cancer cannot survive. There is no evidence for any of these claims.

In their biographies and posts, these accounts encourage users to click links to purchase supposed books or supplements. For example, Maldita.es identified an English-language account and a Spanish-language account redirecting users to a supplement sold on Amazon that supposedly “supports adaptability, energy and concentration” for €29.59. Other accounts link to platforms selling discounted guides ranging from €4.99 to €24.99, or to a supposed ebook titled 101 Auntie Reme Home Remedies for €9.95. Some profiles link to suspicious websites that may expose users to phishing campaigns, requesting a telephone number and stating in small print that SMS messages cost €1.45. Entering this information may subscribe users to an unknown paid online service and result in charges being made to their account.

Posing as a Doctor Is a Criminal Offence in Spain — and Facebook Is Also Affected

In Spain, this type of content that “purports to provide testimonials from healthcare professionals, celebrities or real or supposed patients as a means of encouraging consumption” is prohibited under Royal Decree 1907/1996, explains Emilio José Molina, Vice-President of the Association for the Protection of Patients from Pseudoscientific Therapies.

Furthermore, Article 403 of the Spanish Criminal Code punishes those who perform acts reserved for professions such as medicine without the relevant qualification, and more severely those who publicly claim to be doctors without holding such qualifications. As Maldita.es has noted in previous investigations, Spain’s Supreme Court has considered that some individuals convicted of this offence exploited deception by creating “a widespread belief” that they were doctors through staged appearances similar to those used by Facebook’s AI doctors, including white coats, stethoscopes, surgical clothing and settings resembling medical practices.

Facebook is also classified under the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA) as a “very large online platform”. As such, it has a legal obligation to implement effective measures to mitigate systemic risks, including the dissemination of illegal content and negative effects on public health, physical and mental wellbeing, and consumer rights. Meta’s own rules state that accounts engaging in “misleading identity representation to deceive or confuse” will be restricted or disabled.

Facebook Pages Featuring Supposed Doctors and Recipes to Cure Diseases

Not all of these impersonations are personal profiles. Facebook pages also share Spanish-language “health advice”. “Remedies”, “Recipes”, “Natural”, “Health” and “Healthy” are among the terms commonly found in the names of the 47 pages analysed by Maldita.es. Their posts include recipes, infographics and eye-catching images featuring AI-generated “doctors” designed to increase credibility. In some cases, identical posts appear across multiple pages. One example promoting a remedy to “stop urinating throughout the night” was published by La Curita, Laudy Recetas y Más, Salud Verde and Secretos Naturales. Together, these four posts received more than a thousand views.

These accounts also redirect users away from Facebook. Eleven profiles share the same email address or telephone number for contact purposes. In ten of these profiles, a URL appears that, rather than linking to health-related content, advertises supposed job offers. Another profile links to the same website used by the “doctor” accounts, where users are asked for their telephone number and charged via SMS.

“Wellness Juba” and “Healer Li”: AI-Generated Elderly People, Amish Characters and Healers Giving Health Advice

Not all Facebook health advisers are supposed doctors in white coats. There are also “grandfathers”, “grandmothers”, “teachers with ancestral wisdom”, “Amish” characters and “coaches”. These profiles attract substantial audiences: the 148 accounts analysed by Maldita.es have a combined 70.7 million followers. According to psychologist Natalia Martín, among people who distrust conventional medicine or have had negative medical experiences, alternative messages generated by figures perceived as more relatable may be given greater credibility.

In addition to recommending that users boil ginger with pepper “to stop knees cracking and hurting” or brush their teeth with bicarbonate of soda, coconut and lemon “to make them like new”, these profiles share links to products sold on platforms such as Amazon. Examples include “lymphatic drainage capsules for immune health” costing €37.99, a “bitter liquid” for “immune support and digestion” priced at €40.76, and an anti-ageing and anti-dark-spot cream with a “soothing effect” for €39.90. The same links often appear on profiles operating in different languages. Several Spanish-language accounts redirect users to platforms selling PDF documents containing supposed health advice, while others market recipe collections, ancestral remedies or books.

In most cases, these websites do not comply with the legal requirements necessary to operate in Spain, such as providing a legal notice. Examples include Grandma’s Book and 27 Ancestral Remedies. “Grandma Candelaria”, for instance, not only sells advice but also asks users to complete a form providing personal and banking details.

A Cross-Platform Industry: Some Accounts Link to Other Social Networks Such as Instagram and YouTube, Expanding Their Reach

Grandfather Shepherd Samuel is not only on Facebook but also on Instagram. The same applies to sinchan.med and to 13.2% of the Facebook profiles analysed. These accounts therefore extend their influence beyond Facebook to audiences on other social media platforms. Some profiles, such as Darius King, even link to two separate Instagram accounts. Maldita.es has previously reported how Instagram, which is also owned by Meta, has become filled with similar profiles sharing health-related AI slop to sell products.

To a lesser extent, 4% of the Facebook accounts linked to YouTube channels, where Maldita.es has also identified profiles pretending to be doctors. For example, the Facebook profile of the supposed Dr Stevens links to a YouTube channel called 60+ Health, where the same AI-generated character appears—without a surgical cap—posing as a doctor and offering health advice. The platform itself labels the videos as “Created with AI”.

This article features the superpowers of Emilio José Molina, Vice-President of the Association for the Protection of Patients from Pseudoscientific Therapies (APETP), and psychologist Natalia Martín.

Natalia Martín is part of Superpoderosas, a project by Maldita.es that aims to increase the presence of female scientists and experts in public discourse through collaboration in the fight against disinformation.

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