In a podcast, American actor Mel Gibson claimed that anti-parasitic treatments could cure cancer.
Invited to participate in one of the most followed podcasts in the United States, actor Mel Gibson ventured into the field of medicine. “I have three friends, all three had stage 4 cancer. None of them have cancer now. They had very serious problems,” the star said in The Joe Rogan Experience.
When the journalist asks him what they treated themselves with, he replies: “they took what you heard about… Ivermectin, Fenbendazole… Yes, I hear a lot about that”, he adds in this extract, listened to, seen and reviewed millions of times on social networks.
The drugs in question – Ivermectin is an anti-parasitic prescribed for scabies and Fenbendazole – are used in veterinary medicine. And so far, there is no proof of their effectiveness in the treatment of cancer.
“We must keep reason”
“Today, there is no clinical proof in humans. I see 30 people a day and unfortunately, I have never had this kind of case. We must remain reasonable”, explains on the microphone of BFMTV the doctor Jérôme Barrière, oncologist and member of the French Cancer Society.
“The risks are that people turn away from truly effective treatments by trying molecules that have not proven effective and waste time,” adds the specialist. Within conspiracy circles, Ivermectin had already been presented as a remedy against Covid-19, without its effectiveness being demonstrated.
How to treat without medication
“Mel Gibson (…) brings up the usual elements of conspiracy, namely: ‘if we don’t offer you that, it’s because we are paid by Big Pharma’. All these conspiratorial speeches that we have heard during Covid-19 reproduce”, summarizes Mathieu Molimard, professor of pharmacology at Bordeaux University Hospital.
After the actor’s statements, the Canadian Cancer Society denounced X as “dangerous and irresponsible misinformation that gives false hope to sick people.”
Caroline Dieudonné with Lucie Valais
