Medical fraud involves selling supplements, medications, cosmetics as well as food that are not prescribed by doctors. Most of these products have not been proven to be effective. But, now quite a number of fraudsters sell such products claiming that such medical products can treat, prevent and cure health problems. How effective they are, is not known but there have been cases where it worked otherwise. Causing a lot of harm. Cosmetics especially have caused a lot of side effects to the users. Sadly, it also has also caused deaths. Most of these products don’t really work as it is not recommended by doctors and costs a lot of money. They also prevent you from getting the right medications you really need. People who sell such products usually target people with chronic illnesses. They too promise help for many health issues like joint pain, memory loss, weight loss and even enhance sexual performance.
The social network has become the main medium for these health scammers to advertise their products. And their target group are senior citizens, youths as well as young ladies. One common problem faced by senior citizens is joint pains. Senior citizens who have been very involved with sports and hard-knocking games like football and rugby will have the most joint damage and pain. They usually suffer from a lot of unbearable pain. Thus, one of the most common products that are promoted on Facebook is for the treatment of joint pains. These people often call themselves Health Advisors or Consultants. A popular product that is often promoted on Facebook and Messenger is “Soku” ( not the real name) as a miracle drug. It is said to be a combination of organic ingredients and herbs from abroad. They claim it can cure you of knee pain, shoulder pain, spine pain as well as other illnesses like trigger finger. They are very bold in their promotion. They say Soku has the approval of the Ministry of Health. Additionally, another claim is once you consume Soku you can avoid knee injections or total knee replacement surgery which is done as a last resort for people with serious knee problems. They keep on promoting on social networks and people who are desperate for a cure will fall into the trap. Many people who have tried Soku say it is a big fraud. And, it is not cheap, about rm 250 per treatment. They will try to convince you to buy more than 2 boxes by offering discounts on its price and delivery. The products will also come in attractive packaging.
Apart from Soku, they also promote other products that they claimed to solve heart problems, liver problems as well as obesity among others. What is surprising is there are people, even those with education falling into this vicious trap. There is one claim that if you take Roku (Not real name) you can clear any blocks in your heart. The government has spent millions on the construction of heart centres all over Malaysia and has also trained hundreds of cardiologists to treat heart patients. I understand that heart blocks are sorted by Interventional Cardiologists who perform angioplasty, which opens up blocks or narrow arteries. This can be an expensive procedure done in special operation theatres by a team of people. Would you believe if someone says you don’t have to do angioplasty but just take a capsule for a period of time and you would solve your problem? Yes, there are people who believe this story. If this is possible, many cardiologists will lose their jobs. And the government can save a lot of money.
This phenomenon is becoming a serious problem now. Desperate people are easily tricked by sweet-talking so-called advisors. Many of these salespeople equip themselves with a lit bit of medical knowledge to convince others. To add to their claims, they will also add testimonies from people who claim that the product has helped to solve their medical problems. We cannot really find out how true are the testimonies but they will sound convincing.
A growing number of people are being attracted to try alternative products from online sources. It is important to understand the potential dangers of such medicine. Sometimes, it doesn’t help at all and becomes a waste of money. It is important to consult a doctor or a pharmacist before consuming such medication. We must remember there are a lot of people trying to earn money and the field of medicine is one area many can be easily conned. So be careful.
Palaniappan Karuppan is a content writer under Headliner by Newswav, a programme where content creators get to tell their unique stories through articles and at the same time monetize their content within the Newswav app.
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