Did Australian science communicator Dr. Karl Kruszelnicki promote a blood vessel cleaning remedy on Facebook? No, that's not true: Kruszelnicki has made clear statements that he is not affiliated with this product or any other. In a post to his account on X, Kruszelnicki wrote, "I never endorse any commercial product." He also thanked people "for reporting these fraudulent 'wellness' product ads to FB."
The pitch for a wellness product appeared in a post (archived here) published by the Facebook page Mindfulnesstv on March 29, 2024, with this caption:
Dr. Karl Kruszelnicki discovered 3 completely natural ingredients, and as a result, blood pressure- disappeared forever. Headaches go away, blood cholesterol levels decrease, and symptoms caused by increased blood pressure disappear.
The text included in the post image reads:
CLEANING BLOOD VESSELS
75-years-old Karl Kruszelnicki: Do not kill the heart with chemistry! If your blood pressure is higher 140/80, drink 2 tablespoons of...
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Mon Apr 1 16:16:57 2024 UTC)
A review of the @DoctorKarl account on X, found many followers alerting him to ads they had seen (pictured below). Kruszelnicki thanked them for reporting the ads and emphasized:
I never endorse any commercial product.
(Source: X screenshot taken on Mon Apr 1 16:16:57 2024 UTC)
The text included in the "Learn More" frame of the promotion on Facebook with the website link reads:
LISAITS.OTAKUPOWERS.STORE
After 7 days, the blood vessels are cleansed, and the blood pressure returns to normal.
At the time of writing, April 1, 2024, the link to that website was not operational. The page transparency report for Mindfulnesstv shows the page was created on September 3, 2021 with an Arabic language title, which Google translates to "Malak European Services Company." The profile image of the page is a blue badge and checkmark, which gives the impression that this is a verified page. It is not. The page is running ads on Meta, some perplexingly have an image of a golf course resort promotion with the text associated with the false Dr. Karl wellness product promotion. The ads do not all link to the same web address. Because none of the links are currently functional we are unable to evaluate any additional aspect of the claims made by this product promotion.
- emilybe.otakupowers.com
- sarahyours.kreativahn.com
- sharonshe.radionarodnjak.com
- avatheir.azeuronews.store
- lisaits.otakupowers.store
(Image source: Lead Stories composite image with Meta Ad Library screenshots taken on Mon Apr 01 17:02:00 2024 UTC)
A search in the Meta ad library for the phrase, "Do not kill the heart with chemistry" turned up many more ads featuring Kruszelnicki's likeness from additional pages, Eat Plate, Eat Wisely, Medical Observations and Research, and FFF Time. There were also ads with the same blood vessel cleaning remedy claim featuring the likeness of other famous people (pictured below), Heart disease expert Alta Schutte, American politician and neurosurgeon Ben Carson, doctors Andrew Weil, Dean Ornish, Sanjay Gupta and controversial wellness coach Barbara O'Neill.
(Image source: Lead Stories composite image with Meta Ad Library screenshots taken on Mon Apr 01 17:02:00 2024 UTC)
Lead Stories reached out to Kruszelnicki and will update this article as appropriate when we receive a reply.
Additional Lead Stories fact check on other false promotions can be found here.
