That black mark isn’t exactly the kind of thing that tends to boost revenues. Meanwhile, the Better Business Bureau has tagged with an F rating, its lowest, due in part to customer complaints that the company doesn’t honor its 100 percent money-back guarantee. The FDA did not respond to repeated requests for comment. (As of presstime, Mercola’s site had not removed the claims.) Mercola says that the FDA’s statements are “without merit” and has had his lawyers send a letter to the FDA telling it so.
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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. Last March, the agency slapped the doctor with its third warning to stop making what it describes as unfounded claims. He’s also undaunted by his recurring run-ins with the Food and Drug Administration. Mercola says that they can detect disease. Thermographic images, such as the one at right, show patterns of body heat.
Far from dispensing dangerous misinformation or trading in conspiracy theories, as some allege, he is a champion of “taking charge of our own health,” the doctor insists-a truth teller alerting Americans to what he calls the abuses, hoaxes, and myths perpetrated by the multi-billion-dollar pharmaceutical and health insurance industries. Mercola says that his critics are wrong on all counts. (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.) 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. “He exaggerates the risks and potential dangers of legitimate science-based medical care, and he promotes a lot of unsubstantiated ideas and sells products with claims that are misleading.” Stephen Barrett, who runs the medical watchdog site. “The information he’s putting out to the public is extremely misleading and potentially very dangerous,” opines Dr. In their view, he is resurrecting old myths, such as the threat posed by mercury in dental fillings, and promoting new ones, such as the notion that microwave ovens emit harmful radiation. Some researchers and doctors say that Mercola steers patients away from proven treatments and peddles pseudoscientific misinformation on topics such as flu shots and fluoridation. Not surprisingly, the medical establishment sees things differently. Mercola versus the medical establishment.Mercola’s reach: His site, supplements, books, and more.“You are a warrior sir, and your tireless, truthful, and fearless efforts to expose these criminals is much appreciated.” Related Content Mercolas!” wrote one in the comments section for “The Thugs of the Medical World,” a article about drug companies. Many followers are almost evangelical in their support of his message. Visitors to his site are also treated to heavy doses of the contempt Mercola holds for most things traditional medicine and Big Pharma-the “medical-industrial complex,” he calls it. Each month, nearly two million people click to see the osteopathic physician’s latest musings on the wonders of dietary supplements and minerals ( “The 13 Amazing Health Benefits of Himalayan Crystal Salt”), the marvels of alternative therapies ( “Learn How Homeopathy Cured a Boy of Autism”), and his take on medical research, from vaccines ( “Your Flu Shot Contains a Dangerous Neurotoxin”) to vitamin D ( “The Silver Bullet for Cancer?”). But Mercola’s influence is nonetheless considerable. He may not have the mainstream name recognition or rock-star appeal of, say, Mehmet Oz (though he has twice been a guest on The Dr. The doctor is Joseph Mercola, the face, the voice, the prime mover behind one of the nation’s most heavily trafficked-and controversial-natural health websites,. Two soft knocks and a person instantly recognizable to most any true believer in alternative medicine appears. To reach him, you must cross the limestone-pillared entrance of his headquarters in Hoffman Estates and go past the chocolate-brown paneled walls and soothing tiled lounge, down a labyrinth of hushed halls and empty conference rooms, to the door of a spacious corner office.
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