Dr. Joseph Mercola Ordered to Stop Illegal Claims Dr. Joseph Mercola Ordered
Joseph Mercola, D.O., who practices in Schaumburg, Illinois, also operates one of the Internet's largest and most trafficked health information sites. Since 2012, Mercola has stated that his site has over 300,000 pages and is visited by "millions of people each day" and that his electronic newsletter has over one million subscribers . The site vigorously promotes and sells dietary supplements, many of which bear his name.
For many years, Dr. Mercola and other staff members saw patients at his clinic, which was called the Optimal Wellness Center. In 1999, Mercola announced that about one third of his new patients were autistic and that he had treated about 60 such children with secretin, a hormone he said "appeared to be a major breakthrough." It is now well settled that secretin is ineffective against autism , but Mercola's Web site still says it works if a child complies with his recommended diet strategies .
In 2004, Medical Economics reported that Mercola's practice employed 50 people and that he employed 15 people to run his newsletter, including three editors . Much of his support has come from chiropractors who promote his newsletter from their Web sites. Two of his books hit the #2 sales rank on Amazon Books shortly after his newsletter plugged them for the first time.
In 2012, an article in Chicago Magazine reported that Mercola had stopped practicing medicine six years previously to focus on his Web site . However, his decision may have been influenced by a 3-year battle with the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation . I did not see any mention of this on his Web site, and the site invited patients to come to his clinic—which was renamed Dr. Mercola's Natural Health Center—for detoxification, chiropractic, Dispensary, Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), Functional Medicine Program, homeopathy, Neuro-Structural Integration Technique (NST), nutritional consultation, Nutritional Typing Test, thermography, Total Body Modification (TBM), and Active Isolated Stretching.
In September 2014, Mercola announced that he had closed the clinic "in order to devote his full time and attention to research, education and increasing public awareness."
Many of Mercola's articles make unsubstantiated claims and clash with those of leading medical and public health organizations. For example, he opposes immunization fluoridation. , mammography , and the routine administration of vitamin K shots to the newborn ; claims that amalgam fillings are toxic ; and makes many unsubstantiated recommendations for dietary supplements. Mercola's reach has been greatly boosted by repeated promotion on the "Dr. Oz Show."
Mercola's Profits
Mercola is very critical of drug company profits and proudly states:
Mercola.com does NOT accept any third-party advertising or sponsorship, and I am in no way tied into any pharmaceutical company or any other corporate "interest" whatsoever. So you get the real inside scoop on health issues, with practical advice that matters to you untainted by outside influence!
Mercola.com is not . . . a tool to get me a bigger house and car, or to run for Senate. I fund this site, and therefore, am not handcuffed to any advertisers, silent partners or corporate parents. . . .
I don't doubt Mercola's sincerity—and I know nothing about how he allocates his income. But the BlockShopper Chicago Web site states that in 2006 he purchased a house in South Barrington, Illinois, for $2 million and that it now has 5,563 square feet.
In 2011, Mercola announced the formation of Health Liberty, a nonprofit coalition whose goals include promoting organic foods and targeting fluoridation, vaccination, genetically modified foods, and the use of amalgam fillings . In a video accompanying the announcement, Mercola stated that he planned to donate $1 million to catalyze the project. In addition to Mercola.com, the coalition members are:
The money for the donations was funneled from Mercola.com Health Resources LLC through Mercola's nonprofit Natural Health Resources Foundation, which showed the following grants on its tax returns:
The "health freedom" argument involves deception by misdirection. It focuses on individual freedom but does not consider how people who fail to protect their health put the rest of society at physical and/or financial risk. Failing to vaccinate, for example, decreases herd immunity so that contagious diseases spread more widely. In 2012, Mercola began calling his newsletter "Health Liberty Newsletter."
In 2013, Williamette Week reported that Mercola had donated a total of $26,975 in cash and in-kind contributions that included polling and a YouTube video to support the efforts of the antifluoridation group that is opposing a fluoridation referendum in Portland, Oregon. The report also stated that "Mercola has questioned whether HIV causes AIDS, suggests that many cancers can be cured by baking soda, and warns parents not to vaccinate their children. He also says that animals are psychic."
Mercola markets his supplements through Mercola Health Resources, LLC. In 2011, after a customer complained that she thought a product she purchased was overpriced, I began checking whether the Better Business Bureau had received any complaints. I found that the company was rated C- on a scale of A+ through F. On February 1, 2012, the BBB reported that during the previous 36 months, there were 26 complaints—which is not an unusually high number for a high-volume business—but the report contained the following comments:
A recent review of consumer complaints filed with the BBB of Chicago & Northern Illinois against your Mercola Health Resources, LLC delineates a pattern of consumer allegations. Consumers are alleging that Mercola Health Resources does not honor the 100% money-back guarantee listed on your website. Customers have reported that refunds have not been provided for returns that were specifically covered under this guarantee. Consumers have also reported that they have experienced delivery issues. While www.mercola.com states that orders ship within 10 business days, consumers say they have waited much longer for their products. Customers allege that the company's service staff has been unable to provide explanations regarding this delay. Some consumers have also reported that Mercola provided them with shipment tracking numbers that were not valid with their respective carriers .
On November 26, 2013, I checked again and found that during the previous 36 months there had been 34 complaints, but Mercola Health Resources was rated A+. In September 2015, I checked and found that there had been 10 complaints but the rating remained A+. In January 2017, I checked again and found there had been 5 complaints and the rating was A-.
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