American alternative medicine proponent and purveyor of anti-vaccination misinformation
Joseph Mercola
Mercola in 2009
Born
(1954-07-08) July 8, 1954 (age 69)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Education
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (BS) Midwestern University (DO)
Partner
Erin Elizabeth
Medical career
Sub-specialties
Nutrition
Joseph Michael Mercola (/mərˈkoʊlə/;[1] born July 8, 1954) is an American alternative medicine proponent, osteopathic physician, and Internet business personality.[2] He markets largely unproven dietary supplements and medical devices.[3] On his website, Mercola and colleagues advocate unproven and pseudoscientific alternative health notions including homeopathy and opposition to vaccination. These positions have received persistent criticism.[2] Mercola is a member of several alternative medicine organizations as well as the political advocacy group Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, which promotes scientifically discredited views about medicine and disease.[4] He is the author of two books.[5]
Mercola's medical claims have been criticized by the medical, scientific, regulatory, and business communities. A 2006 BusinessWeek editorial stated his marketing practices relied on "slick promotion, clever use of information, and scare tactics".[6] In 2005, 2006, 2011, and 2021 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned Mercola and his company that they were making illegal claims for their products' ability to detect, prevent, and treat disease.[7][8] Quackwatch has criticized Mercola for making "unsubstantiated claims [that] clash with those of leading medical and public health organizations and many unsubstantiated recommendations for dietary supplements".[9][10] Of Mercola's marketing techniques, surgical oncologist David Gorski says it "mixes the boring, sensible health advice with pseudoscientific advice in such a way that it's hard for someone without a medical background to figure out which is which".[2]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mercola spread misinformation about the virus and pseudoscientific anti-vaccine misinformation on social media platforms.[11][12][13] Researchers have identified him as the "chief spreader of coronavirus misinformation online".[11][14][15][16]
^As he pronounces his name on his own videos, e.g. [1] Archived February 16, 2021, at the Wayback Machine.
^ abcCite error: The named reference Satija_Sun_12/20/2019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"Who Sits at the Clintons' Table, and Who Picks Up the Tab?". Association of American Physicians and Surgeons. April 1, 1994. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved August 19, 2011.
^"Doc's got odd appetite". Chicago Tribune. May 25, 2003. Archived from the original on February 6, 2012. Retrieved August 22, 2011.
^Cite error: The named reference Gumpert was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Tsouderos, Trine (April 26, 2011). "FDA warns doctor: Stop touting camera as disease screening tool Archived January 12, 2020, at the Wayback Machine", Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 12, 2011.
^Cite error: The named reference fda-2-18-21 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Barrett S (July 25, 2021). "Dr. Joseph Mercola Ordered to Stop Illegal Claims". Quackwatch. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
^Ronald PC (2018). Tomorrow's table : organic farming, genetics, and the future of food (Second ed.). New York, N.Y. p. 138. ISBN 978-0199342099.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^ abSrikanth A (March 24, 2021). "12 prominent people opposed to vaccines are responsible for two-thirds of anti-vaccine content online: report". The Hill. Archived from the original on March 25, 2021. Retrieved March 25, 2021.
^Jonathan J (June 4, 2021). The Upside-Down Doctor (Report). Office for Science and Society. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
^Brumfiel G (May 12, 2021). "For Some Anti-Vaccine Advocates, Misinformation Is Part Of A Business". NPR.org. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
^"The Disinformation Dozen" (PDF). Center for Countering Digital Hate. March 24, 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 27, 2021.
^Frenkel S (July 24, 2021). "The Most Influential Spreader of Coronavirus Misinformation Online". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
^Casado L (July 25, 2021). "This natural health doctor has published over 600 articles claiming coronavirus vaccines are a fraud — he's part of the 'disinformation dozen' responsible for the vast majority of COVID-19 misinformation on Facebook". Business Insider. But beating Robert F Kennedy Jr to the No. 1 spot in the 'disinformation dozen' is Joseph Mercola, a natural health doctor based in Cape Coral, Florida.
Joseph Michael Mercola (/mərˈkoʊlə/; born July 8, 1954) is an American alternative medicine proponent, osteopathic physician, and Internet business personality...
healthcare topics, like COVID-19 and vaccines. She and her partner JosephMercola have been called two of the "disinformation dozen" responsible for 65%...
ineffective supplements and treatments, such as Matthias Rath, Mike Adams, JosephMercola, Jonathan Wright, Rashid Buttar, Russell Blaylock, Stanislaw Burzynski...
moved from those platforms to Substack. The Washington Post mentioned JosephMercola—whose content Imran Ahmed, CEO of the Center for Countering Digital...
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criticized for promoting quackery. Gundry has also supported the website of JosephMercola for giving "very useful health advice". Gundry advocates a low-carbohydrate...
Jenny McCarthy JosephMercola Ministry of Ayush Theodor Morell Hans Alfred Nieper Mehmet Oz Raël (Claude Vorilhon) Randolph Stone Paul Joseph Watson Andrew...
Jenny McCarthy JosephMercola Ministry of Ayush Theodor Morell Hans Alfred Nieper Mehmet Oz Raël (Claude Vorilhon) Randolph Stone Paul Joseph Watson Andrew...
(1998). The Mars Mystery: A Tale of the End of Two Worlds. London: Michael Joseph. ISBN 0-7181-4314-0. Hancock, Graham; Santha Faiia (1998). Heaven's Mirror:...
proponents Gary Craig Subsequent proponents Jack Canfield, Nick Ortner, JosephMercola See also Thought Field Therapy, Tapas Acupressure Technique, Eye movement...
links to supplements and the website of alternative medicine proponent JosephMercola. In 2013, he began uploading YouTube videos providing advice on new...
Edison, the Prince of Wales, General Kitchener, William Ewart Gladstone, and Joseph Chamberlain. So popular was Cheiro as a "society palmist" that even those...
Paul Joseph Watson (born 24 May 1982) is a British right-wing YouTuber, radio host, and conspiracy theorist. Until July 2016, Watson embraced the label...
Jenny McCarthy JosephMercola Ministry of Ayush Theodor Morell Hans Alfred Nieper Mehmet Oz Raël (Claude Vorilhon) Randolph Stone Paul Joseph Watson Andrew...
Christiane Northrup, Ty and Charlene Bollinger, and supplement giant JosephMercola. He promotes anti-vaccination videos sold by Ty and Charlene Bollinger...
Jenny McCarthy JosephMercola Ministry of Ayush Theodor Morell Hans Alfred Nieper Mehmet Oz Raël (Claude Vorilhon) Randolph Stone Paul Joseph Watson Andrew...
was an undergraduate (1928–31) at MIT. The second was parapsychologist Joseph Banks Rhine whose parapsychology laboratory at Duke University was already...
Jenny McCarthy JosephMercola Ministry of Ayush Theodor Morell Hans Alfred Nieper Mehmet Oz Raël (Claude Vorilhon) Randolph Stone Paul Joseph Watson Andrew...
Jenny McCarthy JosephMercola Ministry of Ayush Theodor Morell Hans Alfred Nieper Mehmet Oz Raël (Claude Vorilhon) Randolph Stone Paul Joseph Watson Andrew...
Jenny McCarthy JosephMercola Ministry of Ayush Theodor Morell Hans Alfred Nieper Mehmet Oz Raël (Claude Vorilhon) Randolph Stone Paul Joseph Watson Andrew...
1950s were John W. Campbell, editor of Astounding Science Fiction, and Joseph Augustus Winter, a writer and medical physician. Campbell published some...
Jenny McCarthy JosephMercola Ministry of Ayush Theodor Morell Hans Alfred Nieper Mehmet Oz Raël (Claude Vorilhon) Randolph Stone Paul Joseph Watson Andrew...
departments failed to replicate Rhine's results. In 1938, the psychologist Joseph Jastrow wrote that much of the evidence for extrasensory perception collected...
Jenny McCarthy JosephMercola Ministry of Ayush Theodor Morell Hans Alfred Nieper Mehmet Oz Raël (Claude Vorilhon) Randolph Stone Paul Joseph Watson Andrew...
(1845), "Test for Telepathy", Scientific American, V3#1 (1847-09-25) Plazo, Joseph R., (2002) "Psychic Seduction." pp. 112–114 ISBN 0978592239 St. Claire,...