Remember that story we ran a few months ago about a man who claimed he cured his terminal cancer with a cheap dog deworming medicine? Well, apparently it recently went viral in South Korea and stocks of the antiparasitic medicine have been depleted.
Back in May, the story of Joe Tippens, an Oklahoma man who allegedly
cured his terminal with the help of a $5 dog deworming drug called
fenbendazole, went viral. Doctors said the cancer had spread everywhere
in his body and he only had about three months to live, but today he is
cured and he credits the veterinary medicine for the miracle. The news
made headlines all around the world, but it really made a big impact in
South Korea, where stocks of fenbendazole have evaporated due to people
buying it as a way to prevent or cure cancer.
Despite several warnings by doctors and the South Korean government
regarding potential side-effects of taking fenbendazole, the drug has
been virtually flying off the helves of vet pharmacies. The craze stated
back in September, when YouTube videos detailing the story of Joe
Tippens with Korean subtitles started becoming popular. Soon, cancer
patients started following the American’s example, taking small doses
of the deworming medicine and documenting their experience on social
media. Doctors’ attempts to discourage people from taking fenbendazole
have so far been unsuccessful.
“We can’t recommend the use of the drug as no clinical trials have
been conducted on humans and its safety has not been confirmed,” the
Korean Medical Association stated, which only inspired thousands of
people to sign a petition asking the Government to start clinical trial
and find out if the cheap veterinary medicine works as a cancer cure or
not.
Vet pharmacies all over South Korean have been reporting increased
demand for fenbendazole from people desperate to cure themselves or
their relatives of cancer, as well as difficulties securing stocks of
the dog dewormer.
“It has become difficult to secure fenbendazole over the past few
weeks following the news about the US cancer patient taking the drug,”
one pharmacist told the South China Morning Post. “Patients seem to be greatly influenced by what they read online.”
A veterinary surgeon told the Hong-Kong-based newspaper that he
understands people’s desperate situations, but he simply won’t sell it
for use by humans, as it’s a drug meant for animals. His views are
shared by other medical experts, some of whom claim the fenbendazole
craze has already resulted in some serious health issues, including
people being rushed to the emergency room with intestinal necrosis
caused by fenbendazole overdoses.
Despite all the warnings, the craze shows no signs of dying down, and
with celebrities like South Korean comedian and singer Kim Chul-min,
who suffers from stage four lung cancer, jumping on the fenbendazole
bandwagon, doctors appear to have their hands full. And many of them are
blaming YouTube.
“The craze about fenbendazole could not have happened without the
internet. YouTube is spreading fast and wide what appears to be a false
hope,” doctor Ahn Byoung-hai told SCMP.
