Post : Come for the Misinformation About Vaccines and Stay to Buy Supplements
URL : [link removed]
Posted : April 2, 2024 at 9:51 am
Author : Vincent Iannelli, MD
Tags : Alex Jones, AmazonSmile, Andrew Wakefield, Bobby Kennedy, Del Bigtree, DSHEA, influencers, ivermectin grifters, Joe Rogan, Joseph Mercola, Mary Talley Bowden, Sherri Tenpenny, substack, supplements, Wellness Company
Categories : Vaccine Fact Check

It's no secret what motivates many folks to push misinformation about vaccines or how anti-vax folks monetize misinformation. There is big money to be made in their selling you supplements, books, subscriptions, and tickets to attend seminars, etc.

[link removed] If you still don't understand how anti-vax folks profit ( [link removed] ) from pushing misinformation, then you haven't been paying attention.

While some describe it as a grift ( [link removed] ) , this is hardly small-scale swindling.

Come for the Misinformation About Vaccines and Stay to Buy Supplements

Some of these folks ( [link removed] ) have made hundreds of millions of dollars pushing misinformation ( [link removed] ) and selling unnecessary 'health' products to their visitors.

> “InfoWars is actually an infomercial, right?”
>
> The Truth vs. Alex Jones: How the DSHEA of 1994 gave conspiracy mongers the means to fund their empires

Of course it isn't just misinformation about vaccines...

> The lawyers also show that Jones’s telling of Sandy Hook lies is directly tied to his income. Every time Infowars floated a hoax theory, viewership went up, as did sales of his supplements, measured by “spikes in engagement.”
>
> ‘The Truth vs. Alex Jones’: How Sandy Hook lies got peddled for profit

These influencers ( [link removed] ) are part of a $21 billion industry, which includes the dietary supplement business ( [link removed] ) , which is itself a $60 billion industry in the United States alone!

> "Online celebrities turn followers’ attention into material resources, a process that is often referred to be part of the “attention economy.”
>
> The political economy of digital profiteering: communication resource mobilization by anti-vaccination actors

But it's not just about supplements anymore, especially since COVID...

Have you ever wondered why some "health care providers ( [link removed] ) " still push the idea that ivermectin ( [link removed] ) and other cocktails of drugs ( [link removed] ) work to treat COVID?

[link removed] Did her patient have headlice or roundworms??? Why is she still prescribing ivermectin ( [link removed] ) to patients so long after the majority of studies have said it doesn't work, especially when we have treatments that do work, like Paxlovid?

Is it so they can charge for a visit ( [link removed] ) and a prescription ( [link removed] ) ?

> "In the week of August 13, 2021, private and Medicare plans paid an estimated $1 568 996.00 (43 888 × $35.75) and $924 720.16 (23 632 × $39.13) for ivermectin prescriptions for COVID-19. The weekly total of $2 493 716.16 extrapolated to $129 673 240.30 annually."
>
> US Insurer Spending on Ivermectin Prescriptions for COVID-19

Prescriptions that most studies have shown have no benefit ( [link removed] ) for COVID, but which were typically paid for or subsided by insurance companies ( [link removed] ) .

How Anti-Vax Folks Monetize Misinformation

How else do anti-vaccine folks make money?

In addition to selling premium priced supplements ( [link removed] ) (mostly self-regulated ( [link removed] ) and often contaminated ( [link removed] ) ) that often make controversial health claims and non-evidence based treatments for COVID, these anti-vaccine influencers and supplement shills might:

* sell subscriptions on Substack ( [link removed] ) - there are more than a few anti-vax Substack newsletters on the Health and Fitness leaderboard

sell anti-vaccine books ( [link removed] ) , often books that they self-publish

make money selling anti-vaccine videos ( [link removed] )

make money with amazon affiliate links and from the AmazonSmile fundraising program ( [link removed] )

make money from ads and sponsors on podcasts ( [link removed] ) , websites, and other social media sites, including Instagram ( [link removed] ) , Facebook, TikTok ( [link removed] ) , and YouTube ( [link removed] )

* appeal for donations that are supposed to go toward real research projects

sell MLM products ( [link removed] ) , including those that sell essential oils ( [link removed] ) and CBD products ( [link removed] )

* charge big speaker fees ( [link removed] ) to appear at events

make money selling tickets to their online and in-person anti-vaccine seminars ( [link removed] )

And they aren't the only ones making money off misinformation ( [link removed] ) .

> "The global anti-vaccination industry, including influencers and followers, generates up to $1.1 billion in annual revenue for social media giants, according to a damning new report published this week."
>
> Anti-vaxxers make up to $1.1 billion for social media companies

So next time you read or see something that scares you ( [link removed] ) away from vaccinating and protecting your family, just know that there is big money to be made ( [link removed] ) from spreading that kind of vaccine misinformation.

Want some good news?

You don't have to listen to the supplement shills ( [link removed] ) ! After all, while they are cashing in ( [link removed] ) , you and your family are left at risk to get a vaccine-preventable disease.

More on the Money Behind the Anti-Vax Movement

* Money and Motivation of the Anti-Vaccine Movement ( [link removed] )

* The Moral Responsibility of the Anti-Vaccine Movement ( [link removed] )

* Do Anti-Vaccine Parents Ever Change Their Minds? ( [link removed] )

* More Questions to Help You Become a Vaccine Skeptic ( [link removed] )

* Vaccine Injury Stories That Scare Parents ( [link removed] )

* The Truth vs. Alex Jones: How the DSHEA of 1994 gave conspiracy mongers the means to fund their empires ( [link removed] )

* The Wellness Company: How antivaccine grift becomes plain old quackery ( [link removed] )

* Is Joe Rogan Complicit In The Ivermectin Grift? ( [link removed] )

* ‘The Truth vs. Alex Jones’: How Sandy Hook lies got peddled for profit ( [link removed] )

* The True Dollar Cost of the Anti-Vaccine Movement ( [link removed] )

* A Snapshot of the Deep Pockets of the Anti-Vaccine Movement ( [link removed] )

* Hidden cameras capture misinformation, fundraising tactics used by anti-vaxx movement ( [link removed] )

* Anti-vaxxers make up to $1.1 billion for social media companies ( [link removed] )

* The political economy of digital profiteering: communication resource mobilization by anti-vaccination actors ( [link removed] )

* Measuring the monetization strategies of websites with application to pro- and anti-vaccine communities ( [link removed] )

* Here's the Money Behind the Anti-Vaccine Movement ( [link removed] )

* CNN: The money behind the vaccine skeptics ( [link removed] )

* A major funder of the anti-vaccine movement has made millions selling natural health products ( [link removed] )

* John Oliver takes a shot at the anti-vaccine movement and the ‘opportunistic quacks’ behind it ( [link removed] )

* The American Board of Internal Medicine finally acts against two misinformation-spreading doctors ( [link removed] )

* History of Anti-Vaccination Movements ( [link removed] )

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