Manipulated footage used in ads for unapproved diabetes remedy
Diabetes can be managed with medication and lifestyle changes, but Facebook posts promising a treatment for the condition use altered footage of well-known news anchors promoting supplements that are not approved by health authorities. Experts say no cure exists for diabetes despite the claims in the ads.
"A unique formula for treating diabetes has now been made public!" a December 13, 2024 Facebook post claims.
It shares a video of what appears to be a CNN segment with anchor Anderson Cooper saying: "Imagine being able to stabilize your blood sugar in just 14 days and doing it without medication, strict diets or any heavy restrictions. It may sound like a fantasy, but this is exactly the method recently discovered by Barbara O'Neill and over 100,000 people with diabetes have already confirmed its effectiveness."
A second set of posts includes footage of a car in flames as a narrator claims O'Neill faced death threats aimed at suppressing her anti-diabetes method. The audio never details her promised "bedtime hack," but alludes to using garlic and lemon.
Similar ads touting diabetes "cures" circulated in Spanish, substituting Cooper with Univision anchor Jorge Ramos.
The latest ads recommend against approved treatments while touting a glycogen supplement called either Super Flow or GlucoBio, neither of which have been evaluated by the US Food and Drug Administration.
Diabetes is a chronic disease triggered when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin, the hormone that regulates blood glucose, or when the body cannot use it effectively. Over time, high glucose levels can lead to heart disease, stroke and kidney disease, among other ailments.
Some 38.4 million Americans have diabetes -- more than 11 percent of the population, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (archived here).
Health officials maintain there is no cure, but medical experts say it can be managed through diet, exercise and medication (archived here), while cautioning against unproven products advertised on social media.
"There is currently no cure. Diabetes is a lifelong disease that, once diagnosed, requires care," explained Rubén Silva-Tinoco, an endocrinologist and director of the Clinic Specialized in Diabetes Management in Mexico (archived here).
The American Diabetes Association reports some 7.7 million patients rely on insulin, which is necessary for survival for those with type 1 diabetes (archived here and here). For type 2 diabetes, doctors sometimes prescribe metformin to help lower blood sugar levels.
Both the Biden and Trump administrations, as well as state governments, have taken action to lower the cost of insulin. But for many younger patients, affordability remains an issue.
The Facebook ads do not promote a newer, cheaper diabetes treatment -- and the footage is altered.
Who is O'Neill?
O'Neill, who bills herself as a naturopath and health educator, does not have a medical degree.
After a 2019 investigation, the New South Wales Health Care Complaints Commission said O'Neill "poses a risk to the health or safety of members of the public" and barred her from offering medical services in the Australian state.
Clips of O'Neill's lectures regularly circulate on social media, amplified by alternative health creators.
But her likeness has also been misused in a flood of AI-generated advertisements seeking to sell unproven treatments, which her spouse Michael O'Neill previously told AFP she does not promote. The latest ads follow that pattern.
Altered, unrelated footage
The footage of Cooper in the ads is "altered," CNN spokeswoman Shimrit Sheetrit told AFP in a December 18 email.
The anchor's lips do not synch up with the audio, and she pointed out the chyron uses a different font than the one the network employs.
The posts link to articles that resemble those from CNN Health, but keyword searches did not surface any stories about such a "diabetes cure" on the network's official website.
There is also no evidence linking the fire footage to O'Neill.
A reverse image search reveals the clip was filmed in the US state of New Jersey and posted to YouTube on February 9 (archived here).
Freelance photographer Ryan Mack confirmed to AFP that he shot the footage in Brick Township. He said in a December 16 email that while details on the cause of the fire remain undetermined, no person was inside the car.
Suspicious pages
Several clues indicate the Facebook pages promoting the ads are unreliable.
One account was created in November 2024, and although it lists an address in the state of New York, its page transparency details show its manager is located in Ukraine. AFP called the phone number listed on the page and found it was disconnected.
Another page running the ads has no public posts and is managed from Poland.
