‘Don’t trust Dr Google’: Teenage cancer sufferer reveals how he nearly died after he was told online that BAKING SODA could cure the disease
- Nikhil Autar, from Moorebank in Sydney, was diagnosed with leukemia aged 17
- Now he is studying for a degree in Medical Research at Western Sydney Uni
- Slammed bloggers and social media influencers who share health advice
A medical student who survived leukemia has revealed he almost died after someone claimed baking soda would cure him.
Nikhil Autar, from Moorebank in Sydney, was diagnosed aged 17 and told he had a 10 per cent chance of living.
But today he is studying for a degree in Medical Research at Western Sydney University and is in remission.
Nikhil Autar (pictured), from Moorebank in Sydney, was diagnosed aged 17 and told he had a 10 per cent chance of living
He now runs a blog to inspire other cancer sufferers – and has recently hit out at the the alternative medicine industry.
Mr Autar slammed bloggers and social media influencers who share health advice that has not been scientifically proven to work.
‘I’m a scientist, and highly critical of the very unregulated alternative medicine industry because it does kill people,’ he wrote in a post on his Facebook page.
‘It has killed a few friends of mine. And often their therapies have no evidence behind it… meaning we can’t know if it works and have to trust people’.
Mr Autar said it was totally irresponsible for bloggers and influencers to share wellness products without being sure that they work.
‘If you had 1,000 people’s lived in your hands… you’d have to be pretty trusting or pretty arrogant to think you or someone else should give them something without KNOWING they can benefit,’ he wrote.
Mr Autar (pictured) said it was totally irresponsible for bloggers and influencers to share wellness products without being sure that they work
In an interview with The Australian, Mr Autar said he nearly died after someone tried to sell him ‘super vitamins’ and claimed baking soda would cure him.
‘In our age of social media, inaccurate health advice is shared all the time,’ he told the newspaper.
Somehow it’s OK to gamble with people’s lives
‘As a chronically ill person, and ex-cancer patient, I see Instagram influencers trying to sell things that may not work, in ways that flout the law, and they get away with it.
‘You can’t sell TVs or fridges based off false statements and claims, but somehow it’s OK to gamble with people’s lives.’
It comes after health blogger Belle Gibson was fined $410,000 for claiming alternative therapies cured her of brain cancer which she did not have.
Gibson, who wrote a book about her struggle with cancer, was deemed to have breached consumer laws – but has not paid a cent of the fine.
She will face court in Melbourne late this year as the government chases her for the money.
Facebook, which owns Instagram, and YouTube said they are cracking down on misinformation regarding health.
It comes after health blogger Belle Gibson (pictured at court in June) was fined $410,000 for claiming alternative therapies cured her of brain cancer which she did not have