Canada's consumer health watchdog

Recognize quackery.
Report it. Stop it.

Two independent sites — one mission: protecting Canadians from fraudulent health products, bogus practitioners, and alt-medicine scams since the 1990s. Dr. Terry Polevoy MD, Waterloo, Ontario.

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HealthWatcher.netCanada's consumer watchdog
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QuackeryWatch.comHealth quackery exposed
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ChiroWatchChiropractic scrutinized
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Diet fraudWeight loss scams — HealthWatcher
Dr. Terry Polevoy MD · Waterloo, Ontario healthwatcher.net & quackerywatch.com Updated June 2026
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Featured — GHR-15 legal blog

GHR-15 Questions? False Claims & Legal Actions

Did you buy GHR-15 from BIE Health Products? This blog exposes the false claims made for "growth hormone releaser" products — none of which have ever been scientifically proven. It also documents the defamation lawsuit brought by BIE Health Products against Dr. Polevoy to silence public criticism of their products.

Read the GHR-15 blog →
Notice: dietfraud.com has been hijacked and is no longer under our control. Do not visit that domain. Diet fraud content has moved to healthwatcher.net/dietfraud.
Notice: herbalwatch.com has been hijacked and is no longer under our control. Do not visit that domain. Herbal product content is now at QuackeryWatch.com.
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About Dr. Terry Polevoy

Retired physician, author, and consumer health advocate based in Waterloo, Ontario. Over 100 published articles, co-author of Pig Pills, Inc. (2003), and contributor to Healing, Hype or Harm? (Imprint Academic, 2008).

Blog Personal blog Defamation blog Empowerplus blog ISCAN sunbeds blog Full bio
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What's New

June 2026
New page
Social media & cancer quackery — TikTok, MAHA, cancer coaching, naturopathy in Canada
New dedicated page covering TikTok misinformation research, the RFK Jr. / MAHA threat to cancer oversight, the cancer coaching industry, naturopathic cancer claims in Canada, and predatory GoFundMe campaigns. Added June 2026.
New page
Cancer quackery research library — expanded with international industry section
New section added: The International Cancer Quackery Industry — covering Tijuana clinics, the German Hallwang/3-BP deaths, Burzynski, GcMAF, Rigvir, and laetrile. 10 new entries. Added June 2026.
Legal
GHR-15 anti-SLAPP motion — filing target fall 2026
Dr. Polevoy's anti-SLAPP motion package under s.137.1 of the Courts of Justice Act targeting dismissal of the BIE Health Products defamation action is being prepared for filing in fall 2026, ahead of the July 5, 2027 pre-trial. Follow updates at ghr15ca.blogspot.com.
MAHA
RFK Jr. deletes FDA warnings about bogus autism therapies — January 2026
Under pressure from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the FDA deleted its page "Be Aware of Potentially Dangerous Products and Therapies that Claim to Treat Autism." The MAHA movement's dismantling of US health agency oversight has direct implications for Canadian patients and the enforcement actions that have historically protected them.
New page
Cancer Quackery — Government Actions, Legal Cases & Canadian Mentions
Searchable reference table of FTC, FDA, Health Canada, Competition Bureau, CPSO and court actions — 12 enforcement entries, Mexico cross-border table, complaint filing guides for Canada and USA, and full URL appendix. Added June 2026.
Research
81% of TikTok cancer "cure" posts are misinformation — City St. George's University, 2024
New research confirms that TikTok has become the primary misinformation vector for cancer quackery, with 163 of 200 analyzed cancer cure posts containing false or misleading information. See the full Social Media & Cancer Quackery page for details.

Featured investigations

8 entries
Legal
GHR-15 and BIE Health Products — false claims and the SLAPP lawsuit against Dr. Polevoy
ghr15ca.blogspot.com · Updated April 2026
Cancer
Adam Dreamhealer (Adam McLeod) — B.C. "psychic healer" exposed
HealthWatcher investigation · QuackeryWatch.com
Fraud
Truehope Empowerplus — the trial and the claims
Pig Pills, Inc. · HealthWatcher.net
Chiropractic
Lana Dale Lewis — stroke and death after neck manipulation
ChiroWatch · HealthWatcher.net
Cancer
Hulda Clark — Saskatchewan-born quack died of the cancer she claimed to cure
QuackeryWatch.com
Diet fraud
Weight loss scams — supplements, patches, and miracle cures
HealthWatcher.net · formerly dietfraud.com (now hijacked)
Fraud
Kevin Trudeau — FTC action and infomercial fraud
QuackeryWatch.com
Vaccines
Anti-vaccine rhetoric and autism misinformation
HealthWatcher.net · QuackeryWatch.com

Cancer quackery articles

7 peer-reviewed · 7 Gorski posts
Peer-reviewed articles & studies
Review
Cancer quackery: the persistent popularity of useless, irrational "alternative" treatments
Cassileth BR & Yarett IR · Oncology Vol. 26 No. 8 · CancerNetwork.com · August 2012 · Memorial Sloan-Kettering · Note: Barrie R. Cassileth, 1938–2022
Study
Use of alternative medicine for cancer and its impact on survival
Johnson SB et al. · Journal of the National Cancer Institute Vol. 110 No. 1 · January 2018 · Yale School of Medicine · 2.5× higher risk of death
Study
Complementary medicine, refusal of conventional cancer therapy, and survival
Johnson SB et al. · JAMA Oncology Vol. 4 No. 10 · July 2018 · Yale Cancer Center
Review
Alternative cancer cures: "unproven" or "disproven"?
Vickers AJ · CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians Vol. 54 No. 2 · 2004 · American Cancer Society
Review
Influence of internet and social media in the promotion of alternative oncology and cancer quackery
Delgado-López PD & Corrales-García EM · Cureus · May 2018
NCI
Forgoing conventional cancer treatments for alternative medicine increases risk of death
NCI Cancer Currents Blog · cancer.gov · 2017
Commentary
Quackery, placebos, and other thoughts: an integrative oncologist's perspective
CancerNetwork (Oncology) · 2012
David H. Gorski MD PhD — Science-Based Medicine
Blog
Alternative medicine kills cancer patients, "complementary" edition
Science-Based Medicine · July 2018
Blog
Using alternative medicine to treat cancer, even alongside conventional therapies, is still a bad idea
Science-Based Medicine · March 2026
Blog
"Integrative" oncology: Trojan horse, quackademic medicine, or both?
Science-Based Medicine · August 2010 · Coins the term "quackademic medicine"
Blog
Revisiting "integrative oncology": the battle to integrate quackery with oncology continues
Science-Based Medicine · August 2024
Blog
"Integrative medicine": a brand, not a specialty
Science-Based Medicine · September 2017
Blog
"Chemotherapy is for losers": a tragic tale of cancer, naturopathic quackery, and murder
Science-Based Medicine · November 2017
Blog
ASCO endorses "integrative oncology" quackery for cancer pain
Science-Based Medicine · November 2022

Canadians victimized by cancer quacks

8 cases
First Nations children & Brian Clement — Hippocrates Health Institute, West Palm Beach, Florida
Death
Makayla Sault — Six Nations girl with leukemia dies after Brian Clement's "treatment"
Six Nations of the Grand River, Ontario · 2014–2015 · CBC News · Gorski — SBM
Court
"J.J." — Ontario First Nations girl; court allows Clement quackery over chemotherapy
Brantford / Hamilton, Ontario · 2014–2015 · Ontario Superior Court · Gorski — SBM · CBC
Quack
Brian Clement — Florida quack; fined by Florida Dept. of Health; continued touring Ontario
West Palm Beach, Florida / Six Nations, Ontario · 2014–2016 · Gorski — Clement returns
Tyrell Dueck — Saskatchewan boy, Tijuana quack clinic
Death
Tyrell Dueck — 13-year-old Saskatchewan boy dies after parents take him to Tijuana cancer clinic
Martensville, Saskatchewan · 1999 · CBC News · HealthWatcher · QuackeryWatch
Adam Dreamhealer (Adam McLeod) — British Columbia
Psychic
Adam Dreamhealer (Adam McLeod) — B.C. teenager promoted as miracle cancer healer; targeted desperate patients
British Columbia · 2002–2019 · QuackeryWatch · HealthWatcher — Flim-Flam Man · Globe and Mail
Hulda Clark — Saskatchewan-born, "Cure for All Cancers"
Canadian
Hulda Regehr Clark — Saskatchewan-born naturopath; claimed to cure all cancers; died of cancer herself in 2009
Born Rosthern, SK · Operations in Tijuana and San Diego · Died 2009 · QuackeryWatch · Gorski — died of cancer
Essiac — Ontario herbal quackery
Herbal
Essiac / Flor-Essence — Ontario-originated herbal cancer "cure" with no scientific evidence; still sold across Canada
Bracebridge, Ontario · 1920s–present · Cassileth 2012 · Quackwatch
Geronimo Rubio — Tijuana clinic promoted by Toronto's Consumer Health Organization
Quack
Geronimo Rubio's Tijuana cancer clinic — promoted to Canadians by Toronto's Consumer Health Organization
Toronto, Ontario / Tijuana, Mexico · 1990s–2004 · QuackeryWatch — Cancer file

Trusted resources & support

Cancer & health fraud resources

How to find cancer resources you can trustNational Cancer Institute — cancer.gov Cancer FactFinderHarvard T.H. Chan School & Dana-Farber Quackwatch — Stephen Barrett Science-Based Medicine Science-Based Pharmacy Center for Inquiry NCAHF HealthWatch UK James Randi Educational FoundationJames Randi, 1928–2020. Foundation continues as a grant-making org. PubMed

Books & blogs by Dr. Polevoy

Pig Pills, Inc. (2003)Truehope / Empowerplus exposé Healing, Hype or Harm? — chapter on chiropractic (2008) GHR-15 questions & legal actions QuackeryWatch blog Dr. Terry Polevoy blog Defamation & libel blog Empowerplus blog ISCAN sunbed hazards blog

Support HealthWatcher.net

HealthWatcher.net and QuackeryWatch.com are independent, non-commercial consumer health protection sites operated by Dr. Terry Polevoy at his own expense. There is no advertising, no corporate sponsorship, and no government funding. If this resource has been useful to you, please consider making a donation to help keep it running.

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