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Many clinicians know the scene all too well: A patient sits across from you and confidently cites “health information” found online or from other questionable sources. In the best cases, odd claims can be debunked quickly. In the worst, they can derail treatment planning altogether. Here, colleagues share some of the most astonishing myths they’ve encountered.
While Google was once the primary source of informal medical advice outside clinics and practices, people now turn increasingly to social networks (29%) and artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots (40%). Although AI-generated answers at least draw from large, diverse text datasets, social media posts are often subjective, anecdotal, and in some cases tied to commercial interests. Behind professional-looking accounts are sometimes self-appointed “health experts” with minimal medical training — but plenty of confidence in promoting their ideas as cures.
Offline sources contribute as well. Recommendations from naturopaths or wellness coaches, common in German-speaking countries, may contradict evidence-based guidelines and undermine trust in medical treatment. In the worst cases, necessary care is delayed or abandoned entirely.
More Time Pressure in the Consultation Room
German consumer protection agencies describe the flood of online health claims as the “Wild West.” Patients now routinely bring old myths and new product-linked “cure-all promises” into medical consultations. That can lead to communication strain: Rather than using limited appointment time efficiently, clinicians must debunk dubious ideas, correct misunderstandings, and explain evidence-based diagnostic or treatment pathways — ideally with empathy.
This increased burden was highlighted in a lively discussion on Coliquio, part of the Medscape Professional Network. The prompt — “Absurd health myths: What outrageous claims have you encountered?”— generated an outpouring of examples, underscoring how widespread these encounters have become.
Bizarre Experiments and Misleading Advice
One internist recalled an especially strange case:
“An 80-year-old patient was treating her high blood pressure with different types of honey and monitoring the results by testing her urine with litmus paper.” Only after a heart attack did her cardiologist persuade her to take the necessary medications.
A gynecologist reported that a patient, following advice from her naturopath, had been told not to stop taking the pill abruptly but to take it “every 2 days for now.” Another patient inquired about the “coil in the arm,” believing it could prevent pregnancy.
Dental colleagues seem to encounter especially colorful myths. One dentist described a child with an abscessed tooth whose mother refused extraction and instead asked whether the inflammation could be “drained” after an incision.
Other examples included a patient who refused antibiotics after abscess incision because they were “poison,” and another who, acting on a naturopath’s advice, wanted teeth removed to eliminate “disturbance fields” supposedly causing intestinal fungal infections.
Some myths echo prescientific medical ideas — for example, a patient who wanted to keep a basal cell carcinoma in place so that “bad humors can drain.”
The false claim that “fluoride makes you stupid” apparently still circulates in dental practices. And an internist reported a patient who insisted an allergy test was unnecessary because everything had already been “dowsed.”
Dowsing, Boiling, and Cash Grabs
Many of the anecdotes sparked humor among colleagues. In a tongue-in-cheek exchange on Coliquio, several clinicians imagined offering these lucrative but dubious “services” themselves — such as “dowsing blood pressure or glucose levels over the phone (for a fee),” or reading tarot cards “with advance payment only, to avoid ‘karma disturbances.’”
Another sarcastic discussion involved a patient instructed by her naturopath to boil her dental prosthesis because it emitted “disturbance fields.” A colleague suggested an alternative ritual: “Shouldn’t the prosthesis be buried for 3 days during a full moon, with the front teeth pointing north?”
Despite the humor, many physicians voiced concern: Therapies had been delayed or preventive measures refused because of misinformation, leading in some cases to serious harm.
How Can Physicians Counter These Myths?
The discussion among clinicians highlights the difficulty many patients have distinguishing credible from unreliable information. This is reflected in a survey by the Bertelsmann Stiftung, an independent German foundation known for national health and policy research, which found that 71% of people in Germany rate their digital health literacy as low.
Helpful Questions for Challenging Unsupported Claims
The Consumer Center of North Rhine-Westphalia (Verbraucherzentrale NRW), one of Germany’s major regional consumer protection bodies, published guidance on evaluating online health claims. Based on this, here are four critical questions clinicians can use in conversation:
• “What training does the person giving this recommendation have?”
• “Does this advice reference large, independent studies or only personal anecdotes?”
• “Is the recommendation linked to specific products or paid services?”
• “Were risks, side effects, or downsides mentioned — or only benefits?”
According to Susanne Punsmann, a lawyer at the organization, “People should be very cautious with seemingly attractive offers online. If something sounds too good to be true, then it isn’t true.”
How to Handle These Encounters?
Consultation time is limited. When do you take time to address unsupported claims and reinforce evidence-based care — and when do you decide further discussion won’t help? Which arguments, questions, or communication techniques work best when confronting misguided health information?
Share your experiences in the comments.
This story was translated from Coliquio.
