The Israeli Medical Association has asked the Health Ministry to take action against a growing wave of people impersonating doctors and spreading false claims about medical treatments online, Kan News reported Wednesday morning. In its letter, the association said the trend has surged sharply on social media and could cause real health and financial harm.
The group warned that over the past two years there has been a dramatic rise in fake videos promoting treatments, medicines, specialists and dietary supplements that promise better quality of life, improvement and, in many cases, cures for diseases. These posts often use the identities of real doctors without their consent and present them as endorsing the material.
Among the prominent figures whose name, voice and image have reportedly been used is Prof. Ronny Gamzu, Israel's former coronavirus commissioner, who was appointed in November 2023 to oversee physical rehabilitation for war casualties. The letter sent by the Israeli Medical Association and the Israeli Internet Association described the activity as a planned and systematic distribution mechanism that exploits public trust, especially the vulnerability of patients with serious illnesses, chronic patients and people needing urgent medical help.
The organizations said the scheme also uses the identities of other medical authorities, including Nobel Prize laureate Prof. Aaron Ciechanover, Prof. Chen Kugel, who has already filed a complaint against Meta over the matter, and Prof. Gabi Barbash, among others. Attorney Inbar Kimchi Levy, who heads public policy and medical ethics at the Israeli Medical Association, said it poses a health and financial danger and that this is why the association is demanding government intervention.
