An investigation has revealed that anti-parasitic drugs, including ivermectin and fenbendazole, are being marketed and sold as unproven cancer treatments. Videos and social media posts promoting these claims have garnered millions of views, according to a BBC investigation.
One individual, identified as Sarver, a stair lift salesman, offered to sell a terminally-ill man fenbendazole and ivermectin for £100, claiming it would be a two to three month supply for lung cancer and "other cancers as well." Sarver told an undercover BBC reporter, posing as someone with a relative who had cancer, that he researched medical papers and passed on what he heard, stating, "I'm not a doctor."
Ivermectin is an anti-parasitic drug approved for treating conditions such as scabies. Fenbendazole is an animal dewormer. Both are being promoted with unverified claims that they can help treat cancer. One social media post cited by the BBC featured Hollywood actor Mel Gibson claiming the drugs successfully treated three of his friends who had cancer.
Rebecca, a woman from Monmouthshire, shared an account of her father being offered these medicines by Sarver. She recounted that Sarver had suggested the treatment was not available on the NHS and could shrink brain tumors. "So I wrote down everything he said about these medicines...fenbendazole, ivermectin...I couldn't quite believe what he was saying," Rebecca stated.
Sarver reportedly said his work in selling stair lifts exposed him to many ill people, which motivated him to share information about these drugs. He supplied the undercover reporter with fenbendazole and ivermectin tablets, claiming they were a two to three month supply for lung cancer and "other cancers as well."