Posts touting 'ruptured eardrums cure' share fabricated endorsements from Philippine doctors
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on August 31, 2023 at 11:55
- Updated on August 31, 2023 at 11:57
- 4 min read
- By Faith BROWN, AFP Philippines
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The 30-second video touting a product called "SOUTH MOON EAR DROPS TREATMENT" has racked up over three million views after it was shared on Facebook on May 10, 2023.
The clip features physician Winston Kilimanjaro Creones Tiwaquen -- known to his millions of Facebook followers as Dr Kilimanguru -- talking about the signs and symptoms of a perforated eardrum (archived link).
At the 21-second mark, it cuts to show an ad for "SOUTH MOON EAR DROPS TREATMENT" alongside an image of another well-known Filiipino doctor, Willie Ong (archived link).
A narrator is heard saying: "Cure this by using SOUTH MOON EAR DROPS TREATMENT This is 100 percent natural and you will see results within one week."
Other videos here and here show Ong -- a frequent target of fabricated endorsements -- also appearing to endorse the product.
Ong is heard in the video saying: "We will address perforated eardrums, feeling nauseous, losing hearing, hearing buzzing sounds."
Comments on the posts suggest many users believed the claim and expressed interest in buying the product.
"How much is that, my eardrum has a hole too," one wrote.
"How much is that, doc?" another asked.
But the product is not registered in the FDA's registered drug products database as of August 31 (archived link).
Fabricated endorsement
Dr Tiwaquen told AFP on August 14 he is "not endorsing" the product.
"This is the first time I'm hearing of this," he said.
Keyword searches found the clip in the false posts was taken from a video about perforated eardrums posted on his verified Facebook page (archived link).
A review of the video found he never recommended the product for treating ruptured eardrums. Instead, he advised his viewers: "Don't just put whatever medication in your ear, don't delay consulting a doctor when you have ear problems."
Below is a screenshot comparison of the clip used in the false post (left) and Dr Tiwaquen's Facebook video (right):
The video of Ong used in the false Facebook posts was taken from the beginning of a longer video published on his verified YouTube channel on February 25, 2019. (archived link)
The video is titled: "EAR: Itchy, Painful, With Discharge - by Doc Gim Dimaguila."
Ong and ear specialist Dr Gim Dimaguila talked about various ear problems, including ruptured eardrums, which the latter said can heal within a week if treated properly.
"The best thing to do, of course, when your eardrum suddenly gets ruptured is to immediately consult your doctor," Dimaguila said at the video's 37-minute, 33-second mark.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the clip used in the false post (left) and Ong's YouTube video (right):
AFP has previously debunked other posts misusing Ong's videos to advertise medical products here, here and here.
Ong has repeatedly addressed these fake product endorsements on his Facebook page here and here (archived links here and here).
"There are so many scams using my name, as well as other celebrities. If you see ads like that, almost all of them are fake," he said in a video message posted on Facebook on April 18 (archived link).
He said he only endorses one product -- a brand of milk for the elderly called Birch Tree Advance.
He previously told AFP: "If an advertisement does not come out of my Facebook page, then we are not endorsing it."
Unregistered product
Ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialist Rene Louie Gutierrez told AFP there is "no truth" to the claim about the product in the posts (archived link).
"Usually, traumatic eardrum perforations are repaired through an ear operation called tympanoplasty," he said on August 28.
According to ENT Michael Tapangco, although antibiotic ear drops may help keep ruptured eardrums infection-free, no ear drop product "will heal eardrum perforations directly" (archived link).
Tapangco also told AFP on August 16 that ruptured eardrums can heal on their own but "would really depend on a lot of factors like recurrent infection or other condition causing the perforation".
According to the Mayo Clinic website, if an eardrum perforation does not heal on its own within weeks, it is treated with an eardrum patch or corrected through surgery (archived link).
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