Prescriptions for Unproven Cancer Treatment Surge 250% After Mel Gibson's Endorsement on Joe Rogan Podcast
Key Insights
Prescriptions for ivermectin and fenbendazole among cancer (search) patients rose 2.5-fold in early 2025 following Mel Gibson's claims on The Joe Rogan Experience, according to a JAMA Network Open study.
Researchers analyzed health records from over 68 million patients and found the steepest increases among white men and patients in the South, groups overlapping with Rogan's audience.
No human clinical trials have demonstrated that ivermectin or fenbendazole are safe or effective for treating cancer (search), and experts warn patients may forgo proven therapies.
A single podcast episode may have triggered a dramatic shift in how some cancer (search) patients pursue treatment, according to new research published in JAMA Network Open. In the months after actor Mel Gibson appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience in January 2025 and claimed three friends with stage 4 cancer were cured by taking ivermectin and fenbendazole, prescriptions for the unproven drug combination more than doubled among cancer patients compared to the same period in 2024.
The episode, which garnered more than 60 million views in its first month on YouTube, featured Gibson stating, "I don't believe that there is anything that can afflict mankind that hasn't got a natural cure for it." He asserted that all three of his friends no longer had the disease "at all" after taking the medications.
Researchers from Virginia Tech, UCLA, and the University of Michigan analyzed health records for more than 68 million patients and found that cancer (search) patients were prescribed the drugs at a rate 2.5 times higher in the first seven months of 2025 than during the same window in 2024. Among all patients, prescriptions doubled. In the South, prescription rates surged to more than three times their 2024 levels.
"The elevated prescribing observed among patients with cancer (search) is particularly concerning; individuals facing life-threatening illness may delay or forgo conventional treatments in favor of unproven therapies, potentially allowing their disease to progress," the researchers wrote.
The spike was especially pronounced in white patients, men, and patients in the South — demographic groups that overlap strongly with Rogan's listenership, the scientists found.
Drugs at the Center of the Controversy
Ivermectin is an FDA-approved drug for treating parasitic infections in humans and animals. Fenbendazole, part of the benzimidazole class of drugs, is a veterinary dewormer not approved for human use. Neither drug has been established as a safe or effective cancer (search) treatment in human clinical trials.
Preclinical studies have suggested a potential anticancer benefit to ivermectin, and the National Cancer Institute announced earlier this year that it is studying the drug's possible anti-cancer (search) properties. However, the research remains in the preclinical stage. According to Dr. Skyler B. Johnson of the University of Utah Huntsman Cancer Institute, who was not involved in the study, the doses required for even a modest effect in laboratory studies would typically be considered toxic in humans. Johnson also expressed concern that ivermectin could interfere with how the body processes cancer treatments and other medications.
Celebrity Influence and Medical Decision-Making
The findings underscore the growing challenge of providing solid medical information in an era dominated by influencers and AI-generated content. Half of U.S. adults under 50 now get health and wellness information from influencers or podcasters, many of whom lack a scientific or medical background, according to a recent Pew Research report.
"Clinicians talk about how difficult it is when the patient demands or asks for a medication that they really feel passionately might help," said Virginia Tech's Michelle Rockwell, lead author of the study. "And that's where I think these celebrity influencers really play a big role."
Dr. Shikha Jain, an oncologist at the University of Illinois Cancer (search) Center who was not involved in the study, described the phenomenon as "this perfect storm of fear, urgency, uncertainty, information overload and then this desperate need for hope." She added, "When somebody is offering you a magic cure for something and they give anecdotal examples, it can feel very hopeful."
Risks and Unanswered Questions
Dr. John N. Mafi, senior author of the UCLA-led study, emphasized the potential consequences: "When prescribing for an unproven cancer (search) treatment more than doubles after a single podcast, especially among men and people in the South, it raises a concern that patients may be skipping or delaying treatments we know work in favor of something that hasn't been proven to help them."
Co-author Dr. Katherine Kahn, a professor of medicine at UCLA, stressed that "not all widely shared health information is accurate, even when it comes from familiar or influential sources. Using unproven treatments can carry real risks, especially if it delays care that is known to work."
The researchers acknowledged that the study does not prove the podcast directly caused the spike in prescriptions. It also remains unclear whether patients were taking the drugs alongside standard cancer (search) treatments or instead of therapies such as chemotherapy or radiation. Future research, they noted, should explore whether patients are replacing proven cancer therapies with the drug combination, whether the treatments are causing harm, and which physicians are prescribing them.
"We often focus on how to efficiently get evidence into practice," Rockwell said. "But these findings remind us that some forces can influence care very quickly. The challenge for health systems is how to meet patients in that moment with information that is both timely and trustworthy."
The Joe Rogan Experience, one of the most popular podcasts in the world, has previously drawn controversy for hosting guests who spread medical misinformation, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic when ivermectin also became a flashpoint after being promoted as a coronavirus treatment — a use for which high-quality evidence in humans remains lacking.