Professor Kerryn Phelps is angry about the rise and fall of certain wellness bloggers, especially cancer frauds like Belle Gibson.
And she has described their actions as “potentially fatal”.
Belle Gibson faked a long list of ailments, including a brain tumour (which she says was diagnosed by a quack with a box), and then claimed to have cured herself with natural therapies. Initially popular in social media, she was soon a darling of the mainstream media, publishing and magazine world, with a book, an app and a following.
Until it was revealed she never had cancer at all.
The media were culpable in jumping on a story about a pretty face, a miracle and magical thinking - and should have checked their facts, Professor Phelps says.
There are two major repercussions when cancer frauds get popular, she says. Firstly, people with cancer may move away from conventional therapies because they are so scared. "I see people burst into tears when told they have to have chemo. It's really distressing to then have someone tell them they don't need evidence-based medicine. Cancer is high stakes and just following a diet is a potentially fatal decision."
The doctor, now professor and former head of the AMA, has seen this happen more and more over the 30 years she's been in practice and has had to have some robust and stern conversations with patients.
In her new book The Cancer Recovery Guide she tells the story of a patient who was resisting treatment and pressing on with alternative therapies, convinced she could beat the disease without medical intervention.
Dr Phelps said to her "If you were standing in the middle of the road and there was a bus speeding towards you, would you jump out of the way?" The patient said she would. "The bus is coming" Kerryn told her.
The woman reluctantly agreed to treatment and survived another four years to see her kids graduate from university.
