Brazilian doctor is trading social media likes for bogus COVID medicines

Dr Albert Dickson, a Brazilian ophthalmologist, has been offering bogus COVID-19 remedies in exchange for social media subscriptions and likes, BBC reported. 

“How are you going to be entitled to the consultation? You will subscribe to our channel… You will make a screenshot and send it to my WhatsApp. When you send it, you will start to have access,” he said in a video. 

In his consultations, the doctor prescribes drugs such as ivermectin, which is used in the treatment of lice and scabies. 

Several patients, who contacted the doctor on WhatsApp, told BBC that they were also asked to follow him on Instagram.

Dr Dickson told BBC that he “suggests” patients to follow him on Instagram and subscribe to his YouTube channel because he puts “up-to-date research there and explains the disease in detail and our experience with it, in addition to answering questions live”.

“It is not mandatory to subscribe to the channel to get a consultation. We just suggest it. Many don’t comply and we continue to respond. The virtual consultation is free, I have never charged,” the doctor told BBC.

Dr Dickson’s YouTube channel now has over 200,000 subscribers and he has 90,000 followers on his Instagram profile.