Another video promoting an unregistered product has circulated on Facebook (FB), this time using artificial intelligence (AI) to manipulate a video of cardiologist Willie Ong.
VERA Files received a request from a reader to verify a four-minute and 35-second video showing Ong and two patients recommending a product allegedly for irregular heartbeats and other heart diseases. Uploaded on March 4, the video’s caption read:
“#1 PRESCRIBED BY DOCTORS. Gamot para sa mga may abnormal heartbeat, irregular heartbeat, palpitasyon, altapresyon, , laging nahihilo, sumisikip ang dibdib, angina, mabilis tibok ng puso, mahina tibok ng puso, heart enlargement, may butas ang puso, barado ang ugat sa puso, dating may stroke, nahihirapang huminga at hinihingal
(Medicine for those with abnormal heartbeats, irregular heartbeats, palpitations, high blood pressure, constant dizziness, chest tightness, angina, rapid heart rate, weak heart rate, heart enlargement, hole in the heart, blocked arteries in the heart, those who experienced stroke, has difficulty breathing and shortness of breath).”
The video starts with a clip of Ong supposedly warning netizens about the dangers of heart diseases and recommending the product to cure them. Ong can be seen and heard saying:
“Ako bilang isang internist cardiologist, ito po linya natin – sakit sa puso. Ang maipapayo ko sa inyo ay uminom ng Vascuhealth. Ang gamot na ito ay makakatulong para maging normal ang iyong heartbeat. Mawala ang paninikip ng dibdib at palpitasyon. Ito talaga inirerekomenda ko sa mga pasyente ko
(As an internist cardiologist, this is our line of work – heart disease. What I can advise all of you is to drink Vascuhealth. This medicine will help normalize your heartbeat and remove chest tightness and palpitations. This is really what I recommend to my patients).”
Ong did not endorse the product. The video advertisement is AI-manipulated.
The video also bore the logos of the Department of Health (DOH) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Vascuhealth is not a drug or food product registered with the FDA. It is not being endorsed by the DOH either.
Clips from Ong’s Sept. 14, 2023 vlog were altered through AI and an audio fake of Ong was overlaid. In the original video, Ong only discussed ways for patients who cannot afford to go to health professionals to recover from illnesses.
He has previously denied promoting health products aside from a milk supplement for seniors.
One of the patients seen endorsing the product was likewise AI-manipulated. This video was lifted from the World Health Organization Philippines’ feature on a multidrug-resistant tuberculosis patient uploaded on Nov. 18, 2017.
The post leads netizens to a website (vascuhealthsoftgel.store) that asks for their personal information to avail of the product.
VERA Files previously flagged another fake ad that utilized AI to promote an unregistered health product. (Read Video of Jessica Soho promoting a food supplement AI-ALTERED)
Ong was also the most-imitated personality among the fake ads debunked by VERA Files last year. (Watch Bye victim era, hello scam-free era! Paano hindi ma-fall sa online scams?)
The video uploaded by the FB page Doc. Ronaldo Sr. (created on Jan. 27, 2024) garnered 1,900 reactions, 1,100 comments, 271 shares and 89,000 views.
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(Editor’s Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and our methodology.)