A St Louis-based chiropractor has come under fire for falsely claiming that tonic water is an effective treatment for coronavirus in a Facebook Live video that was viewed by more than 21 million people.
In the video, Eric Nepute urged people with flu-like symptoms to drink tonic water because it contains quinine, a medicine that is distantly related to hydroxychloroquine, the antimalarial drug being tested to treat COVID-19.
The unfounded remedy spread like wildfire across the internet, drawing the attention of health experts who condemned Nepute’s advice as dangerously misleading.
St Louis-based chiropractor Eric Nepute falsely claimed that tonic water is an effective treatment for coronavirus in a Facebook Live video (pictured) viewed by over 21 million people
Nepute urged people with flu-like symptoms to drink Schweppes brand tonic water (above in a file photo) because it contains quinine, a medicine that is distantly related to hydroxychloroquine, the antimalarial drug being tested to treat COVID-19
Nepute, who runs the Nepute Wellness Clinic in St Louis, posted his video on April 6 with the caption: ‘Seriously. How much longer are we going to put up with all the BS..???’
‘Quinine acts similar to hydrochloroquine, okay,’ he said in the livestream. ‘Quinine acts as a transport chain to allow nutrients to get into the cells.
‘So I’m telling everybody right now, if you know someone who’s got flu-like symptoms – if they’ve got symptoms of COVID-19, the cold, the flu, whatever – go and get either some quinine and/or some Schweppes tonic water.
‘Let me tell you this again: quinine and/or Schweppes tonic water.
‘I need every one of you to be sharing this right now, I mean every one. Every person needs to share this because there’s a lot of bulls**t going on right now that everybody needs to know about. And I’m going to throw some common sense at you because most people aren’t looking at this. Go get some quinine and get some zinc.’
Nepute continued to defend his remedy even after it was widely debunked by medical experts
A number of medical professionals have since advised the public not to heed Nepute’s advice, noting that he is a licensed chiropractor, not a physician.
Dr Luis Ostrosky, a professor of infectious diseases at McGovern Medical School at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, said that there is no scientific basis for the treatments Nepute recommended.
‘I’m guessing he’s going off of quinine as another antimalarial drug,’ Ostrosky told Buzzfeed News.
‘There’s really nothing in the literature about quinine and COVID-19.’
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CHLOROQUINE
WHAT IS IT?
Chloroquine is an older version of an anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine.
It’s also an immunosuppressive drug that may treat Lupus.
BENEFITS
In this April 9 file photo, a chemist displays hydroxychloroquine tablets in New Delhi, India
It could have the power to stop coronavirus replicating in cells, and taking hold in the bodySARS-CoV-2 entry into cells in an in-vitro experiment.
It blocked SARS-CoV-2 entry into cells in an in-vitro experiment.
The malaria drug also believed to have antiviral activity.
It can be manufactured cheaply and is sold under the brand name Aralen.
In one small French study, some COVID-19 patients showed improvements but there was no way to know if the drug was the reason.
Results published in April from another study in France and one in China found no benefit in patients treated with the drug. Dozens more clinical studies are underway around the world.
SIDE AFFECTS
Heart arrhythmias are a known side effect of chloroquine according to studies of malaria and autoimmune disorder patients.
One quarter of the 81 patients given 600mg of chloroquine in a Brazil coronavirus study developed heart arrhythmias and they may have been at greater risk of death.
Notably, the patients developing heart arrhythmias were being treated with a higher dose than is being used for most patients in the US.
Ostrosky explained that quinine does have slight similarities to hydroxychloroquine, the anti-malaria drug President Donald Trump and his supporters have promoted as a miracle treatment for coronavirus.
Hydroxychloroquine has not been approved as a drug to treat coronavirus and medical experts have not concluded whether the drug is safe or effective for this use.
Dr Humberto Choi, a pulmonologist at Cleveland Clinic, noted that the concentration of quinine used in medical circumstances is different from that of soft drinks.
As far as taking tonic water and zinc, Choi said while zinc has been studied to see if it could help protect organs against low oxygen supply in cases of severe lung infection or inflammation, it has not been proven to treat the infection itself.
‘I don’t think people should be fooled to think they are ingesting something that is causing any benefit to them,’ he said.
Tonic water companies have also been debunking the myth online.
‘We would not advise using our tonic water for anything other than making a tasty drink to keep your spirits up during this difficult time,’ Fever Tree states on its website.
Despite blowback from experts, Nepute has maintained that his recommendation is sound.
He spoke to TV station KDKA last week and emphasized the fact that in the video he told viewers: ‘This is not medical advice.’
‘I’ve never made one claim at all that any of these nutrients cures or prevents coronavirus,’ he told the outlet.
He also said that the combination of quinine and zinc is a well-known homeopathic treatment with few, if any, side effects.
Facebook’s third-party fact-checkers placed a warning on the video indicating that it could contain partly false information before it was taken down completely.
Nepute re-uploaded it to YouTube on Tuesday, noting that he expected the site to take the new one down as well.
When approached for comment about the Nepute ordeal, a spokesperson for the American Chiropractic Association said that it was urging its members not to spread misinformation amid the outbreak.
‘The [ACA] advises its members to follow guidance regarding the prevention of the coronavirus (COVID-19) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other credible sources and to share this information with their patients,’ the spokesperson said in a statement to Buzzfeed News.
The spokesperson also said the ACA Board of Governors had released a statement to clarify that there is no substantial evidence to support spinal adjustments, the core method that chiropractors use to treat patients, for prevention or treatment of COVID-19.
