List of unproven methods against COVID-19

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COVID-19 pandemic
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COVID-19 portal
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There are many fake or unproven medical products and methods that claim to diagnose, prevent or cure COVID-19.^[1] Fake medicines sold for COVID-19 may not contain the ingredients they claim to contain, and may even contain harmful ingredients.^[2]^[1]^[3] In March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) released a statement recommending against taking any medicines in an attempt to treat or cure COVID-19, although research on potential treatment was underway, including the Solidarity trial spearheaded by WHO.^[4] The WHO requested member countries to immediately notify them if any fake medicines or other falsified products were discovered.^[4] There are also many claims that existing products help against COVID-19, which are spread through rumors online rather than conventional advertising.

Anxiety about COVID-19 makes people more willing to "try anything" that might give them a sense of control of the situation, making them easy targets for scams.^[5] Many false claims about measures against COVID-19 have circulated widely on social media, but some have been circulated by text, on YouTube, and even in some mainstream media. Officials advised that before forwarding information, people should think carefully and look it up. Misinformation messages may use scare tactics or other high-pressure rhetoric, claim to have all the facts while others do not, and jump to unusual conclusions. The public was advised to check the information source's source, looking on official websites; some messages have falsely claimed to be from official bodies like UNICEF and government agencies.^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8] Arthur Caplan, head of medical ethics at New York University's medical school, had simpler advice for COVID-19 products: "Anything online, ignore it".^[5]

Products which claim to prevent COVID-19 risk giving dangerous false confidence and increasing infection rates.^[9] Going out to buy such products may encourage people to break stay-at-home orders, reducing social distancing.^{[citation needed]} Some of the pretend treatments are also poisonous; hundreds of people have died from using fake COVID-19 treatments.^[10]

^ ^a ^b Cite error: The named reference FDA was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Hrabovszki, Georgina (March 23, 2020). "COVID-19: Beware of falsified medicines from unregistered websites". European Medicines Agency. Archived from the original on March 24, 2020. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
^ Spinney, Laura (April 3, 2020). "When will a coronavirus vaccine be ready?". The Guardian. Archived from the original on April 3, 2020. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
^ ^a ^b "Falsified medical products, including in vitro diagnostics, that claim to prevent, detect, treat or cure COVID-19" (PDF). World Health Organization. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 6, 2020. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c Knight V (March 31, 2020). "Covid-19: beware online tests and cures, experts say". The Guardian. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
^ Zaveri, Mihir (March 16, 2020). "Be Wary of Those Texts From a Friend of a Friend's Aunt". The New York Times.
^ Ferré-Sadurní L, McKinley J (March 13, 2020). "Alex Jones Is Told to Stop Selling Sham Anti-Coronavirus Toothpaste". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 14, 2020. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
^ Cite error: The named reference cbs was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ "Homeopath shipping 'protection' for Covid 19 roasted by health and science experts over claims". NZ Herald. April 2, 2020. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
^ Cite error: The named reference 100skilled was invoked but never defined (see the help page).