Medical Crowdfunding for Scientifically Unsupported or Potentially Dangerous Treatments

Ford Vox; Kelly McBride Folkers; Angela Turi; Arthur L Caplan

doi:10.1001/jama.2018.10264

Medical Crowdfunding for Scientifically Unsupported or Potentially Dangerous Treatments

JAMA. 2018 Oct 23;320(16):1705-1706. doi: 10.1001/jama.2018.10264.

Authors

Ford Vox¹, Kelly McBride Folkers², Angela Turi², Arthur L Caplan²

Affiliations

¹ Brain Injury Rehabilitation, Shepherd Center, Atlanta, Georgia.
² Division of Medical Ethics, New York University School of Medicine, New York.

Abstract

This study identified fundraising campaigns for unsubstantiated treatments, such as homeopathic remedies for cancer and antibiotic therapy for chronic Lyme disease, on GoFundMe and other crowdfunding platforms.

MeSH terms

Anti-Bacterial Agents / economics
Anti-Bacterial Agents / therapeutic use
Crowdsourcing*
Healthcare Financing*
Homeopathy / economics
Humans
Hyperbaric Oxygenation / economics
Internet
Lyme Disease / drug therapy
Quackery / economics*
Stem Cell Transplantation / economics

Substances

Anti-Bacterial Agents