Advertisement
Medicine
AsiaEast Asia

Dog medicine goes viral in South Korea over claims it cures human cancer

  • A growing number of patients are taking fenbendazole, a de-wormer for animals, after a US man said it cured him of terminal cancer
  • Doctors in South Korea are exasperated, but one US researcher is not ruling out the anti-parasitic’s potential on humans

Reading Time:4 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
A sick dog. File photo: SCMP
Park Chan-kyong

South Korean cancer patients have caused a shortage of an anti-parasitic drug for dogs in the country, after YouTube videos went viral claiming that the treatment cured a United States patient with terminal cancer.

Advertisement
Despite repeated warnings from the government about feared side effects, a growing number of patients have been taking fenbendazole, meant for ridding intestinal bugs in dogs and cats, in a phenomenon that is leaving doctors and health authorities in South Korea shaking their heads in disbelief.
More than a dozen patients with well-advanced cancer went a step further, uploading a series of videos showing themselves taking the drug and reporting on the changes happening to their bodies over weeks.

The fenbendazole craze started in early September after a South Korean YouTube channel introduced a story about Joe Tippens, an Oklahoma man who claimed the dog medicine saved him and others from succumbing to cancer.

Tippens told Koco 5 News that his cancer was gone within three months of taking the drug, following an online tip he saw from a US veterinary surgeon.

Advertisement

He tried that after doctors told him two years ago that he should call a hospice and prepare to say his goodbyes, because his lung cancer had spread across his entire body.

Advertisement