Joseph Mercola

Joseph Michael Mercola was born on July 8, 1954, and graduated from the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1982. He practiced family medicine in the Chicago suburbs before pivoting entirely to online health entrepreneurship. By the late 1990s, he had launched Mercola.com, which grew into one of the world's most visited health websites, promoting alternative and naturopathic approaches while attacking mainstream medicine and pharmaceutical companies.

Mercola stopped seeing patients in 2009 to focus full-time on his supplement and product business, which by that point was generating over $3 million per month. The FDA warned him in 2005, 2006, 2011, and 2021 for making illegal claims that his products could diagnose, prevent, treat, or cure diseases. In 2016, the FTC brought a separate enforcement action over his marketing of indoor tanning beds. In a 2017 affidavit, Mercola estimated his net worth at over $100 million.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mercola's influence on health misinformation reached its peak. The Center for Countering Digital Hate identified him as the single most prolific individual spreader of COVID-19 misinformation online, a finding cited by U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. He falsely promoted hydrogen peroxide nebulization, vitamin D megadosing, and ivermectin as COVID cures, and campaigned aggressively against vaccines while simultaneously selling products he claimed provided superior protection.

Mercola has donated millions of dollars to anti-vaccine organizations including the National Vaccine Information Center and Children's Health Defense. His funding has amplified anti-vaccine sentiment well beyond his own platform. Despite ongoing regulatory scrutiny, he has faced no criminal charges and continues to operate, having reportedly moved assets offshore in anticipation of legal action.

As of 2024-2025, Mercola remains active on Substack and alternative social media platforms after major platforms reduced his reach. He continues to sell hundreds of supplements and health products, promote anti-vaccine narratives, and position himself as a martyr of medical censorship. His business model uniquely ties financial gain to the spread of misinformation: the more people distrust mainstream medicine, the more they buy his products.

“Nebulizing hydrogen peroxide can prevent or cure COVID-19”

Inhaling hydrogen peroxide can cause serious lung damage. No clinical evidence supports this claim, and it was removed from Twitter for violating misinformation policies. The FDA explicitly warned against it.

“COVID-19 vaccines are dangerous and unnecessary”

COVID-19 vaccines have undergone rigorous clinical trials and have been shown to dramatically reduce severe illness and death. Mercola sold at least 22 products falsely claimed to prevent or cure COVID-19 while simultaneously discouraging vaccination.

“Sunscreen causes cancer and sun exposure is entirely safe”

While some sunscreen ingredients have legitimate research questions, the scientific consensus is that UV radiation is a major risk factor for skin cancer and sunscreen reduces that risk. Mercola's framing inverts the risk-benefit calculation.