Fact Check: Don’t believe this sob story of AIIMS doctor and his magic pill for obesity
A magic pill for weight loss remains among the most desired yet elusive discoveries in medicine. An audacious claim going viral on the Internet, however, announces the discovery of such a miracle drug that can melt away “1 kg per day, that too, without any diet or exercise.”
Magic pill for slimming?
The claim is being made by the means of a dramatic story about a ‘doctor’ from the prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) who dedicated his life to discovering such a drug when his 33-year-old brother died due to a heart attack caused by obesity.
According to the story, the doctor’s name is Ramesh Bhargava who is a professor in the “bioengineering” department of the AIIMS.
An archived version of the story can be read here.
What is the fact?
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) found that the claim of an “AIIMS doctor discovering a shockingly simple way to lose 1 kg per day” is totally fake.
This misleading article with a fictitious emotional story about a doctor from AIIMS is being shared on the Internet in the form of blogs or advertorials by a company marketing the so-called slimming pills.
Since obesity is such a widespread problem and the name of a reputed organisation was being used to mislead people, AFWA decided to dig deeper to uncover the truth.
We found the story to be part of a meticulously planned fraud to cheat gullible people looking for an easy solution for obesity.
Who is Ramesh Bhargava?
AIIMS doctor Ramesh Bhargava, credited with this “shockingly simple discovery” in the viral article, does not exist. There is no doctor by this name at AIIMS. The person presented in the article as the doctor is, in fact, a model dressed as a doctor. He has appeared in many advertisements and his pictures are available on the stock photography website Shutterstock.
Moreover, there is no “bioengineering” department at AIIMS in which the doctor claims to be a teacher. It is highly unlikely that a professor with AIIMS will write the name of his department incorrectly.
Still, to be doubly sure, we spoke to professor Veena Kaul in the Biomedical Engineering department of AIIMS to find about any doctor by the name of Ramesh Bhargava. She categorically denied any doctor with that name existed in the department. She said, “I’ve been working in this department for the last 30 years and can say for sure that there was never a doctor here by this name.”
Many faces of the fictitious doctor
A Google search for “AIIMS doctor discovers a shockingly simple way to lose 1 kg per day” reveals that the same story is present on various lesser-known websites and blogs with the exact same claim.
However, by examining these articles closely, we found an interesting point that establishes beyond doubt that the story is completely fake.
While the story remains exactly the same in every article, the name and the photo of the AIIMS doctor keeps changing. In one article, he has been named as Dr Siddharth Kumail while in the other Dr Rahul Mongia.
Surprisingly, the name and age of the doctor’s younger brother who died of a heart attack remain the same; the brother is referred to as “Kapil”.
We could find out that these photographs have been lifted from the Internet and are unrelated to this fake marketing gimmick.
Fake story to sell a slimming pill
All these articles, directly or indirectly, prompt you to buy a drug called Garcinia Cambogia. These websites, articles and advertisements lead you to the website of buynutralyfe.com where you are asked to make a payment to buy the product.
At the bottom of the website of buynutralyfe.com, a phone number (0124 450 7500) has been provided for queries related to the sale. We tried calling up this number multiple times but it was always on an answering machine mode and no one answered.
Who is selling this fake story?
Looking at the domain registration details of Nutralyfe website, we found out that the company behind this website is Nutravo Lifecare Pvt. Ltd. and is based in Udyog Vihar, Gurgaon, in Haryana.
According the company registration details of Nutravo Lifecare Pvt. Ltd., Vipul Taneja, Nipun Taneja and Amit Chauhan are among the directors of the company. We were able to contact Nipun Taneja and Amit Chauhan over the phone.
Nipun admitted that he is a director of the company and is the brother of Vipul Taneja who is the key person in the firm. However, the moment we started asking about the details of the company, he disconnected the phone and then switched it off.
We also spoke to Amit Chauhan, another director in the company. He admitted that his company markets the drug Garcinia Cambogia. Asked about the story of the AIIMS doctor, he responded through an email saying, “Most of our marketing is handled by our affiliate partners outside India, and we are not aware of any AIIMS doctor being used.”
Vipul Taneja – the man behind Nutravo Lifecare
According to his LinkedIn profile, Vipul Taneja is CEO at Adsparkx Media, director at Nutravo Lifecare Pvt. Ltd. and a public speaker.
According to its website, Adsparkx Media is an Internet marketing company involved in mobile advertisement and brand promotion.
Since Vipul Taneja holds key positions in both the companies, it raises a valid question: Was he using his Internet marketing skills to push misleading ads and boost the sales of Garcinia Cambogia?
Amit Chauhan claimed in his email that Adsparkx is an independent entity and has nothing to do with Nutravo Lifecare Pvt Ltd.
We tried to reach Vipul Taneja on his mobile number given on the website of Adsparkx to enquire more about the working of both these companies but he never came on line or called us back.
What is Garcinia Cambogia?
Garcinia Cambogia is the botanical name of a plant that belongs to Clusiaceae family. Its fruit looks like a small pumpkin that contains various phytochemicals, including hydroxycitric acid.
According to some studies, the hydroxycitric acid found in the extract of this fruit has some anti-obesity properties. However, research has also revealed that it can have serious side effects, including liver toxicity.
