Inwazja uzdrawiaczy ciał. Na manowcach amerykańskiej medycyny

by Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling, Hanna Pasierska (Translator)

Zielonoświątkowiec, tenisista i dietetyk, który uznał, że dietą odkwaszającą można wyleczyć wszystkie choroby świata. Uduchowione małżeństwo, które z niezachwianą wiarą praktykowało uzdrawianie przez nałożenie rąk. Imigrantka z Polski, która leczyła Amerykanów pijawkami, a nawet założyła akademię hirudoterapii w Las Vegas. Mężczyzna uważający się za wcielenie kosmicznego bóstwa zesłanego na Ziemię, by przynieść jej mieszkańcom cudowne panaceum – MMS, środek zawierający chloryn sodu.

Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling zgrabnie łączy historie swoich bohaterów z opisem dysfunkcjonalnego systemu ochrony zdrowia w Stanach Zjednoczonych. Dlaczego aż tylu Amerykanów całkowicie straciło zaufanie do nowoczesnej medycyny, a zamiast niej wybrało cudowne maści, naświetlania i inne alternatywne terapie? Z jakiego powodu wierzą w teorie spiskowe, czasami zupełnie niedorzeczne? Czy to wina niewydolnych instytucji państwowych, popularności internetowych diagnoz i recept na zdrowie, czy może sprzedawców leków i libertarian suflujących ludziom ideę "wolności medycznej"?

Wciągający, a jednocześnie niepozbawiony humoru reportaż o medycznych szarlatanach w Ameryce.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Medicine, Medical, Health, Politics, Audiobook

360 pages, Hardcover

First published April 4, 2023

Reviews

[Lauren D'Souza · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars rounded up. This book presents stories of eight individuals who each believe they have found the ultimate panacea, what Hongoltz-Hetling calls the "One True Cure." From leeches to prayer to a bleach compound called Miracle Mineral Supplement, each person in this book thinks that their cure is the best one out there, and they're determined to make a buck selling it, too. The book details each of these individuals' stories while commenting on gaps in our system - the Internet, legal definitions limiting jurisdiction, human stupidity and gullibility, distrust in big pharma, and most importantly, the slow bureaucracy of the FDA - that make quashing these pseudo-scientific, often dangerous "medicines" extremely difficult.

Although this is an interesting concept that showcases some truly nutty people, I didn't really vibe with the writing of this book. It's got a very goofy, millennial, sarcastic, tongue-in-cheek attitude to it (e.g., repeats of "Big if true!", a strange metasyntactic variable paragraph to test the language of One True Cures that ends in "Putting thingumies back changes thingamajigs back to somethings and stimulates metabolic processes at the wossname level. Yada yada yada, I Am Groot."). Some turns of phrase are simply baffling, such as "[I was] driving the neat, straight line of Highway 75 and cutting across Florida's tip like a circumcision."

In my opinion, the author spent far, far too much time on the backstories of these people and not enough time on what I think is more interesting: the systemic failures that allow these fringe theories to persist and succeed - perhaps I just wanted a different book.

Thank you to Public Affairs for the ARC via Netgalley.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

-laugh out loud funny, especially with his various bits he kept up (game show host was my personal favorite)
-still managed to be very informative. obviously it had a bias, but this is a topic it would be hard to stay objective on
-extremely engaging and easy to read, especially the way it switched between the narratives to keep the story moving
-there was plenty of stuff that i wanted to know more about, but thats to be expected with any base level non fiction book. he provided more than enough information for any reader to be able to find more reading on any of the topics/people discussed
-overall, this was a really great nonfiction read. not at all uplifting or hopeful, but by injecting humor into the topic he made it much more digestible

cw: covid-19, cancer, death, blood, injury/injury detail, medical stuff (general), flood, religious extremism, child death/abuse, guns, xenophobia, ableism

thank you to Netgalley and PublicAffairs for the e-ARC!

[CatReader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling is an American journalist who's written several books about the intersection of fringe/extremist political beliefs with conspiracy theories and cons. His 2023 book If It Sounds Like a Quack... (perhaps named thusly as Quackery: A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything was already taken) explores a handful of folks who've sought to profit over shilling their version of The One True Cure, like prayer instead of insulin to treat type 1 diabetes (spoiler alert: it ended tragically), alkaline diets, leeches, Miracle Mineral Supplement (chlorine dioxide, an oxidizing disinfectant), etc. To be fair, leeches have shown benefit in certain indications (the inclusion of this story and villainization of its subject felt a bit mean-spirited to me), though they certainly aren't a cure-all.

Hongoltz-Hetling's heavy-handed sense of humor (which I'd describe as ironic and snarky - for instance, a certain orange-hued political figure is largely referred to as "The Game Show Host" and a certain January political incident is repeatedly called "the kerfuffle") in this book won't be for everyone; I enjoyed it for the most part, though I think it went to extremes at times. I think there's a clear distinction between holding fringe beliefs and attempting to profit and con others with those beliefs, though Hongoltz-Hetling clearly sees this a fuzzier distinction. Toward the end, he seems to conflate these fringe beliefs to one end of the political spectrum over the other, and use that to make a larger argument about the state of the country, though in reality fringe beliefs about a variety of social issues are present at every extreme (see Morning After the Revolution: Dispatches from the Wrong Side of History for a counterpoint).

Further reading: quackery
QAnon and On: A Short and Shocking History of Internet Conspiracy Cults by Van Badham
Pandora's Lab: Seven Stories of Science Gone Wrong and Bad Advice: Or Why Celebrities, Politicians, and Activists Aren't Your Best Source of Health Information by Paul Offit, MD

My statistics:
Book 208 for 2025
Book 2134 cumulatively

[Janalyn, the blind reviewer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is full of cure all solutions from bleach, to lasers, leeches in those who believe God is a genie and if those aren’t crazy enough there’s even an alien who believes he has a cure all solution this book is not only interesting it was very well researched is even a chapter on zombies but let’s not confuse that with the first chapter where the guy who uses lasers to cure everything says he knows how to make a zombie. I truly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it. If you like crazy stories told with a bunch of LOL moments you need to read “if it sounds like a quack…“ I thoroughly enjoyed it please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review I received this book from the publisher in NetGalley but I’m leaving this review voluntarily.

[Książkowa Wrona · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jednak rozczarowanie. Tak naprawdę liczyłam bardziej na jakieś ogólne spojrzenie, ewentualnie poparte przykładami, a nie przykłady z tłem, dodatkowo jednak bardzo po łebkach potraktowane. A ktoś, kto wymyślił, zeby to podzielić na malutkie fragmenty pomieszane ze sobą powinien pójść do redaktorskiego piekła, serio.

[Jeść treść · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liczyłam na coś bardziej socjologicznego, systemowego, może kulturowego...? A dostałam poszatkowany reportaż o ośmiu hochsztaplerach i ich przepychankach z Agencją Żywności i Leków, która reguluje (a przynajmniej powinna) rynek suplementów w USA.
To może ciekawić, sure, ale akurat niekoniecznie mnie.

Ostatnia 1/4 książki mocno ratuje sytuacje, bo wreszcie rozmawiamy o problemie szerzej i globalnie zamiast jednostkowo.

[Lucy Bruemmer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh. Horrible. This was just boring stories about con artists. This didn’t pull me in at all and I’m just not sure he even had a point, but it was also so incredibly preachy. Oh well, guess I wasted some time, but there’s so many other good books out there.

[Ladybug Lynn · Rating 1 out of 5]

I know it’s bad to rate books you DNF. But, if you get to the 50% mark and the author has no thesis or reason for writing the book other than let’s laugh at these gullible people, then I am justified in rating it without finishing it. It’s a mean spirited book that adds nothing to why people fall for or believe in medically unsound ideas. Perhaps the author’s point comes out in much later chapters and I’m old fashioned to expect the introduction to include some sort of thesis statement?

[Gabi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Co za świetna książka! Autor z dużym dystansem i ogromną ironią opowiada o szarlatanach, wielbicielach medycyny alternatywnej i ludzi przekonanych, że znaleźli uniwersalne remedium na wszystkie dolegliwości (z rakiem i cukrzycą na czele). Pisze o nich w sposób zjadliwy i sarkastyczny, bo inaczej się nie da. Jednak autor zmienia ton, gdy opowiada o tym, do czego ich rosnąca w USA popularność prowadzi - nie śmiejemy się, gdy czytamy o 11-latce dniami konającej na łóżku, ponieważ rodzice zamiast zawieźć ją do lekarza, leczą ją modlitwą lub gdy kolejne osoby umierają, przyjmując szemrane specyfiki. To nie tylko historia ludzi, którzy myślą, że wyleczą cały świat - to też świetny obraz stanu ochrony zdrowia USA i społeczeństwa, które od lat odchodzi od medycyny na rzecz szarlatanów i suplementów, a co swój szczyt miało niewątpliwie w 2020 roku. Przerażająca lektura, pokazująca jak na naszych oczach świat się cofa, odchodząc od nauki.

[po.czytane · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

Gdyby ta książka była zdecydowanie bardziej uporządkowana, to byłoby to 5 gwiazdek

[Tanja Berg · Rating 4 out of 5]

We follow a few characters that have made big bucks on selling «the one true cure» in various forms — bleach and leeches, to name a couple of these products. It’s interesting to hear how these alternative, unproven, remedies could gain traction. Alternative «medicine» is a flourishing niche and I know many who swear by it as I try to resist rolling my eyes while explaining how exceptionally strong the placebo effect is. Usually without success.

[Menhir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Książka bardzo interesująca, choć denerwował mnie brak przypisów. Jest co prawda bibliografia na końcu, ale brak odnośników w tekście to i tak niesamowicie nierzetelny zabieg. Zmusza mnie to do wiary na słowo, bez możliwości weryfikacji treści.

Czuję też lekki niedosyt. Mam poczucie że cała nisza medycyny alternatywnej ma dużo więcej odnóg niż te kilka zaprezentowanych przypadków i temat nie został aż tak dogłębnie przebadany, ale mimo wszystko jest to fajny punkt wyjścia.

Sam temat jest dosyć ciężki, a 8 osób to zaledwie mała jego garstka. Dlatego szczególnie cieszy mnie, że autor traktował ich bardzo indywidualnie i zaznaczał jakie prywatne historie kryją się za decyzją o zmianie myślenia.

Narracja bez wpychania wszystkich na siłę do jednego wora, a zarazem z dystansem i pewną próbą spojrzenia na problemy systemowe i społeczne szerzej.

[Polianna (moze_booka) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5/5

[Marcin · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm struggling with this book.

There is a very obvious bias here - in case you didn't get that from the title alone - and even though I mostly share it, I don't think I'm a fan.

While it's clear that non-fiction always contains the author's bias, in this case it's not only blatant but there's also outright editorializing that takes away from the seriousness of some of the situations. It makes me feel like I want to drag this out of "general non-fiction" and drop it over in "opinion/essay" with Dave Barry et al.

I probably would have overlooked most of it but something about the author's referring to Trump as "the game show host" without every naming him and downgrading January 6 to a tongue-in-cheek "animated kerfuffle" just really bothered me. The obvious connection between the folks he discusses and the Trump presidency are eye-opening and an important marker of the country at that time but instead of leading the reader to an understanding of how dangerous that administration's actions were, it gets diffused and becomes a joke.

I don't know - I liked reading about these people and what they were doing - where they came from - how they all merged, I guess I just didn't like the attitude (and for me to say that, well...something's amiss!)

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Explorations of five distinct ~alternatives~ to traditional Western medicine (prayer, leeches, lasers, alkalinity, and supplements) through biographies and deep dives into the people who popularized them as medicinal practice. He tracks each person from their start time to present and we can see how they all weave together into the current medical freedom movement, which was my favorite part of the book.

I will say that even though I agree with the author, I found the overall tone of the book to be a little smug and off-putting. I guess that's his brand of humor but just not my cup of tea! The intel was interesting though. 3.5 stars

[Dave Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Millions of Americans trust doctors and hospitals, yet many also chase unproven cures. These cures often come from people who reject science and claim to hold secret knowledge. Author Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling explores its effects on the long-term health of Americans in his book, “If It Sounds Like A Quack: A Journey To The Fringes of American Medicine.”

He follows six individuals and their “one true cures.” We meet a man who believed in laser treatments, another who created supplements to treat mental illness, a believer in the power of prayer, and another who sought wider approval for leech treatments.

For most of history, such ideas stayed on the margins. But the internet changed everything. Suddenly, anyone could spread promises of miracle treatments to huge audiences.

The usual safeguards broke down. Government agencies and medical experts worked to stop false claims, but the sellers of “one true cures” kept adapting. They found common ground with another group once fading in influence—the anti-vaccine movement. Instead of arguing about science, both began rallying around the idea of “medical freedom.”

This message drew in libertarians who had long pushed for less government control. Together, these groups created a powerful alliance. The result was a new political identity that blurred the line between health choices and personal rights. What began as fringe movements turned into a loud force that shaped debates across the country.

Now, Hongoltz-Hetling writes that these ‘cures and misinformation put lives at risk. Vaccines once eradicated deadly diseases like polio and smallpox. Now, rising distrust in science threatens that progress. Experts still work to fight the spread of false claims, but the challenge grows as faith in government weakens.

Memorable Highlights

By the late 1990s, it was tough going for those with ‘one true cure’. Medical science, over the course of 100 years of collecting and analyzing data, has indisputably proven its ability to treat disease and extend life. This track record led the American public to largely trust trained doctors. To take just one sign of that trust, in 2001 93% of Republicans and 97% of Democrats agreed that it was important for parents to get their children vaccinated.
Over decades, the numbers junkies behind the vaccines racked up victory after victory. Polio, smallpox, diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis were all wiped out by successful public vaccination campaigns. In the 1950s, roughly 1/3 of Americans were vaccine-hesitant. But now? The anti-VAXers watched as the most recent childhood vaccination achieved a 97% coverage rate, resulting in zero cases of measles in the US in 2000.

Thanks to grassroots actions, diverse sellers of ‘one true cures’ began speaking in a single voice. As sellers of ‘one true cures’ were converted into medical freedom advocates, a side effect was the creation of a political space that welcomed the fringe actors remaining in the anti-vaccination movement. They were, like alternative healers, eager to move on from scientific debates and instead talk about the rights of Americans to choose.

If alternative healers and anti-VAXers were happy to have found a label to rally around, imagine how happy you made the people who had created the label in the first place. This was another fringe group, the ones who had already defined what medical freedom means in America: libertarians. It's hard to think of two cultures more different than a touchy-feely new age alternative healing movement that celebrates mindfulness and the free market, small government, libertarian capitalist that celebrate mind your own business. But the medical freedom label formed an unprecedented bridge between these two world views. Libertarians had articulated a clear and comprehensive vision of medical freedom, one that went far beyond weakening federal vaccination programs and allowing unregulated sales of ‘one true cures.’

[Agnieszka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sporo z tego wiedziałam, ale niektóre wątki nawet mnie zaskoczyły. Rzetelna analiza przypadków rozmaitych szarlatanów i korzeni popularności alt-medu. Z jednym zaskakującym wyjątkiem: autor nawet raz się nie zająknął o tym, że brak ubezpieczenia zdrowotnego wielu Amerykanów nie wynika z ich wyboru czy nieufności wobec systemu, tylko po prostu z biedy i z tego, że system pozostawia ludzi bez pieniędzy na pastwę losu, chorób i szarlatanów. Ale i tak warto sięgnąć. Zdecydowanie.

[Kaja · Rating 3 out of 5]

Książka nie broni się jako reportaż per se. Jest to raczej zbiór życiorysów kilku szalbierzy i konowałów, które czytałoby się lepiej jeden po drugim, niż po kawałku, jak jest to zaprezentowane. Niemniej, jest to ciekawa pozycja pokazująca do czego prowadzi system leczenia tak bardzo beznadziejny jak w Stanach.

[Kamila · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 ⭐️ trochę śmiesznie, trochę strasznie - ani chwili spędzonej przy tej lekturze nie żałuję, przypomniały mi się trochę książki Jona Ronsona

[Krim]

Completely forgot I started this in Jan...it was fun, I even recognised a few of the notorious one true cure peddlers lmao

[Scotty Killian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent read by Hongoltz-Hetling. An exceptionally entertaining dive into the rise of the medical freedom movement and the snake oil salespeople behind it.

[Amberly · Rating 1 out of 5]

Here’s a stream of consciousness that vaguely relays my general thoughts as I read:

Early on - he’s funny! His style is delightful and these people are interesting!

Middle - this is starting to come off as a little smug and judgmental of the people who are buying into these miracle cures. Not sure how I feel about this. And hard to remember who’s who with the way the stories are broken up.

3/4 or so - oh, we’re getting downright mean about republicans and “the game show host” who ran for president. And anyone who believes that prayer is real and that Pentecostals are actual people. It isn’t lost on me that the only time I remember seeing the word “lunacy” applied - among lengthy conversations with people selling laser beams and leeches and basically bleach for you to drink - it was at the Pentecostals. Now, do I believe that the Pentecostals interviewed here are on the fringes far beyond what I’m comfortable with? Sure. But do I believe that he was mocking them openly and leaving real journalism in the dust to portray them as stupid? 100%. So close to DNFing here, but it’s for book club. Also, thanks for saying that one of the religious nuts wrote a book that “tied together the myths of the Bible with actual history.” Way to not let your bias show, bud.

ALSO also, the closer we got to the end, the more we left my “five minute limit for political talk” in the dust too. If you can’t acknowledge that the person you disagree with is a fellow human being, I’m out.

One more ALSO also, neither Celebrity Apprentice nor the Bachelor are game shows. Learn your trash, dude.

[Kara Koshy · Rating 5 out of 5]

really really good. obviously it took me a long time to read it but it was because i’ve been so busy it’s hard to find time to read. this was such a clever and interesting book to read and i really recommend it!

[Anne Jisca · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I expected more quack fringe medicine being exposed (vitamin C IVs, essential oils, plexus/pink drink, homeopathy, etc), I found the ones presented fascinating. Throughout the entire book he develops the stories of the quack ways he has decided to explore. I found it fascinating how almost all of the ones he presented have been in my circle of friends!! I come from a fundamentalist evangelical homeschooling background, so I suppose it’s not a surprise. It was validating of my red flags I’ve felt about those methods. I appreciate very much that the author also exposed faith healings as a method of fringe medicine. It definitely deserves to be exposed, and be included in this book.

He led up to how one cure-all managed to be sent all the way up to Trump, who brought it up on TV as the covid cure. Ridiculous, yet makes sense. It’s sad that so many in our society lack the common sense to follow true science, and know how to discern what are quack claims.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

[Stanisław Sobczyk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling wchodzi w króliczą norę, odkrywając przed nami kolejne oblicza pseudonauki, często nierozerwalnie powiązanej z polityką i biznesem. W tym rewelacyjnym reportażu znajdziemy wszystko: amerykańską ideę wolności medycznej stojące u podstaw patologii systemu, spiskowy koncept uniwersalnego remedium, nieskuteczność wszystkich służb czy zupełnie nowe, uświadomione spojrzenie na media. Do tego "Inwazja uzdrawiaczy ciał" jest napisana w niezwykle błyskotliwy sposób, autor nie szczędzi złośliwości, jest zabawny, bawi się przy tytułach rozdziałów, ale kiedy trzeba, potrafi się tu znaleźć rozdział, który emocjonalnie zmiażdży czytelnika.

[Therese Davis · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was interesting and indepth. I learned a lot about how our gov is trying to protect us from rogue sellers of various (and sometimes bizarre) alternative cures.

But it seems the author didn't delve into the plausibility of some herbal remedies, instead lumping all non-pharmaceutical treatments into one lump category of 'quackery'.

As I said, it was enlightening, but also a bit skewed, imo.

[Hope · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good at showing the overlap of many modern quacks and legal cases, their effects on society, and how it has infiltrated so much of the American political far right. It seemed to bash political ideas at points rather than focusing on the issue at hand. I think it would have been better to also explore how many of these quacks have led to other quacks and scams, how people can avoid them, and how we can help loved ones who are caught up in these cult-like beliefs. Still, an excellent read.

[Bożek · Rating 2 out of 5]

ale pijawki to ty szanuj

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't hate this, but I didn't really enjoy it, either.

The actual content was pretty passable. I got to read about some specific stories and incidents I had not heard of before, which isn't that hard to do given the breadth of this problem but I nonetheless constantly read about the same handful of examples in every book and essay.

Unfortunately, this was badly in need of a competent editor to fix some fairly massive technical issues that made reading a bit of a slog for me.

First, organization. This had a dozen different stories going on in vastly different locations and time periods. Game of Thrones wasn't that overreaching in its POVs. While this wouldn't be that bad if the stories were each in their own chapter, here they are intercut in sequence.

The problem with this "technique" is glaringly apparent in the first handful of chapters, wherein each character and plot is hastily introduced and then abruptly left off to move on to the next. It's honestly a miracle I read this entire thing, as you can see from the timeline of my updates on here that it took me over a week to get through the first quarter, after which it picked up.

You need to get your reader invested before doing this. My first update on here I think wondered aloud if the entire book was just going to be listing examples in this fashion, never going any deeper. It's also a struggle to want to pick up the book when as a reader you're 6 chapters in and just feel confused and don't think you're ever going to get answers to the numerous questions raised in the very first chapter.

This is a cardinal sin in modern fantasy writing that has led me to abandon many books, but it's the first time I've seen it attempted in supposedly serious nonfiction.

Then we have the style of writing itself. People complain far too much about the "Reddit effect" on writing, but here I think is a prime example of where that is actually a real issue that harms the message of the work.

This book is about a very serious topic. In one of the stories, a child is neglected by fanatically religious and uneducated parents to the point that she goes into a ketoacedotic coma and dies. In another, a woman is taken advantage of by someone she trusted and her relatively minor cancer diagnosis escalates to dissolving half her bone mass and nearly killing her, followed by a protracted legal battle against someone she once viewed like family.

So it's exceptionally inappropriate to insert the sheer amount of "internet speak" that is present.

For example, the sentence, "Big if true!" appears as its own line and paragraph more than once. I noted one egregious instance of an entire line being the one-word sentence fragment, "But." He only calls Trump "The Game Show Host", and unironically uses the word "pwned" more than once.

While this didn't actually interfere with the factual content of the book (trust me, I've seen that happen), it definitely undermines its message to me while also just being pretty cringe-inducing on its face. There's severe tonal whiplash between the subject matter and a delivery that used to only be associated with internet edgelords whose only goal is to provoke a negative reaction to drive engagement.

This isn't to say there's no place for humor in nonfiction. I fucking love Bill Bryson and Mary Roach! But I urge this author to look to them for how to do it properly without making me picture this guy on the other side of the page.