A doctor quoted in a controversial National Enquirer article touting coronavirus “cures” now says the supermarket tabloid never spoke to him — and he’s demanding a retraction.
Keith Armitage, medical director for the UH Roe Green Center for Travel Medicine and Global Health in Cleveland, Ohio, was quoted in the March 23 edition of the Enquirer saying “researchers also believe elderberry syrup or tea is effective in battling the deadly virus because its know for fending off flu-like symptoms.”
But Armitage told media non-profit group Media Matters that he “never spoke to the Enquirer” and that the publication’s description of his medical opinion is inaccurate.
“If people eat a healthy diet, exercise, get enough sleep and don’t smoke — they may in general have a better immune system; but how this impacts their susceptibility and clinical course for a specific virus is not known,” the group’s web site said he said.
Some critics have called for Walmart and other supermarket chains that carry the tabloid to pull the Enquirer’s March 23 edition on coronavirus cures from newsstands. Walmart did not respond to questions, however, and by Thursday the issue was being replaced by the next edition of the Enquirer.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health has said that there are no known cures for the deadly disease that has sickened over 16,000 people in the US — the sixth highest worldwide. So far, only 225 people have died in the US, but public officials are concerned that hospitals could soon be overwhelmed given how quickly the virus seems to spread.
American Media, which owns National Enquirer, did not return a request for comment.
