The biggest health scammers in history, from Belle Gibson to Elizabeth Holmes
Netflix’s new miniseries, Apple Cider Vinegar, is a dramatisation of the scandal that made Belle Gibson one of the most notorious health scammers in recent memory.
Gibson, from Tasmania, Australia, styled herself as a wellness guru and falsely claimed that she suffered from a number of cancers, including brain cancer. Through her social media and company, she lied to millions of fans about how she was managing her cancers.
The convicted con artist is just one of several infamous figures who have been involved in health-related scams in modern times. We take a closer look at who they are and what they did - before getting caught.
Belle Gibson
Annabelle Gibson, better known as Belle Gibson, claimed she had been diagnosed with several terminal cancers but convinced her fans that she was managing the diseases through a strict diet and holistic treatments.
In 2013, she launched a health app called The Whole Pantry which promised to help people achieve better health. The app took off, with hundreds of thousands of downloads, and led to Gibson publishing a cookbook based on her journey.
But three years later, it was revealed that Gibson had fabricated her cancer diagnosis. Investigations found no medical records to support her claims, and it was exposed that she had never been diagnosed with the terminal illness. She had also raised over US$300,000 in donations, promising to donate part of the funds to cancer research, but no such donations were made.
In 2017, she was charged with multiple offences, including dishonestly gaining financial advantage and obtaining money by deception. She was found guilty and sentenced to a community corrections order. Gibson’s scam left many feeling betrayed, as her actions not only misled the public but also exploited vulnerable people dealing with cancer.
Read more: Where is Belle Gibson now? The con artist who inspired Apple Cider Vinegar
Elizabeth Holmes
Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of Theranos, became infamous for orchestrating one of the biggest corporate frauds in recent history. She founded Theranos in 2003, claiming to revolutionise blood testing by using just a few drops of blood to perform a wide range of medical tests. Holmes, with her charismatic persona, attracted significant investment and high-profile board members, raising billions for the company.
However, investigations later revealed that Theranos' technology didn’t work as promised. The company's blood-testing devices were inaccurate, producing unreliable results that could have endangered patients' health. Despite knowing this, Holmes and her team misled investors, doctors, and patients about the efficacy of their technology.
In 2021, Holmes was charged with multiple counts of fraud. She was accused of misleading investors and endangering patients, facing a lengthy trial, and was sentenced to 11 years in jail.
Her story was also made into a TV series titled The Dropout, which was released on Disney Plus. Holmes was played by Amanda Seyfried.
Read more: 'The Dropout': Amanda Seyfried stars as disgraced billionaire in cautionary tale
Clauddine "Dee Dee" Blanchard
Clauddine Blanchard, also known as Dee Dee, was the mother of Gypsy-Rose Blanchard. She was found dead after Gypsy-Rose’s boyfriend at the time, Nicholas Godejohn, stabbed her to death in a murder planned by Gypsy-Rose.
Dee-Dee was thought to have Munchausen by proxy, a psychological disorder in which a parent or a guardian exaggerates or invents medical conditions for their child. She forced Gypsy-Rose to pretend she had several serious health conditions, like leukaemia and muscular dystrophy, and confined her daughter to using a feeding tube and a wheelchair.
Mother and daughter moved to New Orleans, but their home was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. After this period, their story began to gain traction in the local media who highlighted the plight of a single mother with what was thought to be a severely disabled daughter. Dee Dee and Gypsy-Rose were able to move into a house built for them by Habitat for Humanity.
They were also met with an outpouring of charitable contributions, including free flights to visit doctors in Kansas City, free trips to Walt Disney World, and backstage concert passes.
However, as Gypsy-Rose got older, she began to question her mother’s control over her life and health, and wanted independence. She met Godejohn online and eventually began developing a plan to kill her mother in a bid for freedom. Gypsy-Rose was arrested and sentenced to prison for second-degree murder, and she served eight years. She was paroled towards the end of December 2023.
Read more: Gypsy Rose Blanchard breaks silence after release from prison for mother’s murder
Martin Shkreli
Martin Shkreli was convicted of securities fraud and conspiracy after he was involved in price-gouging an AIDS medication. Known as "Pharma Bro", Shkreli is the former CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals.
In 2015, he used the company to buy the exclusive rights to a drug called Daraprim and raised the price by about 5,000%. Daraprim is used to treat toxoplasmosis and is also used as part of medication to prevent pneumonia in people with HIV/AIDS.
But Shkreli’s move meant that the cost of a monthly course for a person on 75mg dose of Daraprim rose to about US$75,000 per month at one hospital, or US$750 per tablet, while it was previously priced at US$13.50.
He was sued in 2020 by the Federal Trade Commission, which was joined by seven US states. Shkreli was found liable after a bench trial, with the judge ruling that he was determined to "reap the profits from Daraprim sales for as long as possible".
He served five years out of a seven-year prison sentence and has been banned from working in the pharmaceutical industry.
Read more about health and wellness:
Four health claims Belle Gibson made during her influencer era (beyond fake cancer) (Yahoo Life UK, 5-min read)
Being a victim of fraud impacts your mental health. Here's how to cope (Yahoo Life UK, 6-min read)
She took £20k in sick pay, claiming cancer and HIV. Then she was found out (NottinghamshireLive, 3-min read)
