Scammers are using artificial intelligence to clone physicians in social-media advertisements promoting purported health products, while research shows many people struggle to distinguish deepfakes from authentic videos.

Canadian clinicians this week described videos of themselves promoting joint remedies and prostate products they never endorsed. British television doctors have already been used in the same trade. Taking the clips down has proved slow for patients.

Canadian Doctors Find Cloned Faces Selling Pills

Dr François Marquis, chief of intensive care at Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital in Montreal, said patients keep sending Facebook advertisements in which an AI copy of his face and voice promotes pills.

'This time I'm selling something that is supposed to fix your joints,' he said, referring to an AI-generated advertisement that offered £747,475 ($1 million) if customers were not satisfied. One purchaser later told him the goods never arrived.

Dr Bonnie Henry, British Columbia's provincial health officer, said her likeness has been used to push a supposed prostate treatment after pandemic briefings made her face familiar. Physicians have flagged the material to platforms, Quebec's medical college and police, only to watch new versions appear.

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Up to Half of Viewers Miss Deepfake Doctors

A 2023 Scientific Reports study led by Christopher Doss found that 27 to 50 per cent of participants were unable to distinguish authentic videos from deepfakes in tests involving climate-change information.

The clips concerned climate change rather than medicines, yet the paper is now cited when clinicians discuss detection.

In Britain, Which? asked 514 adults in March 2026 to judge mixed real and synthetic videos; 70 per cent failed to identify every clip correctly.

Hallam analysed 1,198 TikTok videos and found signs of AI generation or assistance in 40 per cent of those in health-related searches. For the search term "health tips", 42 of the first 50 results showed signs of AI use.

Science Feedback identified 18 TikTok accounts of AI-generated doctors in February 2026, including copies of weight-loss physician Garth Davis and surgeons Paul Zalzal and Brad Weening. Some videos passed 14 million views and usually carried no AI disclosure label.

Endorsement Bans Meet a Stubborn Ad Market

The Canadian Medical Association said in March 2026 that doctors cannot publicly endorse health products in advertisements, on social media or in interviews. Canada's Food and Drugs Act covers health products including drugs, biologics, medical devices and natural health products.

A social-media video featuring a Canadian doctor promoting a supposed miracle pill should therefore be treated as a warning sign by Canadian consumers. A 2024 BMJ investigation found deepfakes of British presenters including Hilary Jones promoting supposed blood-pressure and diabetes cures.

TikTok told Science Feedback that it had removed accounts that violated its rules on impersonation and harmful misinformation. Doctors still describe a cycle of removal and replacement. Officials point victims to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.

Real physicians are being cloned to sell pills and invented deepfake doctors now occupy the same feeds. Detection rates in published tests remain poor. Patients who treat a social advertisement as medical advice risk both their money and their treatment plans.

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