The claim: Post implies Dr. Rashid Buttar’s death was linked to the deaths of other alternative medicine doctors
A July 3 Facebook video (direct link, archive link) shows a series of news clips about several alternative medicine doctors who died under mysterious circumstances or disappeared.
One clip shows a man identified as Dr. Rashid Buttar saying, “It’s possible they could come for me.” The video then cuts to an announcement that Buttar has died.
“Look how they be doing good doctors,” reads the caption on the post.
Some users took the post as evidence that all the deaths were connected.
“We know what happened, who did it and why,” wrote one such user. “The unknown is how to prove it without also being murdered.”
“Big Pharma cannot afford for these doctors to heal people,” wrote another. “These real doctors either disappear, die or go to prison.”
The post was shared more than 110,000 times in less than two weeks.
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Our rating: Missing context
The implied claim here is wrong. While Buttar’s official cause of death has not yet been released, there is no evidence his death has any connection to those of the other doctors mentioned in the post, who died in 2015. The prior deaths included a suicide and a murder solicited by a spouse.
‘Disinformation Dozen’ member known for anti-vaccine statements before death
Buttar was one of the “Disinformation Dozen,” a group so dubbed by the Center for Countering Digital Hate in March 2021 as 12 individuals responsible for spreading online misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccines. The center found that the Disinformation Dozen were responsible for 65% of anti-vaccine misinformation on Twitter and Facebook between Feb. 1, 2021, and March 16, 2021.
Buttar died on May 18 from undisclosed causes, according to a statement from his family. His death prompted conspiracy theories that he may have been murdered for his support of alternative medicine, Vice reported. The outlet also noted Buttar referenced an array of health struggles in recent interviews.
There is no evidence that Buttar’s death was connected to the other alternative doctors, nor is there proof that he was killed for his anti-vaccine beliefs.
Fact check: Thousands of COVID-19 cases still reported every week
Buttar’s death not linked to those of other doctors
The Facebook video makes it seem as if Buttar died right after a “string of other deaths” involving doctors that practiced alternative medicine. In reality, the news report used at the start of the video is more than eight years old. The original video comes from South Florida’s Fox 4 Now and can be found in a July 2015 YouTube post. It was about the death of Dr. Teresa Ann Sievers, a holistic doctor who was murdered June 18, 2015, and whether it was connected to the deaths of Dr. Bruce Hedendal and Dr. Jeff Bradstreet.
All were alternative medicine doctors who died within a span of two weeks. Sievers’ June 28, 2015, death was unrelated to the other two doctors’ deaths. Her husband Mark was found guilty in 2019 of hiring two hitmen to kill her amid reported marital troubles.
Hedendal was found dead in his car in Boca Raton, Florida, on June 21, 2015. The death was reported as being from natural causes, although the specifics remain unclear. Florida Weekly reported that on the day of his death, Hedendal felt ill during a track meet and “had gone to his car to recuperate.” Police found no signs of foul play, the outlet reported.
Bradstreet, a former pastor who became an alternative doctor, claimed that vaccines cause autism and used discredited medical treatments in both the U.S. and the U.K. The Washington Post reported the FDA raided and searched his Buford, Georgia, clinic on June 18, 2015. Bradstreet was found dead a day later in the Rocky Broad River in North Carolina. His death was ruled a suicide from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest.
USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Our fact-check sources:
- Center for Countering Digital Hate, March 24, 2021, The Disinformation Dozen: Why Platforms Must Act on Twelve Leading Online Anti-Vaxxers
- Business Insider, Oct. 20, 2021, An anti-vax doctor who’s one of the biggest spreaders of COVID-19 disinformation says he doesn’t lose sleep if his remarks cause death
- Fox 4 Now, July 6, 2015, Recent trend of doctor deaths raises concern
- News-Press, Feb. 14, 2020, Who killed Dr. Teresa Sievers? A look at one of Southwest Florida’s most notorious murders
- CBS 12 News, Aug. 28, 2015, Six doctors found dead under suspicious circumstances
- LinkedIn, accessed July 13, 2023, Bruce Hedendal
- Twitter account, accessed July 13, Bruce Hedendal
- Palm Beach Florida Weekly, Aug. 27, 2015, Conspiracy Theory Files
- Gwinnett Daily Post, June 24, 2015, Controversial autism researcher, Jeff Bradstreet, commits suicide after FDA raid in Buford, authorities say
- Washington Post, July 16, 2015, The mysterious death of a doctor who peddled autism ‘cures’ to thousands
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